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Why destination branding?

It s the most powerful marketing weapon for destination marketers As Nigel Morgan and others identify branding is perhaps the most powerful marketing weapon available to contemporary destination marketers confronted by tourists who are increasingly seeking lifestyle fulfilment and experiences rather than recognizing differentiations in more tangible elements of the destination product such as accommodation and attractions. (Referrence???) Most destinations have them all! Continuing on this subject they refer to the reality that most destinations have superb five star resorts and attractions and every country claims a unique culture, landscapes and heritage. Equally they point out that, each place describes itself having the frien dliest people, and high standards of customer service and facilities. Thus their conclusion that there is thus a need for destinations to create a unique identity to differentiate themselves from their competitors and that it is more critical than ever before. Indeed it has becomes the basis for survival within a globally competitive market. Getting the vital competitive edge The question then remains, what will give one destination a competitive edge over similarly perceived destinations or other choic es? The answer is a Destination Brand, the strategic asset that makes destinations unique in the minds of their guests. i Within this competitive scenario, the eminent marketing guru Philip Kotler writing on the subject Selling Asian Places raised the questions as to what destination does not have culture, nature, heritage etc. Observing the fact that they offer them all, he raises the question; how then does a destination differentiate itself from others and convince prospective tourists to visit your destination rather than the others. ii Therefore as Pike 2005 also observes, effective differentiation branding is critical given the increasingly competitive nature of tourism markets, where many places offering similar features are becoming substitutes. The most powerful marketing weapon Destination branding is therefore perhaps the most powerful marketing weapon available to contemporary destination marketers confronted by tourists who are increasingly seeking lifestyle fulfilment and experience rather than r ecognizing differentiation in the more tangible. Tourism is today the lifeblood of almost all communities. However, communities are constantly being challenged to attract guests.

Need to build buying emotional relationships All successful brands have social, emotional and identity values to users; they have personalities and enhance the perceived utility, desirability and quality of product (Kotler and Gertner, 2002). When consumers make choices about products, including destinations, they are making lifestyle statements since they are buying into an emotional relationship. (Urdde, 1999; Sheth et al., 1999). Choice of vacation destination has become a significant lifestyle indicator for today s consumers and place where they choose to spend their increa singly squeezed vacation and hard- earned income have to be emotionally appealing, with high conversational and credible value. The battle for consumers in tomorrow s destination market place will be fought not over price but over hearts and minds, and thi s is how places have moved into territories previously reserved for consumer brands.(Italics added) iii (Reference Nogel Morgan et al., Pg 60) Need to get into the purchaser consideration set Reviewing our own individual purchasing practices would help us to reflect on how brands have come to influence our purchasing decisions. Take a moment to reflect on a simple purchase of a packet of tea for your home use. Visualising you reaching the shelf that contains a number individual brands of tea answer the fol lowing two questions. What brand of tea would you buy, and secondly did the names of any other brands receive your consideration for purchase? In a market that is crowded with so many alternative brands of the almost the same product to choose from, resea rch has confirmed that we tend to restrict our choice to the brand we trust to satisfy our particular need and that brands that do not come within an individual s consideration (marketers call this as coming within the consideration set of the intended pur chaser) when the need arises has little or no chance of being purchased. Buyers don t care that there are many brands they do not consider, because the ones they do consider perform well enough. However, it matters enormously to marketers their brands need to be noticed and considered. Being noticed and considered if often the biggest factor in why a brand is bought or not. iv Similar to the proliferation of brands within consumer product categories almost every nation is now aiming to capitalize on benefiting from the economic gains of international tourism. Equally relevant is the fact that as in the case of the different brands of tea where the actual product per se has hardly or very little difference among them most destinations have superb five-star resorts and attractions, every country claim a unique culture, landscape and heritage, each place describes itself as having the friendliest people, and high standards of customer service and facilities. As a result, [as in the case of the tea] the need for destinations to create a unique identity to differentiate themselves from their competitors is more critical than ever. Indeed, it has become the basis for survival within a

globally competitive marketplace dominated by a handful of leadin g destinations which attract over two-thirds of the worldwide tourism market.v Consumer consideration set in tourism purchases The challenge in gaining share from other tourist destinations is further compounded when one considers the fact that as in the case of the purchase of a tea brand discussed earlier , recent research studies have shown that of all the destinations a prospective tourist is aware of he or she will limit serious consideration in the decision process to a small set of four, plus or minus two destinations. Destinations that are not positioned in the consumer s decision set (consideration set) are therefore lost out. vi (Italics and bolding added). In this context with this worldwide interest and increasing competition among destinations in today s competitive global marketplace, standing for something and standing out from the crowd has never been more important. In this respect, branding can be seen as the most powerful marketing weapon available to today s Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) large and small in their efforts to combat increasing product parity, substitutability and competition. vii(Italics and bolding added) Differentiation and brand saliency Though differentiation has been regarded as one of the core principles of marketing theory and practice the central position of differentiation in marketing strategy has been questioned in recent times. As jenniRomanium and others (2007) discuss, marketing theory on brand differentiation takes a motivational perspective. Differentiation is claimed as necessary for buyers to have a reason to buy the brand. Other theoreticians have argued that there is sufficient situation-level differentiation in

Brand awareness and purchase intent?

i ii

Duane E. Knapp, The BrandPromise The McGraw Hill, USA 2008, p151, 152. Kotler et al. Selling Asian Places, ....... 2002 p ...

Pitchard, and Pride 2002) and in a Journal of Brand Management special issue (Hall 2002; Harrison 2002; Kotler and Gertner 2002; Morgan, Pritchard, and Piggot 2002).
iii iv

Nigel Morgan, et al. Destination BrandingElsevier Ltd, USA, 2010 pxxiv Byron Sharp, How brands grow, Oxford University Press, 2010, p187

Nigel Morgan et. al. Destination Branding creating the unique destination proposition, Elsvier Ltd. USA, 2010 p60 vi Pike. S, 2009...... vii Nigel Morgan, et al. Destination BrandingElsevier Ltd, USA, 2010 pxxiv

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