They say, when you are determined to achieve something, no one can stop you from achieving that! And this holds true for Canada. We can see, Canada is one of the most developed countries in the world and anything we discuss on the global level, the North American country cannot be barred from the discussion. Canada is one of those nations that are omnipresent in every aspect of development.
After being placed in 12th and 6th positions in the year 2006 and 2007 respectively, as a coveted country brand, Canada did not take much time to exhibit its level of determination and passion to achieve the top slot on Future Brand’s Annual Country Brand Index. The country’s 2008 and 2009’s performance as it jumped from 6th (2007) to 2nd place was itself a rewarding achievement.
The latest FutureBrand Country Brand Index placed Canada at the top position as the most respected brand in the world. The report was shocking, given the country has outdone its neighbor United States and at the same time, it gave us a chance to ponder over the strategy it has relied on to reach this point.
There was no denying that Canada over the years has evolved as one of the major tourist destinations in the world. But, hardly one did imagine to this extent that the country someday would beat a nation like United States in this race. So, an insight into their high-level strategy would be motivating for every country. Mind the time extent- Canada took just four years to prove itself as the most coveted tourism brand!
Reaching the top in an extremely competitive tourism marketplace was not a cake walk for Canada. Way back in 2005, the country launched the new tourism brand, “Canada- Keep Exploring” and it proved effective for the country by helping the latter bounce from 12th to 6th and then 2nd to top tourism brand in a small time span of four years only. The Canadian Tourism Commission implemented the strategy very cleverly by taking the advantage of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
The 2010 Winter Olympics was an opportunity for Canada to showcase its tourism brand to the world with an investment of whopping amount on ad campaigns, funded by the federal government that were run across many media in all countries. The strategy was proven which resulted in tripled flight bookings to Canada when compared to the bookings of 2009.
Canada intends to stick to its Olympics strategy till the end of 2012. The above can truly be insightful as a case study as well as a lesson for other nations when it comes to branding. This clearly projects that there are many more surprises in the nation’s kitty in years to come!
