Turkey as global brand

Turkey's business circles are debating the brand value of the country and how to promote it at the annual Marka 2008, or Brand 2008, conference yesterday. Still, members of the advertising sector remain pessimistic on the issue.

"Since there is a lack of a holistic and consistent brand strategy or a brand master plan in Turkey, the perception of Turkey as a brand is confusing and disorganized," said Cem Top?uoğlu, chairman of the Turkish Association of Advertising Agencies, or TAAA, at the conference.

"The country is having difficulties in setting forth its values in a proper way. Moreover, as we lack a holistic database in terms of a brand strategy, we are unable to estimate the brand value of the country, as well as being unable to draw a road map," Top?uoğlu said.

"There is no national brand strategy in specific areas such as tourism, arts, culture or sports," he continued. "In order to create a brand value for Turkey, specific brand strategies should be set for each specific areas."

"The 'Turkey' brand is not owned by anyone, or there are too many owners of it," said Top?uoğlu. Aiming to enhance the potential of creativity and diversity of ideas in the world of brands, the Marka conference is the strongest platform, whose mission is to excite, evoke and scale up the world of brands, according to Ayşegül Yürekli, chairperson of Yürekli Conference Organization.

Conference as a first step
"We aim to render the power of Turkey's private sector, which is ready to take responsibility and be active for the Turkey brand," she said. "This conference is a project for us and we are looking forward to bringing as many as possible private sector representatives, who want to contribute to this project, together in this platform. We consider the Marka conference as a first step for such projects, which target to enhance the power of Turkey as a brand, with the support of the private sector," said Yürekli.

Gerald Ratner, former president of the Ratner Group and creator and owner of Geraldonline, an online jewelry shop, was one of the keynote speakers of the Marka conference. Ratner was at the peak of his success until, at a meeting, he made a casual joke on his firm that was leaked to the press and covered widely by the media.

As a result of the highly negative chain reaction, he lost his company, which was on a scale of 1.2 billion pounds and around 2,500 stores. Ratner found himself penniless, without a job and with a seriously damaged reputation.

"It took me a long time to get back on my feet. It was opening a health club in 1997 that got me working again. I sold that in 2001 and invested the proceeds into my jewelry Web site," said Ratner. "I showed how much can be done with very little," he told the conference.

"You have to lose everything to appreciate it. This is life and we have to admit that the future is not predictable," Ratner said.