Tourism Global 2011 Social Media Trends [Infographic by TIG]

Source: TIG Global, interactive marketing company for hospitality and travel. http://www.tigglobal.com

Do you know who the best marketer of all time is?

This question is one of marketing pop culture books' favorite!
The answers vary through time to time:
Coca-Cola
Santa Claus
even Steve Jobs (Apple)
are some nominees for this prestigious title.

From a conversation I had this Friday with my University of Piraeus's colleagues,
I think my friends we may have the Winner of the Title!

So, according to my Professors Malliaris and Kouremenos:

Paul the Apostle, also called Saint Paul is the best marketer of all time!

Here is his marketing mix - the world known 4P’s:

• Product - Christianity 
• Price - free (giving great value for money: heaven earned)
• Place - global distribution through his missionary journeys
• Promotion: Bible and Pauline Epistles

  

I think I will give him the Title, do you agree?

My dear Porter, I suppose we have to rethink our strategies when in Crisis! No more "Think globally, Act locally" but viceversa!

'Think globally, Act Locally' is one of the phrases that dominate all International Business Strategy books worldwide. It refers to a global strategy of organizations, wanting to explore different markets (countries) and selling their products/services to the locals of that country.

But when it comes to periods of economic recession is this phrase correct or misleads us?

According to the Harvard Business Review

"The variance of GDP growth rates across countries is at its lowest point in 30 years; never in recent history have economies been so closely in step with each other. This increases the odds of a synchronized global recession, which means that companies will have nowhere to turn to shift supply.

How can your company make it through the difficult times ahead?"

Maybe the answer lies in the same problematic phrase of our youth (and our books):

The "Think globally, Act locally" maybe must change vice versa to  "Think locally, Act globally"

When a market or a country (like Greece right now) faces a economic recession, and companies may experience a drop in regional demand, they may have to map out alternative markets that could absorb their additional supply. 

"Think locally, Act Globally" actually means using local resources for designing and manufacturing products for the global environment! 

This is, I guess, the only way for a company based in a country under economic crisis to gain a unique selling proposition and competitive advantage: through uniqueness of offerings.

Some examples of local resources that can be successful in international markets (through successful innovation in marketing of course), are:

• Greek fruits and vegetables that are of fine quality
• Products made from unique ingridients (like Mastic)
• Greek Gastronomy and wines
• Marbles and minery products

The above list can be unlimited when we realise that Greece has so many unique offerings!!!

When designing and manufacturing those unique products we must turn to the global environment. Of course we have to tagret them carefully but we have to do it!No company can survive when depends to a domestic market that faces very low demand. In such times, companies must expand their vision to serve international markets. Exporting is a means to increase a company’s overall market size.

Under this assumption, the major focus of the export strategy would be to enhance the product diversification through uniqueness and sell them to targeted international markets, increasing both the volume of exports and profits.

So, my dear Porter, I suppose we have to rethink our strategies when it comes to crisis!

Maybe "Think locally, Act globally" is one answer (if not the only one)!

The 5W's of Marketing (who, what, when, where, and why) are not enough! The 'With' factor!

 The 5W's of Marketing (who, what, when, where, and why) are not enough!
We have to add 'With' because co-creation is the key to success!

What the 'With" factor stands for?
Co-creation, collaboration, coworking and generally all co- that pressumes people working together for a co-mmon goal!
The network aspect is implicit through the statement that all social and economic actors are resource integrators, implying that value creation takes place through interaction in complex networks.
New S-D logic (introduced some years before by Vargo and Lusch) is intended to capture evolutionary thinking about value creation and exchange and is subject to ongoing, open development.

Want more? Please read:
Vargo, S. L. and Lusch, R. F. (2008a), “Service-dominant logic: continuing the evolution”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 36 No 1, pp.1-10;
and Vargo, S. L. and Lusch, R. F. (2008b), “Why ‘service’?” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 36 No 1, pp.25-38.

 

Branding Greece: is it possible? Part 2 - To Re-brand or Not a country?

In the following series under the Title "Branding Greece: is it possible?" or "Greece: Rebrand me if you can!", an effort is made to capitalize academic, research and practitioner's knowledge about the topic in order to propose a name and stratedy for the branding of Greece as a nation.

Part 2 - analyses some well standing cases of nation branding and suggest a strategic nation re-branding framework.

Enjoy the journey!

Re-branding nations

According to Simon Anholt, author of ''Brand America: The Mother of All Brands,'' a select group of countries have national images ''so powerful and so positive'' that they amount to ''megabrands.'' Other countries have successfully turned around, or repositioned, their national  brand in recent years. Still others are actively working to polish their brand identity. 

MEGABRANDS -  ''These countries,'' writes Anholt, ''are effortlessly synonymous with a number of valuable attributes.'' :

• FRANCE: ''chic and quality of living.''
•  ITALY: ''style and sexiness.'' 
• GERMANY: ''quality engineering.'' 
• SWITZERLAND: ''purity, wealth, integrity.'' 
• JAPAN: ''technology, entertainment, design.'' 

See Elsevier’s book for some of the above countries’ brand strategy development.

http://v5.books.elsevier.com/bookscat/samples/9780750683494/9780750683494.pdf

But nowadays, a new term has become more trendy than branding: Re-branding!

‘Rebranding’ became fashionable, and almost a rite of passage for new bosses, in the late 20th and early 21st century. Too often it was a smokescreen that implied, but didn’t always deliver, change. But it looked and sounded good – at least until the wheels came off (remember Consignia and New Coke?). But, on the other hand, there are many powerful examples of successful rebranding, not least by countries – particularly New Zealand, Spain and Colombia.
However, it is useful to distinguish between rebranding, which implies radical transformation and usually includes a significant change in the product itself, and refreshing the brand, which refers to changing some brand values or changing the focus on existing brand values and presenting them differently. This is more than just a semantic debate.
It is important because, for most destinations, rebranding is out of the question: they neither own nor have control over the destination’s main assets – its heritage, culture, scenery, natural environment, people and character – in the way that a manufacturing company has over its products. They are generally therefore not in a position to change the product, with some significant exceptions such as Las Vegas and Dubai. Refreshing a destination brand, on the other hand, is much more of an evolutionary process and an essential weapon in a destination’s marketing arsenal.
Rebranding a destination is possible when there is a radical transformation in the country’s DNA, such as after a revolution, economic crisis, major and widespread physical redevelopment, or a fundamental change in the nation’s character (eg Russia and eastern European countries after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, post-apartheid South Africa under Nelson Mandela).

But, unless a radical transformation in the country’s tourism offer and infrastructure is planned, it is usually more instructive to think in terms of refreshing a destination brand, rather than rebranding it. This is because:

• the destination’s core appeals are unlikely to have changed significantly in visitors’ eyes
• refreshment of a brand is within the destination’s control
• radical change risks losing the brand equity that has been built up at considerable cost over many years
• brand refreshment is less traumatic and therefore more likely to be seen as it should be – as part of the ongoing marketing process – rather than as a one-off expensive, earthshaking corporate upheaval. 

The right time for refreshment

But when should a destination refresh its brand? How can a destination manager tell when the time is right?
In the commercial world, consumer products are generally rebranded for one or more of the following reasons:

• the product has failed
• the product has grown tired
• the product’s reputation has been severely damaged
• the world has changed but the product hasn’t
• consumer tastes have changed dramatically
• the company has been taken over or merged with another
• the company has lost its way
• there is a new managing director or chairman.

This is a useful test for destinations (with the exception of the last point about a new managing director or chairman) when considering whether it is time to refresh their brand. When a market declines, people’s motivation for travel changes, a new market segment emerges or the current brand has just grown tired and fails to inspire people, the brand needs to be refreshed.
Destination managers need to be constantly aware how their destination is perceived in key markets and, whenever necessary, tweak or change the way in which it is presented. A living brand should be sufficiently dynamic and flexible to absorb such adjustments smoothly.
It is very important, before embarking on a brand refreshment exercise, to identify what has changed so that the destination response is appropriate. What is required: an improvement in destination product quality; more creative marketing communications; or refreshment of the brand? Sometimes it is just the way in which a destination’s brand values are conveyed in marketing campaigns that needs to be refreshed, rather than the brand itself. If they do not come across sufficiently strongly or the creative execution is poor, the marketing (and perhaps the marketing agency) needs to be changed. Before embarking on a brand refreshment exercise, destination managers should ask themselves whether it is the marketing execution or the brand itself that is failing to create sufficient impact. Otherwise a very expensive mistake can be made.
Rebranding can also be mistakenly viewed as a panacea when the brand is underperforming for other reasons. Such miscalculation often stems from:

• failure to agree on a destination’s core characteristics, which comprise its essence
• failure to truly understand how visitors and potential visitors perceive the destination
• lack of courage to adopt the focus necessary to distinguish the destination from competitors in the eyes of potential visitors, for fear of not being sufficiently representative of some constituents, regions or businesses
• failure to commit to the long-term implementation of the brand
• failure to integrate the destination’s core brand values effectively and creatively in all marketing communications.

Rebranding, or brand refreshment, in such circumstances is akin to repainting a car that needs a new gear box. Lipstick never looks good on pigs.


 The steps in Re-branding

Nation brand managers or policy makers need to take into consideration the existing country image and design appropriate nation branding strategies to work towards and sustain a favorable country image.

On the other hand, an unfavorable nation image can be offset by the improvement of some key resources. In this case, nation brand managers or policy makers should identify the key resources, evaluate nation brand strengths and weaknesses, assess the environmental opportunities and threats, and employ the resources effectively and efficiently to achieve competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

The major steps in a nation re-branding strategy are the following:

• No matter if the country intends to either present a new “brand promise” or “re-brand” itself, the reality of the past performance of its society should be taken into account to lend credibility to its nation branding initiatives (Anholt 2006; Gilmore 2002; Tatevossian 2008).
• Based on the findings , country brand managers or policy makers should evaluate the current state of the country, including its strengths and weaknesses in its resources as well as their impacts on its key “financial” performance, that is, exports, foreign direct inward investment, and tourism.
• Next, they should establish a clear and feasible vision to plan for the long term, provide guidance as to where the country should go, and identify how to move forward (Anholt 2005, 2008).
• Further, they should prepare detailed nation branding strategies by taking into consideration the environmental opportunities and threats to lay out the steps to achieve the vision. Just like a corporate brand, the nation brand can be assessed, evaluated, and strengthened through SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis (Kotler and Gertner 2002).

 One of the most successful turnaround nation rebrand case study is the case of Spain. Once thought of as a European backwater, Spain capitalized on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to successfully rebrand itself as a hip Mediterranean playground (think of the Joan Miro sun symbol). 

Read the case study below and the lessons learned from Spain's case.

Spain

Spain had been a major beneficiary of the growth in international travel in the 1970s and 1980s. But Spain’s enthusiastic response to northern Europeans’ appetite for sun, sand and sea had led to overdevelopment along Spain’s coastline, representing one of the world’s most glaring examples of mass tourism. Spain’s costas catered for northern European, and particularly British, tastes, which were far from cosmopolitan. A home-from-home was created for British tourists, whereby British pubs, British menus and British holiday representatives provided a familiar environment that stripped the costas of their Spanish sense of place.
By the early 1980s Spain had a largely negative image in northern Europe as a cheap, booze-fuelled beach destination that was unappealing to higher-spending travellers who were more interested in indigenous nature and culture and experiencing somewhere different when they travelled. They were looking elsewhere in Europe. For them Spain was not even a consideration. But just a few miles inland the real Spain remained largely unvisited.
Spain took a brave decision in the early 1980s to take a radical turn and focus its international marketing on culture and the interior, which would appeal to a completely new audience from its traditional visitors. It promoted a contemporary artistic Spain alongside its cultural heritage, focussing on icons such as the Prado in Madrid, the rich variety of its cities such as Barcelona, Seville, Santiago de Compostela, and quality accommodation in former castles, manor houses and monasteries (paradores).
A new vibrant, innovative and distinctive Espana – el sol de Miro logo was created, by famous Spanish modern artist Joan Miro, using a combination of the colours of the Spanish flag. Suddenly a new image of Spain was launched to the world – cultural, ‘cool’ and contemporary.
Later, different regions of Spain, such as ‘green Spain’ in the north, and beach destinations such as Menorca and the Canary Islands, were reintroduced under the new brand. While the creative style of its advertising campaigns changed over the years, its brand values remained consistent. Then, gradually, Spain took a back seat, handing the lead over to different regions in much of its marketing. But a clear sense of Spanish identity was always retained, through prominently featuring the highly distinctive and widely recognised Espana – el sol de Miro logo and, later, by adding a creative ‘Smile’ device in all national and regional advertising, which reinforced a sense of unity and a family feel.
Spain had performed a remarkable rebranding, which had not only retained its traditional beach market, but also introduced a different Spain in all its regional glory to new markets, who would previously not have even considered Spain for a holiday.

Lessons from Spain

• Understanding current trends and recognising existing assets are important. Spain, like New Zealand, was in part fortunate in terms of timing, which enabled it to tap into a growing demand for more cultural and outdoor tourism products in its main source markets. It was also able to deploy significant marketing resources to promote its new image; and, in the work of artist Joan Miro, it had an internationally recognisable body of distinctive modern art from which to draw inspiration for its new logo. But none of these should deflect from the genius or determination required to blend these elements into a successful recipe, which transformed the image of Spain from a rather downmarket beach destination to a multi-faceted, cultural, sophisticated destination for an entirely new market of holidaymakers.
• A new approach can refresh existing products. It is also important to recognise that Spain’s former ‘cash cow’ – beach holidays – have continued to be a mainstay of Spain’s tourism product. And, significantly, rather than the image of cheap beach holidays dragging Spain’s image down (as might have been expected), the image of the ‘new Spain’ has enabled the country to differentiate its beach product and sell a range of different beach holidays to different market segments – from affordable family holidays to exclusive spa retreats. The image of the ‘new Spain’ has not just opened up the interior and cultural Spain, but it has also endowed the whole of Spain with a credibility that previous perceptions of it as a one-dimensional beach destination would not allow.
• Brand architecture in practice. This credibility, based on the ‘new Spanish’ brand values and reinforced through the current ‘Smile’ device and the el sol de Miro logo, has enabled Spain’s regions to enter the international market in a way that might otherwise have been much more difficult. Regions, which previously might have struggled to achieve recognition in the international marketplace, such as Galicia, Andalucia and Cantabria, now boldly present their own identity in international marketing campaigns, while leveraging the values associated with the ‘new Spain’. This is perhaps one of the clearest examples of synergy between national and sub-national brands whereby regional brands leverage benefit from their association with the national brand, but are still able to breathe within it and convey their own distinctive identities as very different types of place.

Next post will concentrate on the concept of Re-branding Greece

giving tangibles advantages and disadvantages on the "Greece Vs Hellas" debate!

Stay tuned!

Ο πελάτης καθε μέρα με ρωτάει πού έχει πάει; Η φιλοσοφία Μάρκετινγκ

Ενώ ο πελάτης θεωρείται κεντρικός στο σύγχρονο Μάρκετινγκ, η καταναλωτική προοπτική λείπει δυστυχώς από την κυρίαρχη μεθοδολογία και πρακτική (Grönroos 1993). Συγκεκριμένα, παρά την πολυεκφρασμένη απαίτηση για έμφαση στην άποψη του πελάτη, μέχρι τώρα μόνο λίγοι μελετητές έχουν αναγνωρίσει τις επιπτώσεις της έννοιας «η ομορφιά είναι στο μάτι του θεατή» (“beauty is in the eye of the beholder”  - Edvardsson et al. 2005). Ο λόγος που συμβαίνει αυτό είναι πως η σύγχρονη έρευνα και πρακτική δεν αντιλαμβάνεται επαρκώς τις αντιλήψεις των πελατών  (Edvardsson et al. 2005, Enquist et al. 2006)

Εντούτοις, από αρκετά νωρίς οι Buzzell and Gale (1987) τονίζουν: «η ποιότητα είναι οποιαδήποτε οι πελάτες λένε ότι είναι, και η ποιότητα ενός ιδιαίτερου προϊόντος ή μιας υπηρεσίας είναι οποιαδήποτε ο πελάτης αντιλαμβάνεται πως είναι» (σελ. 111). Αυτό, πρώτιστα, σημαίνει πως η αξιολόγηση του πελάτη είναι βασισμένη στην αυθαίρετη ιεραρχία του πελάτη (arbitrary hierarchy - Gyimóthy 2000, σελ. 39), παρά σε εξωγενείς ιδιότητες υπηρεσιών, όπως εκείνες που περιέχονται στο υπόδειγμα των Parasuraman et al. (1985) ή στα στάδια της παροχής υπηρεσιών (Danaher & Mattsson 1994a, 1994b, de Ruyter et al. 1997). Όπως οι Pieters et al. (1995) εκφράζουν: «Οι καταναλωτές δεν είναι ορθολογικοί λογιστές με ισολογισμούς στα κεφάλια τους» (σελ. 320).

Στην πραγματικότητα, παρόλο που ο προσανατολισμός στον πελάτη είναι μια κεντρική φιλοσοφία στο Μάρκετινγκ αλλά και αποτελεί απαίτηση στις μέρες μας, εντούτοις, πολλά προγράμματα μάρκετινγκ και επιχειρηματικές στρατηγικές φαίνονται σε να αποτυγχάνουν. Ένας λόγος για αυτό μπορεί να είναι το γεγονός πως συχνά λείπει η φιλοσοφία του Μάρκετινγκ (Marketing philosophy or concept). Σύμφωνα με τους Gounaris, Avlonitis and Papastathopoulou (2005) ακόμα και σήμερα η έννοια το Μάρκετινγκ παραμένει για πολλούς στον χώρο των επιχειρήσεων μια έννοια αρκετά συγκεχυμένη ή ακόμα και παρεξηγημένη.

Ειδικότερα, παρατηρούν οι Kordupleski et al. (1993):

«…υπάρχει μια ιδιαίτερη συμμετοχή από μηχανικούς ποιοτικού ελέγχου, κατασκευαστές, διευθυντές, ανθρώπινο δυναμικό και εμπειρογνώμονες. Μια ξεχωριστή για την απουσία της επιχειρησιακή λειτουργία είναι η λειτουργία που είναι πιο κοντά στους πελάτες, και συγκεκριμένα το Μάρκετινγκ. ... Γιατί οι υπεύθυνοι του Μάρκετινγκ δεν συμμετέχουν περισσότερο στη βελτίωση της ποιότητας;» (σελ. 83).

Κατ’ αυτήν την έννοια, λείπει μια βασική πρακτική διάσταση του μάρκετινγκ και του προσανατολισμού προς την αγορά που  είναι η συστηματική προσπάθεια κατανόησης των δεδομένων των αγορών στις οποίες δραστηριοποιείται η επιχείρηση. Το χειρότερο είναι πως οι επιχειρήσεις αυτές έχουν την «πεποίθηση» ότι γνωρίζουν την «αγορά τους». Αυτό κατά τον Γούναρη[1] (2007) οδηγεί σε εγωιστική και μυωπική συμπεριφορά (marketing myopia).  Δηλώνει χαρακτηριστικά:

«Τα στελέχη των επιχειρήσεων χωρίς προσανατολισμό προς την αγορά χαρακτηρίζονται από μια «πεποίθηση» ότι γνωρίζουν την «αγορά τους» (ποιοι είναι οι ανταγωνιστές τους και τις στρατηγικές έχουν, ποιοι είναι οι πελάτες τους και πώς κατευθύνεται η αγοραστική τους συμπεριφορά). Αυτή η, εγωιστική και μυωπική συμπεριφορά οδηγεί τις επιχειρήσεις να μην επενδύουν χρήματα στην προσπάθεια συλλογής πληροφοριών από την αγορά και, τελικώς, να χάνουν την επαφή μαζί της αφού, το μόνο σίγουρο είναι ότι τα πάντα αλλάζουν και μεταβάλλονται, και μάλιστα όχι πάντα ως μια απλή συνέχεια / προέκταση του παρελθόντος».

Ως εκ τούτου, πλείστες έρευνες έχουν δείξει πως οι πελάτες θεωρούν πως ο φορέας παροχής υπηρεσιών δεν καταλαβαίνει τις ανάγκες τους ή ότι σχεδόν δεν ενδιαφέρεται (Srinivasan 1987, Heide &Weiss 1995).  Αποτέλεσμα είναι οι αντιλήψεις των πελατών να μην αντικατοπτρίζονται πλήρως στην υπηρεσία που σχεδιάζεται από τον φορέα παροχής υπηρεσιών. Αποτελεί επομένως αίτημα των ερευνητών του χώρου μια προσέγγιση που να διερευνά τον βαθμό κατανόησης από την πλευρά της επιχείρησης της αντίληψης και κρίσης του πελάτη/ επισκέπτη για την ποιότητα της παρεχόμενης υπηρεσίας. Σημειώνει χαρακτηριστικά ο Grönroos (1993) «…πρέπει να κινηθούμε περισσότερο προς μια πελατοκεντρική προοπτική» (“we need to get closer than that”) και οι Iacobucci et al. (1996, παρατίθεται από τον Robinson, 1999, σελ. 21): «Maybe the future lies in understanding the issue of “consumer evaluation” of services».

Η δική μας στάση, συντασσόμενη με την επιχειρηματολογία που αναπτύχθηκε στις προηγούμενες παραγράφους, κρίνει πως υπάρχει ανάγκη να αναγνωριστεί η αντιληπτική απόκλιση μεταξύ της εκτίμησης των φορέων της υπηρεσίας και της αντιλαμβανόμενης εμπειρίας των πελατών προκειμένου η επιχείρηση να δημιουργήσει αξία για τον πελάτη (customer value),  στόχος που βρίσκεται στη βάση της έννοιας και της λειτουργίας του μάρκετινγκ.

Αυτή είναι και η πρόκληση των επιχειρήσεων, δηλ. να διερευνήσουν τον βαθμό κατανόησης της κρίσης του πελάτη!

---

[1] Πηγή: Σημειωσεις Μαθήματος Τουριστικό Μάρκετινγκ, Προπτυχιακό μάθημα του τμήματος Μάρκετινγκ και Επικοινωνία, πρόσβαση μέσω e-class (http://eclass.aueb.gr/, Δεκέμβριος 2007.

Branding Greece: is it possible? Part 1 - The theory beyond and the lessons learned

In the following series under the Title "Branding Greece: is it possible?" or "Greece: Rebrand me if you can!", an effort is made to capitalize academic, research and practitioner's knowledge about the topic in order to propose a name and stratedy for the branding of Greece as a nation.

Part 1 - The theory beyond and the lessons learned - introduces the concept of nation branding and reviews relevant theories and researches on the concept, making practical remarks for our brand.

Enjoy the journey!


Definition of Nation branding

Nation branding refers to the practices of “applying branding and marketing communications techniques to promote a nation’s image” (Fan 2006, p. 6). The nation as a brand represents the intangible assets of the country, encompassing various dimensions such as politics, economics, culture, history, social psychology, and technology.
The objective of nation branding is to promote a positive nation-image for the nation and its people, to establish a nation’s brand identity, to increase the export of products, and to attract tourists and foreign direct investment (Anholt 2003; Dinnie 2008; Dzenovska 2004; Florek and Conejo 2006).


Facts from Nation branding researches up to now

1) There are indeed critical factors related to the development of nation brand
Eleven critical factors related to the development of nation brand were identified based on the literature review in country-of-origin, place branding, and nation branding. The determinant variables include cultural orientation of a country (collectivism/individualism), the economic development of a country in terms of GDP per capita, the communication infrastructure of the country, the commercial natural resources of a country, the political policy orientation of a country, the perceived reputable brands of a country, and perceived reputable industries of a country.
Here are major factors that should be identified from Greece and measured as a first step to a brand development:

2) There is a scientific nation brands index- we do not need to invent one.

It is the Anholt-GfK Roper’s nation brands indexSM (NBI). Published on an annual basis, 20,157 interviews have been conducted with approximately 1,000 interviews per country for the 2008 Index to determine how countries are perceived by others.

So Greece has to evaluate its position through time and take prompt but accurate actions for improving its numbers!

3) Nation branding Strategy guidelines from researches up to now

The economic outcome factors of nation branding are:

exports, 

foreign direct investment and

tourism.

So Greek ministry is on a good way, they seem to have the right consultants in terms of academic robustness. See Greek ministry strategy here 

They have identified those 3 factors as significant and intent-according their sayings- to coordinate appropriate governmental organizations and ministries for getting better results. Let’s see!

Main strategic points on economic outcome factors of nation branding and their application in the case of Greek nation’s branding follows:

a) Consumers more often prefer foreign products from developed countries than from less developed countries (Agbonifoh and Elimimian 1999).

As a result, Greece should take actions to stimulate their economic development in order to enhance their export performance.

b) Countries with better communication infrastructure attracted more foreign direct investments than those with inferior communication infrastructure.

For those countries like Greece that want to increase their exports, their nation brand managers or policy makers need to pay more attention to communication infrastructure and economic development

c) Country having more reputable industries attracted more foreign direct investments than those with fewer reputable industries.

Thus, building world class product brands and enhancing Communication infrastructure are two critical issues facing developing countries that want to attract foreign investors.

Concluding we can propose that

If Greece wants

to perform more exports should take actions to stimulate its economic development in order to enhance its export performance.

to attract more foreign direct investment, policy makers need to pay additional attention to their communication infrastructure and number of reputable industries

to attract more visitors, nation brand managers or policy makers need to pay more attention to economic development, natural resources, political policies, communication infrastructure and reputable brands since these factors/ resources are significant contributors to tourism performance.

This is the facts and figures and the lessons should be learned!

Next post will concentrate on the concept of Re-branding Greece

giving tangibles advantages and disadvantages on the "Greece Vs Hellas" debate!

Stay tuned!