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Branding the Counties
HIDDEN POTENTIAL
By BONIFACE NGAHU
Ybu must have noticed that
most governors were keen
means that counties need to invest in mar­
Mien coming up with a county brand ket intelligence and research so that they
some few questions that the county brand know where and when to compete.
to fly the national flag. This
resulted to a big debate with managers should ask come to mind. These
some legal experts warning include what the county stands for (the Good Practices Observed in Some Counties
governors that this is unlawful good, the bad and the ugly), what it should Some counties have developed some good
behavior. Before that debate started many stand for in future and die challenges faced practices that others may need to emulate.
people had no idea that there are legal in communicating the brand. The manag­ The Machakos County has already set a
consequences involved. During the Kenya ers should also soul search for the unique good example in terms of attracting invest­
­ Nigeria match die other day there were aspects of the county. These are the aspects ment. The governor of Machakos Alfred
many vehicles both private and public that would make it stand tall among other Mutua was the first to hold an investors'
flying the national flag. I wondered if the counties. Here, it should be noted that even conference where it was reported that tens
ovmers of those vehicle would be found on the ugly aspects can be turned around to of billion shillings was pledged by various
the wrong side of the law for breaking the deliver value in the similar way the bad boy investors. This put Machakos in the inves­
law that some governors are said to have would attracts more girls than the nice boy. tors' mindset or what I would call investors
broken. That aside it appears the devolution When carrying out tourism studies I have consideration set. This means that any in­
champions at the county levels have been heard some tourists saying they would come vestor who may want to invest in the coun­
back to Kenya to help address the problem
involved in some wrong fights. Most have
of poverty. Poorism which is that form of ties, will consider Machakos as the governor
missed out on the opportunity to give their tourism where the tourists would take a tour was an early mover in demonsttating coun­
counties unique identities. The governor
in Kibera for an authentic feel of poverty is a ty investment opportunities. The governor
should be proud to fly the county flags any
rising type of tourism. Seeing poor people is
said to be therapeutic to a rich person who
it new logos, flags or other branding most
has other big problems regardless of his or
counties seem to be lagging behind on this.
her money. Also taking guarded tours in a
Marketing professionals are needed in every dangerous place like the way to Turkana is
county to help the new entities find their also highly valued by some tourists. The dis­
place in the mind of the prospects including covery of that uniqueness when well com­
die county citizens. When the counties have municated would attract opportunities for
time. While the search for new identities be
unique identities, al! stakeholders will have
Comity Brand Discovery
The county brand discovery should be the
first process. This would involve both brain­
storming to come up with possibilities of
what can be and analyzing the situation to
identity the good, the bad and die ugly. My
school of thought preaches that in every sys­
tem there is something that works. So when
you are at it there is need some special focus
on die good. When studying brands we nor­
mally focus on establishing the brand best
self. For example, it is said thatyour face has
make it thrive seems to be in good hands.
the counties.
Muranga County governor also seems to be
Inter­county competition
keen to make Muranga the national food
basket given farming improvement initia­
an elevated perception about the counties
that succeed to differentiate themselves.
was also among the first to create the gov­
ernors standard similar to the presidential
standard. Given the history of Machakos
it would have easily become the capital
city but it was bypassed by railway network
which was most important transport net­
work in those days. The second chance to
Apart from competition for resources from tives I have heard about. Also as his name
die central government, counties will also
Mwangi wa Iria (milk) suggests he intends
be competing to be top of mind as a desti­ to do something with dairy farmers to in­
nation for say, investment, new business crease milk production.
location, education, shopping, working,
living or touring, hi branding you can't be Nairobi City County also seems to have a
everything and therefore you have to shine branding focus; the governor has been is­
in one area or the other depending on areas suing matching orders to corrupt city of­
the county can have competitive advan­ ficials which would make it a better place
tage. For example a county near Nairobi can
model itself to be die bedroom of Nairobi to
provide housing for Nairobi workers who
don't want to live in the city. A county that
two sides that are not identical; if you could is remote and far can be the cowboy county
find the best side then you should tilt your full of adventurous opportunities.
head when being taken a photo for the best
shot of you. Therefore, keep in mind that the Accordnig lo Philip Kotier's Marketing In­
old councils also had some gems that you sights from A to Z, in all battles, be it mili­
may want to keep, also have in mind that tary, business or marital, victory goes to
Rome was not built in a day.
the party that has better information. This
Ipsos Synovate Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
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to do business. The county also picked an Political interference has been one of the
experienced marketing and brand expert hindrances to faster brand orientation.
Anna Othoro to its executive committee.
The county has already initiated a rebrand­
ing program. Mombasa County has also
enhanced its garbage collection system by
increasing the number of garbage collection
trucks and ensuring garbage is ordy collect­
ed at night. Being a tourism county ugly im­
ages of heaps of garbage are bad scenes for
tourists. We have also seen Naivasha (which
marketing messaging to fight the vice.
Many executive committees could not be Branding wiU help counties to
vetted in time because the county repre­
sentatives were fighting over poor pay. This
fight for better pay is another wrong fight
and maybe it can be fought more intelli­
gently. The governor of Kiambu County also
seem to be keen on branding he has been
appealing to the drunkards in his county to
change their ways as he doesn't want to be
add value to their offerings
Better marketing and hranding offers coun­
ty governments an opportunity to excel
by being focused on what they want to be
known for. This would attract the right part­
ners, people and opportunities. This is also
in line with the Vision 2030 which calls for
value addition. Good branding adds value
by leveraging on reputation to command
is part of Nakuru county) emerging as one branded as the "governor of drunkards'! It is
not clear whether most drunkards are men premium pricing and build loyalty. A coun­
of die global conference destinations. Its
Happy Valley history has also earned it the but this could be die message in his women ty without branding is just a commodity that
dominated executive committee that was would attract normal returns. Counties that
nickname NaiVegas with Nakuru being ref­
ered to as NaksVegas by the fun lovers. Can not approved by the county rep. Counties focus on the wrong things might miss an op­
these counties leverage more on these indi­ allocating huge budgets to entertainment portunity to have added value and therefore
and buying fuel guzlers are also sending a be among the most commoditized counties.
cations?
bad message. There is one county that was As marketing professionals we need wake
Bad Practices that should be managed said to have allocated kshs 50 million to up, smell the coffee and hit the road to the
fight pornography; this would also need counties msk—
and avoided
Ipsos Synovate Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
Sokoni
Date: 19.10.2013
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Article size: 779 cm2
ColumnCM: 173.11
AVE: 0.0
The writer is the Marketing Director ofSBO
Research.
E­mail: [email protected], Twitter
@bngahu
Ipsos Synovate Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya