What are your destination’s “accidental” brands?

You don’t have to go to Jamaica to know that it has great beaches, rivers, waterfalls and flora. Then again, several Caribbean islands have those.
But, I don’t think anyone can leave Jamaica and not know what is unique and innate to Jamaica:

• Blue Mountain Coffee
• The Jamaican Bob Sled Team (with its own restaurant and merchandise at the airport)
• The colors of the Jamaican Flag (used in every imaginable tourist-related product)
• The colors of the Rastafarian movement (see above)
• Braids
• Jamaican Jerk
• Chicken-every-imaginable-style
• *Bob Marley*
  

What a great diversity: music, food, colors, entertainment, “boutique” java, sports and fashion.
And most sustainable and renewable.

Three Questions for you:

1. What are your destination’s unique and innate accidental brands?
2. How can they be exploited, preferably in a sustainable way?
3. Is there something for every taste?

Ask for the business and make it personal

On a recent visit to Jamaica, the Jamaicans impressed me with the fact that every Jamaican asks for the business, consciously or subconsciously. Everybody asked: “When are you coming back?”

The most impressive of all was Keith, the driver on the airport shuttle. He welcomed us aboard with a nice, personal flight-attendant-like speech. The kill came as we arrived at the airport. He said, paraphrased:

“Did you enjoy your time in Jamaica? .... I hope you come back. And remember to tell your friends what a good time you had, so they will come too. It’s because people like you and your friends keep coming to Jamaica that people like me have a job. So, thank you for coming and have a safe flight home.”

Now, that hits home.

The Lecture Circuit

It seems like once you start lecturing, you keep on doing it. Besides lecturing at the University, I held two other presentations over the past 6 weeks:

For a group of marketing managers including several banks, fast food restaurants, home improvement stores on a short introductin to "Return on Marketing Investment" in September.

And for the Curacao chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International on "What exactly is Branding?", a session to encourage smaller companies to brand themselves better last week