Digital Chosun Ilbo reports the results of a survey of 1000 foreigners living in Korea, asking why they think Brand Korea™ might be unvalued: why K-ROK isn’t getting its propers, you know?
And they answered.
Most, or 48.4 percent, of respondents cited inter-Korean confrontation as a reason why Korea’s national brand is undervalued. This group was followed by 44.1 percent who cited Korea’s insufficient contributions to the international community; 41.5 percent who cited political and social unrest; 38.8 percent who said Korea is not attractive as a destination for immigration or tourism; and 37.5 percent who talked about Koreans’ lack of sufficient etiquette during overseas travel.
Some 54.8 percent of foreigners from Western countries picked inter-Korean confrontation as the biggest factor leading to the national brand being undervalued.
Now, not all of those factors (umm, North Korea, anyone?) can be controlled, however, some of them can be: to wit, a “You’re an ambassador for your country when you travel abroad (even in the Phillipines)” campaign might not be a bad idea, as would a “Cameras are capturing this and people overseas will see it” warning above the entrance to the national assembly.
So they’ve gotten the information everybody seems to want, they’ve learned the answer to that elusive question so often asked (on my first day of class…every class), “What do foreigners think of Korea” the next question is… was anybody listening?
And until next time, though the article didn’t mention it, I’d like to mention that I bet the only people listening to “You should understand our unique situation” arguments are, for the most part, other Koreans. People from other countries are too busy making their own excuses for their own countries.
18/03/2009 at 6:29 pm Permalink
I do give them credit for making the effort. I don’t remember ever hearing efforts made by Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania to find out how to make foreigners’ lives better or easier. The reasoning would be that it’s the US, we’re the best, we’re not really in teh position to be catering to foreigners. And maybe that’s problem.
I don’t think the US is introspective like this, but I wonder about other countries. Japan? Taiwan? Countries in Europe? Are they always running articles and surveys about their national brand image?
When I tell my students I’m from Pennsylvania they say “Dracula,” so I got the brand name for my state covered. 49 to go.
18/03/2009 at 7:42 pm Permalink
Brian: The US itself does not really do the “branding” thing, but individual states sure as hell do. Texas constantly has commercials running with its slogan “It’s a whole other country.” and Virginia is pretty fond of its “Virginia is for Lovers” ad campaign. Cities do it too: I believe Philadelphia is “The Birthplace of Freedom”, for instance. A quick google search tells me that Pennsylvania’s is “America Starts Here”.
But in general, yes, the United States as a nation really doesn’t do the “branding” thing. We don’t have to – everyone seems to want to visit without us having to convince them. Really, it is only since the Bush administration that the US has not been seen in a generally favorable light, unlike Korea, which generally only makes the news when it does something bad.
18/03/2009 at 11:29 pm Permalink
Part of the problem that Korea has is to get into people’s heads in the first place, then their second problem is in distinguishing themselves from China and Japan. That is no easy task. An article like this in the Korea times had a graph that showed different areas in which Korea could boost its image.
Also I agree that this is very self analytical, but at the same time it kind of makes Korea look desperate, and I don’t think that people are attracted to desperation.
18/03/2009 at 11:35 pm Permalink
Oregon State (apocryphally) had the tourism motto: “Welcome to Oregon. Now go home” conspicuously facing the California border . . . sadly, it turns out the real signs facing California said “Welcome to Oregon. We hope you enjoy your trip.”
However, the nearly-sainted Gov. Tom McCall *did* actually say, “Come visit us again and again. This is a state of excitement. But for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live.”
19/03/2009 at 12:50 am Permalink
this article turned up, somewhat related to the whole “listening to what foreigners acutally say” theme.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/03/19/200903190049.asp
19/03/2009 at 1:02 am Permalink
“Welcome to Oregon. Now go home” “Come visit us again and again. This is a state of excitement. But for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live.”
Talk about passive aggressive! But then Oregon has always been a bit xenophobic. They prohibited by law any African American from living in the state until 1926.
Good for Korea and this poll.
19/03/2009 at 6:21 am Permalink
Driftingfocus: But is that actually made for foreigners? I mean, every Korean county and town has its own “brand” and things associated with it . . . Naju is famous for pears, Goheung is famous for citron, Hwasun is famous for triangle kimbap and bottled water, etc. That’s more for domestic consumption, though.
19/03/2009 at 8:37 am Permalink
Brian, that is a good point, I think a problem there is that famous things in an area don’t really get presented to foreigners. I live in Jinju, whose famous foods are grilled eel and raw beef bibimbab. Both of which are great, but apart from having a bunch of eel restaraunts in a picturesque location, next to a restored fortress, facing a river, there isn’t really much that indicates that 남강 eel is anything special. The 육회 bibimbab is even more elusive. The 청황 식당 which was established in 1925 and has a family recipe passed down since then, is in a tiny building in the middle of the central market. I’m sure that if I didn’t have a Korean gff I would have never known about those places. Yet both foods are extremely delicious and interesting, enough to warrent some travel channel jackass to do some show about them, but I Korean things in general remain something of a secret. (Which I think is somewhat of a good thing, but secrets don’t attract tourists.)
19/03/2009 at 1:45 pm Permalink
I think Korea needs to abandon the idea that they can attain the same kind of brand image as China or Japan (or England or wherever.) Not that Korea isn’t cool beyond my wildest imagination – it is – but other places are already known for similar things, often on a grander scale (ex. Gyeongbukgung vs. Forbidden City.) Instead, Korea needs to brand themselves in a way that will make these somewhat offputting bits that foreigners don’t seem to properly appreciate in the tourist literature and make them a central part of the advertising campaign. Forget “Korea, Sparkling” and go for “Korea, Quirky!”
Seriously, Korea should market themselves and the funky, weird, and wild place of the East. Who needs cage fights or cock fights when you can watch elected representatives duke it out? Try eating dog, fermented cabbage, and silkworm larvae! Come to Korea, where a heavily armed and hostile nation lives right next door, and we hardly notice^^
Yes, I’m being a bit facetious, but not entirely. All of my friends who have come from overseas to visit have loved it here. But what they loved about it wasn’t the stuff that the tourism brochures tout, but instead the distinctive and endearing goofiness. After they got through some of that, they started to appreaciate the cultural scene, the arts, the pretty parts. In the meantime though, they had a rollickin’ good time with the overdone voices on the bus, the silly game shows, and the tentacle-selling on the streets.
I’m thinking of Portland, OR (haha, it is Oregon’s day in the sun here at the hub, isn’t it?), who for a long time had a “keep Portland weird” campaign, and people emphasized the oddest things including a 24-hour coin operated Church of Elvis, tunnels under the streets to abduct drunks to serve as sailors, and a cream-filled dick-shaped specialty doughnut store.
P.S. Hey, WG, you might want to watch what you say about Oregonians! First, the story I told was, as I said, apocryphal. Besides, we’re talking about the people who started a war with Britain over a pig ^.~
19/03/2009 at 10:27 pm Permalink
육회 bibimbab? Damn, I need to visit Jinju again.
20/03/2009 at 11:02 am Permalink
P.G., if you are serious, there are actually two places. One is called 재일 식당, and the other is 청황 식당. In my opinion, the former has better bibimbab, but the later’s 쇠고기 국밥 is simply divine. (The 쇠고기 국밥 is complimentary and comes with the bibimbab.) They add stuff like tripe and blood, but the broth is really nice.
25/03/2009 at 9:41 am Permalink
Gomushin Girl does have a valid point.