Marketing Greece s.a. is a private owned company founded by SETE, the Greek Tourism Enterprises Association, that works under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Tourism. Their aim is to help Greek Tourism define and promote its competitive advantages. The brand ”Discover Greece” is meant to address stakeholders as much as foreign target markets and lay the foundations for long-term relations with professionals and travelers.
The key points for the strategy we proposed were:
a) Too many brands.
Instead of a long-term national strategy, Greece was plagued by a branding frenzy that spread among variousministries, regions, municipalities, public services, NGO,s, social groups and activists adding new names and imagesto the already fragmented greek image.
b) Too many audiences.
Destinations –countries, regions, cities, resorts, parks, museums etc. send their messages to the widest rangeof prospective clients. It is therefore difficult to define specific demographics, values and lifestyles of their target markets. Depending on their size and complexity destinations are also very slow in adapting themselves tonew trends and market requirements.
c) Too many assets.
Greece is admittedly more than Sea & Sun sprinkled with some relics of a glorious past. Besides the great landmarks like the Acropolis in Athens, the Santorini caldera, the cosmopolitan island of Mykonos or the Minoan Crete, the country offers many opportunities for an unforgettable visit. In it’s variety, Greece resembles the USA or India and is almost the opposite of Finland.
d) Too many routes.
To enjoy Greece’s assets guests have to move from place to place, they have to explore and make up their own pick & mix (Halkidiki with a day trip to Meteora or a cruise to Athos, Athens with a visit to Delphi or the island of Hydra, Zakynthos with a trip to Olympia or an nightwatch forcaretta-caretta etc.). They have to Discover Greece.
Accordingly the Discover Greece brand should
- provide a persuasive experience at first glance / a relaxed feeling of getting in touch with persons instead of institutions,
- show Greeks’ enthusiasm for tourism / portray an inviting gesture, as naif and direct as it could be.
- reflect the country’s values and the established conceptions about Greece / talk about the blue sea and skies Greece is best recognized for,
- balance originality with conformation to global trends / the audit of over 300 destination brands (countries, regions, cities) showed a wide spectrum of design approaches -from the almost sketchy to the mostly corporate- among which the ”Discover Greece” brand logo is clearly and unassumingly original.
