Israel as Coca-Cola
By Prof. Shlomo Maital
Suppose Israel was a product like Coca-Cola or Levi's, chosen by consumers from a shelf in a supermarket or off a clothing rack in a department store. What would make people prefer Israel over, say Canada, Brazil or Iran? U.S. business consultant Simon Anholt asked this intriguing question in 1998. He answered it by inventing the concept of "nation brand" and then measured and ranked nations' brand values.
For the year 2006 − well before Lebanon War II and Operation Cast Lead − Anholt's findings were alarming. An on-line survey of 26,000 people across 35 countries revealed, Anholt reported, that "Israel is at the bottom of the list in the public's perception of its image. Israel's brand is by a considerable margin the most negative we have ever measured. If Israel's intention is to promote itself as a desirable place to live and invest in, the challenge appears to be a steep one". Anholt's survey included such paragons of virtue as Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa.
Alas, Anholt's findings caused little stir in Israel. And recent 2009 surveys have not included Israel at all. If they had, it is doubtful Israel's brand image would show improvement. In a report released on Jan. 24, the Jewish Agency reported "there were more anti-Semitic incidents in 2009 than in any year since World War II." Anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment are closely linked.
Lately, when I travel abroad to conferences, friends advise me not to reveal I am Israeli. (I do anyway). When I do speak of Israel, I often encounter polite silence and at times outright hostility. Once, this was not the case. It is easy to brush off Israel's chronic brand image problems and attribute them to a preponderance of Muslim respondents to surveys or to chronic anti-Semitism. Complacency is very dangerous, for at least three reasons:
- First, Israel needs and wants the strong support of Diaspora Jewry, and when its brand image deteriorates, so does the backing of world Jewry. The rise of America's JStreet is a small symptom.
- Second, Israel's economic growth is driven by exports. When Israel's nation brand image erodes, so does demand for Israeli products.
- Third, most important, Israel's collapsing brand value threatens its existence.
Here is how the founder of the think tank Reut Institute, Gidi Grinstein, put it in the daily Haaretz:
"Israel's survival and prosperity depend on its relations with the world in trade, science, arts and culture -- all of which rely on its legitimacy. Rather than seeking to conquer Israel, [its enemies] aim to bring about its implosion, as with South Africa or the Soviet Union."
What is the solution? Some well-meaning Israeli diplomats have fought back. In September 2006 Amir Reshef-Gissin (then, Israel's Toronto consul-general and cousin of Raanan Gissin, longtime Israeli government spokesperson) launched a pilot program called Brand Israel. Gissin plastered Toronto's bus shelters and billboards with posters portraying Israel as a technology innovator that brings real benefit to their lives ("Coronary stent. Life Saver"). The result was a firestorm of protest.
"Brand Israel became a siren call for anti-Israel forces," Haskell Nussbaum reported, in the Jerusalem Post. "Was it worthwhile? Were any hearts and minds changed? An already tough year for Torontonian supporters of Israel was arguably made tougher by the Brand Israel campaign."
Without doubt, Israel's remarkable humanitarian aid to Haiti has helped immensely. At an estimated cost of NIS 100 m. (about $27 m.), the mission cost two-and-a-half times more than the Foreign Ministry's annual budget for hasbara (information, branding). Israel's doctors, nurses and rescue experts in Port au Prince won praise from the leading networks, even al Jazira, for two whole weeks, and more important, made Jews everywhere proud of Israel. But will this 'bounce' in Israel's brand value last? Or will it quickly wither, like the crocuses and anemones now blooming everywhere in the Galilee?
Israel's leading marketing experts should be convened as a task force to rebrand Israel. Here is what I think they would say. The key to branding is authenticity, as authors Jim Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine note in their 2007 book Authenticity - What customers really want.
Rebranding is not about empty words, posters, or propaganda. It is about communicating Israel's authentic nature. No brand is more venerable, more powerful than the ethical values the Jewish people have given humanity. Pope John Paul II once called Jews "our older brothers". Islam is a stepchild of Judaism.
"Become who you are," Nietzsche wrote. As Simon Anholt told me: "A country can only build or change its image by producing an unbroken stream of dramatic and incontrovertible evidence that it deserves the reputation it desires."
Let Israel rebrand itself by becoming again who it really is − a small brave country that sometimes does wrong things and admits them openly, often does good things and effectively tells the world about them, and always aligns its deeds and words with the core values Jews gave the world.