I happily visited Cross River State two months back after years of anticipation following relentless inundation with pretty tales about the place. So much has been (and still is being) said of this riverine state with stories about the richness of its culture, the beauty of its people and especially, its women …so much the stuff that legends are made of.

However not until recent times has the story about Cross River State taken a new dimension with people waxing lyrical about the beauty of the place, how clean and serene the environment is and the numerous sites that abound in the city as destination points. These include the Kwa falls, the Marine Resort, Obudu cattle ranch, and the world class Tinapa Business Resort and Free Zone in Adiabo, among several others.

My only regret though is that it was a business visit. I had little free time to take in all that the people’s paradise has to offer. But in those three weeks of my visit, I was more than convinced; Cross River State won me over.

What makes the state tick is more than its natural attributes; it’s a lot to do with the deliberate effort taken by certain visionary stakeholders to put certain infrastructures into place so that the state can stand up to be counted in this global era of city brands. I will come back to the issue of where and how Cross River seems to be getting it right later in this piece.

City Branding

City Branding (used here interchangeably as Destination Branding) can be described as the deliberate creation of a distinct commodity perception for a place in order to attract patronage with regards to tourism, investment, and settlement.

A Global Phenomenon

It is a discipline that is catching up with the world so fast such that any place that is left behind will suffer for lack of tourist dollars, investors, talents, and up-to-date development. This is so because the battle for supremacy among brands has gone beyond products and services to extend to a battle for significance and prominence among cities, urban regions, and countries all over the world.

Today, just as products and services compete for people’s mindshare and ultimately, market share, places the world over, even within the same country, states and cities are increasingly vying for attention and earnings from tourism and other revenue yielding activities such as major sporting events, conferences, exhibitions and concerts.

The development of a unique identity and attractive brand personality is seen as a must for any place that desires progress and development, as well as prosperity for its indigenes and inhabitants. This is so because a successful city brand will not only

attract tourism and its revenue, but also attract commerce and investment which indirectly leads to infrastructural development and economic benefits.

An Age-long Practice

For some cities in the western world, the theoretical implications of developing their cities and locales for commercial purposes have long been realized, the requisite framework have long been developed and implemented, and the practical steps have since been taken. This is why some places are more popular than others all over the world, while some others will always win bids to host major global events, ahead of less prominent places.

These cities, as a result, have come to claim unique and enduring positions, while building up distinct perceptions that support those positions through a set of systematic activities highly related to their histories and traditions. Hence Paris has come to represent romance; Milan is style; New York personifies energy; The Caribbean is fun; the Maldives means relaxation.

But one might wonder what does it really take to succeed with building a city brand?

A Question of Commitment

Of course as it is in product category, the first starters always have a huge though not unassailable advantage over late starters. But a resolute determination and an absolute commitment from all stakeholders will always deliver the goods of city branding to any place desirous of playing the global game.

In the 2007 edition of the world’s City Brand index, CBI, the following cities emerged as the world’s top 20 places in that order: Sydney, London, Paris, New York, Rome, Melbourne, Barcelona, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Toronto, Berlin, Madrid, Geneva, Milan, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Brussels, Auckland, and Tokyo.

The position of the Australian city of Sydney as the leading city brand in the world is not accidental in any way, but incidental in every way. It is reported that the country spends on average, $250million on tourism annually. These include infrastructural development and tourism marketing.

THE SIX ‘PS’ OF DESTINATION BRANDING

But the major elements that will ultimately determine a city’s chances at branding are the 6 Ps of Destination Branding namely Presence, People, Pulse, Prerequisite, Place, and Potential.

A more traditional approach to City Branding recognizes the following factors as key:

• Vibrancy of Culture
• Quality of the Clime
• Level of Positive “Buzz”
• Standard of Living
• Attractiveness as a holiday or short break Destination

However, these factors are better captured and addressed in the 6 Ps of Destination Branding. They are not the same as the regular Ps of Marketing, but a set of distinct parameters that, given in the right mix, together deliver the golden benefits of Place Branding.

Below are the 6 essential ingredients in no particular order.

1. PLACE

This has to do with the physical and climatic components of the city. i.e. The natural and geographical attributes of the location. Is it a riverine area? Or a hilly place? How is the landscape? How beautiful and scenic is the destination? What is the quality of its climate? How hot, warm or cold is the place at different times of the year …especially at customary holiday times?

These issues usually go a long way in determining how much a city can go at succeeding as a tourist destination. The scenic splendor of the Caribbean plays a massive role in making the islands an enduring destination for vacation seekers; while the beauty of Cape Town in South Africa is fast becoming legendary.

Huge Natural Potential

On this front, Nigeria should naturally be a hotbed of tourism. The geographical entity that is the Nigerian nation is replete with many a beautiful place with beautiful landscape and fascinating natural attributes, everywhere you go …Abeokuta, Abuja, Calabar, Jos, Katsina, to name a few; tropical rainforests, waterfalls, exquisite hills and mountains, rich baobab etc.

And while conducting a quick survey recently regarding what is most fascinating about Nigeria, I discovered that almost all respondents rated our climate as number one, even by those who have lived outside our shores for considerable periods of time.

These taken together provide a fantastic platform for discerning Nigerian cities to take advantage of, and aggressively build a solid foundation for successful place branding.

Although this factor has all to do with the natural features of a place, it does not in any way suggest that it is only those places that are naturally favored that can succeed at tourism; a lot can still be done by those with natural challenges to attract tourists. In this age of ‘technology with no limit’ and a world where the line is increasingly blurred between what is natural and virtual reality, what matters is how desirous, determined and innovative the stakeholders or city planners are at closing any perceived gap in natural attributes.

2. PRESENCE

Presence is about the feel: This place, how popular is it? Is it familiar or obscure? How much is it known to people other than its citizens? What history or legend does it boast of? What myth surrounds it or its origin? Does it have any historical significance that is known all over the world? In what ways (if at all) has it contributed to world (or even regional) affairs in recent or distant past?

The popularity of a place also plays a hugely significant role in its chances of success. Given that cities and urban regions are competing for attention, it is a huge advantage to be famous.

Rome, given its historical antecedent and the attendant popularity will naturally stand a better chance at winning a global event hosting bid than say a place like Ogbomoso in Osun state.

What Have You Done Lately?

In fact during the 2007 CBI, cities were judged on what contributions they have made to the world in the last 30 years or there about. Back here in Nigeria, think …what contributions has your city made to national affairs in recent or past times? Or how relevant has your place been in terms of current topical issues. On this end, only a handful of cities can stand up to the light.

The issue of a city’s fame is not limited to stories or legends of yester years; the encouraging thing is that a huge Presence can be created. This can be done using any of, or a combination of several means.

Constantly being in the news or on people’s tongues worldwide even if it is only regionally one of the ways and is a sure route to appropriating mindshare in the global game of destination branding. Much more good can be built upon this platform provided the vision and the will are there.

3. PREREQUISITE:

This is a function of urban development. How much modernity has been brought into the place? How accessible is it? How easy or difficult is it to move around the place? What infrastructure and other facilities are available? Does it support urban lifestyle or is it still a remote entity? Basically, how much does the place aid comfortable lifestyle

In this wise, the level of infrastructural development and standard of living play a big role. What levels of success can one hope to achieve when, for example some of our more popular cities here in Nigeria do not even have motorable access roads, talk less of adequate social infrastructures?

Standard Infrastructures

To appeal to the global community and enjoy preference over other competing places, a considerable amount of amenities must be in place such as good road networks, electricity, standard hospitality suites and restaurants, world class tertiary institutions, telecommunication facilities, among others.

This is one area where a lot of African cities need to improve upon. Urban development does not presuppose a losing of one’s identity and traditional attributes or values. The city of Cairo and other Egyptian cities are highly developed yet they retain their traditional appeals and attributes, which significantly is one of the reasons the land of the pharaohs still enjoy a good amount of mindshare among tourists globally. I’m talking about the attractions of their deserts and pyramids.

Likewise places like Athens in Greece, Rome in Italy, Vienna in Austria, among several other places have leveraged their relevance and prominence on their primordial cultural values and attributes. Nigeria with its vastness both in size and natural resources, as well as the extremely rich cultural heritage from over 250 ethnic nationalities, can better any place in the world in terms of potential attractions, especially ancient attributes.

From Benin to Osogbo, from Ile-Ife to Katsina, from Jos to Abuja, the innate possibilities are boundless. But these attractions will only remain in the realm of possibilities as long as the institutional lack of infrastructural development in the areas of Power generation, Transportation system, Information and Communication Technology, Educational facilities in our states and major cities perpetuates.

4. PEOPLE:

This factor is right at the heart of the place as it examines its human elements and their culture. This is the thread that holds every other thing together and is really the most essential just as it is in product or service categories.

How friendly or amiable are the people? What about their culture and tradition: Is it colorful, interesting, and captivating? Or is it reclusive and unappealing? Does the culture have prohibitive measures that make it difficult for foreigners to co-exist?

What similarities exist between the people’s way of life and that of other people and cultures in other parts of the world? Or are the people entirely unique with their traditions? How about safety issues? Are the people hostile? Or they are hospitable? What about their temperament? And how civilized is their conflict resolution and judicial system? Simply, how law-abiding are they?

Happy People …

A lot of goodwill can be generated just riding on the characteristics of the people and their ways of life. And this is one area I think we have not as a nation optimized the potential given how much the world sings our praises in terms of our friendliness and hospitable nature that rivals any other, and better many others in the world.

The people of Nigeria and their ‘One Love’ lifestyle i.e. easy going and welcoming way of life can be a strong point of attraction in getting the international community not only to come on visits to our country and see our beautiful cities and waterfalls, but also to bring huge Foreign Direct Investment to our ‘friendly environment’. After all, aren’t we one of the happiest (if not the happiest) people in the world? Come on, how could prosperity thrive in a hostile environment?

5. PULSE:

This is about how the destination vibrates. It is not just a feature of how familiar a place, but also of how busy (excitingly) the place is. This is with regards to a mixture of several activities that together provide veritable and interesting grounds for people to want to visit. The Pulse of a city must be alive all season long with such activities that range from fun activities to sporting activities to business activities and a host of others.

It’s All About The Buzz!

Beyond the people factor, the Pulse is perhaps the most important. A place may not have the most attractive natural attributes (Place) or the best of infrastructures (Prerequisite), the manner and rate that it Pulsates could give the place a most imposing familiarity (Presence) over even better endowed destinations. Case in study: New York City, London, and our very own Lagos city.

The set of activities that make a Place vibrate positively must be such that have general appeal across different psychographic and demographic segments: men and women, young and old, upper and middle class etc. There must be ‘No dulling!’ and this can only be achieved with the right mix of events that will capture the muse of both the indigenes, residents and potential tourists.

6. POTENTIAL:

The potential refers to …what economic and other opportunities exist in the place? What are the possibilities and the prospects that indigenes, visitors and investors can tap into?

In simple terms, in what ways can people benefit from patronizing this destination? The higher or more the Potential that exist in a Place, the higher the propensity to attract tourists, investors and even settlers; a development that will ultimately deliver the golden benefits of Destination

THE 6 Ps AS NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS

Now these 6 conditions can be categorized as natural (place and people); historical (presence); and sufficient conditions (prerequisite, pulse and potential). Potential could also be natural depending on the nature and depth of the natural resources available at a place although it is mostly an artificial condition that comes with the extent of success achieved with the combination of the other elements, especially people and prerequisite.

Examining the P-factors of Place Branding further, vis-à-vis the Nigerian nation, our States and some prominent cities, it will show that only very few places can stand up to be counted. It is actually difficult to find a Place that ranks highly on most, if not all of the factors. We have a host of places that are strong on the natural (necessary) conditions and weak on the sufficient factors.

What is prevalent is a lack of awareness of the potential benefits of a successful Place Brand in most cases, and the absence of clearly defined City branding initiatives that will encompass all necessary and sufficient conditions.

INTEGRATING THE 6 PS

However, given the WTO’s projection that tourist arrival to Africa will hit 77.3 million by 2020; the bigger imperative is for our leaders and city stakeholders to get it right with the integration of all factors, so as to position ourselves, our cities and their economies to   share substantially from this expected boom.

But to gain mindshare and marketshare among tourists nationally and globally, a conscious effort at systematically integrating all the conditions must be implemented, such that will see our major cities and even local governments becoming prominent.

Successful exercises at branding our cities will involve well articulated and perfectly executed initiatives that cover citizens’ orientation, infrastructural development, event marketing, public relations, among others, and will deliver the following benefits:

• Forex earning from tourists revenue
• Direct foreign investment
• Employment opportunities for indigenes and residents
• Urban development from social overhead investment
• Positive image, values and association; eliminating any negative perception
• Positioning in global shop window
• Economic prosperity

Nigeria is not only a big country; it is equally beautiful, geographically and aesthetically, with a great all-year long climate favorable to all living organisms, plant, animal and human inhabitants. But our cities lack prominence because our leaders have not had the will to put in place the necessary infrastructures and execute relevant activities that will drive these dormant brands.

HOW CROSS RIVER STATE IS GETTING IT RIGHT:

Back to the issue of Cross River State, examining the state following is my reason for believing this former South Eastern State is miles ahead:

The state ranks highly in terms of Place and People. The scenic beauty of the state which is due to its naturally beautiful landscape and other physical attributes is not in doubt; and the beauty of the people, both in their physical appearance and in their welcoming way of life is renowned.

Presently, the state is among the first in Nigeria in terms of Prerequisite. The level of infrastructural development available in the state is second to none: good road network, neat and traffic-free streets and highways that are delightfully decorated, prominent tertiary institutions and a functional transportation system, among other exclusive facilities and tourist destinations such as the world famous Obudu Cattle Ranch, Tinapa business resort and free zone, the Marine Resort, among others.

In terms of Presence, Cross River is also prominent. Definitely, the state is one of the most popular with so much familiarity to most people, even to those who have not been to the place. And the presence is getting better with each passing day due largely to a well-orchestrated event marketing strategy that keeps the state in the news almost all year long through various world class activities that include the following:

• The annual Obudu international mountain race that is not only on the IAAF calendar, but is also reputed to be the biggest such race in the world

• The Tinapa Trade Expo, which draws participants from other parts of Africa. And

• The world-famous Calabar Christmas Carnival. A 30-day long fun-filled event

Constantly being in the news through positive activities and associations, upcoming, present and past events that bothers on business, fun, entertainment, and sports are combining wonderfully to give the state a Pulse, whose vibration is unrivalled by any other state in the nation, except perhaps, Lagos.

The one area where I am not too sure is in the area of Potential. I know not enough to pass a judgment on the state’s potential especially in the area of economic possibilities. But what more do one need when the state scores highly on the other 5 conditions?

The possibilities for the economy is promising and given the other nicely integrated factors, there is enough in the state to drive economic prosperity through the attendant creation of jobs for indigenes and residents, from the tourism related activities in the state

WORLD CLASS DESIRE

Overall, Cross River State has a most solid foundation for a successful attempt at Destination Branding …scoring quite high on most of the 6 Ps. And this is beginning to yield positive fruit as this South Eastern state is fast gaining lots of mindshare,

both locally and internationally. This would not have been achievable if not for a strong desire to be a world class city, which was supported by an equally world class commitment in terms of will and resources.

This much can be attested to by the strength of its Prerequisite (in various forms of infrastructure) that is now available at the place, facilities that require a colossal amount of investment to effect; and the buzz of its Pulse.

For example, besides hosting the world’s biggest mountain race, the idea of having a month-long carnival is in itself an immensely innovative initiative. Even if all of the 30 days doesn’t throw up major activities, the boldness of hosting such a grand fiesta is a huge statement and an attractive invitation to fun-seekers all over the world; and this is already yielding dividends as it is fast becoming a major international event with international participants coming from neighboring African countries, and as far as Trinidad and Tobago.

As a kid who was just gaining consciousness of happenings around me, I remember that one of my earliest memories was the reverberation of the historical FESTAC 77, hosted by Lagos; and this was even a few years after this event held.

Bringing the whole of the black race together for the Festival of African Arts and Culture went a long way in putting Lagos on the global map, especially in terms of place consciousness and relevance long after the curtains were drawn on the fiesta. But there has been nothing like FESTAC ever since, either by Lagos or any other Nigerian city.

What Cross River State needs to highlight, in a subtle yet effective way, are its economic potentials in order to stimulate investment and possibly, settlement. However, other states and major cities need to borrow from this world class visioning in order to make the most of the enormous potential at their disposal in the area of destination brands.

In virtually all of Nigeria, the beauty of our Places is almost given; and our People are warm and hospitable with exciting ways of life that foster friendship, trade and prosperity. But, decision makers in our states must pay serious mind to the Prerequisite in their various places by developing the facilities that support 21st century lifestyle and is comparable to the leading places in the world.

This can be done by undertaking relevant urban regeneration projects and the right mix of strategic event marketing, such that will support the building of sustainable Presence and exciting Pulse, that makes the Potentials in these places not only clearly discernible, but also desirable.

DESTINATION BRANDING …A PARTNERSHIP OF ALL

City Branding is not solely a task for the government or public sector, but rather a

collaborative undertaking among all key stakeholders; with roles for everyone from public office holders, to the corporate community, and all the way to the citizens on the street.  

This much is another key area where Cross River State is succeeding at city branding. Most of the people of the state seem to clearly understand their stakes in having a functional city, and the reward that comes with such; thus, they take pride in protecting their assets by jealously defending and upholding all that which makes the state and its cities a tourist delight.

Not only are the people the biggest advocates of their place, proudly selling the place to you and daring you to have a feel, they also are the custodians of its image. Throughout my close to three weeks stay, litters were hardly a feature on the streets, and I can’t recall ever seeing anyone urinating by the roadside throughout my stay, much unlike the nauseating sites we are unfortunate to witness regularly on this side of town with human beings defecating on the highways in broad daylight.

On a few occasions when I tried to take a motorbike ride without wearing the safety helmets, I was courteously refused as the riders pointed to me that this action is against their law in the state. What this and other acts point to, is the fact that there is an Internal Buy-in by the people of the state.

Thus, on a final note, it is not sufficient to have a world class destination brand vision, and a resolute determination and commitment, and a formula for the right mix of the 6 P ingredients to reach this goal. It is most essential that, while putting together a masterful integration of the 6 Ps of Destination Branding, the state must make it another point to deliberately carry the people along so that the requisite sacrifices will be made by everyone not only to attain the golden height, but also to be able to stay there.