Since the beginning of this year we have had washed out rock stars haranguing our government, donors withholding aid because they do not like the way our politics is shaping up, flare-ups in our love-hate relationship with Rwanda have continued to hover very close to the surface, a spate of high profile murders executed in the best traditions of Hollywood and we need not mention the unfortunate death of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/ Army (SPLM/A) chief John Garang last month.
And just when we think we may got over the worst the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has withheld billions of shillings after an investigation had unearthed enough corruption in our health ministry’s management of the funds to warrant this action.
It is bad enough that in foreign capitals the thing that comes first to people’s mind when you say “I am Ugandan,” is “Oh Yes! Idi Amin”. And just when we thought we had plumbed the depths of ignominy we have added, “Stealing from sick and dieing children to enrich ourselves” to our calling card!
Uganda has had it good over the last 20 years. The international community partly out of a sense of guilt but more out of opportunism has jumped on the Ugandan economic miracle bandwagon and has ignored some of our less noble deeds.
Suddenly all the goodwill the country has accumulated in the last two decades is being whittled away.
In successful companies the brand – or public’s perception of the company is guarded jealously because it has a monetary value. For example we easily pay the extra shilling for Basmati rice over our own rice because the Basmati brand is widely known, has a following of satisfied cooks and eaters who can vouch for its wholesome taste and since it comes from Asia – who better to know about rice than the Asians?
The elements of a brand are awareness, loyalty, associations and customer interaction or experience.
Brand building today is a systematic process and not left to chance. The elements of brand building can be adopted for building personal or national brands.
So if you deconstruct “Brand Uganda” what do you have.
To begin with there is some awareness of Brand Uganda, but for all the wrong reasons Idi Amin, AIDS, Lord’s Resistance Army but we know there is some good that goes on in Uganda but awareness is not created by mistake it comes with a sensitivity to the working of the media and a focus on the target of your message.
In terms of brand loyalty we see very little of that on our streets with able-bodied men and women lousing away the day, dodging an honest day’s work. Patriotism or loyalty to country is not as some demagogues profess – a love for the government, but a desire to better one’s country through personal contribution.
As seen above what our brand is associated with would rather be left underempahsised.
And finally what is the customer experience in Uganda. Obstructive bureaucracy, corrupt politicians, under producing workers, rutted roads and poor customer service for starters.
The sum total of this is that you would have to pay dearly to sell the Uganda brand and even then there will be no buyers. It is that bad.
It might sound funny, and it shouldn’t, but how Uganda is perceived in the foreign and regional markets that we are targeting, all these things matter.
If the country’s managers could only think in terms of Brand Uganda before they made any decision or dipped their grubby hands in the till, we would be less of a beleaguered country than we are now.