Destination Branding in Movies

Destination Branding in Movies

What is one's favourite holiday destination? How does one arrive at the conclusion that place 'XYZ' is his or her most preferred destination? Amongst the vicarious experiences, was it because of references from family, friends or visual reminiscences from media? If it is the latter, the choice purely rests on the fact that visual images being intangible differentiate tourist destinations from each other and is an integral part in influencing a traveller's choice. This is an underlying concept for Destination Branding, which means selecting a consistent brand element mix to identify and distinguish a destination through positive image building. A lot of movies today use a location theme which serves as a mechanism to identify and differentiate the destination as one associated with unique memorable experiences. It is all about combining attributes such as culture, industries, art, tourism identified with the place to collaborate as a brand and hence market those unique added values to consumer needs thus standing out amongst others in the face of competition. Whether it is Spain in the latest 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' or Switzerland in the eternal 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' or 'sleepless in Seattle' and 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' films have been quite instrumental in promoting these tourist places as a powerful destination image. Not just tourist places, films have also resulted in creating awareness about small towns or villages like Peepli in 'Peepli Live'.

Destination branding promotes the feel and personality of a place or country or region. Visual stimulation through movies captures the mind of audience for longer durations and help in easy brand recall. It starts with creating awareness leading to consideration which ultimately becomes a preference. The preference further develops into an intention and ends into a visit. Used widely by State tourisms, destination branding is being exclusively for marketing places which are intangible and unlike other products can't be tested or sampled before the actual purchase. Also in the digital age where consumers are powerfully empowered, film induced tourism as a destination motivator works well as a marketing gimmick. While the states could do with promoting themselves for encouraging tourism, smaller towns get their share of limelight and can grow and prosper. One gets to understand the culture and practices pertaining to those places and also helps in eliminating cross cultural boundaries. It compensates well for the paucity of funds for aggressive marketing involved in promoting these places.

In an era where branding is being hybridised into myriad forms, destination branding might just be a key to brand identity for the tourism industry.