This week in my Principles of Marketing class, our teacher assigned us to find a marketing-related current event from the past week that stood out to us, and write a reflection based on it. To begin this assignment I simply researched, "marketing news" and found an article that piqued my interest in the New York Times. The article was titled, "Why Dutch Officials Want You to Forget the Country of Holland". This article stood out to me because not only was this title hinting to an at-first what sounds like an outrageous idea, rebranding an entire country, but it stood out to me because I have a lot of family-friends in northern Europe so I was curious to see if whatever was happening in Holland would affect them.
The article describes the turmoil faced by Ingrid de Beer, the head of international affairs of the Netherlands, due to the outdated perceptions, and interchangeable names outsiders use for her home country. Interestingly, Dutch tourism has been so successful that the country cannot handle the number of visitors it receives annually, so they have stopped advertising for the best attractions. Due to the fact that the region of Holland is no longer their most popular location for visitors, the country is rebranding to more accurately represent what the rest of the country has to offer. Instead of having foreigners being confused about its location, values, and culture, the Netherlands will no longer be considered a vague area of Europe with mountains and yodeling blonde people to them, but instead a booming country full of science, diversity, innovation, and excitement.
As we have learned in class, branding can easily make or break a company, so for an entire country to change the logo it uses for tourism purposes, and its name is going to be a big deal. This could potentially boost their tourism tenfold, and maybe even help outsiders really know what they are referring to when they say "The Netherlands". To many people who study marketing, rebranding as "The Netherlands" instead of "Holland" is considered a losing battle because to them, shorter is better. Nevertheless, I am excited to potentially see the perception of a country I love so dearly change in the eyes of foreigners to its land. Despite the critics' opinions, I believe the country is doing write by their name because they really are so much more than just Holland.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/world/europe/holland-netherlands-new-name.html
Here is a link to the country's informative website:
https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/information/general/netherlands-vs-holland.htm
The article describes the turmoil faced by Ingrid de Beer, the head of international affairs of the Netherlands, due to the outdated perceptions, and interchangeable names outsiders use for her home country. Interestingly, Dutch tourism has been so successful that the country cannot handle the number of visitors it receives annually, so they have stopped advertising for the best attractions. Due to the fact that the region of Holland is no longer their most popular location for visitors, the country is rebranding to more accurately represent what the rest of the country has to offer. Instead of having foreigners being confused about its location, values, and culture, the Netherlands will no longer be considered a vague area of Europe with mountains and yodeling blonde people to them, but instead a booming country full of science, diversity, innovation, and excitement.
As we have learned in class, branding can easily make or break a company, so for an entire country to change the logo it uses for tourism purposes, and its name is going to be a big deal. This could potentially boost their tourism tenfold, and maybe even help outsiders really know what they are referring to when they say "The Netherlands". To many people who study marketing, rebranding as "The Netherlands" instead of "Holland" is considered a losing battle because to them, shorter is better. Nevertheless, I am excited to potentially see the perception of a country I love so dearly change in the eyes of foreigners to its land. Despite the critics' opinions, I believe the country is doing write by their name because they really are so much more than just Holland.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/world/europe/holland-netherlands-new-name.html
Here is a link to the country's informative website:
https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/information/general/netherlands-vs-holland.htm
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