Sharing one´s enthusiasm

I firmly believe that Life is Communication. We are what we communicate.

This is the essence of branding, and Country Branding is not an exemption. Every single country is what she communicates.

The input you receive from a place makes you have an opinion about it. Your opinion about it is the result of the impact the messages launched by that place made in you.

I am passionate about communication and I am also passionate about enthusiasm. The difference between communicating and communicating with enthusiasm is infection. To infect people with your message is the essence of communication.

This seems too simple, but I could give dozens of examples of prestigious Communication Plans, actions, advices and gurus that have a total lack of it. They even do not know how to soak their messages with enthusiasm.

“What I do best is share my enthusiasm” – Bill Gates

I have just read this just after going through an interview he gave to a Spanish newspaper, before meeting president Rajoy.

What he says in that interview is really interesting, as he transmits what he wanted to: There are specific problems and there are specific solutions. Let´s act in the right place.

Gates talks about very specific situations, naming them. He even points at what countries are doing wrong: “There are places in more need than others that are receiving aid. Peru is not the place to help.” Although I read that a few hours ago, the newspaper has immediately changed this title. It was not politically correct, specially on a Spanish newspaper.

He meant Peru is a medium income country. He meant there are many other countries with much lower incomes and no possibilities. The message Mr Gates has launched here has made many people be aware of the real situation. He talks about what he touched. And he wants global, national policies on International Cooperation to redirect humanitarian and medical aid to the place the real problem is.

I was infected by his message. Was it enthusiastic? Not in the sense we are used to understand it. But it was, as he put on it all his conviction, knowledge and strong willing to transmit. It reached me.

This visit of Mr Gates to Madrid has also made me think about US brand. Is it a part of it or is it -as I received it- a part of a particular campaign to make people aware of a real humanitarian problem? I received it apart from any national branding campaign. And, moreover, following every day Barack Obama´s tweets, just focused on the presidential campaign and its funding.

Madrid vs Barcelona

There is an interesting thing to highlight when observing the rivalry between the two main Spanish cities, Madrid and Barcelona. While locals from Madrid are known for their confident way of talking, the proud they are of their city… Madrid, although the capital city of Spain, seems to feel little behind Barcelona in terms of brand recognition and admiration.

There was a clear milestone for Barcelona to make its self-confidence grow and to launch itself to the world: the 1992 Olympics. Though they were a national project and effort, Barcelona knew how to capitalize them and take the lead of the Spanish city brands. They did it brilliantly.

And, since then, Madrid has not found the way to emulate that brightness abroad. No doubt Sports -and particularly Olympics- have such a branding power it can shadow many other plans.

There a few, very few places in the world at the cultural and historic level of Madrid. Few that can say they have an even similar sense of openness to anyone, that offer such a way to enjoy people and life. This means a lot.

To my understanding, Madrid has tried to emerge as an admired brand with a lack of creativeness and a dangerous and risky sense of urgency. Maybe the key lays in the sense of community and more-than-a-city conviction Barcelona has versus this short-term plans Madrid usually think of. Even those plans thought for long-term always come full of urgency.

Maybe Barcelona found by chance its way to brand. 1992 Olympics were planned to vertebrate the country, immerse in its way to economic growth. Olympics, Seville Universal Expo, the High Speed train… A part of a global plan that Barcelona understood perfectly and turned into the starting point of a global branding strategy.

Maybe Madrid is too immerse in the world of huge consultancies, big thinkers, and -as I pointed- lack of common sense and creativeness.