An all-inclusive rebranding exercise of Anguilla as a vibrant and exciting tourist destination is underway spearheaded by the Britto Agency, the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourist Board, in collaboration with various partners and the general public in Anguilla.
There have already been a number of crafted brand names which will be discussed among a small focus group this Friday morning, October 10, and with a larger meeting for the general public at the Teachers’ Resource Centre, commencing at 5.00 pm.
Marvet Britto, whose agency is handling Anguilla’s branding profile; Mr Haydn Hughes, Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism; and the Chairperson of the Anguilla Tourist Board, Mrs Bonnie Bloom, held a press conference on Wednesday to provide publicity of the matter and for the above meetings.
“As the brand strategists for Anguilla, we were essentially charged with creating a harmonious global brand identity for the island,” Ms Britto told the media. “That was needed because Anguilla currently has a fragmented brand across the world with several different tag lines being used, more or less, and so our goal is to bring a harmonious global identity to Anguilla’s footprint. We have therefore started that exercise by creating concepts that could re-energise the footprint which is essentially the face of Anguilla.”
The exercise is to determine whether or not there is need for such brands as Tranquillity Wrapped in Blue and The Anguillian Experience, or to look for newer themes which would take into account all of the touristic features and services of the island as a growing destination. According to Ms Britto, “all of those current tag lines are simultaneously being used across the world.”
She went on: “One of the things you want to prevent, when you have a brand as potent as Anguilla, is to ensure that you are sending one message to the world – one synchronized, harmonious, cohesive message – so that the consumer understands who you are and what you represent. So that is the initial task we were charged with. It is perhaps several decades since Anguilla has had a unified brand voice. Even with Tranquillity Wrapped in Blue, not all of the regions are using that tag line; so we wanted to take the approach of reassessing Anguilla, today, and determining whether or not that tag line still represented accurately the authenticity of your tourism product as a whole.
“In addition to that, under the branding exercise comes building brand extensions – and doing that is important because the very first thing you want to do with any brand is to create a distinction: how is Anguilla unique and distinct from all the other islands and destinations in the region and in the world. For us, creating distinctions is about building brand extensions and platforms that would allow Anguilla’s valued propositions, or what you may call attributes, to fuel your continued growth.
“So we looked at those attributes. Is it your culinary excellence? Is it your having a global reputation for the world’s friendliest people? Is it your pristine properties? Is it your immaculate beaches? We looked at all of those and determined how we can pull them together and allow brand extensions that would allow Anguilla to grow and continue to grow its tourism product.”
Ms Britto declined to disclose to the media what some of the new tag lines – to distinguish Anguilla from all the other islands and tourist destinations in the Caribbean region – were likely to be. All she would say was that: “We believe that we have landed at some tag lines that truly express not only the authenticity of Anguilla, but its heritage and cultural symbolism that we think is crucial to creating Anguilla’s distinction in the marketplace.”
It is those tag lines and further suggested brand themes that will be the subjects of discussion at this Friday’s private focus meeting and the general meeting for the public.
Meanwhile, Mr Haydn Hughes and Mrs Bonnie Bloom thought the rebranding exercise was important to Anguilla’s expanding tourism industry, and joined Ms Britto in answering questions from the media on a number of related issues.
