ABSTRACT
Globalisation
makes our world one market, meaning there is a large range of products and
services for consumers to choose from, and for the provider there is increased
competition. The competition among companies and even countries has become
heightened, in order to earn a share of the commercial global market. Here,
branding has become more important for people’s perception, in order to
differentiate between products and services.
Historically,
countries have built their nations’ brand identity through a combination of a
variety of national images; such as currencies, anthems, flags, costumes and so
on (Dinnie, 2008). According to this image, nations have always linked
themselves with their national icons. However, such images might not always be
affirmative and may be limited or outdated. In a number of instances the image
associated with a country does not reflect or support the nation’s best
interests, or their development (Anholt, 2006a; Kis, 2008). Consequently,
countries have encountered and adapted new ways to promote and identify
themselves in a more stylish and visible form, so as to attract more tourists
and direct foreign investment; or to promote their exports and services through
strategic marketing strategies, indicative of the weighty impact of global
market, and these are called, “Nation Branding”.
Objectives: This thesis will be valuable in that it will
identify the notion of nation branding and investigate the nation brand in
Oman, studying current stakeholders’ views on “Branding Oman”; more
specifically, this thesis has three main goals as follows: 1) To determine the
agreed relevance of “Branding Oman” for the different key stakeholders: i)
Review and identify key stakeholders in “Branding Oman”. ii) Review and
evaluate the “Branding Oman’’ sectors. iii) Identify Branding Oman challenges.
2) To find out the key stakeholders’ views towards the current sectors applicable
to “Branding Oman”. 3) To build a successful comprehensive framework for brand
Oman.
Methodology/Sample: The qualitative research approach was adopted
and qualitative interviews were conducted with the “Purposeful Sample”, which
served to narrow the researcher’s search to a more relevant sample to represent
different stakeholders.
Research
Findings: It has been
observed through the researcher's findings that the idea of having four sectors
(tourism, business and investment, IT as well as education) linked to “Branding
Oman” is too much and unsustainable, and will eventually result in a loss of
focus and possibly prove fatal to the project.
Recommendations: the researcher has drawn up a framework to
help the Omani government to support nation “Branding in Oman”.
Keywords: Nation Branding, Country Branding, Nation Brand
Management and Stakeholder, Nation Brand Identity, Nation Brand Image, Nation
Branding in Oman.
* Notes: This paper is based on a Master Dissertation
titled the same, which was edited to serve a need of presenting it as a paper
in the “Oman International Business Conference 2011”, in case you need further
details, please contact the Author on badar.z@hotmail.co.uk
1. Introduction
1.1
Introduction
Globalisation
makes our world one market, meaning there is a large range of products and
services for consumers to choose from, and for the provider there is increased
competition. The competition among companies and even countries has become
heightened, in order to earn a share of the commercial global market. Here,
branding has become more important for people’s perception, in order to
differentiate between different products and services.
Historically,
countries have built their nations’ brand identity through a combination of a
variety of national images; such as currencies, anthems, flags, costumes and so
on (Dinnie, 2008). According to this image, nations have always linked
themselves with their national icons. However, such images might not always be
affirmative and may be limited or outdated. In a number of instances the image
associated with a country does not reflect or support the nation’s best
interests, or their development (Anholt, 2006; Kis, 2008). Consequently,
countries have encountered and adapted new ways to promote and identify
themselves in a more stylish and visible form, so as to attract more tourists
and direct foreign investment; or to promote their exports and services through
strategic marketing strategies, indicative of the weighty impact of global
market, and these are called, “Nation Branding”.
Now here we may
ask a question: is it possible to brand a nation? How can we adapt marketing
theory to the context of nation branding? Would a strong nation brand help a
country to attract more tourists and direct foreign investment and promote
their exports? Who might need to be involved in nation branding? Who are the
stakeholders of nation branding? (Kotler and Gertner, 2002; Dinnie, 2008).
1.2 Nation Branding in Literature
1.2.1 Country of Origin and Nation Branding
National brands
can help to develop economies and nation branding is a method for expanding
market access at international levels (Abimbola, 2006). Country-of-origin (COO)
product and service such as airlines, education, consultancy and retail
services has the power to alter the perceptions of people and business (Hoenen,
Karunaratna and Quester, 2005; Stanton and Veale 2009). While country image has
been discussed widely in terms of the relationship between the COO and the
product-country in literature, recent branding studies include all the
characteristics and even the assets of the country which are identified as the
nation such as political, economic, geographic, cultural as well as the history
of a country and involves the characteristics of both the product and the
producer Pasquier (2008) study as cited by Dinnie (2008). Although the
relevance of COO to establish nation branding is huge, it cannot stand alone
due do the perception of consumers. Anholt and Hildreth (2005) posit the view
that, what we have gained from the COO or made in labels is only symbolic of
the value or class of the product. In fact, COO perceptions may change over
time and it is the role of nation branding to manage change in a sympathetic direction
(Dinnie 2008).
1.2.2 Destination Branding and Nation Branding
In the context of destination branding, there
are at least three different kinds of destination branding used for different
types of brand identity with different objectives regarding the destination.
Firstly, a geographical location nomenclature where place becomes a name for a
specific brand or, for a production process, such as a generic name. For
example the archetype is the sparkling wine ‘Champagne’. Second, product
associate place co-branding, which place is linked with the quality of local
products image as for example Swiss Watches. Third, destination branding can be
treated as a form of destination management, which is based on the idea of
changing the perceptions of places held by a specified user group, as an
example “urban renewal including the creation of an identity with its own
experiential value” (Lee 2009, p.28)
(Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 2005; Lee, 2009).
However,
branding a nation is not the same as promoting tourism (Anholt, 2004) or
branding a destination. It is a much greater and more complex branding
phenomenon (Anholt and Hildreth, 2005). Nation branding includes other tangible
and intangible elements such as people, foreign investment, culture and
heritage, exports and politics (Dinnie 2008; Anholt, 2004; Anholt, 2005) (See,
Fig.1 Anholt: Nation Brand Hexagon).
Fig.1 Anholt-
Nation Brand Hexagon
Source:
(Anholt, 2005).
1.2.3 Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding
While the
concept of nation branding and international public relations moves clearly
towards interface, branding and public diplomacy appear strange to some
diplomats. According to (Melissen 2004, p.27) “This state of affairs does not
make things easier for diplomats” They comment that nation branding in the
business-sector cannot be embedded in the concept of public diplomacy
(Melissen, 2004). However, he strongly believes that nation branding must
improve as a concept for assessing modern diplomacy in the broader framework (Melissen,
2004).
1.2.4 Nation Brand Managements and Stakeholder
In the context
of nation branding, any company or organisation operating within a country can
be a stakeholder even the individual citizen residing in the country can be
viewed as a stakeholder (Dinnie and Fola, 2009). In addition, Dinnie (2008)
insisted on the importance of the principle of inclusiveness as all the related
stakeholders have a fully-inclusive stakeholder FIST approach (See Fig.2). It
can be seen from the FIST approach framework that the government is a key body
of the diverse variety nation branding that aims to harmonise the nation
branding activities with a full variety of stakeholders. At this stage, The
Brand Management Organisation (BMO) is indispensable for nation branding, which
should be established through governments as coordinating body for all
stakeholders (Dinnie, 2008). The BMO should be established in independent form
so that the BMO can posit a long-term nation brand strategy which cannot be
driven off track whenever a new Minister is appointed (Dinnie, 2008).
Fig.2: The FIST (fully- inclusive stakeholder)
approach.
source
:( Dinnie 2008, p.188).
For other
countries that have little awareness or recognition, they can apply the second
approach actual state, or programme specific inclusiveness to achieve a concept
in their nation branding activities. This is a much more realistic and actual
method, rather than an ideal approach form (Dinnie, 2008). Many countries have
applied this method with specific sector programme and specific target market
strategy such as Brazil ‘Brazil IT’ with IT sector in the USA market, Icelandic
‘IN’ with exports in the North American and France ‘The New France’ to improve
and attract new business and increase inward investment into France (Dinnie,
2008). (See example Table 1).
Table 1:
Example for specific sector programme and specific target market strategies
Source: (Dinnie 2008, p. 191).
Once the relevant various stakeholders are
recognised, differentiation as groups will be possible to start appropriate
associations and communications with each group (Sheehan and Ritchie, 2005)
Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997) as cited by Dinnie and Fola (2009). In addition,
it is important to identify differentiated stakeholders as either most
important or less important stakeholders (Sheehan and Ritchie, 2005).
Research Purpose and Objectives
Research
Problem
The Sultanate of Oman has recognised the importance of nation
branding. In 2005, Oman took the first steps to branding the country by
approaching brand consultants Landor to conduct a research study with the
essential aim of discovering how Oman could best brand herself on the global
stage? The Landor (2005) research study concluded by proposing a three
year implementation plan and recommended four elements of brand architecture to
form a distinctive identity system for Oman. The four elements are tourism,
business and investment, IT and education, to be identified as key “Branding
Oman” sectors. Early in 2009, and after four years the Brand Oman Management
Unit (BOMU) was founded, based on Landor’s research study on marketing Oman via
the “Branding Oman” sectors, which are tourism, business and investment, IT and
education.
There is huge
debate and controversy in the “Branding Oman” sectors, which are tourism,
business and investment, IT education, in terms of their number as well as
their readiness to promote and market Oman on the global stage. Therefore, the
primary purpose of this thesis is to investigate and determine the agreed
relevance of “Branding Oman” amongst different key stakeholders in terms of the
readiness of the sectors and how the Omani government can establish a nation
brand in Oman?
Research
Purpose and Objectives
This thesis
will be valuable in that it will identify the notion of nation branding and
investigate the nation brand in Oman, studying current stakeholders’ views on
“Branding Oman”; more specifically, this thesis has three main goals as
follows:
1.
To determine the agreed relevance of “Branding
Oman” for the different key stakeholders:
i)
Review and identify key stakeholders in
“Branding Oman”.
ii)
Review
and evaluate the “Branding Oman’’ sectors.
iii) Identify Branding Oman challenges.
2.
To find out the key stakeholders’ views towards
the current sectors applicable to “Branding Oman”.
3.
To build a successful comprehensive framework
for Brand Oman.
Research Questions
1.
How can the Omani government establish and
build a successful nation brand in Oman?
2.
To what extent do the different stakeholders in
“Branding Oman” agree on the “Branding Oman” sectors?
3.
Which of the “Branding Oman” sectors are
currently ready to apply “Branding Oman”?
2. Methodology
2.1
Research Approach
In the case of Oman, three studies have been discussed on academic
research in branding Oman. However, the study of previous research in relation
to branding Oman suggests that this thesis is the first study of its kind in
Oman, perhaps in the entire Gulf region.
In this thesis one of the researcher’s goals was to build a
comprehensive framework for Brand Oman.
2.2 Research Method
In this research two research methods were utilised regarding
secondary data research and primary data (See Table 2). In terms of nation branding, studies can be
found from four different sources under COO, destination or place branding and
recently under national identity as well as public diplomacy; as the literature
of nation branding is still in its infancy (Fan, 2006) and the concept is
somewhat confused. Therefore, secondary and primary data research is necessary
to understand the notion of nation branding and why countries apply this
concept. Secondary data approaches may also help as a “starting point in
defining the actual research that needs to be conducted” (Shiu, Hair, Bush and
Ortinau, 2009, p. 142).
Table
2: Primary and secondary data used in this research.
2.4
Research sampling procedure
A stratified
random sampling (purposeful sampling) was conducted in this thesis that could
provide rich inputs into the study. Thus, 21 interviews and 2 focus groups were
conducted. Interviewees were from different sectors of “Branding Oman”
stakeholders in Oman: (See Table 3 in Appendix A). However, only 15 interviews
and one focus group were used in this thesis.
2.4 Data Analysis
In this study
the voice recording technique has been used. Therefore, all interviews were
transcribed and the researcher had to edit them to ensure consistency with the
research questions and also the possibility of objectives on the road to
analysis. It is necessary to set all data by reducing and accumulating it to a manageable
size in order to summarise it to seek out themes and patterns (Saunders, Lewis
and Thornhill, 2009) through the medium of coding. The coding technique is very
helpful for retrieving and organising the data into themes in a way that speeds
up the process of analysing the data (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Denscombe,
2007). It is also helpful to separate the massive body of data to that which is
necessary from each line in each transcript by given a coding word for easy
analysis.
3. Research
Findings and Discussion
The discussion
in this part is based on the data collected through interviews with key
stakeholders in “Branding Oman” in Oman. The Power and Interest matrix (See
Fig.3 in Appendix B) is presented to implement swift identification of the key
stakeholders in “Branding Oman” and then to analyse to what extent those key
stakeholders are important to “Branding Oman”.
In this
chapter, the researcher presents the answers to the research questions posed in
this study. The research questions were:
To what extent
do the key stakeholders of “Branding Oman” agree on the “Branding Oman”
sectors?
The theme of
this question is; i) Identification of key stakeholders in “Branding Oman”; ii) Review
and evaluate respondents' perceptions of the “Branding Oman’ sectors, sector by
sector.
Which of
“Branding Oman” sectors are ready to utilise as current applicable sectors for
“Branding Oman”?
The theme of
this question is; Evaluation of respondents' perceptions in “Branding Oman” as
sectors become ready
How can the
government of Oman establish and build a successful nation brand in Oman?
The theme of
this question is; respondents' views regarding the Branding Oman Management
Unit BOMU challenges. This is answered by drawing a conclusion regarding a
comprehensive framework for Branding Oman in the conclusions and
recommendations chapter.
3.1 Determine the Agreed Relevance of “Branding
Oman” Among Different Stakeholders
3.1.1
Identification of Key Stakeholders of “Branding Oman”
Most of the respondents identified the key
stakeholders of “Branding Oman” as the; Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Ministry of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of National
Economy and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry as currently acting in the
high-power, low-interest and also in low-power, low-interest categories. It was
suggested that key stakeholders should be in the high-power, high-interest
category.
R5 said: “High-
power. Ministry of Information is an influential ministry. It has always been
low interest, simply because of the quality I see coming out of that. So it is
powerful but it does not communicate [about] what the brand should basically
entail and show”.
R6 on the same
issue said:
“Well, that is hard to say because, honestly,
until now, I have not seen or [encountered] any activities being done by this
ministry for the implementation of the brand. While Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, they are responsible for this, and they are the ones who are actually
chairing the brand committee, and the brand unit is reporting to the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry. But myself, I have not seen any activities yet
indicating that they are interested in going ahead with this or they have not
shown. Therefore, they are still there…at low power, [low- interest], but they
have to become [high-power, high-interest]”.
Respondents
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have identified themselves as having
considerable influence and a high-interest in external “Branding Oman”
activities:
“We [were] actually among the first ministries
which dealt with [Branding Oman through] the OCIPED. In each diplomatic corp we
invited the head of the OCIPED, to give a lecture to our new diplomats that are
going to be posted abroad, so they know everything about OCIPED, they know about
Branding Oman… that they work as ambassadors for them. So, this [represents] a
high level of power, because we are going to spread [information] around most
of the region which we cover … Maybe what we are doing is not enough, only
lecturing our young diplomats who are going to be posted abroad. We have
high-power and we have high-interest because one of the main roles and new
roles for any Ministry of Foreign Affairs is promoting trade. I mean, foreign
policy is our daily bread and butter, but promoting is a new concept for the
whole Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For example, in countries like Australia and
New Zealand, all the new ambassadors have to serve for their first year in the
ministry of Trade so that they know about trade; they know how to promote the
brands of their countries, before being posted abroad. So, their first mission
is not the foreign relationship but to promote their countries. So, this is why
I think we can be best located in the … high-power and high-interest
[category]”. While, R16 suggests that
Oman Air resembles the “…I think Oman Air is one of the main pillars that will
play a very big role in terms of promoting Oman and Branding Oman”. In
addition, respondents from the Oman Air company explain its role, thus:
“As the national carrier, we have a
responsibility to promote Oman. What do we do? We are [located] even closer to
the embassies on the same premises… [This is] because it is the total unit that
we are talking about; Oman, as one unit so, definitely high-power in the sense
that high-power means high responsibility as well, and then, it is in our
interest”.
In addition,
R2, R4, R5, R8 and R14 focus on the contribution of air lines as holding
considerable with a vested interest in promoting other countries by providing a
good example of the role of the national carrier in promoting and branding the
region.
R8 gives his
real experience with Oman Air:
“When I was flying last time from here to
Jeddah, I was surprised to see Indonesian passenger. They flew from Indonesia
to Kuala Lumpur [And] had to transit in Oman in order to go to Jeddah, and that
was a strange phenomenon for me, to find people flying by Oman Air… for a
transit or to go to another destination. Today let me tell you, with Oman Air
flying to Kuala Lumpur, everybody knows where Oman is” (R8).
Only one of
respondent from Ministry of Sports Affairs identified potential networked
stakeholders involved in branding Oman; such as the Ministry of Sports Affairs
and Oman Air with Ministry of Tourism, “…we have already started with tourism.
We have many joint projects together especially when it comes to nature-related
sports, track and field, triathlons, biking, mountain climbing, and car racing.
The Beach games of 2010 are a joint effort as well”.
Obviously,
these ministries are very power full ministries not only in nation branding but
in regards to any project. Most of the respondents believe that they are key
stakeholders and they are very powerful, but they are not interested in
“Branding Oman”. Nation branding can occur only with the combined key
commitment of the government, and the private sector, and it is a highly
politicised activity (Anholt, 2005; Dinnie, 2008). Especially in the case of
the nation brand Oman.
There is an
evidence from above that collaboration is absent between the stakeholders,
although these stakeholders (here described as respondents) believe in the
importance of those organisations as key stakeholders and identify them as
potentially moving from a high-power, low-interest to high-power, high-interest
category (See Fig. 4) as well as cooperating and communicating with each other
for build and establishing “Branding Oman”.
Fig. 4: The
respondents identified the key stakeholders of “Branding Oman” The Power and
interest matrix
3.1.2.1
Evaluate the “Branding Oman” tourism sector between stakeholder respondents
There is a
consensus between stakeholder respondents that tourism will play the biggest
role in nation branding in Oman. R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R9, R10, R12/1FG2 and R16
have similar view in times of the geographic characteristics “Oman [has]
different geographic views, let us say from the beach to mountains, to the
valley, to the desert; so Oman has lots of areas for the tourist. So this I
think is the main sector for branding and promoting Oman” (R12/1FG2).
R9 and R10
added the perceptions in people’s minds with Oman “…when you say Oman, Oman is
more related to the nature and all that and that is why I think tourism is more
active” (R9).
In terms of the
sector, R10 notes that “… tourism is very key ... Oman, I think, identified it
as one of their key areas and they wanted it to contribute 3% of Oman’s economy
before 2020. It has eclipsed that easily now. It is way beyond that already”
(R10).
R1, R2 and R5
similarly concentrated on the aspect of tourism to build identity and when
asked what type of tourist market Oman should aim to appeal to R2 said:
“Tourism of course we all know that Oman is
endowed with very good natural resources and heritage and so on. So far we have
closely looked at tourism as an important … sector that depends a lot on
branding. … We need to preserve our national identity. We need to, in the mix
of all this branding and promotion, not to forget that there is a big culture
and heritage that needs to be preserved. Because that is going to be the
product that we are going to be able to sell [to] tourists…we do not want to
sell Oman as just a modern cosmopolitan city like other countries are doing. We
want to reflect and sell Oman as a country that preserves its heritage, has
natural resources, and has a lot of outdoor activities and adventure tourism
that is appealing to a certain type of tourists. Those tourists are very aware
of the need to preserve your ecological balance to really help your environment
and not impact [on] it negatively and this is the tourism segment that we would
like to attract” (R2).
And R5,
wondering what kind of tourism Oman wants to focus on, said:
“… [Is it] Cultural tourism, educational
tourism, sports tourism, medical tourism … takes for example, Malaysia Tour
Asia campaign. [The] first thing that comes to mind is it very much driven
towards tourism, purely tourism. But Malaysia today is trying to influence
their campaign towards medical tourism and educational tourism. They want people
to go and live and study in Malaysia. They want people to go for medical
treatment. So their brand is evolving and changing… Today, Oman cannot claim to
attract people for medical tourism. It just does not work. … The characteristics of how our brand
identity will influence the sector has to be debated more and more and more
with the stakeholders”.
Tourism or
destination branding is one of the main elements of nation branding and brand
identity of the country (See Fig.1 in chapter 2 Anholt: Nation Brand Hexagon).
It is most visible facet and competent is the marketing force concept of a
nation brand (Anholt, 2005). The visual image of tourism can effect and impact
on many other sectors in the country (Anholt, 2005; Dinnie, 2008; Aaker, 1996).
The Omani
people are very aligned with their culture as R5 and the other respondents
mention. Mass-marketing Oman as a tourism destination is undesirable to the
Omani government and society. Therefore, the approachable strategy for tourism
in Oman is to focus on developing it as a ‘boutique’ destination (as R11
mentions); specialising in experiential holidays with resorts targeting niche
markets.
3.1.2.2
Evaluate the “Branding Oman” Business and investment sector between
stakeholders’ respondents
Business and investment
is one of the fundamental pillars of nation branding, which is critical too
much of the nation branding architecture (Anholt, 2005; Dinnie, 2008) (See
Fig.1 in chapter 2 Anholt: Nation Brand Hexagon).
R1, R3, R10 and
R16 believes that there is no doubt the business is one of important element
for “Branding Oman”
R1: “We
are seeing the potential of [business in] Oman. The opportunities …comparing
ourselves to neighbouring countries and our laws are ready. We are more
liberal. We can give up to 100% ownership. We can be a market for not only Oman
but for the other GCC countries. We are strategically positioned between east
and west, so India is our next door [neighbour and] China is not far away. So,
we are in the Indian Ocean marine …”
In terms of COO
Oman can compete in the services sector as it has a competitive advantage due
to the geographical location of Oman:
“…we are strategically placed in fantastic
area. We can do business with East Asia, the Gulf … and also Africa through …
ports and airports. Now, this is what I call [an] inherited competitive
advantage, which is our positioning. So, that maybe could be an area where
brand Oman could…hit the ground running so to speak… I believe is… that this is
the way forward towards branding Oman on the intrinsic competitive advantage
that we have” (R13).
Another example
of COO services sector is Oman Air. As the national carrier, Oman Air can play
a significant role in promoting Oman on an international level. A respondent
from the Oman Air company illustrates and gives an example:
“…As the
national carrier, we have a responsibility to promote Oman… I think the role a
national carrier plays is so important. There have been debates. When it comes
to Singapore, whether Singapore develops Singapore Airlines or Singapore
Airlines develops Singapore. You know, they are the last to find out because
the role that both these organisations play is so crucial … Singapore was
positioned as a modern model for developing countries and it is a developed
country today; in terms of business, in terms of shopping, in terms of luxury
living, everything. So, Singapore Airline was also positioned as a unique,
safe, reliable, comfort, luxury airline. The destination matches with the
airline. If Singapore Airline is not reliable, [The question is] when you visit
the country, if it is reliable? If Singapore Airline is not luxury driven, you
know it is basic”.
R5 believes
that people may judge countries on their airlines:
“What did Air Emirates do for Dubai? It was one
of the key ambassadors. What is Etihad doing for Abu Dhabi?... Qatar for
example, Qatar [Airways] is a powerful brand. Qatar Airways and what Qatar is
doing in that whole experience. What is it doing for Qatar? So you can argue
airlines always go hand in hand with creating an image. Sometimes you might
judge a country simply by the experience of going on their airline” (R5).
From both
examples we might say a national carrier acting as COO can change people’s
perceptions of a country. In addition, BOMU could use Oman Air as a tool for
Branding Oman.
On the other
hand COO as product has always effective in altering the country’s perceptions
and evaluation; R8 believes Omani products have a powerful ethos an example of
Omani product R1:
“I think Amouage, yes. I can say easily,
Amouage they have reached, they became an international brand. [I will] tell
you a story. Once I was studying in UK. This was a long time ago, in '89. I had
a colleague from Brunei and when I came to get leave… he said to me, can you
please bring me Amouage…which means they had reached him”(R1).
However, these
success stories have to be prejudiced towards the right channel R10 said:
“There are real success stories in business
within Oman, but one of the problems is [they are] a bit reluctant to speak up.
There are some prime examples such as Reem Batteries, supplying all the
batteries for transport in London, the buses. Things like that which never
really got a result [as] the recognition was not there” (R10).
Clearly, there
is a relationship between the perceptions of national carrier customers and
those in the country. COO can affect and respond to both individual people and
businesses (Hoenen et al. 2005; Stanton and Veale 2009). Therefore, Oman Air
can be a key stakeholder as well as a significant strategic tool for Branding
Oman.
In addition, R11 touched one of the most
important elements of branding, which is brand equity. The example of Singapore
and Singapore Airlines reflects the extension of brand equity in terms of
uniqueness, safety, reliability, comfort and luxury at both levels, example for
Singapore as a country and for its airlines.
This is one of the ways might BOMU and Oman Air can collaborate to
gather for branding Oman.
3.1.2.3
Evaluate the “Branding Oman” IT and education sector between stakeholders
respondents
Most of the
respondent’s views related to the salience of IT and education as sector, but
they were unsure how IT and education can be linked with, branding as most of
the respondents supported R13 in concerns over: “[Education and IT] I am not to
clear on to be honest”.
R7 pointed out
and suggests how these sectors can applicable in Oman into two strategic
concept level. “I think this is… the initial objectives that you want to
achieve to promote Oman in terms of a business sense and tourism then either IT
or education that comes later.” (R7).
This may
explain why R7 and R5 divide branding Oman sectors into two levels; the first
level defines the tourism and business sector as currently applicable sectors.
The second level involves IT and education, for the future, as relevant to
strategic long-term involvement that would be applicable to all sectors.
This sector
needs targeted marketing strategy to be able to succeed initially, then it will
be linked with “Branding Oman” as an image and managing it effectively,
otherwise the brand will become damaged as occurred with IT in Brazil (see the
Country Case insight –Brazil in Dinnies’ book (Dinnie, 2008)).
On the other
hand, some of the respondents have pointed out that the there is something
missing in the “Branding Oman” sectors for example R4 said:
“…of course sports [is] usually a very strong
branding element… sports we know [works as] for example in countries like
Brazil, if you say the word Brazil people know it from football branding, their
football team. [This] would [be] the case for any country. If Oman were to
become associated with any sport, for example sailing, and then offer a
national or international tournament I am sure this would help in the branding”
(R4).
In addition, one of the respondents believes
that culture can play an important role in “Branding Oman”, due to the cultural
heritage and historical diversity of Oman from folklore, music, historic
districts, food and costumes. His point of view was most vivid and convincing:
“Why would people come to Oman? To stay in a
hotel, to sunbathe, to go diving? Fine. Or do we want to create more of an
enriching experience when it comes to culture, when it comes to the music, the
art, the museums, etc. all of that. Can Oman play a role? We have the right
ingredients … Heritage and culture. But someone would debate that under tourism
as well … It depends on how you look at it. But I think culture in its holistic
essence is important for Oman. Because if you talk about folklore, if you talk
about music, if you talk about a seafaring nation, the culture is rich ...
Culture is not IT. Culture is not business. But it can be education. It can be
tourism. If you were to highlight a sector for Oman which [could] be a key
pillar for our brand identity as well, I think it will be tourism, business,
and culture” (R5).
Sports,
cultures, histories, architectures, folklores, music, foods, costumes and many
other dimensions are fundamental characteristics of national identity According
to Dinnie (2008) it is the internal assets that represent the brand quality of
a country and it is important to bring out competitive advantages in nation
branding. In addition, Dinnie (2008) suggested that these characteristics and
features of national identity should be used to build nation identity
initially, because these characteristics are the real root and essence of the
country and therefore national identity can be used to endorse brands (See
Fig.4 in Appendix C).
3.2 Evaluation / Examine respondents'
perceptions in Branding Oman as readiness
In terms of
which one of these four sectors tourism, business and investment, IT and
education are best placed for “Branding Oman” respondents were divided into
three different views in general. However, the best prepared sector most
respondents voted for was the tourism sector.
R13 said:
“Tourism, I mean Oman is a place blessed with
fantastic, you know diversity, in terms of scenery and in terms of surface
structure. We have wadis and we have mountains, we have green land, we have
beautiful beaches, you know whatever you want in the sun except snow and that
is the advantage that we have”.
The second
sector selected was business and investment. R7, R12FG2 and 4, R15 and R16
believes that business is more ready to partake in branding Oman:
“… because we are already set up for it; all
the laws are already with us. Infrastructure for the business is already with
us … and also the location of Oman is a good location. So, all the pillars for
promoting investment or businesses in Oman are available here in Oman.” (R16).
While the most interesting views came from R2,
R5 and R14. They believe none of these sectors are ready to be involved in
“Branding Oman”.
R2, R5and R14
argues that none of the sectors are ready:
“Well … competition in the industrial
manufacturing is very high and the innovation is lacking in Oman. So, if I am
not competing well and if I am not innovating, and improving my product I risk
losing the market I do not see much change happening on that front so therefore
I feel that I am unsure if Industry can [be]the flagship for branding Oman… we
still have problems with most of them, ok. I think this starts with the
requirement of a clear strategy towards the development of each of them… all of
them require further definition; they require further clarification about what
specific strategy we want to follow in each and what sort of incentive packages
or promotion that we want to follow” (R2).
In terms of the
IT and education sector none of the respondents believe that IT and education
are ready and prepared for “Branding Oman”.
R14 summarises
the argument by saying:
“… it is not about being ready or not ready I
think it is about having one clear strategy that the main stakeholders will
choose to adopt and some of [those] main stakeholders in brand Oman are, the
OCIPED, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
and I think if these stakeholders can have a unified … strategy or promotional strategy for the
country it will help speed up the adaptation towards the new national branding,
and it will also increase of the chances of Oman becoming well known
internationally” (R14).
3.3 Branding Oman and BOMU challenges
R1, pointed out
a very important issue in terms of the Branding Oman Management Unit, as
regards the place and position of the organisation in the Omani government
“…until now there is no law which enforces Branding Oman. This must be clear.
We have to know that there is no law or there is no decree yet which enforces
Branding Oman” (R1).
Most of the
respondents have a similar view, as R14 states:
“I am saying that the unit is not an issue. The
unit, or the department, or centre, forget the names. It needs political
support. They have to fly, they have to sell their brand, and they will not do
it if they are under OCIPED... and as I said it, this should be linked with a
cabinet if possible if they want to fulfil their mission… you need really to
have full support”.
Here, the CEO
of Brand Oman Management Unit highlights a very important managerial issue and
calls attention to all the stakeholders that their collaboration and
contribution with BOMU is essential;
“…because nation branding is a holistic
exercise. It is not about one unit changing the whole world. You cannot do
that. You can have people who drive a change with certain beliefs. We are not
ministry X Y Z. We do not claim to be doing their job. We are about a concept
that would do better for country, but we need to work with them to make a
difference. If they do not want to work on this concept, then there is not much
we can do” (CEO of Brand Oman Management).
It is clear
that “Branding Oman” and the Brand Oman Management Unit have big challenges
ahead, not only administratively or financially but in many areas. The concept
of nation brand needs to be believable for different stakeholders; at first to
involve different stakeholders to draw up the overall vision, values and
promised expectations of nation branding for the different of stakeholders. In
addition, Dinnie (2008) argued that brand management organisation is an
essential issue for any nation’s branding success and it should be established
in a strong independent organisation so that the BMO can collaborate and
communicate with different stakeholders on points concerning strategy.
4. Conclusions
and Recommendations
4.1
Conclusion
This concluding part will be divided into four sections. In the
first section, the researcher will present the key issues that emerged as
implications so as to address two of the research objectives. In the second
section, the researcher will identify how the government of Oman might best
establish and build a successful nation brand in Oman as a recommendation
framework for “Branding Oman”. This will be followed with a presentation of the
limitations of the research. Finally, the researcher will offer suggestions for
further research.
4.2
Key Issues to Emerge Implications
The purpose of this thesis was to determine the relevance agreed of
“Branding Oman” for different stakeholders. Specifically, in terms of
identifying the key stakeholders of “Branding Oman”, as well as reviewing and
evaluating sectors such as tourism, business and investment and IT, as well as
education as “Branding Oman” as sectors; with the aim of addressing which of
these sectors is currently in a position to actively participate in “Branding
Oman”, according to the key stakeholders’ perspectives.
It has been observed through the researcher’s findings that the
idea of having four sectors (tourism, business and investment, IT as well as
education) linked to “Branding Oman” is too much and unsustainable, and will
eventually result in a loss of focus and possibly prove fatal to the project.
This has resulted in a direct link in terms of the readiness of each sector.
The findings show that two out of the four sectors are by some means ready
(tourism, business and investment), although Landor’s study in 2005 indicated
that none of the four sectors are ready to participate fully in “Branding Oman”.
On the other hand, it has been clearly observed that some of the
key stakeholders of “Branding Oman”, such as Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Ministry of Information, Ministry Foreign Affairs Ministry of National Economy
are from the government sector and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry from
private sector have not been identified in right category in terms of the Power
and Interest matrix (See Fig. 4 in chapter 3), as they appeared in the
high-power, low-interest group whilst they should have appeared in the
high-power, high-interest group. This explains that the lack of readiness
amongst the four highlighted sectors has resulted from the low interest shown
by key stakeholders.
In addition, it
has been observed that although nation brand initiative has a representative in
Oman (Brand Oman Management Unit), it still lacks sufficient support from the
government and other stakeholders. The unit operates under OCIPED which itself
operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, so it lacks independence.
Also, it has been noted that the relationship between that unit and other
stakeholders is not strong as it lacks enforcement and power. This is
illustrated by the type of cooperation, in terms of complying with nation
branding strategies communicated by the unit, which is currently voluntary
rather than compulsory.
4.3 Recommendation Framework for Nation Brand
in Oman
This section
will answer the last question posed by this thesis “how can the Omani
government establish and build a successful nation brand in Oman?”
Throughout the
literature and findings of the research the researcher has drawn up a framework
to help the Omani government to support nation “Branding in Oman”, as shown in
Fig.5.
To start building on success with “Branding Oman”, the Omani
government needs to implement 5 main steps. In the first dimension (dimension
A), the government should focus on building a successful Nation Identity. This
can be achieved through; (Step1), which focuses on building a nation identity
for Oman through the promotion of those national characteristics which already
exist in Oman, such as culture and heritage as endorsed brands, which can be
uniquely linked with tourism. They should also enhance the geographic and
location based characteristics of Oman in terms of business.
This stage would be followed by linking the nation identity to
Country- of- Origin as defined in (step 2). This would be done by linking
either services or products with the branding identity; for example by linking
culture and heritage with handicraft products, focusing on COO through tourism
and using Oman Air as a tool to create nation identity. As a result, Oman would
more readily be viewed as a cultural and heritage tourism destination. Another
example for the business and investment sector is to focus on the geography and
location as nation identity characteristics of Oman, as COO serves as a hub for
the transfer of goods from the Ocean to the Gulf and neighbouring countries
meaning that Oman can readily promote COO to serve as a destination for
business. By linking nation identity and the concept of COO, a successful
nation branding strategy can be achieved (Anholt, 2005; Fan, 2006; Dinnie,
2008).
From the other dimension (dimension B), the government and key
stakeholders must support BOMU to achieve its goals. As in (step 3), the Omani
government has to believe in the concept of nation branding and support the
Brand Oman Management Unit in terms of giving the BOMU power and support in the
form of resources. These forms of support can be financially based or expertise
based: either by allocating in the cabinet and seeking to acquire the best
talents or/and employing international consultancy firms for branding.
After establishing strong and powerful brand management, the BOMU
as a further step (step 4) has to identify all the stakeholders from the
different sectors. This can be achieved by different methods, such as placing
different stakeholders in different sectors in their relevant category in the
right power-interest category using the Power and Interest matrix.
Only after the creation of a strong brand (BOMU), the final step
(step 5) will be used to pick out and apply relevant marketing strategies for
the sector by adopting a focused targeting and marketing segmentation approach.
However, as indicated, adopting the idea of linking many sectors to nation
branding in Oman has proven to be intolerable, the government should be focused
on one or two sectors only. Selection of those sectors should be based on their
readiness. Furthermore, there should be more focused targeting on the selection
of a particular sector. For example, if tourism as well as business and
investment were to be selected due to its preparedness, it would be more
appropriate to focus on and target this segment specifically in the case of
tourism. The same applies when focusing on business and investment. For
instance, many countries have applied this same process to a specific programme
and specified a target market strategy, such as Brazil ‘Brazil IT’ introducing
the IT sector into the USA market, Icelandic ‘IN’ with export products in North
America and France ‘The New France’ to improve and attract new business and
profile target investment countries such as the UK, the USA, Germany, China and
Japan (Dinnie, 2008) (See Table 1 in chapter1).
Of course,
selecting appropriately focused segments will be determined by further detailed
studies, which will indicate what the best segments in each sector are and what
the best marketing strategies are in the case of each segment. So the key
elements in terms of branding Oman are not tourism, business and investment, IT
and education but rather a specific target market strategy.
Fig.5. Recommendation Framework for Nation
Brand in Oman
4.3 Limitations of the Research
The research
presented was subject to three main limitations. First of all, as with any
qualitative research, the findings cannot be generalised. This study was
specifically studying and evaluating the nation brand in Oman, which is a
country with unique characteristics. As a result, the analysis cannot be
generalised to any other country.
Secondly, the
sample used was a “Purposeful Sample”, which served to narrow the researcher’s
search to a more relevant sample to represent different stakeholders. However,
this may have resulted in disregarding some relevant stakeholders that should
have been included.
Finally; the
researcher experienced difficulty when gathering relevant literature for the
literature review chapter because work in this area is very limited, especially
in the area relating nation brand and stakeholders, which was the key study
area for this research.
4.4 Suggestions for Further Research
Although the
research could clearly indicate the main four sectors for nation brand in Oman,
it was clearly specified in the recommendation that linking all the sectors to
nation brand has proven to be unbearable. The recommendation suggested a more
focused targeting of a specific segment in the case of at least one of the two
sectors. To achieve this, further research and studies need to take place to
confirm the most important sectors to focus on, and in particular which
specific segment from each sector needs to be addressed. This should follow a
detailed research approach to uncover different sectors readiness, which should
be based on facts and figures rather than on the impressions of different
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Appendix A
Fig. 3: Power and Interest conceptual matrix
Source:
Adapted from Jagun (n.d.)
Appendix C
Fig.4: Building nation brand architecture (NBAR)
Source :( Dinnie
2008, p.200).
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