What is brand Zimbabwe?

Great brands almost need no advertising. They advertise themselves. The money lesser brands spend on advertising they spend on research and development. They make great products and provide great services. Their customers are their brand, they talk about the great products and services and want friends and family to use the same products and services.

Lesser brands bombard consumers with advertising, some creates adverts which are even better than their products or services. They crave for the attention of customers who are already satisfied with what they are using from the better brands. Countries also need branding which is why I pose the question what is brand Zimbabwe. I have my own opinion and you help with yours in the comments section.

Zimbabwean politics has dominated the brand ahead of business, sports, scientific research and findings, and even entertainment. The trouble with our politics is that it has been divisive and brutal. It has done everything to destroy brand Zimbabwe from an investment point of view. The world associates Zimbabwe with political violence, a dictatorship, and a failed economy. No amount of public relations will build a brand when the reality on the ground continues to play out. The chief executive officer of Team Zimbabwe has done nothing but the opposite to promote brand Zimbabwe.

The only way we can begin to build a brand as a country is through positive action and growing our economy. We have the skilled Smart Creatives scattered across the globe who are passionate about putting Zimbabwe back on the international map. What we lack fundamentally are the platforms to express those skills and ideas and no one is going to provide them if they threaten their political grip on power.

We have become experts at complaining without offering practical solutions. My solution is simple and practical. Complaining means you have a better way to do things. Show us how its done instead of just complaining. Every challenge you recognise is an opportunity waiting to be exploited and what a better person than yourself to solve it. If you think the opposition has failed, join them to help or form a new political party and show us how it is done. If you think journalists are not doing enough, start a blog and build an audience, start a media company and teach the world how to make a better product or provide better services. This is how successful countries or companies operate, they have Smart Creatives who identify challenges and find solutions.

So brand Zimbabwe is you. When Zimbabwe fails, so do you because you have ideas that youre keeping to yourself. You expect someone else to do something without getting involved. It doesn't have to be political, you can identify any problem and provide a solution to it.