Syria Today | Branding Syria

Branding Syria

Words Sarah Birke

“Incredible India”. “Malaysia, Truly Asia.” “Nothing compares to Egypt!” And then there is Syria. Although the country is attracting growing numbers of tourists, it remains one of the few countries without a tourism brand: neither a universal logo nor a slogan. The British-Syrian Society estimates 90 percent of tourists come to Syria via word of mouth. Advertising experts now say a strong brand could greatly increase the number of visitors passing through the gates of Damascus each year.

So why does Syria fail to have a branded identity? The lack of familiarity with the concept of advertising is one reason, according to Ali Mahmoud, creative director of the Damascus-based Keybrand advertising agency, said. “Branding is new to Syria,” he said. “It was not part of the social system mentality. It is a free market idea and it is taking time to catch on.”

Expense is another hurdle. “It costs a lot to promote a country, millions of dollars per year, and the government doesn’t necessarily have the funds when there are competing expenditures,” Mahmoud said.

While the marketing department at the Ministry of Tourism failed to respond to interview requests for this article, figures released in 2007 show the ministry is making a more concerted effort to promote Syria as a tourist destination on the international market.

The ministry’s marketing budget has gone up by 250 percent in recent years, from SYP 80m (USD 1.7m) in 2006 to some SYP 280m (USD 6m) in 2008. Last year, Germany received the largest allocation of promotional funds with SYP 11.5m (USD 246,000) being spent in the country. The next biggest allocation went to the UAE, where SYP 8.2m (USD 175,000) was spent. The ministry also has the stated goal of “achieving a distinguished tourism identity on the global tourism map”.

How much of this budget is dedicated to specifically branding Syria – creating a set of images, moods, expectations and feelings among potential foreign visitors – is unclear. Most marketing efforts seem to be scattered, focusing on tourism fairs and individual marketing campaigns targeting specific countries, rather than a broad branding initiative.

Million-dollar question
Iyad Krayem, managing director of advertising agency JWT in Syria, believes developing a brand for Syria is more challenging than most other countries. “Syria is such a rich country in terms of history and culture,” he said. “How do you encapsulate 6,000 years of history, as well as contemporary and religious attractions? By choosing certain aspects to emphasise, you neglect others.”

Mahmoud said he would sell Syria on its historical mix of civilisations. “Think of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus – it was a Roman temple, then a church and now a mosque. That is Syria’s unique selling point over similar countries such as Egypt. It is the unique selling point that must be stressed. We shouldn’t try to compete with the Pyramids.”

According to Branding Syrian Tourism, a survey carried out in 2006, historical attractions are the biggest draw for foreigners to Syria, mentioned by 77 percent of respondents. The low cost of holidaying in Syria came second, followed by landscape (39 percent), climate (32 percent) and people (27.2 percent). In last place was services (3 percent), an area Syria knows it needs to improve if it is to attract more tourists.

“From a visual branding point of view it is not an easy country,” Mahmoud added. “In terms of a slogan, which should express the soul of a country, I would go for something like: Journey Through Time.”

Krayem agrees history is important. But with other countries making similar claims, he would build on something that is more uniquely Syrian, like being the heart and mind of the Arab world when communicating to fellow Arabs, or the beautiful simplicity and authenticity that his country exudes when communicating to the more developed world. Syria has always been at a crossroads, both in terms of geography, time and culture; another attribute that can be capitalised on.

“How to brand Syria is the million-dollar question,” Krayem said. “The ‘big idea’ is the most important aspect of the branding and needs to reflect positively on all the different types of relationships that people have with Syria, whether social, commercial, recreational, religious or even political.”

Different audiences, however, visit for different reasons, further complicating the development of a brand.

“Tourists from the Gulf countries like Syria for its climate and food,” Krayem said. “People from Europe, the USA and Japan like the ruins and the history. And Iranians come on pilgrimage.”

Competing aims
When designing any brand concept, designers write down a list of words related to the item in question. These ideas are then translated into colours and shapes. The visual motifs may be merged or one dominant element may be picked to be the logo. The slogan reinforces the logo and should sum up the unique selling point, rather than be generic.

Mahmoud found competing aims a challenge when his company was hired to design Moldova’s brand and logo.

“Countries find it hard to focus on their strengths rather than what they want to be seen as,” he said. “We thought we should emphasise Moldova’s beautiful rural countryside and its position in Europe, but different parties in the country wanted different things, so we ended up with the more generic: Discover Us.”

Assuming these challenges can be overcome, how much would a brand really do for Syria? Paradoxically, part of Syria’s charm is its lack of branding, the sense that it is still an unexplored land.

Despite this, a brand is incredibly important, according to Mahmoud. “The two key points are consistency and frequency. This makes people associate with the brand and it sticks. Then when they think of where to go on holiday, it pops into their head.”

Krayem said it goes further. “A brand also gives tourists an idea of orientation, of what to expect, which can be comforting.”

This would help in a region associated with political volatility. Countries such as India that pose more risks to tourists than Syria are not associated with danger. More relevant to Syria, Egypt and Jordan have flourishing tourism industries and the mental association of beaches and Petra dilutes the negative aspects of the Middle East routinely shown in international news bulletins.

“The image people have of Syria is of conflict and Islam,” Mahmoud said. “That is due to a lack of communication from Syria and its failure to promote a different image. Syria has one of the lowest crime rates in the world and fewer terrorist attacks than Egypt, but if you don’t tell people anything about yourself they will let their imagination run.”

With one strong brand, supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Syrian Airlines, the Ministry of Information and other interested parties, backed up by a communications campaign involving print media, the internet and television adverts, Mahmoud and Krayem believe Syria could easily compete with Jordan and Egypt to become the Middle East’s most popular tourist destination.