Uganda has always remained in my mind for the claim that its president, Adi Amin, “ate human flesh”. I cannot get rid of this thought which has remained in the back of my mind. It keeps coming up whenever I watch Ugandan athletes marching at the Olympic parade!
Let’s continue with Africa. The Republic of South Africa does not remind me of delicious wines. It reminds me of Nelson Mandela, who struggled against shameful racial discrimination policies which marked the 20th century, and how he turned down the Ataturk Peace prize, which was given to him by the people who staged a coup on 12th September 1980, saying “Prizes given by putschists cannot be accepted“.
One of the heads of state who passed away in 2016 was Thailand’s king Bhumibol Adulyadej. Whenever someone mentions Thailand, I remember its king who was admired by his people, the coups which ceased the natural flow of life again and again like traffic lights, and the “democratic” meetings which included plenty of fights in the parliament.
Bhutan is like a fairy tale where “sustainability” aficionados can trace information and learn a lot. It is the only country which officially employs the Gross National Happiness Index in the world. A development index, where seventy criteria from the amount of forests and the quality of education to the richness of local culture and the protection of wildlife are seen in every aspect of life, has been worked into the Bhutanese brand like embroidery.
We have many more countries to consider, and a lot of observations and experiences registered in our perception due to their brand identities.
When I was in Moscow because of an international project in the mid-2000s, I was talking to the top managers of a PR company which was our business associate. We were discussing whether we could do something together about the Turkish brand in Russia regardless of our agenda at that time. My Russian co-worker talked in a polite and diplomatic manner: “For instance, if we mentioned Germany, we would think of Mercedes, VW or BMW. If we talked about France, we would remember wine, cheese, fashion brands etc. If we spoke about the USA, we would think of Hollywood, Las Vegas, space shuttles, Apple, Google, Microsoft, the statue of liberty etc. In Russia, the main things provided by Turkey are beer, a few hypermarkets, fridges and some clothing brands which cover the stands in the markets. What can we use to replace these things so that we can compete with the perception of other countries?”
There is something called “the Turkish brand”. It was very useful to come across Haluk Sahin’s brilliant article when questions such as “What is it? What kind of a brand is it? How is it managed?” were going on in my mind. In summary, Haluk Sahin says:
“We live in a period when ‘the Turkish brand’ is going through the floor. This considers all of us no matter what our political view is, because the people we meet judge us by the brand stamp on us at first, and react accordingly.
***
…I felt this anxiety awakened like a reflex by the Turkish brand when I went to the USA at the end of July. People felt sorry for us and even pitied us when they heard that we came from Turkey.
I hear and read that this situation is the same in Europe. When someone mentions ‘Turkey’, people don’t think of Istanbul, the most beautiful city of the world, the blue seas and the bright sun anymore; they think of bombs, weapons and jails.
That’s what I mean when I say the Turkish brand is going through the floor.
***
… Yes, it is a serious problem with a heavy cost. However, I am afraid the situation is going to get worse unless the necessary steps are taken.
…My concerns are not new. I have been warning everyone that Turkey can become a ‘pariah state’ if legal international norms are ignored and if an arbitrary autocratic regime is established in our country since people were arrested in connection with Ergenekon and Sledgehammer cases.
‘Pariah states’ are at the lowest level of the international community. Respected nations do not want to have any relationship with them. Intellectuals and authors well-known to the public do not visit these states. The other heads of state run away from the heads of these states in order not to be in the same picture with them. Once upon a time, South Africa was a pariah state. Nowadays, Israel is such a state for some countries.
There is another category for broken brands: ‘failed state’. This category consists of the countries which cannot fulfil the basic requirements of being a state such as maintaining the order, paying wages or preventing migration. There are a lot states in this category. Most of them are in Africa. We can mention Somali and Pakistan since they are close to Turkey. Unfortunately, I’ve read a few comments about Turkey’s being a candidate for this group.
However, I think the most dangerous and even the scariest thing is to be included in the ‘rouge state’ category. This kind of states are perceived as a threat to peace and it is considered that they deserve all sorts of sanctions since they do not recognise international law.
It tears my heart out to see Turkey in one of these three categories, of course.
… We shouldn’t lose time with conspiracy theories and xenophobia. The recipe for ‘brand’ repair is obvious: Complete democracy, rule of law, transparency, social justice and creativity! Without losing any more time! Before it’s too late!”
One of the first comments about my post on social media, where I shared Haluk Sahin’s article, was made by our advertising doyen, Haluk Mesci. Mesci’s comment on Twitter read: “Actually, there has never been such a thing as ‘the Turkish brand’. There was a ‘trademark’ at best, and it was not the same thing as a brand. The French brand is owned by the French. The Italian brand is owned by the Italian etc. Who owns the Turkish brand? The state!!!”
When we look at “The World’s Most Reputable Countries in 2016” announced by the Reputation Institute as a result of the research conducted every year,we see Sweden at the top of the list followed by Canada and Switzerland. Australia, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark and Ireland are the other countries included in the top ten.
According to the survey conducted with 48000 people, Turkey is ranked 58th among 70 countries in “the reputation league”. The USA is ranked 28th! France is ranked 15th whereas Germany is ranked 18th. If it can be some consolation, Russia is ranked 65th!
The Reputation Institute says that countries have drivers of their reputation performance as companies do such as tourism, export, effective diplomacy, attracting qualified foreign manpower and direct foreign capital investment. The country reputation score found out by examining the 17 sub-criteria under these titles directly affect behaviours called business outcomes, of course. It is like telling someone “I recommend you to visit this country, live in this country, work in this country, buy products and services from this country, receive education in this country or join the activities organised in the name of this country”.
Following are the criteria which enable these results and which can be defined as the “reputation journey” of the countries: high-quality products and services, well-known brands, contribution to the global culture, technology, well-educated and reliable manpower, educational investment, natural beauties, recreation opportunities, living standards, friendly and hospitable locals, contemporary business environments, corporate environments, social and economic policies, participation in international activities, security, efficient use of public resources and ethics.
Country brands are everything you see in the streets. Not everything has to be “good” or “perfect”. A mistake does not eliminate a right thing. However, tourists who were suddenly exposed to pepper spray and told off by the police while they were having a cup of coffee in Istiklal Street, or the ones who witnessed that young people were mercilessly stroke with a truncheon while trying to gain their democratic rights during Gezi Park protests will talk about the mistakes not the right things when they go back to their countries.
Country brands essentially smell of democratic values and justice. We can only talk about country brands in a place if this smell comes from everything we see in the streets. As mentioned above, The USA, which has symbolised democracy with the statue of liberty at the gateway to New York, is ranked 28th among the most reputable countries. People think that it is because police mercilessly use weapons especially against black people, and justice cannot respond to the needs of the public conscience in terms of this problem.
The top ten countries in “the most reputable countries” research conducted by the Reputation Institution have not changed much in the last five years. We can consider the reason for this as the democratic values in these countries and a culture in which justice has even penetrated into family relationships.
We have tried to sell Turkey based on its sea, sun, sand, baklava and shadow puppets for ages since we could not market it based on our lifestyles built upon universal values such as democracy, justice and rule of law. These things might have got pushed into the background a little bit due to the modern-looking and visually-effective shopping malls and housing estates without infrastructure, which are the ultimate products of irregular urbanisation, but nothing has changed for the Turkish brand! When you go abroad, one of the first questions asked in a warm atmosphere is “Can you access Facebook, Twitter and Youtube?”
Everybody who would like to make Turkey a brand should think about the fact that we have not been able to create a brand like Apple, which is worth as much as the Turkish Republic’s GNP although it is only 35 years old.
In conclusion, we should go back to Haluk Sahin’s article.
“The recipe for ‘brand’ repair is obvious: Complete democracy, rule of law, transparency, social justice and creativity! Without losing any more time! Before it’s too late!”
[1] https://www.reputationinstitute.com/Most-Reputable-Countries-2016.aspx
Leave a Reply