[ Investment > Straight From The Heart ]

iolent labor strikes and rampant demonstrations. Seething anti-American sentiment. A constant state of nuclear tension...

  Chances are, if you tell an acquaintance or colleague from another country that you live in Korea, the above images will be evoked. ¡°You live in Korea?¡± they ask incredulously. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried? Do you really feel safe there?¡± My answer is usually a nonchalant, ¡°Yes, no, and absolutely.¡± An uncomfortable silence follows. One can almost see the questioner thinking, ¡°Is he all there?¡±

  Of course, those who do hold negative views of Korea cannot necessarily be blamed. After all, a cursory glance at three of this morning¡¯s international newspapers at the time of writing (June 19th) include a full color photograph of a demonstration, captioned as being in front of the American embassy (actually in front of City Hall ¡ª the demonstrators were kept well away from the embassy), coverage of a corporate scandal, and a range of stories on North Korea. And these stories are not fiction ¡ª although the picture caption did contain a factual inaccuracy. Yes, there have been anti-American demonstrations, yes, a range of scandals has rocked the corporate landscape and yes, North Korea is menacing.

  But are these troubles unique to Korea? During the Iraq War and its build up, there were demonstrations against the war in American allied countries in Europe and in America itself. Tear gas has not been used in this country for over five years, and corporate scandals are by no means restricted to Korea. While there are, indeed, tensions with North Korea, the lack of street crime in Seoul makes it a safer place, 24 hours a day, than any Western city I have ever visited. And regarding North Korea, I can¡¯t better Bill Oberlin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) who noted in a recent article in this very magazine: ¡°The Korean people have lived under the threat of nuclear war for over 50 years while building one of the most dynamic economies in the world.¡±

  Those are the negatives. How about positives? Economic growth this year is likely to be in the 3.5 percent to 5 percent range, depending upon which economist you believe. These are big numbers in an economy that is the 11th largest in the world. There has not been a single case of SARS in Korea. Pro-American demonstrations have taken place alongside anti-American demonstrations. North and South Korean rail links were connected last month. And so on, and so forth. But because these are not disasters, few of them make the news.

  We can¡¯t blame the press. The old saying ¡°No news is good news¡± when inverted, is a guideline for any journalist, as is the definition of news as ¡°something that interrupts the flow of normal life¡± ¡ª usually negative events. How, then, to disseminate the good news about Korea?

  In recent years, countries attempting to promote themselves globally have looked to the corporate world as an example and adopted the concept of promoting their countries as ¡°brands.¡± An article in the influential magazine, Foreign Affairs stated:

  ¡°The traditional diplomacy of yesteryear is disappearing. To do their jobs well in the future, politicians will have to train themselves in brand asset management. Their tasks will include finding a brand niche for their state, engaging in competitive marketing, assuring consumer satisfaction, and most of all, creating loyalty.¡±

  It helps if we define what a brand is. To the general public, it is the ¡°swoosh¡± on a pair of Nikes, the patch on a pair of Levis. To those in the marketing communications field ¡ª market research, advertising, PR ¡ª it is much more. A generally accepted definition is: ¡°The set of perceptions that exist in the mind of the stakeholders about the company, product or service.¡±
  ¡°Stakeholder¡± is more inclusive than ¡°consumer¡±: a company may wish to influence an audience as wide ranging as its own staff, government regulators and investment fund managers rather than simply focusing on consumers.

  When discussing a nation ¡ª a much more diverse and complicated ¡°product¡± to brand than a commercial entity, product or service ¡ª we can identify three broad groups of international stakeholders we wish to influence. These would be: potential buyers of Korean products, potential investors in the Korean economy, and potential tourists. Thus our branding strategy has three tasks: Export promotion, investment promotion, and tourism promotion. And we might add one more, very broad category: the creation of a sentiment of goodwill among the world¡¯s public towards Korea.

  Brand Korea: The Brand Equities
  So when it comes to the national brand, what assets ¡ª ¡°brand equities¡± ¡ª does Korea have to leverage, when communicating to stakeholder groups in the three main areas?

  Exports
  Korea is home to a range of world-class players. Examples? Samsung Electronics ¡ª the fastest growing brand in the world according to this year¡¯s influential BusinessWeek/Interbrand survey; POSCO, the world¡¯s most productive steel maker; Hyundai Motors, which has seen its exports soar in recent years, and which last year broke ground on a plant in the United States. Korea¡¯s industrial portfolio features a balanced mix of old industries ¡ª petrochemicals, shipbuilding, autos, steel ¡ª and new ones such as mobile telecommunications devices, TFT LCDs, semicons, etc.

  Investment
  Korea has strong economic growth prospects this year and next. It is home to a young, highly educated, techsavvy and extremely energetic labor force. It boasts a superb national infrastructure and a vibrant democracy. Its 48 million consumers have a per capita spending power equivalent to Western Europeans. Its location at the crossroads of Asia, astride the sea and air routes that link Northeast Asia with Southeast Asia, and East Asia with North America is strategically sound. Location (and cultural familiarity) makes Korea an ideal bridgehead to the China market.

  Tourism
  Korea features a compelling mix of the ancient and the ultra-modern, a lively culture, an exciting cuisine, diverse shopping opportunities and spectacular landscapes. It is also a high-tech leader. There is plenty of scope for niche tourism: winter sports, mountaineering, hiking, martial arts, etc. The ¡°Korean Wave¡± of home-grown pop culture currently sweeping Asia - represented by movies, TV shows, music, gaming and animation - is proving a huge bonus for the nation, especially in China. Koreans have consistently demonstrated dynamism and passion in everything they do. What¡¯s more, Korea¡¯s location at the crossroads of Asia and its emerging status as an air transfer hub means it should be able to lure tourists bound for China and Southeast Asia, as well as attract visitors directly from Japan and China.

  Brand Korea : Brand Building
  So how can Korea communicate all this good news? When we look at the way a corporate brand is built and managed, Korea is actually doing much of it already.

  CEO Positioning
  CEO positioning is an important part of a company¡¯s brand; consider how much General Electric, Microsoft and Virgin have used the charisma of CEOs Jack Welsh, Bill Gates and Richard Branson respectively ¡ª Whether intellectually or instinctively, the national CEO ¡ª President Roh Moo-Hyun ¡ª is doing an excellent job.
  Korean companies do a pretty good job of export promotion themselves. The fact that LG, Samsung, Hyundai are household names in much of the world is evidence of that, but they have recently gained an ally in the highest office in the land. When Mr. Roh visited Washington, accompanying him was a large delegation of Korean businessmen. Now that government and business have been effectively de-linked from the collusive relationships of the past, it is entirely appropriate for the private and public sectors to cooperate in promoting Korea. The success of the Bush/Roh summit should also silence those who considered President Roh to be anti-American. Indeed, in the wake of the summit¡¯s success, the influential American investor Wilbur Ross was quoted in the global press as considering upping his investments in Korea.

  Investment Road Shows
  The government has also undertaken investment road shows to the United States and Europe and has used the classic PR tactic of recruiting third-party endorsers: on Mr. Roh¡¯s visit to the USA he was also accompanied by a delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

  Event Promotion
  The highest-profile sporting events in the world ¡ª the Olympic Games and the World Cup ¡ª have both been hosted here, in 1988 and 2002, respectively. The first marked Korea¡¯s coming out party as an industrial player. The second showcased Korea as a young, hip, hi-tech society. Later last year, Busan, Korea¡¯s second city, hosted the Asia Games ¡ª again, to great acclaim. The small town of Yeosu on Korea¡¯s south coast fought to host the 2010 World Expo. It lost at the last round to mighty Shanghai ¡ª but still managed to beat competing cities from Poland and Mexico, and even beat Moscow into third place. At the time of writing, the town of PyeongChang is competing with Vancouver and Salzburg to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. PyeongChang¡¯s message is compelling: ¡°Spreading Winter Sports throughout Asia.¡± Korea is very, very good at pitches for major international events, and does an even better job of hosting them. Even with hindsight, it is difficult to see how any of these events could have been substantially bettered. To raise the nation¡¯s visibility in the eyes of all stakeholders, these kinds of events bring untold benefits, regardless of the cost in infrastructure development.

  Corporate Social Responsibility
  Companies undertake charity programs to win community trust. A little-known fact is that Korea every year sends volunteers to assist needy countries around the world. Based on the U.S. Peace Corps, which assisted Korea in the 1960s and 1970s, this program generates significant goodwill. Korea has also dispatched peacekeepers to Iraq, Central Asia and East Timor.

  Advertising and PR
  Advertising ¡ª notably tourism promotion ¡ª is one area where Korean communications do seem weak. I find it irksome that Korean TV ads portray the Korea of 100 years ago (women in hanbok, old men doing calligraphy, traditional dances, palaces, temples, etc) rather than the Korea of today. Apparently, tourism authorities think it¡¯s fine to pitch the Yi Dynasty to Westerners while pitching the modern, cool Korea to regional tourists from Japan and China. Media buying also seems a little skewed: why broadcast ¡°Visit Korea¡± ads over domestic channels? And I have yet to see ads that promote Korea as an investment destination (although regional governments are beginning to do this). Regarding PR activities, there seem to be few media familiarization tours or outreach programs undertaken by government bodies to promote the different sectors, areas and aspects of Korea in targeted international media.

  Brand Identity
  This is, perhaps, where Korea¡¯s promotional efforts are most lacking: the creation and dissemination of an actual brand itself. Competing countries within Asia/Pacific have developed and adopted a national brand identity, that is, a visual design and a logo that compresses data. Successful examples include ¡°New Zealand: 100% Pure¡±; ¡°Malaysia: Truly Asia¡±; and ¡°Hong Kong: Asia¡¯s World City.¡± Such a brand is key to providing consistency in communications, be it as part of a tourism advertisement in a travel magazine, a billboard ad for investors near Wall Street, or the lapel pin of a business executive.
  There are several threads running through Korea¡¯s key brand equities outlined above that crop up again and again: location, technology, people, dynamism (note that this is simply my take; obviously, market research is a prerequisite in brand creation). These provide a clue to the kind of message that could differentiate Korea from its competitors, and could be centralized and disseminated as part of a core branding strategy. Crucial here is the creation of a national branding office that can set strategy and coordinate the tactics of the different ministries, individuals and organizations involved in promotional campaigns. For when all is said and done, people across the world should have a positive perception of Brand Korea as a whole, rather than segmenting the nation into a source of products, an investment destination or a place for a holiday.
  As it is, there is much good news about Korea ¡ª even if it is, by its nature, not surfacing in the news media. Communicating this good news should be a major task for the Roh administration. If the key figures in the administration follow their president¡¯s example, that task looks likely to be carried out very successfully.

By Andrew Salmon
(Andrew_Salmon@kr.bm.com)

Andrew Salmon
Senior Consultant, Merit/Burson-Masterller
The writer is a long-term Seoul resident and author of the
restaurant guidebook "Seoul Food Finder." Merit/Burson-Marsteller
is Korea's leading international PR firm, having handled campaigns
for the Korean government for the Seoul Olympics, the launch and
branding of Incheon International Airport and the World Cup. The
firm also provided international crisis communications on behalf of
the Korean government during the 1997/98 financial crisis