Branding of the Kazakhstan territories

In the conditions of universal expansion of world economic relations, development of production capacities and, as a result, the formation of harsh conditions for competition, it is necessary to use new tools that allow the manufacturer to feel confident both on the domestic and foreign markets. One such tool  is branding, which has become an integral part of the marketing programs for a long time of the most of Western companies. The process of formation and development of market relations in the Republic of Kazakhstan is accompanied by increasing competition between business entities, a constant change in the external and internal marketing environment, which requires the improvement of entrepreneurial and marketing activities to create, distribute and consume goods and services. First of all, the International Information Committee is responsible for promoting and strengthening the positive image of our country abroad. In the globalised information world, there is the need to work out new approaches to creating a positive image for a country, which is why many countries are currently “re-branding” themselves to increase their recognisability and attractiveness. Kazakhstan is no exception, especially when we are trying to join the club of the top 50 most competitive countries in the world. Competitiveness starts with recognisability and the stability of a brand.

In recent years, competition in attracting investment, tourists, cultural and sports events between countries and cities is becoming more active. In connection with this, since the 1960s, the field of research of the image of the country and the branding of territories has become popular.

In 2002, for the first time, the term «branding places» was introduced by one of the world's leading branding specialists S. Anholt who, on the basis of this, developed a comprehensive, diversified approach to branding of territories and the concept of competitive identity by presenting it as a hexagon, the system for evaluating the results of the national branding «Anholt Nations Brand Index», which includes six elements of the territory’s modern brand:

• tourism;
• export;
• policy;
• investments;
• culture;
• human capital (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Hexagon of National Brands 

In contrast to this theory, the second specialist in territory branding Keith Dinny pays attention to branding of cities. According to his UN report“Revision of WORLD Urbanization Prospects” it is said that for the first time in the history of mankind half of the Earth’s inhabitants live in cities». Thus, K. Dinny focuses on the fact that cities but not countries havealready entered the world arena by entering into competition with territories and organizations [1].

The world practice of branding of terriиtories demonstrates its economic and political effectiveness.

What creates opportunities for attracting tourists, investments and also achieving certain goals.

In recent years, Kazakhstan managed to occupy quite a strong position in the world arena. Holding such events as the Asian Games, Universiade 2017, Expo 2017, as well as a number of major international business forums forced the city authorities to think about branding the country and creating a logo of the cities of Astana and Almaty to attract tourists and potential investors.

The development of the territory’s image and branding becomes an actual direction of the Kazakhstan regional policy in the field of tourism. The attractiveness of the subjects of the Republic of Kazakhstan as tourist territories is determined by the totality of tourist resources withdeveloped tourist and recreational infrastructure that implemented by economic, social, environmental and cultural projects. The need to form your own territory’s brand and enhance its recognizability are obvious, as it helps to attract attention to the country and cities and will give an opportunity to more effectively promote its interests.In connection with this, since 2011 tenders for the development of cities and the country’s logos have been announced by state bodies (Table).

T a b l e

Tenders for development of logos cities and countries 

T a b l e   c o n t i n u a t  i o n 

E n d   o f   T a b l e 

Table shows that people began to pay attention to the branding of cities and countries in the last 15 years, mainly for the cities of Almaty and Astana. The only contest for the development of the logos of the remaining 20 cities of Kazakhstan was timed to the Republic of Kazakhstan’s 20th anniversary of Independence and was organized by the OYL «Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. After analyzing all the organized competitions, it is possible to see that  in the requirements for creating a brand of territories the main criterion is a visual illustration — the logo of the city / country, at the same time everyone can take part..

According  to  international  experience,  in  the  process  of  developing  the  brand  of  the  territory,   in addition to designers, relevant specialists from different fields of activity are involved and passes in several stages:

1.   Research (questionnaire);

2. Development of concepts;
3. Testing and finalizing concepts;
4. Preparation of the HydeLines and Presentation of the Brand;
5. Monitoring

This process of work on the terms takes at least one year [2].

Often, the branding strategies of the two major cities Astana and Almaty emphasize only their material characteristics buildings and events (Asian Games, Universiade, Expo, Summit, etc.), while small cities use intangible aspects history, slogan and logo (as an example of the logo of Zhezkazgan, the author Bekeshev Vadim) (Fig. 2). 

Figure 2. Historical logos 

Contests held to create a brand of cities and countries are held at the following stage:

1. The development of territory branding is understood as the development of a kind of «beautiful picture» for attracting tourists.The essence of territory branding lies in the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the territory of competitors and the development of the identity of the place, taking into account the concept of this
2. Branding of cities is developed taking into account «only» iconic buildings or symbols of the city. Effective branding of the city requires a clear understanding of its future and an appropriate brand development strategy (2) as well as the target
3. Customers of projects state authorities of the regions usually do not fully represent what the project for branding the territory is. As a result:
   • the sample is taken by the visual perception of the city's logo by the commission, without analysis of the concept and strategy of the development of the
   • there is no understanding of the scope of work (often for development is given from 15-20 days), whereas for a full analysis of the potential of the territory, a survey of residents and tourists, the development of a concept for the development of the city, etc. Takes more than six
   • understanding the costs of human resources (it is necessary to create a working group consisting of specialists from different fields of activity). In the contest, designers and advertising agencies are often involved. While issues of site identity, concept analysis and brand strategy development are beyond the designer's competence. In the development of the brand, the designer acts only as an
   • to successfully create and implement a brand of the territory, it is also necessary to involve the inhabitants. Since they are primarily both carriers and owners and consumers of the brand of their territory [3]. As an example, the rejection of the chosen symbol of Almaty by the city

Whatever contests are held to develop the brand of the territory, one of the components of the brand's success and recognition is the brand's promotion with the help of the media and government agencies, as  well as use in the design of the city and replicating on souvenirs.

Having a neighborhood with regional competitors such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, with which Kazakhstan has a similar ornamentation, culture and way of life and which is inferior to climatic conditions, it is difficult to stand out for its unique features and not to strengthen common features. The real problem is to determine which of the many national features of Kazakhstan best responds to key stakeholders and key consumers of the brand.

Over the years, Kazakhstan has been spending huge amounts of money on image-based video clips broadcast on global channels, which shows the sights of Kazakhstan. At the same time, attracting the interest of a potential tourist is not an easy task. Becoming tourists, a person acquires a «tourist's look». According to the theory of the British sociologist Urry, the «look of the tourist» depends on the society and is formed by society and develops due to the large flow of information transmitted through media channels. At the same time, according to Urry, tourists and places of interest are manipulated, accordingly, cities can draw tourists' attention to those landmarks and places of interest they want [4].

Thus, successful branding of the city can be an excellent tool for creating a tourist image of the whole country.

References

1. ru. Retrieved from http://citybranding.ru/obmanshhik-edinburg-brend-kotorogo-net/.
2. Keith, (2013). Brending. Luchshie Mirovye Praktiki [Branding. Top World Practices]. Мoscow. 
3. kz. Retrieved from https://vlast.kz/novosti/11853-net-kreativnosti-nazarbaev-prizyvaet-najti-nacionalnyj-brend.html.
4. ktk.kz. Retrieved from https://www.ktk.kz/ru/news/video/2016/08/25/71701.