Proposal for Estonia nation branding

An estonishing concept

Presenting a contribution from a Dutche-Resident with the aim to contribute to the public discussion of positioning and nation branding of Estonia.

Peter Kentie

Managing director Eindhoven365, responsible for marketing and branding of Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

How do others see Estonia?

Identity versus image versus ambition

Why should one care thatEstonia (or Estland) exists?

How does Estoniadifferentiate itselffrom other countries

What contribution does Estonia make in the world?

And who really cares about your country?

A true insight on brand.estonia.eu ..?

Why do you want to brand a country?

In a globalized world in which we now live, every place has to compete for share of mind, share of income, share of talent and share of voice.

So challenge your weaknesses, set goals, create awareness, differentiate and raise your voice.*

*Phonix place branding manifesto.

How to be discoverable and impactful

Key ingredients for effective marketing & communication

It’s all about impact. Global themes matter and local, (very) local differentiation combined with a crystal clear, strong, charismatic and impactful positioning.

What’s creating the real difference? What makes you stand out from the rest? When is it uniquely Estonia - and not Latvia, Finland or even Iceland?

So awareness and real-world impact is neededto achieve Estonia’s state ambitious goals.

Are you truly discoverable off and online… Google Translate automatically translates the word ‘Eesti’ wrongly and shamefullyinto ‘Ireland’ and/or ‘Africa’.

Do something about it EAS, contact Google!

Branding is about focus & consistency…

How to be different and charismatic

Nation branding according to expert Simon Anholt*

“The reduction of a nation’s complexities into single, bite-sized stereotypes.”

In other words: a nation brand is the mix of core characteristics that make a country distinctive, memorable and competitive.

So what’s needed is an effective plus authentic positioning withan integrated campaign to communicate relevant Estonian assets.

*Simon Anholt is the creator of the Good Country Index.

Your ambition: put Estonia on the map

Place branding & positioning process

A place brand defines the image. Place branding is the process.

“Places are, indeed, products, whose identities and values must be designed and marketed.” Philip Kotler, marketing guru.

Estonia key objectives

Make Estonia a more attractive, a better place to live, work and visit. This means making it a better place also for Estonians (and by Estonians).

Attract more businesses and foreign direct investments to Estonia

Encourage recommendation (NPS) of Estonia and enhance nation’s self-esteem

Invite more tourists and increase spending per visit in Estonia

Communicate the greatness and culture that have come out of Estonia

Interest students to enjoy top of the world education in Tallinn and Tartu

Generate impactful, consistent and ‘viral’ brand positioning of Estonia

Create flexibility to develop tailored strategies for all relevant target groups

Capitalize on previous investments in branding, while:

Aligning all marketing/promotional activities into one integrated concept.

Estonia go for it, inspire the world!

The opportunity is in the name: estonia

The essence of this positioning and branding concept is:

Let Estonia emphasize its uniqueness by being the fastest, the coolest, the wisest, the smartest and (even) the unsafest.

Using the special characteristics of the ‘name’ estonia (and also estland)Because the ‘est’ is already in the name of the country and ‘est’ is also in the Estonia ‘welcome to’ logo > A simple solution with huge potential.

A playful and logical next phase of Estonian nation branding, while safeguarding achieved results and enhancing prior branding and marketing investments.

What sets you apart, focus on that. Focus hard and stick to it.A Volvo is safest, a Ferrari is fastest. And Estonia has the ‘est’ all for itself..!

Playful and logical concept

estestestestestest

coolkindfast

smallmod

smart

estonia =

The possibilities are endless

easiestsmartestlongesttoughestbiggestnewestgreatestchillestproudestfunniestprettiest

dearestcleanesthottestblackestwhitestfinestscariestwisestbravestlowesthippest

highestsweetestlightestdeepestsafesthealthiestbusiestcosiestwarmestcoldesthappiest

weirdestwildestloveliest

also:manifestinvestmodestguest

etcetera

What’s creating the difference?

Essence: focus on uniquely Estonian assets.

Unique musical styles: mass choirs to Winny Puhh, Maarja Nuut, EMF & Paiste

Global impactful startups GrabCad, Transferwise, Skype, RealEyes, Lingvist, etc.

Celebrating world heroes from Estonia like Arvo Pärt and Jaan Tallinn/Skype

Digital government: e-residency, e-banking, Wi-Fi everywhere, cyber safety

Most supermodels, e.g. Carmen Kass, Harleth Kuusik & talented Merilin Perli

Wonderful nature, culture, slowest food, history, wildlife & lovely people.

So start to tell & share your authentic and meaningful stories.

Estonia USP: ‘e-state of mind’

Estonia offers a ‘state of mind’, a philosophy that any country, region or city state can follow.

e-Estonia truly inspires the world. It’s a unique way of thinking and acting in this modern digital age, being the est. Going forward, creating a true legacy. Flexible, adaptive and resilient:

just estonishing

Update of known nation brand assets

Name: estonia with emphasis on est

Simple pay off: ‘just estonishing’- ‘just’ as a double meaning Estonian- ‘estonishing’ as a new word for surprising

Witty, positive and intriguing tone-of-voice

Strong authentic images with a clear message

Playful colors in harmony with main image

And no more ice crystal pattern

Concept in visual examples

Visualizations of the campaign concept based on:

Special touristic / country asset of Estonia: “our…” Unique business / global asset of Estonia: “the…” Interest of potential visitor / prospect: “your…”

Key: marketing is more than logos and slogans, it is about campaigning and creating awareness in Estonia and create valuable engagement toactivate your brand to the right target audiences and key markets.

So: Eesti brändikontseptsioon! Here goes:

Distinctive, memorable & competitive!

Brand concept in campaign execution

Visualization of the concept in real life examples:

Life in Estonia magazine and Inflight magazine endorsements. Key: connecting advertising message to corporate introduction text.

Making it simple but significant!

Current endorsement ‘Life in Estonia’

Proposed advertising in ‘Life in Estonia’

Create engaging Estonian web presence

The forward thinking country should have advanceddesigned websites. High tech and high touch combined.Responsive, adaptive and visually appealing.

And in harmony with the ‘est’ campaign, surprising and making the online visitor curious!

Using clear and imaginative visuals, inspiring quotes from visitors and promoting commercial package trips, fitting incentives, pushing your nation’s events and a cool loyalty card proposition.

Key: aligning websites and newsletters

A logical improvement of the website is created for:

visitestonia.comworkinestonia.come-estonia.cominvestinestonia.com

With a consistent navigation bar for all (inter)related websites:

On the homepage: Connecting authentic storytelling to impactful videos and images.

e-Residency convincing online presence

Estonia is the first country to offer e-Residency.So there is a first mover advantage. And the proposition has to be explained and marketed rightly and powerfully.

The global introduction of the e-Residency program is a great opportunity to use the -est campaign as an activation:

Promoting the unique e-Residency program and in it’s slipstream Estonia.

The Estonian government launched e-Residency to make Estonia bigger

To grow it’s digital economy and market with new global customers.

And what e-Residency needs is a convincing, up-to-date and adaptive website!

e-Residency adaptive & responsive website

Support the portal: Investinestonia.com

“Constantly work on marketing the international image.”

Estonia is actively being introduced as an attractive country for working in the framework of ‘Made in Estonia 3.0’.

Focus points of investment promotion website:

Involving foreign direct investments and increasing the export capacity of Estonian companies

Improving awareness of Estonia and its trusted reputation Creating success stories of nation and exporting companies Introducing Estonian companies to exporters and international media

The communication platform for teamestonia could look like this:

Essential the portal: Workinestonia.com

“Estonia’s greatest resource is its people.”

According to the Estonian Entrepreneurship Growth Strategy 2014 - 2020 a number of clear marketing goals are defined:

Marketing Estonia as a start-up destination

Promoting Estonia as an attractive place to work and live in

Promoting ‘made in Estonia’

Therefor the portal ‘workinestonia.com’ has to be of top quality and is an important investment in Estonia’s future branding and great storytelling is key. To facilitate inbound marketing process.

So make it work:

Estonia campaign activation proposals

Concept ideas of the estonia campaign concept for:

Mobile media: #estonishing Eurovision song contest hashtag #est Domain name extension: .est Merchandising products Marketing through sports apparel Endorsement by third parties Public awareness campaigns In & outdoor media Promotion team and loyalty card EV 100 proposal ‘We are the est’

Involving the online & mobile est-fans

Social media is ideal to entice Estonian fansto participate, show their ‘est’ and share.The current social fan base is huge, use this!

The Estonian events are opportunities to create a constant interest all year round, for example your ‘Festival of Colours’. Let them send their hippest content and best reactions.

As an addition to ‘ShakeItToEstonia’ and ‘Epic Estonia’ campaigns, why not create your own Instagram – Estonian style – using the ‘est’ related images:

est = c’est formidable

Idea: ‘est’ version aka estagram.co will be arepository for Estonianfans from around the world sharing theirown images based onthe word ‘est’ or the abbreviation ‘est’ or a language using theword ‘est’ like in French, Latin, Spanish, etc.

est is present in manylanguages. Spot the est!

Eurovision song contest with #est

Branding through domain extension .est

Why not consider creating your own exclusive TLD, Top Level Domain to spread the concept internationally:

.est

By exploiting yourself or outsourcing to third party the .est domain extension the branding concept goes global! Sites like: www.cool.est or www.smart.est have huge commercial potential for Estonia. Reselling the right creates an interesting business case: e.g. Colombia has millions users of .co domain extension.

Estonia has priority with ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee to file for ownership of .est domain extension. A big opportunity to fund the nation branding project!

Branding through domain extension .est

Merchandising & branding Estonia

The concept is easily transferable into playful, attractivemerchandising products and incentives with the charismatic‘est’ brand(ing) and also has strong commercial appeal.Adding to your national pride & creating joy.

Making Estonian fans your happiest brand ambassadors and promoters:at home and abroad, communicating and living your brand promises.

For all your tourists, business partners, Estonian fans anywhere and citizens alike.

For Estonian sportive participation

Design pattern/suit:Anton Repponen

And giftwrapping e-residency in style

Endorsement by third parties

Artist impression of logo adoption.

Ideally the -est thinking is pickedup by influentialthird parties. Inthis example themedia platformbest marketing.

Public awareness campaigns

The -est concept can also be used for general Estonian public communication to raise attention to issues that impact society.

Reckless driving in Estonia issue can be adressed as such:

Branding events and outdoor media

Public space and out-of-home advertising are effectivecommunication tools to enhance the core message.Follow the customer journey with the message:

be our guest

Branding on the Nordica plane

Branding at Tallinn Airport

Branding outdoor > on the bus

Branded loyalty card > for the guestonian

Branding loyalty > proud promoters

On brand presentation at tourism fairs

Entrepreneurship 2016 award branding

The Entrepreneurship business competition issued by EAS identifiesthe greatest and most ambitious companies in five areas. Winners will be announced on October 13 festive gala in Tallinn.

New the title of the 2016 Entrepreneurship award:

be ourgreatestcompany

Estonia upcoming celebrations EV100

Get ready to maximize opportunities for festive year 2018.

Estonians celebrate together 100 years ‘being the est’.

A festival theme is a great match:

Centennial logo enhances theest-campaign narrative

2018 is ideal to focus on nationbranding extra push forward with EU-presidency in the first half of the year.

We are the est > EV100 event in style

Estonia nation branding concept

So focus on what makes Estonia really uniquely and memorable.Be bold, brave and daring! Stand out Estonia and surprise.

An innovative yet simple branding concept and campaign to:

Attract tourists, city explorers, trade, students & tech talents

Invite new businesses, startups, investors, MICE organizers

Strengthen existing businesses, exports and accelerate networking

Enhance social media appeal and communicate cultural image of Estonia.

Plus multiple merchandising & monetizing opportunities to fund the campaigning and promotions in full harmony with earlier brand investments. One integrated concept as efficient and clever solution.

A visual way to wrap up the -est branding concept:

just estonishingEesti brändikontseptsioon

Aitäh!

Your country and people have inspired me to share these ideas. This is my way of giving back – a token of appreciation.

From an Estonian fan and Dutch e-Resident. Ma armastan Eestit.My aim is that the concept starts a valuable conversation.

Peter Kentie

peter@eindhoven365.nl

www.linkedin.com/in/peterkentie

* This –est concept is created in fall of 2014 and is time stamped by Benelux i-DEPOT.