Influence . The individual perceptional dimensions correspond more to certain parts of a nation ’ s economy than others . For example , being perceived as high on adventure supports more significant tourism , while an increased perception of innovation & entrepreneurship correlates with high foreign direct investment . Differentiation and cultural clout are both positively associated with foreign trade . In short , the perception of a nation ’ s brand directly influences its economy .
Under each of these dimensions are the attributes used to assess the nation . For example , adventure consists of excitement , friendliness , and culture , among other features . For a country to reposition its image , it must change the perception of the underlying attributes of the dimension - level of excitement , friendliness , and culture . How ? Not merely by citizens becoming more exciting and friendly . The key is to change others ’ perceptions - through actual visitors ’ experiences , blogs , and ratings provided by travel sites such as TripAdvisor . com and Lonely Planet - supported by advertising and public relations efforts . However , even in a successful repositioning campaign , change will not happen overnight ; it will take time and repeated measures . Once the perception of a country starts to shift , tourism should see an increase .
To understand how Kenya ’ s brand is viewed globally , we should first survey how other participants in the global economy perceive her . There are low hanging fruits that can be leveraged to drive the country ’ s brand attributes .
In my considered view , Kenya has lost numerous branding opportunities ; one such case is the fact that the grand projects undertaken by Kenya over the last couple of years are totally lacking the ‘ Kenyan Soul ’. Many are heavily branded in Chinese - explicitly or implicitly . For a visitor taking the Train from Nairobi to Mombasa for instance , they would be forgiven for thinking that they are in some province in China . There are prominent signages in Chinese - all the way from the train station precincts , onto the boarding lounges and inside the trains ; with very poor translation to English and often , nothing in Swahili .
A casual look at the Nairobi Expressway leaves one with a feeling of ‘ cheap ’ written all over it . Poor directional signage , poor fonts , dangerous intersections ( engineering design ), and to cap it all , a miserable attempt at greening the concrete highway . All these aspects contribute to poor branding of a country , that should be reaping immense benefits from such projects . All these can be reversed , and drive a greater impact even beyond their functionality .
The question that begs is - who is sleeping on their job ? As a country , we are not short of Agencies tasked with all the various aspects mentioned above . We have some of the best engineers - yet we allow poor engineering designs on our roads , resulting in great fatalities for road users ; We have brand experts in the various agencies - yet we are happy to live with poor branding in areas that should be our national pride . When did the rain start beating us ?
We must realize that a change in brand image and its resulting economic impact will not happen without a shift in subjective perceptions . It takes each one of us - collectively as Kenyans , to advocate for , and work towards the Kenya we want .
A nation ’ s brand affects its economy - it matters what others think about us . It matters how we view ourselves . Our actions , visible on a global scale , have economic consequences far beyond the direct cost of those actions .
Irene Mbonge is the Group Head , Corporate Communication & Public Affairs at CPF Group . You can commune with her on this or related issues via mail at : Mbonge . Irene @ gmail . com .