The road to building Brand Kenya

By Kenneth KwamaA major priority for the Brand Kenya Board as it embarks on a mission to brand the country’s image, is to persuade Kenyans to be positive about themselves and their country.The board’s main task is ‘to brand and promote the country’s image locally and abroad.’ For people who understand the concept of product image branding, any attempt at the branding of a ‘matured product’-like Kenya can only succeed if the product itself is redesigned or reformulated. That is the journey the board, and its CEO, Mary Kimonye have embarked on. "For too long, the country has spent a lot of time politicking and engaging in negative talk. It is time to stop that and position ourselves as a positive people. This is the only sustainable way to improve our attractiveness to the rest of the world," she says.According to Kimonye, a national brand can best be viewed as a company with many products. In Kenya, she says, the most prominent and widely promoted sub-brand is tourism.David’s stonePost-election violence damaged the country’s image. "In addition to tourism, Kenya has countless other sub-brands that we need to develop like sports, culture, our people and even politics," says Kimonye.It is an onerous task, one that cannot be felled by the proverbial David’s stone in a sling, but Kimonye is optimistic that her board will succeed, having made the first step in another proverbial journey of 1000 miles."We are working on a number of things, one being the Wakati Ni Sasa (Time is now)-media campaign, which is basically a talent celebration initiative that is targeting the youth. This is because the youth comprise 70 per cent of our population and positive change in them will be positive transformation for the country," says Kimonye.However, she adds that success can’t be achieved without the participation, ownership and support from the other citizens. Every Kenyan, she opines, has a part to play in building and positioning the country as a brand.Indeed, how a country is perceived, both domestically and abroad, from the quality of its goods and services to the attractiveness of its culture, is an onerous task that requires both cooperation and a lot of capital investment.proper planningHowever, for the initiative to succeed, it will need the cooperation and involvement of a number of other players like politicians, investors, the media and Government amongst others.Ensuring the integration of all these aspects could also be challenging. But Kimonye believes that with proper planning and execution, country branding can be achieved and her board will focus on this.It will also have to develop an identity and image for the country. This, says Kimonye, will include a number of components such as essence statement (internal motto)- a single phrase or thought targeted at the citizens and aimed at energising them to take pride, support and promote their country.Mrs Mary Kimonye, Brand Kenya CEO, says every Kenyan has a part to play in building and positioning the country as a brand."We will also develop a tagline to be targeted at outsiders. It will be aimed at drawing their attention, interest and affinity towards Kenya. A good example of a tagline is ‘magical Kenya’ of the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB)," says Kimonye.Kimonye’s task might look difficult, especially if one considers the slowing economy and the fact that the board’s success also hinges on a number of external factors like tourism-an industry, which has been on a downward swirl, courtesy of the global financial meltdown.Contrary to reports that the board had been allocated over Sh2 billion for the task last year, Kimonye says it was allocated Sh203 million. Amount to be allocated this year is yet to be publicised. Despite the cap in resources, Kimonye is optimistic that her board will succeed in its mandate. The bad past, she says is behind Kenya. She cites the signing of peace agreement that brought in the coalition Government as a good sign of the country’s political maturity.supportive attitude"Our two national leaders are steering a Government that has taken bold political and socio-economic reforms aimed at improving the country’s investment and liveability climate," she says.Indeed, the initiative could not have come at a more opportune time. Global competition has intensified and countries are competing with each other for resources, tourism, investment and manpower. The board has capacity to position the country to compete effectively in all the key planks if it achieves its objectives.It has two key objectives. First, to build a national identity and instil pride in Kenyans. This, it believes, is because it would be easier to market a country whose citizens feel good about and are proud of, because a more positive and supportive attitude from citizens, will greatly improve the country’s attractiveness to the rest of the world."The second objective is to enhance the country’s image internationally and instil confidence about the country in foreigners including investors, visitors, development partners and even tourists. This recognises that Kenya is in competition with other nations for global resources and attention," says Kimonye.

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