Brand Canada – beauty of nature or nature of beauty?

Canada should redirect attention from the beauty of its nature to the beauty of its Six Cs – read on to find out what they are. With the G8 and G20 meetings about to begin, the attention of the international media will inevitably, if fleetingly, focus on Canada. What kind of impression might be conveyed? Which of these should be Canada’s national brand?

For journalists prepared to eschew the backdrops, sound bites, and briefing books, and venture beyond the sterile secure areas, there may be a few surprises. Even the least intrepid would soon discover that in a world of well-established, pre-packaged national identities, this country is different.

That difference has little to do with beavers or moose, with the cold climate or the scenic attractions. It is not the place. It’s the people. No matter where you’re from, if Canada were a mirror, you would see your own face reflected. And because everyone is here, no one stands out.

It is one thing to remark upon Canadian multiculturalism, but it is quite another to think through the larger implications. Immigration, buttressed by trade, travel, tourism, and technology, has transformed Canada from a marginal remnant of rival empires into an open-ended possibility, a work in progress in which change and accommodation are constant.

After almost 150 years, Canada has become a state – of becoming.

There is something inherently exciting about looking forward rather than gazing back. Yet for some, especially those with a lingering attachment to the notion of a bi-lingual, bi-cultural, “true north strong and free,” being part of an ongoing demographic experiment may seem a little unsettling. Be that as it may, the old verities, however comfortable, no longer fit.

It’s not just that over one half of Toronto residents, for instance, were born somewhere else. Recent public opinion research also suggests that coasting on an outdated reputation has begun to erode Canada’s credibility abroad. It is time to move on – or face the consequences.

That said, the risks of inaction pale in comparison to the possible gains on the upside. If some innovative thinking were harnessed in service of Canadian objectives in the high-stakes world of international affairs, a coherent effort to project a more contemporary mix could pay handsome dividends.

Many countries have the coercive power associated with armed force, but that will never be Canada’s strong suit. Nor should it be. This country’s comparative advantage lies elsewhere – in the diverse make-up of its communities, in the souplesse of the social fabric, in an unthreatening demeanour and a willingness to be helpful.

In terms of trade and investment, this country has among its citizens people with the language skills, cross-cultural acumen, and business savvy necessary to penetrate promising new markets of any description. When it comes to the complex balancing and knowledge-based, problem-solving skills required for mediation, negotiation, and compromise in conflict resolution, Canada is similarly well-equipped.

With a generally benign image, little historical baggage and an open, approachable temperament, the prospects for successful engagement in genuine dialogue improve. In other words, because the idea of Canada usually evokes a smile rather than a scowl, people will talk to us. The same positive predisposition is not always displayed towards those with a colonial past or imperial present.

Even with a pretty good hand, however, branding a nation – which is to say, a country and its people – is complex and immensely difficult. Nation brands are formed over time, and are best not based on postcard stereotypes.

Several years ago, the president of a leading New York PR firm screened a visually stunning slide show of mountains, lakes, forests, and wheat fields at a branding seminar organized for Canadian consuls general in the U.S. “Canada sure looks nice, eh?” said the Madison Avenue guru. Heads nodded sagely. “Trouble is”, he continued, “these are pictures of Wyoming…”

With a few exceptions – say, the Matterhorn or Percé Rock – the problem with an over-reliance on the great outdoors is that rocks and trees are largely generic. An effective brand is not about what you look like or say. It’s about what you do, who you are, and how you act. That kind of brand is unique and differentiating. It conveys both emotional appeal and a clear value proposition.

Many countries rely mainly on exhortation, proclaiming support for values such as democracy and respect for human rights. When pronouncements and behaviour do not align, however, a perilous “say-do gap” can open like a yawning chasm. As more than a few major players have learned at some cost, even the best communication practices can never compensate for fundamentally flawed or contradictory policy.

Canada’s strength, and the source of any potential influence, emanates not from the loudness of our voice, the comeliness of our landscapes, or the power of our weapons. Instead, this country’s appeal resides in the openness, generosity of spirit, and outward orientation of Canadians. That attraction is cultural, and it is embedded in the population rather than in politics or public administration.

There has never been a coordinated, concerted attempt to construct or promote a distinctive Canadian brand. The branding potential associated with Canada’s wealth of human resources is almost completely untapped. It is time to put the capacities and qualities of Canadians to work in the world.

To start the conversation, I would propose the elaboration of a nation branding strategy informed not by the beauty of our nature, but by the nature of our beauty. The thematic framework could be christened Canada’s Six Cs: Creative, Competitive, Connected, Cosmopolitan, Civic, and Caring. These features are current. They are demonstrable. And their provenance is neither partisan nor corporate.

With vision, leadership and support as pre-requisites, the active management of Brand Canada could usefully become job one for Canadian international policy.

Article by Daryl Copeland

Tom Brokaw explains Canada to Americans

Imiginative and Proud Canadian Youth

I strongly believe that the younger generation of Canada are truly going to play are stellar role in defining Canada in the 21st century. The current younger generation has unprecedented power, intelligence and tools. They are the biggest in demographics and are also the smartest generation ever, as evidenced by all-time-high test scores and extraordinary university graduation rates. Some have said that they are the narcissistic Generation Me obsessed with YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. But facts don't support this, they care. Youth volunteering in high school and university is higher than ever. As a generation they believe in fairness, justice, freedom and protecting our biosphere. More than ever, they are accustomed to and favor diversity and view racist and sexist behaviour as both weird and unacceptable. I can basically go on and on about the promising greatness of the younger generation of Canadians growing up in the digital age. I am optimistically confident that this generation will carry Canada to a whole new level in the global conversation and make sure that this century is the Canadian century. Below is a link to a fantasic music video exemplifying Canadian pride that resonates with the youth and beyond. GO CANADA!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjiwBwBL4Qo&feature=player_embedded

The Canadian Century

Canada is being increasingly recognized as a role model for other countries, due to its better performance through out the global economic crisis. Jim Flaherty, Canada's Minister of Finance has been a global rock star taking the lead of many conversation of financial reform on the world stage, and Canadian banks have been ranked as the soundest in the world for 2 years in row by the World Economic Forum. Also with the G8 and G20 Summits taking place in Canada only puts Canada even more in the spot light and simultaneously growing its relevance in the global conversation. A great article has been published in a very influential magazine called Foreign Policy on the subject of how the United States should follow Canada's model if it doesn't want to be left behind.   
If Canada continues on the path it is following today, it's not unreasonable to think that this will be the Canadian century, the era in which the country comes into its own as a world economic power and finally steps out of America's shadow.

Canadas World Project was a 3 years citizens dialogue that engaged Canadians in developing a new story for Canadas role in the world. The SFU Centre for Dialogue brought Canadians together for conversation on issues that define the current global environment. They then focused on how to share the results of those conversations and how to implement changes made based on the priorities the conversation participants across the country game them.

The project was not lead or funded by the Government of Canada, but rather funded and lead by individuals, businesses, international organization, and foundations who wanted to inspire citizens to author a new story for Canada. This project is a great example of how citizens can take charge and get actively engaged with the story writing of their own country oppose to soley leaving the task to their Governments to define their nation on the world stage. You can watch the documentary of the whole process it took to accomplish this amazing and innovative project at http://www.canadasworld.ca/

Canadian Identity and Sports

Some countries struggle with something called a “national identity crisis”. The place may lack a shared vision, self concept, unity, sense of belonging, and so on, hence; these identity issues can lead to further problems socially and economically for the nation as a whole. A national identity is the foundational element that must be addressed before any other initiatives to progress the society.National identity is a sense of belonging to a national society which is more than just being legally integrated; it’s about a feeling that this society and Government is yours, it’s more of a psychological integration if anything. National identity is about the common experiences, memories, and shared visions that we share altogether as residents of a specific place.
A strong national identity or social solidarity is extremely difficult and complex to establish. Weak national identities are caused by a multiplicity of factors and are very difficult to pinpoint which ones the primary culprits. Germans use to be perceived as humorless, cold and unfriendly imaginably because of the hostile and disturbing history of the country, or South Africans, both white and black had major tension between each other especially when Nelson Mandela was released from prison.Later down the road, the German identity was miraculously altered in only 30 days during the 2006 FIFA world cup. In those ominous four weeks between June 9 to July 9 2006, Germany's image transformed dramatically, from: serious, humorless, conservative, cold to carefree, fun, welcoming, hospitable, modern and innovative. Germany became a nation charged with a sense of pride and common destiny by taking a stylish approach in nation building, where they had large outdoor fan festivals, and a core message of “a time to make friends” campaign. This core message touched their national psyche to such an extent that they were actually moved to and wanted to deliver the "brand promise" of being friendly and fun. They also built giant sculptures of German innovations (automobiles, theory of relativity, Adidas shoes, etc.) and situated them in major tourist destinations. These sculptures were photographed, filmed, and written about so much that they generated their own media and reinforced to everyone that Germany is a land of bright ideas.In the case of South Africa, well the recently released movie “Invictus” illustrates the story of how Nelson Mandela established a united national identity and how South Africa became a country for all of its peoples through the unifying balm of sports, in this case rugby. Nelson Mandela used the World Rugby Games as an instrument to unite all South African at a time when whites and blacks didn’t even want to look at each other. Nelson had formulated this grand strategy while he was in jail and he executed it beautifully because he well understood the power of sports.Both Germany and South Africa were able to revitalize their national identities by utilizing the power of large sporting events. Sports have the power to boost the morale and confidence of the masses in a memorable and emotional manner if majority of the citizens are meaningfully drawn in. Sports are a powerful mobilizer of mass emotion and shaper of political perceptions, Mandela once said “Sport has the power to change the world, it has the power to inspire, the power to unite people that little else has… it is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. “Now who would have thought that Canada, the country perceived as being warm and fuzzy, peace loving, kind, and the land of immigrants is currently going through one of the most complex identity crisis? The morale of Canadians hasn’t been up to par nor has there been a sense of unity since forever due to various factors, but lets focus on sports. All the teams in the national leagues haven’t won a championship for decades (NHL, NBA, etc) and when it comes to the 2 largest international sporting events, the summer Olympics, and FIFA, Canada doesn’t perform adequately compared to other countries and not to mention, Canada has never competed in the FIFA, an international event that entices passionate national pride to be celebrated at its peak where fans go bananas waving their national flags around the world.The issue with Canadian Identity is of course even deeper than poor performance in sports. Canadians are simply confused, are we British, French, Canadian, Native, or, in the context of immigrants, are we still Indian, Chinese or Italian? We just don’t know. Canada seems like a land where we just come to take advantage of the social safety nets and cluster into our ethnic communities. When the national anthem is played to students each day at the start of school, students clearly are not enthusiastic and some may not even stand up because they don’t know if their Canadian or not. The Canadian government and constitution may be attached to fundamentals that are no more relevant to the majority of Canadians. For example, many Canadians may ask “what is the queen of England, a woman that visits Canada once in a blue moon doing on our currency, are we not our own country like USA, India, France and so on?” These multi-confusions have led to the identity of having no identity in Canada basically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5GZIDnMzZQCitizenship-by which I mean the laws, institutions and symbols that define our individual membership in the Canadian nation-has the potential to raise our sights again. In fact, a revitalized citizenship may be the best and last hope for Canadians ready to rid themselves of their “post national” ennui and reconnect with the enduring values and principles upon which Canada’s greatness rests. –Rudyard Griffiths – “Who We Are”It’s an inconvenient truth that Canadians have a complacent identity crisis and the question arises, can Canada solve this problem through the profound power of sports? In my opinion, yes it will help massively, however; the opportunity and perhaps the only ideal opportunity ever to create a sustainable sense of pride is during the 2010 Vancouver Games particularly since winter sports are all we’re good at and even sweeter the games are taking place on home turf! What an opportunity!The torch relay team is doing an admirable job by covering so much ground across Canada and putting on a great show that stimulates pride and joy across all walks in Canada. Though, this torch relay is only temporary pride, once it leaves your city or town, so does your sense of nationhood. John Furlong the CEO of the Vancouver Games says that “The adventure cannot be about a few of us-it has to be about all of us. Less about facilities and structures, infrastructure and economics, and more about the kind of human power than can transform the spirit of a nation” Its great that John Furlong believes the event can be a real nation builder, however other than just the temporary gratification from the torch relay, and seeing Canadian athletes win a bunch of medals which they should since $110 million was spent on a program called own the podium to make sure we win the most amount of medals, are their any other initiatives being undertaken to unite such a grand and baffling country. In Canada you can look at the different parts of the country and think that you’re in a different part of the world. It’s really hard to brink Canada together and it seems to me that only British Columbians will be humming while the rest of Canada will be watching it on TV in the bar, home and for the majority will be watching the highlights on the news or not watching at all. Worse yet, after the Olympics are done, even the host city Vancouver will be back to normal soon enough and have little positive change in terms real national identity. It's worth noting that Winnipeg has twice hosted the Pan-Am Games in 1967 and 1999, and Winnipeg is still Winnipeg.Corporations like Coco Cola and RBC (primary sponsors of the torch relay) cannot play the central role of facilitating the unity messages. Other organizations like The Historica-Dominion institute, and the Government should creatively play the pivotal role. The Historica-Dominion Institutes sole mandate is to build active and informed citizens through greater knowledge and appreciation of the Canadian story, so they should be major partner in with the games.So what can we immediately try to do to capture this opportunity? It may probably too late now but it's still imperative to address.Every Province, city, town, region, and community has to feel as if they were right there in Vancouver collectively cheering, enjoying, and savoring all the excitement and splendor. Similar to what the Germans did with the public viewings and fan festivals across Germany, we can do the same thing in indoor stadiums equipped with jumbo trons or projectors to watch the games, as oppose to watching them in crammed bars, where children are not allowed, and other types of people feel out of place. Even theatres and schools with projectors will do the trick. Every city and town has at least one available stadium or large space to host fan festivals and public viewings. To name a few:Toronto-Skydome/air Canada centre, BMO Field Ottawa-Frank Clair StadiumMontreal-Olympic Stadium Quebec City- PEPS Le Stade ExterieurEdmonton-Common wealth stadiumCalgary-McMahon StadiumThese events should be heavily promoted through the media, and I recommend them mainly for the hockey game since that’s the most celebrated game to Canadians. Somebody said that we can win 35 medals, be in first place, and not win the gold medal in hockey and feel like we failed. The togetherness and loud cheering across Canada will ignite a whole new spirit and will create emotional national memories that will live on for a long time to come.Also this event needs to be global and very emotional. Our athletes need to exhibit more raw passion and emotion, and as well the coaches, like how Wayne Gretzky angrily made it clear that Canada was going to win gold in Salt Lake City in the news. The media has to capture these emotional moments in order to make these special moments touch Canadians.Corporate Canada has done a great job in creating products that promote Canada, such HBC, Roots, and etc. This trend of wearing Canada and representing is here to stay and it will definitely contribute in the mix of building a strong identity that we all can collectively hold on to. But the Government and other organizations need to step up to deliberately nudge the civic population to realize that we are one strong nation. This way all of Canadians coast to coast can live the games as something they will contribute to-a moment in time when we hold hands, moved by a single and powerful vision. There’s a lot more Canada can do to change the national psyche for the better during these games and after, but the Government, private and public have to all be on the same page and realize that there’s nothing more important than teaming up and taking on the world together. This whole movement has to be ignited by the Government first. Sports prove the importance of investing in people and confirm what Canadians have been saying all along, its people are its greatest resource. I said that the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver are a prime opportunity of a life time to move Canadians to a common good, however; I believe that by being creative and passionate, we can hatch an infinite amount of opportunities like this, but it would be a terrible waste if Vancouver 2010 doesn't make a positive dent in our identity identity.

Guerrilla Diplomacy

In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is deeply conservative and actively hostile to the concept of nation branding because the concept of nation branding does not fit with the traditional professional training of career diplomats. It is obviously extremely difficult to develop a coherent and comprehensive nation branding strategy if a country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no interest in it. This situation will probably change as a new generation of more communication-minded diplomats assumes responsibility within their respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs, but that process could take several years. One person that is helping to innovate and pioneer the ways of foreign ministries is Daryl Copeland. I believe he is very different from other diplomats because he is an outside the box thinker that knows what time it is. He has backpacked across the world where he got to intimately mingle with cultures and gain a potent international IQ which many diplomats lack. I personally believe that diplomats need to fathom the concept of nation branding as soon as possible because nation branding is here to stay and like it or not, many nations will be practitioners of it. Another thing I believe Diplomats need to be is more rugged. Far too many of them are ineffective because they don't get out there and experience the world first hand. They stay in their cars, hotels, conferences, and their offices. But rarely do they go out and experience the essence of the place where their posted. They need to have a higher sense of adventure, interest in cultures and unafraid to take risk. They can learn alot from journalists stationed in dangerous parts of the world, these people are in the heart of the danger and get to see first hand whats really going on, and as a result have the best insights. Perhaps they should take hostile environment training to ruggedify themselves instead of being softies stuck in their cars surrounded by a convoy of security that intimidates the public, hence, creating no meaningful engagement.
I had the pleasure to attend the book launch of guerrilla diplomacy by Daryl Copeland at the Munk Centre for International Studies in Toronto. Daryl talks about many issues relating to diplomacy and how foreign ministries are in a diar need to upgrade their way of thinking and operating on international relations. I highly recommend reading his book for a fresh and up to par perspective on international relations and plus he has a chapter on nation branding, Below is the link to the video of the book launch I attended.http://hosting.epresence.tv/MUNK/1/watch/124.aspx