Chimpanzees in Uganda. PHOTO/FILE
Countries are making deliberate and conscious efforts to enhance their country branding with the hope of fulfilling several objectives such as attracting tourists, stimulating investment and boosting exports.
Country identity commonly stands out through artefacts like currency, symbols, say the coat of arms, flags, anthems etc. When you delve further into the marketability of countries, they can be categorised according to the comparative advantage they have over others: innovation, manufacturing, sports, agricultural production or the production of weaponry as is the case with the world’s superpowers.
What is a nation brand?
Nation branding however is much more than symbols and anthems because all countries have these anyway. Many countries position themselves as being the most hospitable, having the best beaches, a deep and wide variety of animals or a great nightlife.
However, to have a competitive advantage and sell a better experience even for a product or service, it must be unique and create long-lasting memories. This is what nation branding adds onto a country’s reputation.
In a bid to increase Gross Development Product (GDP) countries, especially on the African continent have leveraged tourism earnings to support the growth of their economies. Presently, tourism is Uganda’s leading source of forex revenue contributing $1.4b to the country's earnings in the financial year 2022/23. It is possible for tourism to unlock the many possibilities that are still tied up for Uganda and to make an even more significant GDP contribution through strategic country branding.
A Nation brand is defined as a unique, multi-dimensional blend of elements that provide culturally grounded differentiation and relevance for all of its target audiences. Elements of a product brand or service apply to a Nation Brand as well although the differentiation in the latter is in the positioning. This is because countries have rich cultural heritages (language, food, sports, climate, physical features, etc) that position them better than products. Brand positioning, on the other hand, focuses on ensuring the brand is on top of a consumer’s mind at all times. For example if one mentions Mountain Gorillas, any traveller's mind should think ‘Uganda’ ideally. This, however, happens instinctively if Mountain Gorillas are part of the impressions that come first to the mind of people who have read about, been told about or visited Uganda.
Marketing tourism features
Uganda’s tourism marketing falls in the docket of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). Its mandate is to promote and market Uganda as a preferred tourism destination. It is the cardinal responsibility of UTB to brand and therefore position the brand Uganda globally as a unique tourism destination. Recently, it promoted Uganda’s tourism features through the Explore Uganda campaign.
Uganda is blest with unique flora and fauna (with more than 1,080 bird species, home to the famous Big Five, unique savannah grasslands covered with amazing animal species), lakes and rivers (the second deepest lake and river in Africa) and a rich cultural heritage. If such unique attributes were well-packaged and supported, Uganda would become a leading tourism destination and generate competitive sums of foreign exchange to finance the sector and greatly reduce the debt burden associated with Government borrowing. Uganda’s diverse cultural heritage, therefore, presents an opportunity to brand and position the country in the minds of the citizens and drive local tourism.
One of the unique images that come to mind about Uganda by many visitors is our warm and welcoming nature. Kenyans are known to be aggressive or go-getters while Rwandans are thought to be calm. The go-getter attitude of Kenyans has helped them to aggressively market their country as the best safari destination in the world and the home of the world’s leading marathon runners. It is little wonder therefore when the word ‘Safari’ is used in marketing campaigns by countries where Swahili is not an official language. The Kenyan brand has really caught on as it is synonymous with Masai Mara (named after the now world famous Masai tribe). The positioning was so effective at a global arena that Hollywood came cashing in with a blockbuster movie, ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’. The story of Masai Mara has now achieved legendary status.
The Brand Kenya campaign was started to amplify the country as a competitive tourism and investment destination, which was largely attributed to the growth of the economy of the country. Kenyans also invested in sports tourism as the country emerged as a global powerhouse in the middle and long distance running disciplines. Winning and record-breaking athletes such as Eliud Kipchoge, Kip Keino, Tanui and Faith Kipyegon have further amplified the country as a sports destination and helped their country reap the dividends of the investment. These sports icons represent the brand Kenya identity and differentiate the country from the rest.
The Kenya story demonstrates a key branding and positioning principle. Branding a country requires various strategies as it is clear that some will definitely fail. Many unique identifiers can be fronted to amplify the country’s strengths to first-time visitors.
In a bid to brand and position, a country can turn a tragedy into an unforgettable tourism experience, as is the case with Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Germany and several countries in Eastern Europe. Rwanda was ready to rebuild by taking the painful lessons of the 1994 Genocide and packaging them into a unique tourism product. Additionally, the country profiled its entire tourism potential and presented Rwanda to the international community as an ideal travel investment destination. Most of the genocide memorabilia has been preserved and turned into museums and places that tourists visit to learn about the genocide. Under the Visit Rwanda campaign that was started over five years ago, Rwanda is marketed as a destination of choice for tourism and related investments.
Visit Rwanda is an official tourism partner of Arsenal Football club (AFC) and a first-sleeve partner at that. According to information on the Visit Rwanda website, the Arsenal shirt is seen 35 million times a day globally and AFC is one of the most watched teams around the world, enabling Visit Rwanda to be seen by football-loving nations and driving to be an even more successful tourism and investment destination. It is not by mistake that Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania annually invest massively in tourism promotion with close to $30m each while Uganda’s investment stands at a paltry $2m per annum.
While building brand South Africa, several South Africans were interviewed about the country they would like to see and what it should represent. In a 2023 Status of the Nation Report on South Africa, it was noted that South Africans value the freedom and democratic principles achieved through hard work, dedication, resilience and strength of character from all corners of the country’. Also, 25 percent of South Africans above 16 years have a sense of national pride and are motivated by the spirit of being South African, Ubuntu, diversity, innovation, possibility, and unmatched uniqueness. This involvement of citizens created collective responsibility and ownership of the brand for South Africans.
Nation branding is largely tied to values, culture and heritage. The past, present and future are greatly intertwined. Building a country brand requires commitment, astute leadership and resources to ensure a long-term strategy is developed and executed collectively. Nation branding is a responsibility of citizens, individuals interested in positioning of the country and key stakeholders in the industry interested in witnessing the change evolve. There is need for collective responsibility from all stakeholders in the tourism sector as well as all citizens of Uganda. Everybody should be involved in crafting the story they want told to promote the country. The plan should be to create an indelible impression in the minds of the citizenry and other intended audiences by displaying the unique features of the country, such as Uganda. Therefore, ephemeral campaigns should be avoided at all costs.
As a people, we need to find those strong attributes that define us as Uganda, beyond the now commonplace tale of ‘welcoming and happy people’. We have many values across cultures and geographies that we can passionately espouse to denote a true Ugandan identity. These need to be profiled and agreed upon through an inclusive process.
There are few individuals that have shown relentless resolve in promoting Uganda with every opportunity they get, one being Amos Wekesa, a Ugandan businessman with interest in the tourism sector. However, he cannot do it alone. Wekesa utilises every given opportunity to speak about Uganda, market its unique features and stands out among many. Very few, if none of the government officials, travel abroad with brochures and information packs about Uganda. This is because it has not been inculcated into Ugandans to promote the county’s natural resources.
Imagine if all Ugandans presenting papers abroad started with a few slides about Uganda as a unique tourism destination? Imagine if a five minutes clip (music, voice and physical features) was produced and shared with all government officials travelling abroad on work assignments to present prior to their own submissions. Imagine if every Ugandan proudly reshared the ‘Explore Uganda’ content produced by UTB on their social handles? Imagine if each of us had probably a unique Ugandan bangle just like Kenyans and Tanzanians wear with their flag colours? Small things like that create a spirit of collegiality and nationalism. It is time for the narrative to change and for Uganda to tell her own story amplifying what international media such as CGTN, CNN and other travellers are already saying.
The writer, Provia Nangobi, is a communication and tourism enthusiast
