Just don’t mention Denmark
How should we communicate Danish values internationally? Can we use Danishness as a competitive advantage? The answers are probably ‘with great care’ and ‘no’. But you can still get real value from remembering your Danish roots - just don’t mention ‘Denmark’.
Read why - and blog your thoughts here.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Hi David,
Thanks for the link to the article, I found it very interesting, being a scot and living in Scotland I think a lot of countries have the same problem promoting themselves.
If I were to do the same poll I would probably get back the following:
Whisky
Tartan
Kilts
Ginger hair
Shortbread.
Whisky and Tartan would I think come out tops..hmm..Im curious now.
Scots are as much to blame for the problem, normal vision for the masses consist of a scot in a kilt wearing a tartan hat with ginger hair and a pint in one hand and a saltire in the other.
No mention of the inventions or medical advances that scots have given the world or the parts they have played in other countries…and whos fault is that?..ours..when you see the First Minister of Scotland mincing down a street in New York wearing a skirt
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.2141071.0.Row_over_postponement_of_tartan_fashion_show.php
now would you come to a country if this was how the First Minister Dressed!
One thing that will always make me pround to be a Scot, and thats when I hear the sound of a pipe band…..I long for the day I can feel the same way about the national football team hahahahahahaha.
regards
Kevin
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:55 am
This is a problem that smaller countries share. My own country of birth, New Zealand, has the same sort of image and branding problems. Ask most people what they associate with New Zealand, and the first answer is “sheep” - which, along with Wales and Australia, makes New Zealand the brunt of many jokes. Not great for its international image. Its image is somewhat boosted by probably the next big association people have with the country - the great outdoors.
But the question is whether either of these associations create business opportunities for New Zealand exporters?
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
Wales shares many of associations - both positive and negative - with New Zealand. In the late 90s, a diverse group of Welsh organisations, including the Welsh Tourist Board, embarked on a branding exercise to boost people’s awareness of the country as a tourist destination.
The idea was that the branding would not only boost tourism, but also raise awareness of the positive attributes shared by Welsh companies, such as a loyal, committed and flexible workforce.
They created a unique destination proposition and supporting pillars, and then rolled this out into communications guidelines and advertising campaigns. And the heart of the work was ‘In Wales you will find a passion for life.’
Interestingly, they found that the image of Wales in the UK was vastly different from that in the rest of the world and so developed two different, although complementary, concepts. In the UK they used something connected to ‘Wales two hours and a million miles away’, but in the rest of the world focused on the Welsh language and Celtic heritage.
But did it work? It seems that tourism benefited, but I can’t seem to find any evidence that the country’s companies also got a boost.
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
It could be interesting to make a list of what the Danes would like to be known for, and what they think they are known (renowned) for.
I would recommend having the lists split up showing what they conceive as a traveler and/or as a professional/businessman.
Afterwards make a new survey and compare this to what foreigners think.
When this is done the Danish Tourist Office and Export Ministry can take each list and see where the Danes have their strengths and weakness’ and what to focus on.
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Great point, Robert. We’ve done a little research ourselves about what the Danes think about themselves - we’ll be talking about that very soon in WordSpin.