Berlin as an Interesting Mix of Old and New Culture and the Negative History of the Place - Research Paper Example

What do we think when we think about London? We think about it as the place where democracy was born or perhaps of Big Ben. When we talk about Paris, we think about art and architecture. When we think about Mumbai, we think about it as economic capital of India where largest film industry of the country is located. What are we associating the name of the city with? We think about that one particular characteristic of the city which is distinctly associated with that city. Today when we think about branding a place or a city it is not merely from the tourism point of view. In other words attracting tourists is not the only objective of branding a place and hence it is rightly termed as “Destination Branding” in the marketing terminology. Before we go ahead with destination branding let us first understand the concept of community branding. Community branding helps in creating a distinct identity for the people residing in a particular area with respect to their habitat, lifestyle, customs, culture, art and architecture in the area, finances, industry etc. and impact of all this on the people residing in that particular community. For branding of the community, the community has to be particularly aware of its own positive and negative points and what it wants to project for the outside world. Community branding forms the basis of the destination branding. It is rightly said so because character of a place is decided by the people who stay in that place and hence projecting of the right image or brand becomes easy if the identity of the community goes hand in hand with that of the city or the place. Today we are going to specifically consider the destination branding case of the city Berlin. Berlin as capital of Germany was divided post the second world into two parts. Eastern Berlin was controlled by the communist government wherein the western part of the country was governed by the democratic government. Throughout the era of cold war and post cold war till the country got unified there were several undercurrents that flowed in the society and dominated the thinking of the people. We need to understand the historical trends in the country and especially the city because we have to decide a distinct image or identity for the place. Brand is the value that is associated in the mind of the customer when he or she thinks about that particular product or consumer good. The value that is associated could range from quality of the product, features that are associated, price, self esteem or social value etc. Also we need to understand the difference in brand identity and brand image first. Brand Image – is the impression in the consumers' mind of a brand's total personality (real and imaginary qualities and shortcomings). Brand image is developed over time through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme, and is authenticated through the consumers' direct experience. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-image.html accessed on 26.04.2010) Brand Identity – are the visible elements of a brand (such as colors, design, logotype, name, symbol) that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers' mind. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-identity.html - accessed on 26.04.2010) We also need to look at following definitions while considering destination branding: 1. The first is the organic image that is formed by our general awareness of the place through influences such as media coverage, books, movies, family and friends, and educational studies. This organic image is even more potent if the city has a long, interesting history, distinctive cultural fabric, outstanding natural wonders, or is a major population, business or political center. 2. The second stage is formed by the marketing induced image which as its name infers, is mainly shaped by marketing communications, such as advertising, public relations, Websites, brochures and sales presentations. That is, it is built through promotional messages in addition to the organic image or basic awareness of the place. 3. The third stage is the experiential phase where the image is enhanced by the person’s first-hand encounters. Every community that attracts leisure or business travelers will experience this stage. (Pg 4, Chp. 2 The Challenges and Rewards of Branding Places, Destination Branding for Small Cities The Essentials for Successful Place Branding By Bill Baker) For a place to get successfully branded it has to have a right connection between the first and the third image. The second image is projected hence is artificially created. However the third image is the actual experience of the visitor to the place and hence the first image has to coordinate with the third one. So when we consider Berlin we have to determine two things for the city first. What is the impression in a person’s mind when he thinks about Berlin and what is that is distinct to the city which is visible and instantly associated with the city landscape. Developing a unique image and identity for a particular city would encompass every feature pertaining to the city. The challenges pertaining to destination branding are: 1. Every city is a complex city. It would have various patterns and fabrics which truly could not be gauged as one single unified product. It becomes a difficult decision for the inhabitants to determine what to project and what all to project as a brand value factor in building a brand for the place. 2. Apart from this destination branding people do not have direct control over the components that build the image for the city. 3. The governing body of the city may want to project the city as a place of art but the place does not in reality match up to the expectations. This is a simple example of varied interests and perspectives that every stake holder will have when it comes to branding decisions. The view points of social organizations, tourism departments, residents of the place, central government and the local governing body, industrialists, hoteliers etc would be diverse and dominating when it comes to branding decisions. 4. With all these factors and stake holders dominating the scene, determining key features would in itself present as a problem. 5. The success of the brand destination is not hosting international events, or festivals, or glorifying the local festivals for attracting business. This strategy in fact plays a boomerang in destination branding. It is not that it proves to be unsuccessful but constantly subjecting people to festivities is going to create a problem in the normalcy of life for the people. Residents of the city even if admit that it could boost the economy of the pace would be glad to return to the normal life which is lost in the artificial festival environment. 6. With diverse values and factors ruling the fabric of the city it is very difficult to unify and focus those values in one direction and build a meaningful representation of the place. More than often we observe that the core values could be clashing within themselves as well which further creates a problem than any assistance. However there are also various advantages of destination branding to the city as well the community it has: 1. Destination branding results in greater returns on investments for community marketers, which means attracting more business through tourism. 2. The messages that go to the outside world are clear, consistent and uniform. 3. All the sectors in the society especially the business sector acts in unification and it provides an image to cater for to these businesses. 4. With the increase in positive image building and loyal efforts, lopsidedness of the history can be corrected or balanced. No place has a history which is completely positive or negative. However the balance could be struck with cultivated positive efforts. 5. Every stake holder in the society tends to benefit from the destination branding. Although each of them may have diverse views and perspectives, unified efforts for building an image for the place definitely results into an advantageous position. 6. Not to forget that the city builds the self esteem of the society and the society builds the image of the city. Both mutually benefit from each other. There is immense pride in being associated with a particular place and that in itself boosts the morale of the people. The emotional ties strengthen and the returns given to the city are multiplied. Positive approach society always results in attracting attention which is positive from the world. With this in mind let us now look at developing the destination brand for the city Berlin of Germany. To establish or design a brand for the city first we need to know the history of the city. History of Berlin All over Europe with the industrial revolution the economic equations changed drastically. Although Germany was one of the last countries to join the armament race it was still aggressively ambitious resulting into the system of alliances which eventually led to the World War I. Post the world war angry Germany retaliated by unifying under third Reich and progressing rapidly with the fire of the most aggressive nationalism. The conditions led to World War 2. After the war ended only 2.5 million of Berlin’s original population had remained. Berlin was later divided into 4 parts each controlled by Britain, Soviet Russia, USA and France. Eventually only two held the major control between them; USSR and USA. Eventually the capital of East Germany shifted to Bonn but Soviet Russia maintained her hold on the city of Berlin. Later when the wall of Berlin fell the unification was welcomed from both sides of the wall whole heartedly. Although the unification was a moment of togetherness and happiness, it caused economical and social problems to the city which are still not over. There are several problems faced by Berliner to project them as a destination brand. The first and foremost problem is the suspicion with which the world still views of the activities of Germany. Having a history of the most militarist, aggressive, ambitious and Nazis, Germany as a nation has a very dark past. It is not easy to project a positive image for the country and especially Berlin. That is because no one can deny that the centre of all these activities was Berlin being the capital of the nation. With the unification of East and West Germany the economy is still trying to build itself to its full stature. This has led to image crisis for the city. Considering this situation Berlin will have to carefully build its positive brand image. The biggest challenge for the city is to accept the negative as well positive about itself and move on. The destination branding efforts would have to be tremendous when it comes to Berlin. We will have to accept that no other city in this world would have to face a dilemma what Berlin does. With every activity under microscope every small opportunity also needs to be grabbed for projecting itself to be a positive brand. The unemployment levels are at a high in Berlin. Population needs to be convinced of the future which is another challenge to face. Berlin is an interesting mix of old and new culture which needs to be highlighted while building the image foe the city. The identity of the city though lies in the monuments which represent the negative history of the place, are nonetheless monuments of history. Hitler’s Bunker Remains of the Berlin Wall Today there is a conscious effort of creating a Destination Brand for Berlin. Irrespective of the black history the city has got, it seems today that the world has moved on from the atrocities of World War 2. Today Berlin is the destination for industry, art, employment and positive attitude towards life. With the shifting of government offices from Bonn to Berlin German government highlighted the shifting of axis to Berlin. Berlin today is an interesting mix of old and new. But even when modern Berlin is being made there is still a museum of Jew Holocaust which tells the terrorizing stories of Nazi concentration camps. This goes to prove the unusual fight the city will always have to fight of coming to terms to its own past and still hoping to create a better and positive future. Holocaust Museum Berlin Potsdamer Platz 1 The city today is the centre for arts and architecture. With industrial major such as Sony coming to Berlin indicates that the attraction is created for the industry. MTV shifted its headquarters from Munich to Berlin and even Daimler chose Potsdamer Platz in Berlin for setting up of its plant. Today’s Berlin is the classic mix of old and new. For establishing the brand identity and image of the city various stakeholders and actors are actively participating in the reconstruction of brand of Berlin. City architects and planners are designing a fluent and choreographed architecture which is a beautiful mixture of old and new. Berliners take tremendous pride in the fact that they belong to a socially progressive city. Berlin today binds the marketing induced image with experiential image for the average tourist. Tourists world over have a negative image about Germans and German culture. However after visiting Berlin the organic image takes a backseat. Berlin comes across as a pleasant surprise to the person visiting the city. Even then one has to exercise caution while viewing these changes in Berlin. The FIFA world cup was a spectacular event presented by entire Germany together. The theme of the world cup was “It’s time to make friends” which was very inviting to the world outside. The theme clearly indicated that Germany wants to be forgiven and is ready to move on. Naturally being the centre of this new movement Berlin benefitted tremendously through the campaign. However the football fever was also created and hyped. Not all factors were in favor of the propaganda. Many of the voices were conveniently ignored or were not let come to surface. The then government chose to be silent about them. The playing on the football fever proved to be a successful strategy as it garnered all the attention that was required. However no one else other than a Berliner would appreciate keeping in mind of the history that went wrong because of pushing in the wrong direction. The image crisis of Berlin would continue as the city will never come to terms with its past. The courage that is on display at the moment to accept and let go should not prove to be an emotional trick on the block. Or is it that the effects of isolation from the world have played a major role in creating a need which wants the world to accept the city as its own? All these questions directly question the destination branding efforts of the city. Although in marketing and brand building one has to constantly move on and have a trick up the sleeve, Berlin still needs to exercise caution. That is simply because any failure now will have a direct connection to the past it so desperately wants to overcome. With economy still not so stable, unemployment still a great concern, do branding efforts like FIFA really hold the mud? Most thinkers in the city would not necessarily agree. So far the sustained branding efforts are paying results to the city residents, so everything seems to be hunky-dory. It is very difficult to believe that all the stakeholders would be happy with the way Berlin is projecting its image, but everyone at the moment seems to take the differences in stride which is not so good sign for the brand of the city. Local governing bodies, central government all have a different idea about the way the image of Berlin is to be projected. Even when these differences are considered one cannot overlook the success Berlin has achieved in building its name and brand again. Perhaps Berlin would prove to be a sole example of successful rewriting of definition of destination branding. References: 1. Page 60 – 61, Meting the Destination Branding Challenges – Nigel Morgan and Annette Pritchard, Destination Branding- creating the unique destination proposition By Nigel Morgan, Annette Pritchard, Roger Pride, Ed 2 Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Linacre House, Jordan Hill Oxford, OX2 8DP, 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington, MA 01803. 2. http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Berlin-History.html (accessed on 26.04.2010) 3. Pg 4, Chp. 2 The Challenges and Rewards of Branding Places, Destination Branding for Small Cities The Essentials for Successful Place Branding By Bill Baker www. Destinationbranding.com (accessed on 26.04.2010) 4. Ares Kalandides, Fragmented branding for a fragmented city: Marketing Berlin. www.geography.dur.ac.uk/conferences (accessed on 26.04.2010) 5. Pg 2 Twenty Benefits of a Strong Destination Brand By Bill Baker www. Destinationbranding.com (accessed on 26.04.2010) 6. http://member.tripod.com/~BDaugherty/berlin/history.html - History of Berlin (accessed on 26.04.2010) 7. The reunification of Germany and its aftermath - http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_reunification_aftermath.htm (accessed on 26.04.201o) 8. The History of the Berlin Wall 20 Years After German Reunification http://germanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/a_brief_history_of_the_berlin_wall 9. Berlin: Historic Values Published on: Sunday, July 01, 2007 Written by: Trista Winnie http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/berlin-historic-values (accessed on 26.04.2010) 10. http://www.germany-tourism.co.uk/EGB/attractions_events/museums_tlmuseum-id1045-fstadt_museum_main.htm (accessed on 26.04.2010) 11. Kavaratzis, M (2005) Place Branding:A Review of Trends and Conceptual Models, The Marketing Review, 5: 329-342 12. Monuments in Berlin World Heritage http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin Read More