New branding for Bali tourism industry

Branding is important to any industry. Putting an image in people’s minds and working it is what drives business. The whole ‘Bali aura’ is exactly that, conjuring up an image from the 1940’s of a tranquil tropical island, unspoilt by industry and rich in cultural tradition. Add on some idyllic scenes and a few topless local women in sarongs and you’ve got a package.

Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.

New tourism brand invokes Bali of peace

Following six months of intensive research, which included direct interviews with hundreds of Balinese residents and foreign visitors, the local government has finally unveiled its new tourism brand for the resort island.

The new brand is expected to unite the tourism industry under a single flag and battle cry in an effort to elevate the vital economic sector, which had been paralyzed by two terrorist attacks, environmental degradation and the locals’ increasing resentment toward tourism development.

“We hope this brand will give us new energy in our struggle to recover the industry, which for decades has been the backbone of the island’s economy,” Bali Tourism Agency head Nurdjaya said.

The new brand — comprising a logo, a tagline and a series of strategic recommendations — centers around the vision of making Bali known as “The World’s Place of Harmonious Peace”.

Teguh Mahasari, the engine behind the so-called Bali Reborn team responsible for preparing the new tourism brand, said the vision was the key, recurring message conveyed by a large majority of the research participants.

“It genuinely reflects the true aspiration of the Balinese people as well as the visitors’. Harmony, balance, peace and spirituality are several major themes that kept appearing in our interviews with people from a wide spectrum of society,” she said.

In the course of their research, the Bali Reborn team interviewed 900 Balinese individuals, from Hindu high priests to academic scholars, and from farmers to housewives in every regency of the island.

The results showed that over 50 percent believed “paradise” or “heaven” was the image that most correctly described Bali. This was followed by “balance” at 26.5 percent of respondents then by “harmony” at 21.9 percent. Curiously, “vacation” was only selected as the most suitable image by 16.5 percent of respondents.

Moreover, they also listed temple, culture, traditional customs and arts as the island’s most precious heritage. A staggering 73.5 percent majority viewed the temple as the perfect icon to represent Bali.

Meanwhile, 37.3 percent of 327 foreign visitors to Bali recalled “Island of the Gods” as the island’s most popular tagline. Only a minuscule 5.8 percent considered it to be Bali is My Life”, the most recent tagline, as popular.

“The team analyzed and interpreted the findings and then came up with this new brand,” Teguh said.

The brand concept was based on the ancient Balinese Hindu principle of Tri Hita Karana, the harmonious and balanced relationship between three primary elements: mankind, nature and God.

“That’s the philosophy behind our triangular-shaped logo. The triangle perfectly captures the stable relationship between the three elements,” Teguh said.

The spiritual nature of the brand is further reflected in the colors of the logo — red, black and white, the colors respectively associated with the Balinese Hindu trinity of Brahma, Wisnu (Vishnu) and Siwa (Shiva).

The final touch was the tagline “Shanti, Shanti, Shanti”, obviously taken from the daily Balinese Hindu prayer of Tri Sandhya. Literally meaning peace, shanti and its repetitive chant is a sacred invocation for a reign of peace in the three worlds — the under, middle and upper.

“Frankly, we want this brand to inspire the Balinese as much as the foreign visitors. With the increasing internal conflicts among Balinese, the people of this island needs peace as much as any other in this world,” Teguh stressed.

— I Wayan Juniartha

Bali’s image / aura is well understood and a recent survey among Balinese locals supports the idea that the local culture / icons represent Bali the best, over let’s say a ‘beach resort’. Bali’s
customers come from all over the world and seek different things entirely. There are the party
groups from Australia who come for the beach, shopping and evening pub crawls. The surfing crowd rarely goes more than a mile inland and the culture seekers sometimes avoid the Kuta / Seminyak scene altogether. So its a pretty mixed bag. In my opinion the image is not the problem. The problem is getting the image in front of enough people and dealing with some of the nonsense that goes on in Bali.

Points to be dealt with for marketing:
Bali is the most unique island in the world physically (diving, surfing, massive mountain calderas
with fresh water lakes) and culturally (Bali has experienced a cultural transition with influences
from Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and a colonial period). Bali also has world class hotels, some great restaurants, spas and nightlife locations. Most people on their first visit to Bali are unaware of this. A friend of mine who has travelled extensively thought Bali was just another version of Phuket, palm trees, hotel and a beaches. The message needs to be put out there to make people realize their interests / needs / wants will be catered for.

Points to be dealt with locally:
If a tropical beach is part of your marketing plan then you had better take care of it. More villas mean more pollution and much of it goes straight into the ocean. Who wants to swim on Kuta / Legian / Seminyak beach if its a toilet?

Start working on an island wide garbage strategy. The 2 current strategies (chuck garbage everywhere or burn it) aren’t working. Chucking plastic garbage down every street and stream do nothing to help the tourist industry. Burning plastic garbage creates a really unpleasant situation, especially for the locals who have to breathe the air. On a recent trip to Gunung Batukaru, I rode through Tabanan after dark. For miles the air was a toxic fog of straw, plastic and other garbage. Locals burn small fires in the drainage gullies outside their houses to rid them of mosquitoes. They also pile on some garbage. When everyone is doing this tit creates a noxious atmosphere that is entirely unhealthy and unappealing. Heading up the mountain the air clears quickly, but you have to wonder what the people are thinking.

Local corruption:
This is an ongoing problem and is directly responsible for many of Bali’s problems. The roads deteriorate quickly because the materials used to make them are not sufficient. When a contract gets passed down for a new road, large chunks of funds get diverted, leaving only part of them money to finish the job. Road surfaces and the amount of tar used get slashed and so the road surface will no last. This mechanism is at play in the local education, with insufficient funds for materials. Without a decent education Balinese locals have to get in line for job behind the better educated Javanese who come to manage many of Bali’s hotels.

In my opinion the 3 goals of the tourist industry for Bali should be:
Protecting the natural environment
Preserving Balinese culture
Creating a strong local economy that provides desirable opportunities for Balinese people.

Seems like the tourist industry is a like a pack of headless chooks, but maybe this new branding is a start for something more constructive.