The human stock market

We all know one humnan life isn’t worth the same as another. The media remind us of that all the time. For instance, last year 40 people died in Afganistan courtesy of a suicide bomber. 40 is the number of Afganis that need to die in one go to make front page news. If it had only been 20 it wouldn’t have got the same coverage. But if there had been just 5 Americans in that market. Boom! The story would have blown up.
I wonder if there is a ranking system set up somewhere where mathematicians and media experts work together to rank the most valuable of us in terms of centimeters of newspapers space and seconds of TV coverage?
Grim thought I know. But say it did exist, then I bet ya it wouldn’t be long before people worked out how to make money off it by betting on different nationalities moving up and down the ladder.

How do you sell a country?

I worked on the NZ Tourism pitch at M&C Saatchi in 99. The winning work was pretty predictable. Postcard style shots of pretty scenery. Ironically the pitch started with the client saying that’s what they didn’t want, but a look around the world shows it’s the standard creative solution when you’re selling a country. If you have castles or temples you can wack a few of them in as well and ideally you finish it off with a short snappy line like ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’.
I know the Australian campaign ‘Where the bloody hell are ya?’ got a rough reception when it came out. It was viewed as crass and not appropriate to air in some places, but I liked it. It worked within the same framework as the standard tourism advertising, but they managed to inject a real dose of Aussie personality. For my money, the new Baz Lurhman work lives in that predictable ‘lets make the destination high brow and sexy.’ But it really only sells rich people on the idea they need to get out of the city and go for a swim. The huge amounts of money and flash DOP have washed out any real Australian character. And no, I don’t count a half naked barefoot aboriginal girl as Australian character.
As the fight for tourist dollars intensifies, nations are going to have to dig a bit deeper for a unique voice and a way to get noticed in the ‘come and visit us’ clutter.
The challenges facing the UAE are interesting. Rather than a national brand, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been blazing separate paths. I understand a national campaign is planned and I am sure it will be laden with camels, coffee pots and falcons, but lets be honest, that is not what a holiday in the UAE is about now, and the developments happening around the country mean the Arabian nights angle will be even less relevant in the years to come. This is perhaps one of the only holiday destinations in the world where a tourist can spend a whole week and not even interact with a local. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just the reality, but what the UAE is working hard to create is a place that will be a must visit destination. A few years from now a holidaymaker’s itinerary could read something like this. A visit to recreated French town, a pyramid, the world’s largest indoor ski field, the first Ferrari theme park, a water park, the Guggenheim, the tallest building in the world and tons of shopping centers. UAEverything. How about that for a positioning.
Here are a few thoughts that might work for some other places.
Sex sells so I don’t think Brazil need to look further than, ‘Visit the country that gave us the Brazilian.
People are becoming increasingly weight conscious, so maybe France should go with – ‘French bread, French fries. There’s so more to us than carbs.’
Afghanistan – You’ve tried the biscuit you’ve seen the hound, now visit the country.
Or. We’ve been fighting over this place for hundreds of years. Come and see what all the fuss is about.
Nigeria. Visit and we’ll stop sending you emails.
Cambodia. We got rid of Gary Glitter and we’re working on the landmines.
America. We got rid of George Bush.