Voranai Vanijaka's interview last Sunday with
Tyler Brule, the ''marketing guru'' being paid lavishly by the Yingluck
Shinawatra government to ''rebrand'' Thailand was most enlightening. Reading Mr
Brule's answers, he seems second-rate at best.
Any
good marketer/brander of countries should know that investors, journalists,
policymakers and even tour agencies will not simply swallow a raft of positive
statements without seeking more in-depth information and analysis.
Mr
Brule counters every question about something negative posed by Voranai with
the statement that he won't answer that because his campaign is staying
positive.
A true
branding expert would have quick and credible responses to expected negative
questions before steering the conversations back to Thailand's positive
aspects.
Expecting
your audience to join you in sticking your head in the ground is unrealistic.
Mr
Brule repeatedly cited Thailand's 11% growth. Anyone who checks the numbers,
and potential investors surely will, will see that this was a first quarter
rebound after the economy contracted by 10.8% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Year-on-year growth was only 0.3% and projected growth for this year is only
4-5%, which is not exceptional or particularly attractive for this region. Anyone
who checks the facts will realise that this little spurt of 11% is over and
won't be coming back any time soon.
It
seems the government's wasteful populist programmes aren't lavishing taxpayer
money just on the rural masses, but also on mediocre consultants.
James
Gleason
Business & Investment Opportunities
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