Coffee Must Be Ethiopia’s Brand

In this age of globalization, where the world is tightly interconnected through production and markets, all countries compete by identifying and promoting their comparative advantages. Nations engage in a fierce competition to "sell themselves." To win this competition, they identify their unique brand and act in a coordinated manner. Countries that fail to promote their distinct brand allow others to negatively define them.

The renowned third-richest billionaire in the world, Warren Buffett, explains the importance of branding: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." He goes on to say, "I can tolerate financial damage to our company, even if it is very severe, but we must have no mercy for damage to the company's image." Warren Buffett even used the global economic crisis as a good opportunity to further build his company's brand. He believes that one of the reasons for the 2008 global economic crisis was an unfair tax system, and he uses himself as an example.

Warren Buffett notes that the regressive tax rate in the US—where the tax rate decreases as income increases—is widening the gap between the rich and the poor. Buffett criticizes the unfairness of him paying a 15% tax rate while his secretary pays a 35% tax rate. Smart people, companies, and countries use crises, among other things, to enhance the acceptance of their organization.

In the merciless age of globalization, countries work to promote various brands to become competitive and victorious. To achieve this, they work in coordination at a national level by identifying the product (or service) with the best acceptance. They establish a system where the government, private investors, and civil societies work together. They regularly evaluate their brand by involving stakeholders. Brand experts suggest that using multiple brands makes it difficult for consumers to easily understand the country's brand.

It is argued that while tourism is the sector's brand, making it the country's brand is not a highly viable option. For instance, in Egypt's efforts to promote itself through tourism, tourists have reportedly complained about the lack of variety in Egyptian food offered. Therefore, experts recommend that a country’s primary brand should be a unique product (or service) in which they hold a comparative advantage. From this perspective, a thorough analysis should be done on whether Ethiopia’s brand should be coffee, teff, athletics, etc. If implemented, this would make the country more competitive in the international market and increase its benefits.

In the author's opinion, Coffee should be Ethiopia's brand. The reasons are that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Both the name "Buna" (Amharic for coffee) and the English word "Coffee" can be easily linked to Ethiopia. Globally, 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day, with an annual business exchange of $100 billion. It is the most valuable commodity after oil. Coffee is a stimulant and is not easily replaceable by other products, giving it a high capacity to retain consumers. As a result, its price fluctuation is relatively lower compared to other agricultural products. Data shows that 50% of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee daily. If 10% of the Chinese population in this fast-growing country develops a daily coffee habit, it would mean a massive additional market. We can start by encouraging Chinese people living in Ethiopia to develop a taste for coffee. Promoting coffee by designating various coffee days, and featuring it in symposiums, workshops, and conferences, will help. Using famous athletes and personalities to promote coffee can establish it as Ethiopia's national brand. For a promoted product/service to be viable, it must be accepted by the global community. Since coffee is accepted by billions of people worldwide, it has no competitor in terms of becoming a national brand.

The unique flavor of Ethiopian coffee has been reported by well-known international media outlets, and many studies have detailed its benefits.

In summary, the following public relations tools are effective for promoting coffee globally:

Enlist famous people, especially athletes, to promote coffee through international media.

Monitor the quantity and quality of what well-known international media report about Ethiopian coffee and use it to our advantage. For example, invite those who report favorably to visit coffee-producing regions.

Promote coffee by organizing various large-scale events.

Task government officials and ambassadors to promote coffee when traveling abroad, and to work to persuade others to facilitate favorable market conditions for coffee.

Conduct promotional work through affordable and accepted media.

Ensure the websites and social media pages of government ministries, tourism organizations, the Investment Commission, and the Coffee and Tea Development and Marketing Authority promote coffee.

Collaborate with international organizations that work for the fair benefit of coffee producers, such as Oxfam.

Work with international public relations institutions, as self-promotion requires advanced technology and competence.

To achieve this, it is essential to identify a country brand through study, involving all stakeholders, and reach a consensus. It is necessary to establish a national task force to lead the process of identifying the country's brand. Wally Olins, a British brand expert, states that branding a country should follow seven steps:

Establish a task force composed of members from government, industry, arts, education, and media to draft a program.

Study and identify how the country is perceived by its own citizens and by the outside world.

Identify the country's strengths and weaknesses by comparing the findings with influential people through a consultative forum.

Create a central idea to guide the brand strategy, utilizing professional experts and consultants. The central idea must be very strong, easily relatable, capture the country's unique character, and guide all other programs.

Identify the methods for communicating the central idea, including the logo.

Design and implement messages that show how the central idea integrates with tourism, attracting investment, and exports, making the message suitable for each audience (consumer).

Establish a system to link all of this with the task force.