The Branding of the Lion

It appears that the Singapore Government has been bitten by the branding bug. It is not enough that we are Uniquely Singapore, the Garden City and the Hub of Everything. It was reported in the Straits Times (2nd September 2006, Saturday, Article Titled: Wanted a Single Brand for Singapore) that the Government of Singapore has decided Singapore needs One Unified Universal Brand. A brand flexible enough to promote Singapore in the Tourism Arena and gets scientist to work in our Life Sciences labs.

Branding is a multi-billion dollar industry. No surprise. Brands inspire loyalty and association. It becomes a statement. It is a mark of credibility. One buys an iPod because an iPods says that you are hip and design conscious. One goes to Starbucks not just to drink coffee, but to be part of a culture of laid back chic cool. Brand does that. It becomes a powerful message that people believe.

But brands are successful only if what it represent is successful. No amount of branding can save an ailing company. Brands are to be viewed in context. Creative Technologies spends millions on advertising and yet its brand is a distant from the shining iPod maker Apple. People go to Starbucks not to just drink coffee because they have position themselves that way. They may not have the best coffee, but they have great music, ambience and friendly young staffs. One feels chic and relax in a Starbucks. And it takes persistence for brands to work. Mac Donalds rebranding of themselves as a young, hip and healthy establishment is working slowly, but surely. Soon, the youth in years time is going to be chanting I'm Lovin' it when they order their healthy, less calories grilled chicken fold-over.

Singapore is a nation that has the economic means to have many aspirations. Singapore wishes to be a gate for the West into ASEAN. Singapore wishes to be the economic hub of the world. Our MM LKY even aspires that Singapore becomes the Paris of Asia - a country whose night life and culture is alive and thriving. As such, branding becomes an important tool to ensure people view Singapore the way the governments wants it.

But, should who ever is going to get the Three Million Dollars (Yes, three million dollars with a capital 'D') contract to design the brand, design it in the way the government wants it to be. Yes the government is paying them, but is the government vision appropriate for a national brand - a national identity. Whose voices and ideas should be consulted? Multi-million corporations that fuel the nation's economy. Arts and cultural groups that had given Singapore the artistic soul she desperately needs. Government agencies that would most probably be using the brand as a marketing tool. The citizens of Singapore that are crying to be heard. Or other countries that are going to be exposed to the brand and be compelled to invest in our island? We must remember, that the branding of the nation is being funded by tax-payers money. In other words, tax-payers should have a say.

And what is this new national brand going to change? Is the government going to change their processes? Is the government going to change their attitude towards liberalization, should the new brand requires that to happen? Should nothing is going to change, than what the brand really is just a new tag line set in a fancy font. The brand is going to change nothing. Branding is more than just design. Fancy artwork and organic design didn't make Starbucks the chic and relax place that it is. The staff, the food, the ambience, the interior design - in other word, the whole package made that happen. Brand is the whole package.

Singapore with all of its global aspiration is really being held back by her conservative rulers. No amount of branding can save an ailing company, the same goes for a country. No amount of branding can erase the fact that Singapore doesn't have a free press. No amount of branding can erase the fact that the Singapore government has the capabilities to arrest anyone and put them behind bars without a trial. No amount of branding can erase the fact that the Singapore government has actively sued its critics.

A free democracy is a prerequisite for globalization, and to be taken seriously. Yes. The Singapore government has done Singapore good. We are the 22nd largest GNP in the world. They must have done something right. Yet, a nation whose aspiration is only to make loads of money is not a nation worth being proud of. Yes a successful brand must be profitable, but brands is never about just profits. You don't buy an iPod because Apple is profitable.

Branding seems to be a way to solve image problems. Analyst have suggested that the US government rebrand themselves for all the backlash and unpopular foreign policy the Bush administration had introduced. Rebrand themselves? Shouldn't they solve the problem that has brought about the problem with their image? Shouldn't the Bush administration relook and rethink their foreign policy, especially with the Muslim nations and the Middle-east. Brand is a powerful tool. But not powerful enough to erase mistakes. Not powerful enough to erase mistakes that has caused unnecessary wars and lives.

It is important that whomever is going to get the contract of branding Singapore, understand that a nation's brand isn't about marketing. It isn't about four million smiles. It isn't about being unique. It isn't even about being a hub to everything. A national brand is a direction and a collective aspiration of a country. Lets hope that they do not confuse a country's aspiration, with the government's aspiration.

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