Please re-brand the Botswana brand

Editor | Tuesday April 27, 2010 00:00

Then it had a strange tagline: 'Opportunity and tranquillity beckons'. Anybody who had heard about Botswana's stable democracy and unsurpassed peace would agree that the tag phrase captured that. But it certainly would have failed to attract the attention of anyone on the other side of the globe.

A number of people argued then that Botswana was selling to investors what they were generally not worried too much about. Yes, they want peace and democracy, but more importantly, they want opportunities in business, diamonds and other minerals, the wildlife and good prospects for agriculture.

Then you have the tourists from the Americas, Europe and Asia who, it was argued, would find nothing compelling about the Botswana brand.  Now, ostensibly having realised that, indeed, the catchphrase is not up to scratch, the Botswana Export and Development Authority has changed it to: 'Our Pride, Your Destination'.

While the new catch phrase uses simpler and more accessible English, it still is eluded by that 'oomph' that is required of a brand; something to make it stand out from that woodpile of material from copywriters around the world.

How does that compare, for example, with South Africa's 'It's possible!' or Ethiopia's '13 months of sunshine', Maldives' 'Sunny Side of Life,' Latvia's 'Land that Sings' or even Alaska, P.S 'B4UDie'?

These are, without doubt, high impact brands. The taglines' were quite clearly designed to elicit curiosity and cause whoever comes across them to want to know more about the country and eventually take action.

We believe BEDIA can do far much better than the commonplace catchphrase that it is now given Batswana . 

Perhaps it is time BEDIA reworked the whole brand thing from the logo to the catchphrase.

Any Motswana sitting in a restaurant or a hotel in the heart of Mexico City or Rome, or in a cruiser ship should feel proud when an advert with the Botswana brand flashes on the television screen.

Not only that, any potential investor or tourist should be inspired to want to be here. That brand should say, in a simple catchphrase and easy to understand colours, why this country is unique.

It should engender an emotional reaction from the audience and it should motivate people to want to visit the country or set up businesses here. More importantly, Batswana should be proud to be associated with the brand.

                                                                         Today's thought                     'I have a very strong opinion that brands get in trouble when they lose focus of who they are.'

                                                                       - Jill Lajdziak