A new brand for Norfolk : an opinion piece

It’s been said over and over again that Norfolk has it all: scenic beauty and variety, and a fantastic balance of city, town and village life. We know it has its challenges too: including its problematic transport infrastructure and its areas of deprivation. But there is a bigger-picture challenge facing Norfolk, one which has yet to be addressed properly.

There are several organisations trying to promote Norfolk, to attract visitors to Norfolk, to attract inward investment and to promote business success within the county. But not one of these bodies has yet tackled the elephant in the room, which is that Norfolk does not have a strong, coherent, positive brand. And before I go further, let me just reiterate what I mean by brand. Brand is not logo, or marketing, or PR. Brand is the set of meanings which your audiences and stakeholders hold about you in their heads and hearts. Your brand, in short, is the sum total of what people think and feel about you. And if there isn’t a critical mass of people sharing a positive set of meanings about you, then you don’t have a brand (at least not a positive one).

Protective and simplistic ‘do different’ postures outdated

There are some people who adopt a protective posture about the ‘brand’ of Norfolk. They want to keep Norfolk unspoiled, unchanged, unpopular and secret. There are others who believe it is enough to describe Norfolk as ‘different’. And there are still others for whom ‘branding’ Norfolk is simply a matter of promoting the county’s assets to the outside world in a functional way: as though a brand were simply a collection of measurable ‘messages’.

I can’t argue with the protectionists, except to urge them to acknowledge that the world is changing at an exponential rate and that Norfolk must change too (always protecting its heritage and its natural environment). Those who think of the old idea of Norfolk being ‘different’ as sufficient are simply out of step with the world we live in. That stance is just too simplistic to achieve the inward investment (of brains as well as money) which Norfolk needs to thrive in the long term. And to the functional marketing lobby I would simply say that they must understand that intellectual argument, facts and other rational ‘stuff’ can only ever do a part of the brand job. Data of this kind will never be more than reassurance and box ticking. Nobody is drawn to holiday in Norfolk, or to move to Norfolk, or to invest in Norfolk, by facts alone.

Serious deep-branding approach required

That will only be achieved when Norfolk has developed a coherent, positive, compelling and distinctive brand: a brand which cuts through prejudice, ignorance, pre-conceptions and out-dated information to re-present Norfolk with emotional impact and lasting sweet aftertaste. In short, we need to make the world fall in love with Norfolk. To achieve that needs a serious, in-depth and properly managed examination of the county’s brand in all its aspects.

Then it requires a crafting and shaping of a brand story for Norfolk which is authentic, compelling, unique, full of character, and forward looking.

Then I believe it requires a pan-organisational brand champion to lead and evangelise the Norfolk brand everywhere.

It might well also require the usual tools of marketing: but the cart and the horse must be put in the right order. Get the brand story right and the rest knows where to follow. Get it wrong and any marketing efforts will be a waste of time, effort, goodwill and money.

Norfolk is already a wonderful county. Now it must face up to the challenge and responsibility of becoming a great brand.

Simon Middleton, The Brand Strategy Guru, June 25th 2009

Date posted: Thursday 25th June 2009Back to news home page >