‘Ghana must intensify branding effort’

The Chief Executive Officer of Brand Ghana, Mrs Helen Annan, has underscored the need for the country to intensify its branding effort to enhance its competitiveness in the global arena.

“The process of branding our nation is now, and we call on everyone to be a brand ambassador in promoting our dear nation Ghana and support the Brand Ghana Office in its endeavours,” she said.

Branding

Mrs Annan made the call at a workshop in Accra, organised by the Brand Ghana Office, to sensitise participants, drawn from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to the Ghana Visual Identity project.

She defined a national brand as a nation’s identity that had been proactively distilled, interpreted, internalised among the citizens and projected for international recognition, to construct a favourable national image and enhance the nation’s competitiveness.

“A nation’s brand must be distinctive in order to provide a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive world. In essence, countries need to brand themselves because it provides recognition, identification and preference,” the Brand Ghana CEO said.

Positive image

Mrs Annan underlined the need to create and control a positive image of the nation, adding that, “Once you start the process, it allows you greater control over its outcome.”

The Government of Ghana’s branding and design guidelines have been developed to direct the proper use and application of the state’s identity system.

The purpose of the identity system is to present a unified and consistent image to the public; and easy recognition of all work programmes and communication of the government to the Ghanaian public and the world at large is an essential part of the Ghana’s visual image.

Success story

Mrs Annan identified Singapore, Malaysia, India, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Kenya, as some countries outside the Western world that had successfully branded themselves.

She announced that Brand Ghana was developing a package which would include a compact disc (CD), a book on guidelines and pen drives, and other sample materials, for distribution to the MDAs. - GNA