Clear definition needed to promote "Brand Phuket"

Joining the Greater Phuket chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce at a meeting, Quo Global chief executive David Keen asked whether Brand Phuket should continue being created and dictated by market forces as it has been over the past few decades or if it was time for a change.
Keen suggested it was time for Phuket players to develop a unified strategy aimed at developing and driving the brand and market – not the other way around.
He ended his speech with a simple yet surprisingly difficulttoanswer question: What is Phuket? If posed to 10 different islanders, a question like this is likely to get 10 different answers, he said.
Though he did not offer an answer of his own, Keen’s point was clear nonetheless: It is impossible to promote, sell or market something you have not yet defined.
The island’s brand was discussed at the meeting attended by not only brand guru Keen, but also marketing-communications expert David Johnson, dozens of representatives from the hospitality and public relations industry, and people from the marketing and media sectors in Phuket, Bangkok and the Asian region.
After an introduction by local property expert Bill Barnett, Johnson, managing director of Bangkok-based consultancy Delivering Asia, delivered the opening presentation.
In his speech, Johnson stressed the importance of creating, disseminating and monitoring clear and consistent messages to build and maintain the island’s brand.
Noting that the world is in an age of continuously evolving communications in which news travels at the speed of light, Johnson outlined various effective media management approaches, including narration and “local stories”.
He also addressed the need to have a media strategy that aimed to “influence” the market by fostering reciprocal dialogues that “start or change the conversation”.
He argued that the traditional strategy of employing “persuasion” – common to television, newspapers and magazines – was no longer enough because it was linear.