Advertising a country

As everything else in life – products, people, ideas – any country can become a subject of marketing. All countries who desire to attract foreign attention for tourism or investment or simply to enhance their image sooner or later use marketing techniques. In the past 25 years the marketing policy of the product Bulgaria was chaotic, weak as a concept and with inadequate financial support. This seems to be changing in the last couple of years. The country’s branding has become more constant as a message, logo, and communication channels. It is not the topic of this blog to discuss the appropriateness of these elements. I would like to rather concentrate on the new spot, which has been just announced. You can see the spot here.

Let me make an analysis of the spot’s main components. First, I would like to specify that this is not a standard 30’’ spot. It is rather an infomercial which will rarely be aired on TV as such. Instead, its main purpose seems to be used at fairs, exhibitions, online, etc. My guess is that a 30’’ spot will be produced later on as a cut of this infomercial.

Concept: the spot is a hybrid between a celebrity endorsement and an expert recommendation (as these movie stars have worked in Bulgaria and have direct experiences). In theory the sum of these two parts should be bigger than the value of the separate parts. Whether this is the case should have been tested in a pre-production test with the target group. My assumption is that the main target group consists of foreign tourists. The spot is a joint project with New Boyana Film Studios (the name of the studio appears), so one would assume that the secondary target group are movie producers who could eventually make business in Bulgaria.

Problems and questions:

• Linking the name of the country with that of the movie studio is definitely more advantageous for the latter. The idea to simultaneously promote two brands is not good and can only confuse the audience. This for me is a key issue with this spot.

• Most actors in the spot were huge stars in the 80s and the 90s. How does this choice match to the dynamic nature of the spot and will the target group recognize these stars as “theirs”?

• Some of the interviewees are not household names. Will their testimony be taken as significant by the target audience?

Execution: the spot begins with a time-lapse technique, whereby the speed of play is accelerated many times. This undoubtedly creates a dynamic mood. On the other hand, this technique is already quite banal. The beginning of the spots reminds a lot of the header of House of Cards, Season 3.(see here).

Problems and questions:

• Some of the shots are not appropriate. When Sylvester Stallone says “Bulgaria is the place to be!” and looks around to survey the smoking remains of an action movie prop (one would assume they come from The Expendables 3), the message is, mildly speaking, confusing. The background of desert rocks behind Antonio Banderas is also not very appropriate.

• Some scenes are unrealistic. The idea to use static backgrounds behind Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas does not work and is not in line with the dynamic beginning. Also, adding a young woman with a scarf in the scene with Salma Hayek and Adrien Brody in order to add a whiff of “authenticity” is naïve. Has somebody recently seen a young woman with a scarf on the streets in Bulgaria?

Message: the main message of the spot is “Bulgaria is the place to be”. I have listed chronologically the supporting celebrity statements:

• People are nice and food is great (Salma Hayek)

• I feel well here because people are friendly and professional (Antonio Banderas)

• The country’s geography is great for shooting movies (Tom Kirk)

• People are very nice and kind (Adrien Brody)

• We can shoot any kind of movie here (Lew Weldon)

• The team is great and I am enjoying myself (Shohreh Aghdashloo)

• Bulgaria is the place for creative people (Alan Segal)

• People are charming and smiling (Jason Statham)

• Bulgaria is the place to be! (Sylvester Stallone)

Problems and questions:

• Did you already notice the main problem? Practically all statements are related to the people of Bulgaria, and they are practically missing from the spot! There is not a single close-up of a smiling Bulgarian face. In other words, viewers cannot see themselves what they have been told about the country. This mistake will undoubtedly have serious consequences for the spot’s effectiveness.

• The other serious problem is linked to the already mentioned mixing of the brands. This is also obvious in the messages above. Does an ordinary tourist really care about the fact that some people make movies in Bulgaria? Or that the teams of New Boyana Studios are very cool and professional? I think not. It is a common truth that actors go wherever the studios send them – in other words where it is cheaper to film. The contradicting statements only contribute to the confusion which he actual main message is.

I would like to sum up by saying that this spot should reinforce Bulgaria’s main advertising message “A discovery to share”. In other words, the spot should give the target audience another reason to come to Bulgaria, find new things about the country, and share them with other people so they could come too. In principle to invite Hollywood celebrities to share their Bulgarian discoveries is a good one and could work. Unfortunately there are too many faults in the concept and the execution. These faults do not allow this good idea to realize its full potential. The direction is right but much more attention should be paid to planning and the actual implementation. Last but not least, one should not mix state and private business as it is so often the case in Bulgaria.

My score for the spot: C-