6 December 2023 12:52 am
Sri Lanka Tourism officially revealed its new branding early this week, aiming for success and uniqueness. However, the response from the country’s branding and marketing industry experts has been mixed, with a majority expressing disapproval.
Social media posts from the launch drew attention to the latest campaign, featuring the tagline ‘You’ll Come Back For More.’ Branding and marketing experts critiqued the effort, suggesting it lacked thoughtful consideration and resembled more of an offer than a distinctive brand positioning.
Communications specialist, Nimal Gunewardena, commented on Facebook, “Unfortunately, nothing distinctive about Sri Lanka. Shows a lack of understanding of brand positioning based on competitive advantage.”
Branding specialist Ruchi Gunewardene, added, “Whoever may have done this, they do not understand the fundamentals of a brand. Defining the brand and positioning it comes first. And the communications can then follow. Instead, the process starts with the latter.”
Trevor Reckerman, a top marketing professional, emphasised the importance of the brand custodian defining the desired positioning, backed by testing. He cautioned against changing taglines frequently, comparing it to changing pillows to cure headaches.
The general consensus on the new tagline is that it is content-heavy, failing to effectively convey its intended message to the target audience.
Sri Lanka Tourism has undergone several tagline changes since the end of the war from ‘A Land Like No Other’ during the conflict’s latter part to ‘Sri Lanka - Wonder of Asia’ in 2012 and ‘So Sri Lanka’ in 2018.