Babes Bolyai UniversityFaculty of Political Administration and Communication SciencesBranch Media Communication

I feel SloveniaMocanu Camelia Florina

Pop Roxana Lavinia

Tomuta Teodora Catalina1. Why the need of a brand?

To begin with, the concept of branding plays a huge role in any countrys touristic activity and not only. Everybody understands this concept, even if at different levels. For Slovenia, the need for a strong-built and impressive brand was of utmost importance. And there are plenty of reasons to support this affirmation.

If we take a look at Slovenias history, we notice that only recently it has become an independent country, more precisely since 1991. Until then, Slovenia was one of the Yugoslav republics. Obviously, this big step triggered the need of standing out of the crowd, of making it known as self-standing country. Slovenia is actually a small young country, with a population encompassing less than 2 million persons and an area of about 20.000 km2. It was difficult at the same time for its population to develop a personalized attitude and feeling towards this country. On the other hand, there was the competition with other countries (for instance, Austria, Hungary, Croatia etc, represented a bigger competition than other European countries). As being a brand new country in Europe, Slovenias name did not have a big echo, as a consequence, all the strategies for branding this country needed to start from zero.

I mentioned above that Slovenia had bigger competitors, in matters of what it could offer to the tourists as a country. I refer here to touristic attractions, to natural resources, namely landscapes and natural destinations, places special designed for tourists. If we consider Austria, for instance, it is easy noticeable that Slovenia resembles to it in many concerns, such as natural riches or landscapes. Since Austria and Slovenia are neighbors, it is obvious that they both have alike geography.

Also, another reason that stands relevant when it comes to Slovenias need of a good brand is the often confusion to Slovakia. As a matter of fact, these two countries names are very alike, which explains the unintentional confusion. As a relevant example of this nature, George W. Bush and Silvio Berlusconi have called Slovenian presidents and Prime ministers Slovak by mistake in front of the journalists. It was revealed that every month members of the Slovenian and Slovak embassies meet to exchange wrongly-addressed e-mails. What is more, not only the names, but also the flags are highly alike, same colors, but in a slight different distribution. The differences are pictured in the following images:

Slovenias flag

Slovakias flagIn conclusion to all these, it is clear that Slovenia needs to develop a strong country branding. Not only it is a young country with weak recent history, but the confusion with other European countries and its misleading name and flag require serious changes, both in these visual elements and in long-term strategy. 2. Previous attempts in building a country brand

The broad campaign in 2007, I Feel Slovenia is not the only one in the campaign history of this country. As a matter of fact, there have been several attempts in building a brand for Slovenia, but all failed, due to different reasons.The first campaign, Slovenia my country started in 1986, while Slovenia was still part of the Yugoslav Republic. It had two slogans: Tourism is people and On the Sunny side of the Alps, directed to inside market, respectively to the external one. The logo was represented by a green linden leaf and even today is seen as the best campaign of all the previous ones. Its purpose was to boast peoples confidence in Slovenias development and indeed it managed that. The campaign lasted until 1996, when the linden leaf was replaced with a bundle of flowers. This campaign had the strongest impact on the citizens, since it managed to induce them the idea that each and every person has the power of influencing tourism and making tourists feeling well in their country. Ever since, the linden leaf remains important for the Slovenians. Since 1996, Slovenias logo was followed by more slogans, but none was as deep as the previous one. Nonetheless, the most frequent used slogan was Slovenia The green piece of Europe. The logo remained the bundle of flowers. This campaign was not more successful than the previous one, since it was replaced, in 2004, by a new one.

Slovenia invigorates started in 2004, the same year with its accession to the European Union and it was designed to serve not only in tourism, but in other areas too. The biggest failure of the campaign was the difficulty that people showed in understanding it. Not only the Slovenians, but also the tourists did not fully understand it. Indeed, what the campaign meant had political aims at the same time, inducing the idea that Slovenia invigorates the European Union. At the same time, this was Slovenias hope of positioning itself abroad, of connecting with other countries politically, in short, to create a good impression, good enough to raise interest among other countries.Unfortunately all these campaigns failed in offering Slovenia the chance of becoming an important touristic destination. Among the most common reasons, the campaigns focused more on visual elements than creating a successful strategy. The slogan change was so often, that no campaign proved strong enough to last more than the previous one. Not to mention the lack of a story behind each campaign, something supported by good arguments and facts.

Fortunately, Slovenia still has a chance: the last campaign, started in 2007 and it is still in use: I feel sLOVEnia demonstrated that long term work and research can conclude in success, since it has shown that lately Slovenia counts itself among the countries with the best branding campaign. After all, it is all about the greenrepresenting the country, representing anything Slovenian! 3. I feel sLOVEnia - How it all started

First of all the Government Communication Office (UKOM) announced in 2006 an anonymous competition for the design of a new logo and slogan of Slovenia. The winning idea was the slogan I feel Slovenia. The jury was composed of members of the Council for the Promotion of the Republic of Slovenia and four external experts. After this, UKOM also designed a graphic image for the slogan. The idea wasnt created with the purpose to become a brand. But because it was a nice idea they started puting this slogan on t-shirts, basseball caps, etc. One important man of the country, the prime minister started to wear a basseball cap with the slogan in his public appearances. National media started to talk about it a lot, in a pozitive way and thats how from a simple slogan it become a country brand. The Slovenia brand was developed and designed in 2007.The ministry of economy was encharged with the creation of the brand that will represent Slovenia abroad. For the entire process he received 200 000 euros. In october 2007 the Slovenia Brand Manual and the Business Document was created by a company named Pristop. The identity couldnt be created from the bottom up because the slogan was already created. So they used a free style process for creating the brand.

The process of developing the brand was complex and contained four phases:

1. Proposed country brand identity model. In this phase they realised that the brand should contain the folowing elements: vision, mission, values, personality, benefits and distinguishing preferences.

2. Review of relevant secondary data contained the review of previous efforts to build Slovenia as a brand, a review of Slovenias brand equity in the eyes of foreigners, strategic documents about the country. They also examinated the brands of other selected foreign countries wich revealed good and bad case practices of a brand process.

3. Collection of primary data methodology of a three-step approach. In this phase the primary data was collected whith a complex methodology:

Delphi method - 30 opinion leaders from key areas (economy, tourism, culture, science, sports, state and the civic sphere

a questionnaire - 707 representatives from the key area

questions on the web site - the view of the general public (about 700 000 )4. Development of brand identity

The elements of the brand identity are common to all areas mentioned above and represents the foundation of the Slovenian experience. (what Slovenia and Slovenians mean).

Distinguishing preferences that dfferentiate Slovenia from the other countries are: preserved nature(unspoiled nature), a cross roads of natural variety(Alps, Mediterranean Sea, Panonia Land), safety and the importance of Slovenian language and its dialects.

Regarding Personality slovenian people have a big desire for recognition and aproval for their work and consider themselves as tenacious, active and hardworking individuals.

The Slovenian Values are: family, health, attachment to their local environment and responsability towards the environment and the human beings that surround them.

The Benefits that Slovenia has to offer for its people are wonderful. First of all the accesibility, the small area whith a pristine nture, the rich history and diverse culture provides a very good quality of life. Secondly, the slovenian lifestyle promotes activity , stimulates giving the wish to do something remarcable, to be involved in everything that makes a difference(the wish to contribute). And of course an important benefit of Slovenia is the fact that people are in touch with nature and have a great awareness of responsability towards environment.

The Mission is going forward with nature, that means focusing on organic development, promoting a niche economy, welcoming diversity , and attracting the best technological and human potential.(vision)

The Core of Slovenias Brand is the emotional promise of pleasant excitement, the functional promise for the elemental and of course the Slovenian green. This green is more than just a color, is the expression for the balance between the calm of the nature and the tenacity of Slovenians; the expression for all the elements mentioned above and for the balance between all senses in which people had experienced the country.

Moreover, for Slovenians the green color is like the smell of a forest, a babbling brook, a surprising taste of water or like the softness of wood. This is the visual image of I feel Slovenia.

The story of the brand is visualized by the slogan I feel Slovenia (Slovenijo utim) which was chosen in advance and a logo designed for it after the brand identity characteristics. The logos green color speaks about the typical experience of Slovenias brand and the inclined sides speak about the pleasant excitement among the nature.

The slogan wants to transmit for the Slovenians patriotism and the feeling that they are connected with their country and for the others/foreign public the pleasant excitement of Slovenian people when they are involved in what they enjoy, in what they consider a part of themselves.

When was the right timing to launch the brand? After the brand was totally created in 2007 the following step was that the Government Communication Office (UKOM) was named as the guardian of the brand. Because the creation of the brand was finished just before the Slovenias Presidency for EU they choose not to promote the brand internationally only nationally. They started spreading flyers about I feel Slovenia to every single house in the country to inform and motivate the public about the brand and the people were also asked to say their opinion about the brand. All of them had positive thoughts about it and the purpose was achieved: people started to identify themselves with the brand.

Communicating the brand. They choose to promote themselves in English all around the world because they think the world love that is unique in their country name is understood by everyone, even if they dont speak English. The promotion was continued with brochures and promotion on tourism websites at fist.

Passing the years, the brand was mostly used in tourism area. They started to participate at trade fairs, at events that took place in Slovenia and abroad, to have more publications, more advertising on the subject, more souvenirs and promotional gifts with the brands identity and logo that contributed to a greater recognition of the brand and the country itself.

Starting with 2010, the brand (the visual part) was also used in other areas. The brand's visual elements were included in major sports events, such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, and the World Basketball Championship.

Even today increasing efficiency and awareness of the brand I feel Slovenia represents one of the Countrys priority by providing Slovenia a clear position and an effective management and implementation of the brand. In 2011 they celebrated 20 years of independency and they updated the market field and the communication field (especially advertising tools) in order to increase the communication efficiency of the brand.4. Brand analysisThe ever-evolving media landscape of todays consumer society is changing the way companies position their brands on the market and differentiate themselves from competition. On one side, consumers are exposed to a sheer amount of information, on the other side, through the internet, this information can be filtered and compared, creating major challenges for brand custodians to develop strategies that sustain competitiveness and resonate with their customers values. The more information is available, the more knowledge consumers obtain about a brand, the more difficult it gets for a brand to differentiate itself from competition. Successful Brands are conceived as entities who impersonate major lifestyles, cultural trends and the zeitgeist of specific times. They do so, by carefully listening to their consumers and by crafting a product, quality, or an experience that proposes emotional satisfaction. Developing coherent and comprehensive country brands is of vital importance for transitional countries as branding can contribute to the success of transition. Central and Eastern Europe is a typical transitional region where the evolution of country branding provides valuable insights and experiences for other transitional regions as well.

Every single expression of a brands message comes to symbolize the host of values that build its multifaceted identity, though constantly classified and reflected by its customers over experiences with the brand. Thus in order to build preference and affinity that goes beyond the features, benefits and even the performances of products, strategic branding establishes experiences across all touch points and constantly engages in dialogue with a brands consumer. The 21st century is an unprecedented time of marketplace innovation where technology directly mediates consumer behavior and participation, habits and interactions, web-based advertising, e-tailing and virtual branding. Successful brands will continue to come and go. But the great ones will develop methods to leverage on the new marketplace. However, the internet changed the fortunes of print publishers in most countries, generally for the worse, as print no longer uniquely satisfied many of the objectives which advertisers relied upon. Brands seeking engagement are presented with measurable engagement online and the desire to associate with trust-worthy content can also be fulfilled there. Media coverage pays a crucial role in shaping investors' or tourists' attitudes and perceptions. International media are systematically monitored by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs usually through the embassies on the daily basis. National tourism organisations through their network also carry out media monitoring and reporting. Systematic media content analyses are carried out less frequently although they can reveal much more about the tone and nature of coverage than a pile of press clippings. Negative coverage about a country, its government, politicians are not rare phenomena although countries react differently depending on the nature and extent of the negatives issues covered. Negative coverage can influence investors as well and even jeopardise any branding initiatives. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International published an open letter as a whole page advertisement in theFinancial Timeson 21st May, 2005 in which they warned the companies that were considering investments in Serbia. The open letter was addressed to the Serbian deputy Prime Minister and warned potential investors about the risk of investing in Serbia, by sharing their negative experiences as investors.Mass media has an important point of view in our lives. From simple things to major events, media by its presence, exhibit an enormous influence. Concerning Slovenias country brand, media opinions are really spread. Significantly strong brands need to be initially well accepted among their internal stakeholders. According to the present theoretical background in the field of country brands, awareness and acceptance of the brand is first detected among those stakeholders who are also professionally involved in its development and marketing. Later, it usually also accepted by the inhabitants of the country. Moreover, a prerequisite of awareness and acceptance of the brand by internal stake holders requires an appropriate strategy, which is carried and operated by the administrators of the brand. The results of a preliminary studie indicate that the brand I feel Slovenia is well known to the Slovenian public. The familiarity and affection tothe brand are mainly due to its visual elements (logo and slogan). In the article, was examined the extent to which identity features are known to the professional public and the people of Slovenia. Slovenia brand manual. The group ofrepresentatives and so-called opinion leaders in key areas of the country knew the slogan and the logo very well, while some participants of the focus group knew the slogan and the logo only roughly. Interestingly, most participants from both focus groups can identify themselves with the majority ofidentity elements of the brand I feel Slovenia; however, it is necessary to point out that those elements had been introduced to them previously in more detail. Likewise, the results suggest that Slovenescould identify themselves with the contents of the brand, if they wouldhave been introduced with the appropriate content. The results we obtained suggest that the brand has great potential, since most of the Slovenes could identify the contents of the mark, if they were presented the appropriate content. Transmission of the brand content and identity characteristics canbe made by different opinion leaders andoperators of the mark in its key areas; however, mainly the administrator of the brand should provide brands systematic and long-term development. Most important way to promote a country abroad and improve its visibility or image is by using the so called nation-branding technique. This is the case also for Slovenia. That this half-Alpine, half-Adriatic country decided to use more and more of soft power in managing its reputation becomes obvious with the clear strong messages and slogans delivered in recent years, such as I Feel Slovenia.

A fundamental change in attitude arises during the 18th Century with the spreading of the enlightenment ideas in Europe. Three central emerging ideas of this period is first a new vision of the world away from the old division into classes (Nobility, clergy and the third estate) towards a system of equality where each member of a society exists as an individual. The second innovative idea is the concept of self-determination in opposition with the deterministic world determined by God only. Those change in the way of thinking changes not only the face of Europe in a tremendous way but also the use and how nation Branding has been applied. The apparition of the individual their right of self-determination jeopardized the legitimacy of different monarch who derived their power from God only and forced the elite of the time to adapt their position by other mean.

The recent concept and idea behind nation branding has been invented by Edward Louis Bernays during the 1920s in the USA. It first consisted to uses the ideas of his Uncle Sigmund Freuds to subconsciously push people to consume certain products, what we nowadays understand as marketing. One famous example was his cigarette campaign in the 1920s on behalf of a tobacco company. The aim of this campaign was to make it socially acceptable for woman to smoke. A campaign as we can testify was more than successful. But soon he realized that those techniques could be applied to politics by controlling the masses from their own irrationally. The horrors occurred during the Second World War was taken as a proof that people cannot be trusted and that they are irrational. Where Bernays once used his uncle idea to increase corporate sales by bypassing the mind of their consumers he then used his skills to sell political ideas and push people to think was is believed to be right. The term public relation has been coined by Bernays in consequence which he defined as propaganda in peace time. So is Nation branding only about controlling people inside the country? Is it justified to show only the brightest so give a huge gap between the suggested image and reality? Is it not also dangerous?

I feel sLOVEnia-is it only a game of words?

I Feel SLOVEnia summarizes the key elements of the countrys identity, expresses a vision of the country, and conveys a symbolic promise. However, merely knowing al these things does not suffice, one has to live it, feel it-through words, sounds, colors, touch, actions and experience. The mission is clear: going forward with nature, which means focusing on organic development, promoting a niche economy, welcoming diversity, and attracting the best technological and human potential. Slovenia is a diverse country occupying a small area with pristine nature, diverse culture, rich history and enviable quality of life. This is a small piece of an article.

Regarding the question mentioned below, yes, I Feel SLOVEnia may be a game of words if we refer to subliminal perception. (Subliminal perception occurs whenever stimuli presented below the threshold or limit for awareness is found to influence thoughts, feelings, or actions. The term subliminal perception was originally used to describe situations in which weak stimuli were perceived without awareness. In recent years, the term has been applied more generally to describe any situation in which unnoticed stimuli are perceive). In international press it is mentioned that Slovenia tries to magnetize tourists applying to feelings.

Another important fact mentioned in the media is Slovenia is presenting itself with a new game on Facebook calledSlo(www)Bus. The game is for all, who want to get to know Slovenia and its sights of interest, regions, people, and customs in a playful way. The main aim of the game is to make sure a bus full of passengers safely and merrily reaches the finish line, and to gain the highest number of points possible in intermediate stations and win a super prize for the full bus of friends (prize for 30 people).

With the new game, which is available on the new FaceBook site SLO(www)BUS, the Slovenian Tourist Board is implementing its strategy of active and dynamic appearance on social networks. Its purpose is to establish an active SLO(www)BUS community, supported by attractive, current, and content rich information.

The Heart of Slovenia brand has good potential of development. The starting point of a marketing strategy for the region is to identify the product families which could be developed with reference to available resources and desired targets. Such strategy will have to be implemented in strict synergy with the National tourism organization, to valorize the Heart of Slovenia as part of I feel Slovenia brand.

STRENGHTS presence of small active

entrepreneurs interested in

developing tourism business

unexploited authentic rural

environment

artistic and cultural medieval

features in Kamnik

authentic shepherd shelters on

Velika Planina plateau

local quality wine and food products

WEAKNESSES lack of accommodation facilities

weak product consistency

shortage of Unique Destination

Proposition (UDP)

shortage of tourism services in the

rural areas

low accessibility to tourism

attractions

OPPORTUNITIES possible cooperation with an active

and efficient national tourism

organization

proximity to Ljubljana

potential attraction to domestic

targets, as schools, groups and

families

growing interest in rural tourism on

the international market

growth of average income in

Slovenia and therefore of potential

tourists

competitive price policy

THREATS competitive scenario

well known neighbouring Slovenian

destinations

unknown brandMaking the most of love from sLOVEnia is the best thing they could ever do.

Bibliography: http://letsfeelslovenia.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/nation-branding-by-michael-schweda/ http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/promotion_of_slovenia/country_brand_i_feel_slovenia/ www.slovenia.info http://nation-branding.info/2009/11/04/branding-slovenia/ http://miha2.ef.uni-lj.si/posiljanjenovic/Dokumenti/file/konecnikruzzier_dbb_ifs2011.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/NationBranding/the-brand-of-slovenia http://www.futurebrand.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/11/CBI_BBC_2010_execsummary.pdf