What will Ukraine look like in 2012?

With the Euro-2012 being little more than a year away, Ukraine has finally began to think about the country’s image, symbols, logos, and slogans. Na­turally, things like this are not done overnight and creating a country’s brand requires a joint effort of marketing experts, mana­gers, and statesmen. But is there really a joint effort if the inter­national forum “Ukraine: Brands of the Country and Cities” never saw the invited govern­mental officials, like Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov and chairman of the local UEFA Euro-2012 organizing com­mittee Markian Lubkivsky?

STRIVING FOR COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

Experts say that a brand is not how you perceive yourself (your looks, flag, logo, etc.), but how others see you. Foreign guests are the prime target, as they can stimulate tourism and investments.

“We have serious problems with the Ukrainian brand and the way it is perceived. Ukraine is like a big village full of missed opportunities. When foreigners think about Ukraine they think about Russia, corruption, sex tourism, Chor­no­byl, brawls among politicians, the Klitsch­ko brothers, [the soccer player] Shev­chenko, and [the pop singer] Ruslana. Positive associations only come later. And to add insult to injury, the state makes things even worse. ‘Lack of money’ is purportedly the main cause of all the troubles. But I do not accept this explanation,” says brand manager Andrii Fedoriv, one of the forum’s organizers.

As Ukraine was called a village, I will make a comparison that has haunted me for many years – ever since Ukraine won the competition for hosting the 2012 world soccer championship. The village in which I lived many years ago had gas only in the outer street houses. The rest could only dream about that: expensive pipes, expensive connections... People were cash-strapped. This lasted for one, two, five years. Then a Greek Catholic monastery opened in the village center, where a school used to be. In a month or two, a two-kilometer road was laid, money was suddenly found for the pipeline, and people did not argue what kind of heating — coal or gas — was cheaper. Progress is always beneficial, and you should seize every chance when your day comes.

Experts dislike the Ukrainians’ attitude toward themselves and Ukraine. Analysts believe the most common attitudes are: wishing to leave Ukraine due to the never-ending chaos, taking no interest in what is going on and retreating into oneself, and criticizing all that one can see. Positive attitudes, such as individual initiatives, are few and far between, but community initiatives are even rarer.

While there is little time left, Ukraine has specialists who are prepared to produce, and even are producing ideas, but they often do this in an uncoordinated manner. In other words, there are initiatives, but the state is still to play a unifying role. After all, the importance of creating a brand is paramount.

“The Euro-2012 is a chance to achieve a breakthrough in what concerns our reputation with a smaller effort. Ukrainian business is interested in a strong brand that would arouse trust and respect on international markets. While the state is slowly developing the country’s brand, one must map out and implement a strategy of integrated communication,” says PRP Group president Natalia Popovych.

UKRAINE HAS SOME GOOD BRANDS, BUT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THEM

As for “integrated communications,” young brand managers are not only offering to work together, but also a whole new take on the matter: to replace competition with cooperation.

“The 19th was a century of empires, the 20th was a century of nation states, and the 21st is a century of cities,” says Valerii Pekar, president of Euroindex, founder of the VikiCityNomica civic movement, and one of the forum’s organizers. “We believe that a powerful country means powerful cities, and a brand is the answer to the question: Why does the world need cities? It is the mission of a city. What is pivotal in any city is its spirit, and it is its ci­ti­zens who generate it. Everybody knows such brands as the ‘City of Lovers,’ ‘the Eternal City,’ and ‘the Third Rome.’ But who knows the ‘City of Geniuses’ and the ‘City of Admirals’ in Ukraine? I am referring to Odesa and Mykolaiv. Theses brands are now household names in these cities. Next in line is Kyiv and Ukraine as a whole.”

Unfortunately, there is nothing to boast about here because experts think the newly-created logo of Ukraine (a smiling sunflower with the caption “Ukraine”) is beneath criticism.

“The sun is associated with beaches. It is part of the logos of countries that are famous for them. Tell me please what beaches you will find in Zhytomyr, Sumy or Rivne,” Fedoriv asks rhetorically.

He is equally dissatisfied with the logos of Kyiv (the monument to Lybid, Kyi, Shchek, and Khoryv, with the caption “Kyiv”) and Do­netsk (three symbolic hills, supposedly slagheaps, and something round-shaped which might be a low-setting sun).

THE PEOPLE IN THE AIRPORTS AND STREETS ARE OUR BUSINESSCARD

Creating a brand is a thing we must learn. Ukrainians are very creative people. The Day once noted that, owing to a specific psychological type, most of us have a well-developed right cerebral hemisphere which is responsible for abstract thinking and language, and is linked to creativity and inventiveness. If this inventiveness is used for creative work (even if financial incentives are provided), rather than for having to wriggle out of various si­tuations, this will produce very good results. For example, it would be a good idea if the state took interest in this forum, gather all these people, and make it clear that they are badly needed. People would be greatly encouraged to work. But nobody takes interest.

Advice and information from international branding experts is very valuable, but, regretfully, no one from the Euro-2012 UEFA organi­zing committee has heard it. No one knows about the best 2010 country brands, where Canada ranked first (not least owing to the Vancouver Olympic Games), or about the fact that the first brand mana­gers of a country are… airport employees.

“When I arrived in Boryspil, there were only three passport control windows open. The place was really overcrowded. As a matter of fact, an airport is a very important thing because it creates the first impression about a country. Border guards are in fact brand managers. When we were hosting a European soccer championship, we retrained 60,000 employees, including 10,000 airport staff,” says Joerg Krebs, Open Plus project manager, director of India, Central and Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and Russia at Switzerland Tourism.

“Trifles” of this kind can tarnish the image of a country. According to Anatolii Kinakh, chair of the Ukrainian League of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists, 18 months are sufficient for us to get ready for Euro-2012 in technological terms, but the behavior and attitude to cleanliness on the streets is a far more difficult problem than building stadiums. Add to this cars parking on sidewalks — no one in the city government is going to tackle this. It is sometimes dangerous to walk down central streets. In bedroom suburbs, too, a car may be free to drive on the sidewalk. The worst thing is that we have gotten used to this.

UKRAINE IS NOT RUSSIA, BUT THE FRENCH ARE UNAWARE OF THIS

Even when foreigners know about Ukraine it is in the context of our eastern neighbor; they continue to see us as a part of Russia. Every expert who has studied this will agree. Thus, we also face the problem of putting it across to foreigners that we are an independent country with our own character.

“Reputation is essential, and we must earn it. Besides, we must know that the impression people get from something is more lasting than one would expect. For example, 95 percent of the French think that Ukraine is part of Russia and that Kyiv is a Russian city. When you host a championship, you will have to face this issue and raise the level of public awareness. Peop­le don’t like to hear that they are wrong. So, when someone says that Ukraine is part of Russia, it would be a good idea to reply that we were part of it for 70 years, but now we are independent. You should take human mentality into account and form your answers accordingly,” says Tom Adams, Chief Digital Officer at the UK-based international consulting company FutureBrand.

Exerts are also advising Ukrainians not to imitate others, including their Polish neighbors, but go down their own road. Incidentally, foreign specialists were pleasantly surprised with the branding work now underway in Lviv. It will be recalled that Lviv was voted the cultural capital of Ukraine last year and the country’s book capital this year.

Lviv residents began to work on their image five years ago. The key idea was that Lviv’s history brings together different ethoses, architectural schools, religions, and cultures. All this is very valuable and needs to be protected and propagated. They also invented a visual image, much to the pleasure of foreign brand managers: the city of Lviv is a large decorative shrub that needs to be taken care of. City dwellers are to trim it nicely. “We are gardeners who are gradually shaping the decorative shrub,” Lviv’s Deputy Mayor Vasyl Kosiv says. “Trimming the shrub means protecting the old town, holding about 100 festivals annually, telling stories about Lviv, etc.”

It is good that Ukraine already has at least some positive experience. Maybe, other soccer championship-hosting cities will also join the initiative of creating a quality brand for themselves. There is still some time left. A brand session is to be held in Kyiv shortly before New Year’s Day, and The Day will be closely watching it. It should be interesting.