Nike is the world’s largest shoe brand with revenues reaching 35 Billion, that is twice more than what Zimbabwe makes.
Despite the revenue, Nike is brand promise that always delivers, living up to its expectation of promise. Nike was developed through, unique identity, aggressive subconscious and tactical market placement and consistent brand promise, that is why we all have owned a pair of Nike shoes at least once in our lives.
Through its development, what came first was Branding before requesting for prospective buyers to purchase its products. What comes first for Zimbabwe to get out of its crisis is to appreciate that, the reset button comes with Branding.
Country Branding is the mother of all value drawn from different facets within a country, and there is nothing before it, but just it, and everything else follows. Having a product or a service that we think is amazing to sell to the Global Market is not just enough for us to get the sales that we desire. Talking about travel to Zimbabwe, Trade with Zimbabwe, or invest in Zimbabwe is not going to send chills of thrill to prospective buyer’s mind to activate their desire to buy. Hence I stated that what starts is branding, not product or service deployment to markets we have not captivated prior.
As a country we are dealing with many problems that are actually our opportunity to enter a new realm of innovation, new convenient systems that bring about a new economic era and a set of new entrepreneurs for our Nation. We haven’t failed, we are just failing to recognize what starts first and I reiterate once more that, Branding starts first.
We want respect, attention and appeal on the world market but we must earn it and not force it. Having experienced over 50 different countries globally, doing business with them, my perspective about the world was shaped in ways that no other master class can ever offer. The greatest question I had growing up asking was what makes a country special and better than mine. I realized that the success of a country is determined by how its people operate, think and apply themselves internally and externally.
The British were good at physical branding, as they took over countries, colonizing them, but the Americans won the biggest market share by branding themselves in the minds of people using, the media and other tools. Americans brand everything and they lead because they influence through Branding.
With the City Branding that we are pioneering, not in talking but in doing, this should be an eye opener for residents in every city or province to recognize what we are starting with. Little do our people know and understand that an economy is not grown or built by policy alone, but by effective participation of citizens engaging and accessing the economy, and so every move changes the trajectory of the economy.
Every brand, experience and destination is unique and is affected in their own individual and distinct way, but brands and destinations that are proactive, trailblazing and position themselves to create and being in front of opportunity, as opposed to picking up the pieces and restructuring after the wave has already rolled through, will stay ahead of the largest economic development force in a generation. They will leapfrog their competitors. They will innovate triumphantly .They will source their own opportunity from crisis and they will profit.
Tare Munzara is a Country Branding Expert and the CEO for Destination Marketing International. For Feedback please do contact Email on ceo@destinationmarketinginternational.co.zw or taremunzara@citybrandingummit.co.zw . Phone: 0774 817 440
