COUNTRY IMAGE: HOW TO A NATION?

Summary A significant element in the development of a country's competitiveness is the c onstruction and consolidation of its image in domestic and international markets . According to what described above, the national brand allow a place in the mar kets and minds of people. As a new area of interest in the marketing study, the concept of country brand (nation branding) has been driven more by the professio nals the field of communications for academic researchers. There is a need for c onceptual and theoretical development on these themes. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework and reference that contributes to a better understanding of country image building through the case of Colombia is Passion study. According to the above, the experience of Colombia in terms of brand bui lding is still very short, but the historical context of this experience and res ults have been obtained to date have become the object of study by researchers a t the Universidad del Rosario and the CESA, which in 2008 was the rise of a case study and an academic paper about this interesting topic. Introduction Of all the forms and models of organizations that exist in the world, a country is the most complex of all modalities. Many of the nations in the world, have problems image but do not know how to approach and tackle this problem properly. the imag e of a country reflects the prestige of its people, their businesses and their nat ural attributes. As a new area of interest in the study of marketing, the concept of country bran d (nation branding) has been driven more by professionals in the field of communications by academic researchers. There is a need for conceptual and theoretical developm ent on these themes. Additionally, building a national brand looking to consolidate the imagination o f align national and public communications, civic discourse and social behavior, encompassed all of the above in a suitable brand culture throughout society. Theoretical The country brand The term brand national brand or country born from the need of the business and governments to generate their own identity against the interna tional markets. The positioning strategy of a particular country is part of the goal of capitalizing the origin of products, businesses and people in global markets. As Valls said the country brand is the perception that consumers have direct indirect, actual and potential of the countries (28). This perception of consume rs is equivalent to the sum of all elements of the country, over the elements generated to communicate the characteristics of the country. The perception of a country has distinguishing connotations. All countries are different, and share elements common. Differentiation is an ongoing requirement in the construction of an iden tity brand, and its shape is the image of a company, product or country is exposed to a given market. A country's identity involves considering all characteristics, values and beliefs which the company self-identify and self Unlike the other. The country brand succeeds in making visible the territorial m arketing, integrated products, image representing organizations and nation. The brand reflects an identity that becomes the essence of the existence of the comp any or product and frames from start to finish all objectives and goals, trying to create a unique style that allows you to position your name in the market, consolidating a reputation and recognition from and distinct

characteristics. The national brand manufacturers are businesses, brands and society concerning c ivil. A country brand is not used to reduce the gap between perception and reali ty, but to represent the distinguishing feature of a country over another. Nor i s constructed on the characteristics of its population, but on the contrary, the characteristics of the country. The country brand reflects a holistic view of t he image of a specific territory to be permanently strengthened and enriched com munication investment in the country of origin to the rest of the world. Some countries suffer from image problems, but have no clear idea of how address ed. The country brand can provide the solution to these problems. The country br and means manage the image and prestige of a country (Dinnie, Identity and image of nation s 3). Whereas the image and prestige are two interlinked components, namely the image is being projected to the world, while the prestige is the information rec eived given by the visitor's experience or investor (Whetten and Mackey 400). Country Brand Experiences Different countries or regions have always been associated with a specific compe tition: Chile and its wines, cheeses France, Switzerland and watches, Italy and pasta, with To urism Australia, among others. But in recent years have seen a lot of research that points consumers in different countries respond differently to the characteristics the country of origin, and that these responses may vary over time (Deshpande 22 ). A country cannot replace their beaches with mountains, or grow bananas if your c limate favors the snow (Supphellen & Nygaardsvik 385). While a country may be possible attract more foreign investment or change its economic base, there are always so me limitations. Gertner and Kotler Teachers found that: Products may be discontinue d, may be modified, can be recalled, re-released and replaced with improved prod ucts. Countries have not most of these elections. Their image problems may be based on structura l issues that take years to be set (249) A country brand is born of the desperat e need to encourage foreign investment, tourism and exports. It emerges as a str ategy of territorial marketing support to Matthew Healey, the differentiation approach is a country brand, can arise from different patterns; it is important for achieving a national identity extraordin ary (28). In the case of Spain, this country has positioned itself as a modern a nd developed nation, while Denmark has successfully strengthened its ministries and government departments. Croatia for its part, has been working on reform its image to sport and tourism, and Poland has begun to assert itself in terms fore ign policy. Country Brand Ranking FutureBrand is a leader in research on the country brand ranking. Has charge of the Country Brand Index measurements since 2005. For the organization, country b rand represents: Variables such as the attractions, geography, infrastructure, a uthenticity among others, allow countries to locate the points where they are st rongest or represent a competitive advantage (12). In Figure 1 shows the ranking of the country to mark the year 2008. The first po sition is for Australia, being a tourist destination. In second place is Canada, because their success is based on a wide range of attributes assigned to an iss ue of involvement such as the "exploration" and that is a decisive factor for th e entry of immigrants. Figure 1. Country Brand Index 2008 1 Australia 2 Canada 3 United States 4 Italy 5 Switzerland 6 France 7 New Zealan d 8 UK 9 Japan 10 Sweden Source: Based on data FutureBrand, Country Brand Index

2008 In the case of Latin America, the construction and permanence of the national br and has been through support from consulting firms and marketing experts who kno w the territory. To which Ramos Noya comment: The key to success of a country brand is a perceived differe nce between brands competition. With so many countries, the communication strate gy can vary without but the message is the same. Another key factor is the concept of inclusion with out the involving government, private sector and citizens, campaigns National wi ll not have the desired impact. The best advertising campaign is designed a stra tegy based on experiential marketing (3) Methodology The research project is casuistic and exploratory type. Casuistry Research allows the use of real cases that could generate debate, learning and applicabil ity in the classroom. Within this type of research and methodology applied in-depth intervi ews cases. If methods are a source for exploratory research because studies that foc us on the complexity of organizational phenomena. To Caicedo Mardones (2003), "E xploratory research: it is considered the first scientific approach to a problem . It is used when it has not yet been addressed or not been sufficiently studied and the conditions are not yet decisive. " They consulted primary and secondary sources. The primary sources were: - Grupo Pioneers. Formed by the founders and people who were linked in the generation of the idea of country branding. There were 18 in-depth interviews. - Executive Gr oup. Formed by employees of the organization of country image Colombia. There we re a total of eight depth interviews. - Customer Group prescriber. Comprised of customers and opinion leaders. It dept h interviews conducted 6. Secondary sources consulted for documents and manageme nt reports organization's Colombia is passion, results of market research Millward Brown an d Datexco Company. The study was conducted during February to September 2008. Research Objectives -Building the case of Colombia is passion academic - Describe the actual situation of the country's image in Colombia. - Sort, classify, record and analyze the historical and organizational Colombia country brand - To know the perceptions, opinions and attitudes of people who are linked to th e country brand as founders, employees, customers and leaders opinion. Results The origin of the brand country: Colombia is passionIn the early 90's, the natio nal government and the Colombian private sector Michael Porter hired to develop a study on the weaknesses and Colombia's economic opportunities. The study known as the "Report monitor", sets out the guidelines to be followed by a country with the characteristics of Colo mbia for competitive advantage. Monitor analysis is based on four elements make up what Michael Porter has called the Diamond of Competitiveness: Human resource s and production Input suppliers and distributors Domestic demand for goods and services produced by companies Competitive conditions that encourage business innovation (1) Through the study, we examined specific sectors of the Colombian economy, which possible to determine the state it was in the country in terms of competitivenes s. According to Porter, Colombia should begin to restructure its economy as one of ten strategic imperatives, "to sell or promote Colombia" (1). As noted in the Michael Porter: "Colombia needs to obtain international recognition for its pro ducts with an image that relies on quality and service. The people in the world should learn to identify and buy products Colombians "(8) In this context, concerns about modifying the country's position in markets cons

olidating international was one of the government's objectives more relevant to building a country image. The implementation of a national brand was not made immediately, it took at leas t 12 years reverting to the inclusion of the concept of country brand, as pointe d out by Ramos and Noya: "Unfortunately, no progress was made in its implementation and published only a few advertisements in major newspapers around the world and edited several books "(15). The Roots of Colombia is Passion Since 2004, Artesanas de Colombia in support of the First Lady's Office Inexmoda1 Proexport Colombia and create a project called the Identity Colombia order to position Colombia as a country renowned fashion in the world. In 1 Institute for Export and Fashion 2004, the director of Crafts of Colombia, Cec ilia Duque said Colombia Identity had two main components: a) generating a high social impact in the artisanal sector and b) cause cultural impact: the design of Colombia (1). According to Ramos and Noya the "Identity Colombia", based on crafts, culture an d Milan fashion had a great impact on the deployment of creativity which showed th e need to build a country brand that does not focus on crafts or textiles, but involve other productive sectors of Colombia (14). Through the interest of the nation's First Lady, Lina Moreno de Uribe, the Direc tor of Inexmoda, Alicia Mejia and then, Director of Proexport Luis Guillermo Plata, was a need to focus not only the country's image and crafts hot topic, but open participation of other economic sectors such as tourism. In this way begins the task of building a country brand unique to Colombia. In First was an Academic Committee which invited opinion leaders national, in order to know their perception and argument on the idea of creating a country brand. Subsequently formed an Advisory Council composed of representativ es of different sectors of the economy to participate in the structure, concept and image design country. The team agreed from the outset on the need and emergency project to Colombia to international markets showing an image of country not be associated with negative aspects such as corruption, drug traffic king or terrorism. And sought to build an image that would bridge the gap between perception and reality of a country like Colombia, which managed to rearrange the imagination t hat exists in other countries on the Colombian and aims to promote tourism and investment (Mejia, para. 3). These were some of the main objectives that were raised during the first meetings of the Advisory Council. The road to building a national symbol To develop the concept of country brand is invited David Lightle, a consultant company's international Visual Marketing Associates (VMA), who had advised on th e campaign design more than five countries, as the case of New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan. It had participated actively in the Competitiveness Councils organized by the Ministry of Defense of Colombia. The consultant met repeatedly with the Advisory Council and traveled to differen t cities and municipalities, to know the culture, cuisine, music and

Colombian population. For the development of research techniques were applied as interviews and unstructured observation, led to various interest groups academics, politicians, businessmen, journalists, and workers, among others. David Lightle determined that to understand the country's image projected to the world that Colombia were related to two situations: refusal posed by drug trafficking and violence, and a positive campaign created by the Juan Valdez Caf de Colombia (1). In addition t o above, Lightle said that "the problem is that Colombia (or Colombian) have never taken any steps to defend their honor and image "(2). The initial question in the investigation was: "You are?" And the responses to t his questions focused on things like: "We are talented, committed, creative, passionate, enterprising, confident, happy. " With the information obt ained his tour of the country, David Lightle determined that there was a common elemen t identified the Colombians, "Colombia are all Colombians, for that (...) Colombia is Passion "(3). To Lightle, passion is the essence of dedicated workers, the creativity and resistance (25). The researcher's field observation enabled him to identify cultural characterist ics centric force, enthusiasm, drive and strength of Colombians throughout project undertaken, the energy and inner strength are summarized in the term "passion". Lightle comments: "It was I who told the Colombians feel or be. Instead, were Colombians who said, through my research, what they are, their identity, the way they feel. The campaign is a reflection of the feelings of the community of essence "(1). Anticipating the possible reactions that could be generated in the audience to l ink to a abroad in the design of the national brand, the Advisory Council created a Commi ttee of Experts formed by Colombians Carlos Lersundy, Dicken Castro, Julian Posada, Alberto Sierra, Juan Pablo Angel and Luis Alfonso Tejada to design the logo with the sup port and David Lightle advice. Figure 2. logo Symbol Source: Country image, management reports Colombia is Passion 2008 The logo design combines five elements that sum up the perception of Colombians on the meaning of the word "passion": the heart, fire, silhouette female and a red flower. In this regard, Michael Porter, a Harvard professor say s that passion is a very marketable attribute. Especially when it comes to issues of business, the passion of the people can demonstrate hard work and positive resul ts. Porter emphasizes that Colombia has to be experienced sensually. It is a country that a llows quickly create an emotional bond (2). On August 25, 2005 is the launch of Colombia is passion. The strategy country brand aims to be sustainable in the short term. The resources come from national brand contributions from the national government through Proexport (30%) and private s

ector (70%). Proexport is a public entity whose primary function do not boost exports traditional foreign investment, tourism and the country's image. In this latter is Colombia is passion located. Perception of the population, clients and specifiers on the country's image The country brand customers are enterprises of different economic sectors. They acquire license for the use of the advertising campaign. Some large companies used a national brand are: Frito Lay, BBVA, SOFASA, Bancolombia, Avianca, Americ an Mattress, Bolivarian, Carrefour, among others. The applications that give compan ies the mark country vary according to your advertising investment. The most common uses are: Development of products associated with a national brand Inclusion of logo on labels and packaging Inclusion of logo in catalogs, brochures, websites, and mobile advertising. Inclusion of logo in the corporate image of companies Awareness campaigns to company employees Companies such as BBVA, Avianca, and Kokorico AVAL group were organizations gave the initial impetus in promoting a national brand. At first, the picture wa s positive for the donations they received from companies, however, purchasing decisions were modified license to the formulation of co-branding strategies (Cardozo, para. 4). This allowed to generate leverage brand through brand association with a competitive advantage to their competitors. Companies such as French hypermarket Carrefour, has used the licens e to positioning an image in their local business clients. The purpose of this strate gy is strengthen business relationship with the Colombian context. According to a study conducted in Datexco Company markets Juan Valdez is being par excellence the most representative brand is for Colombians (14). To the question: Have you heard about Colombia is Passion?, 60.9% of the respond ents yes, of whom 78.2% did so through television and 10.8% by Popes of Margaritas (FritoLay). 38% considered that Colombia is a beautiful coun try. It Importantly, the political momentum for facing the country, as this can influenc e opinion, which could increase the positivity of the people. 50% believe it is du e to what you are doing the President Uribe (18). Conclusions It is clear that the increased mobility of investors and industry growth tourism contribute to improving the image of a country. Therefore, we must promo te country regions, as indicated by Anholt (2007) and focus on tourism, as would be one of the most important voices Colombia trade to the world. The task countries for the brand then concentrated in four main purposes: Position the "Made in Colombia" and preferential differentially in the minds of customers. Block competitors the chance to bond with the same idea or concept.

 Reposition the competition in mind, for personal gain. Make internal changes that are necessary for the idea / concept is credible and long-term sustainable At present they have not reached a consensus on what elements, characteristics or traits to be emphasized to strengthen the country's image pro jected on abroad, leading to widespread opinion in terms of positioning the country. Resul t critical and complex to run a program to promote a brand, through many multiple markets and audiences. In the case of Colombia, it is worth noting, the Proexport effort to boost the country brand framed in a political and social con text Double-sided: first results of a government that has facilitated change image the country in international markets and on the other, armed conflict, which has misinterpretations abroad and deeply affecting the country's image. Works Cited Cardozo, Saul. Interview with Director of Training Image Eduardo country Rosko, Martha Lina Echeverri Restrepo. March 18, 2008. Datexco Company SA . Opinometre. Brand awareness. Bogot, 2008. Deshpande, Rohit. "The country effect." Harvard Business Review 85.8 (2007): 22. Dinnie, Keith. "Identity and image of nations." August 12, 2008 <http://www.icetrade.is/resources/files/icetrade.is/identity-and-image-of-nation s.pdf>. -. Nation branding. Burlington: Butterworth Heinemann, 2007. El Colombiano. "Crafts of Colombia, a project of identity." El Colombiano, 20 January 2004: 1. FutureBrand. "Country Brand Index 2008." 2008. Gertner, David and Philip Kotler. "Country as brand, product, and beyond: A plac e marketing and brand management perspective. "Journal of Brand Management 22 January 2002: 249-261. Healey, Matthew. What is Branding? (Essential Design Handbooks). Switzerland: Ro tovision Books, 2008. Lightle, David. The Colombian brand story. Bogot, 2005. Mejia, Alicia. Colombia is Passion Interview Lina Maria Echeverri. April 9, 2008 . Porter, M. In Search of a Competitive Identity: Towards A Competitiveness Agenda for Colombia. Cartagena, 2005. Porter, Michael. "Monitor Report." April 1994. Creating Competitive Advantage Colombia. June 20, 2008 <www.camaramed.org.co/docs/01informe_monitor_colombia.doc>. Ramos, Marisa and Javier Noya. "Latin America: the country risk to the brand." M ay 30 2006. June 23, 2008 <http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/documentos/242/ 242_RamosNoyaImagenMarcaPaisAmericaLatina.pdf.>. Supphellen, M. and I. Nygaardsvik. "Testing country brand slogans: Conceptual De velopment and empirical illustration of a simple normative model. "The Journal of Brand Management 1 April 2002: 385-395. Valls, Josep-Francesc. The brand image of the countries. Madrid: McGraw Hill, 19 92. Whetten, D. A. and A. Mackey. "A conception of social actors and Its Organisatio nal identity Implications for the study of an organizational reputation. "Business & Society (2002): 393-414.