About Panama is Life
Projecting a Global Brand & Message
Successful businesses understand the importance of branding and marketing themselves. However, few cities, and even fewer nations, seem to understand or embrace this – as such, most lack an identifying brand that truly projects on the global stage. For the most part, these entities ignore the importance of long-term branding and instead embrace inconsistent, throw away ad-campaigns seeking short-term tourism. Is this the winning strategy Coca-Cola (Enjoy), Apple (Think Different), Nike (Just Do It), Las Vegas (Sin City + What Happens Here, Stays Here), and New York City (The Big Apple + I ♥ NY) employed to achieve their successes?
How a nation presents itself is critically important in order to draw outsiders to do business – whether that business be tourism, banking, trade, shipping, manufacturing, agriculture, or other. Every nation should be projecting a compelling image of itself to the world; doing so will enhance a nation’s economic interests, appeal as a tourist destination, sense of self and national pride, and ability to serve its citizens.
Why “Panama is Life”?
Panama is Life / Panamá es Vida capitalizes on a theme brilliant marketing minds around the world are embracing – “Life”. The 2015 Milan World Expo theme was “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”; the U.S. Milk Industry recently replaced its ultra-successful “Got Milk?” ad campaign with “Milk Life”; and Coca-Cola’s first new product in eight years is Coca-Cola Life. “Life” is being recognized as one of the most powerful and appealing global marketing messages.
Befittingly, Panama is one of the most bio-diverse (bio=life) nations in the world, as well as the crossroad of life between North America and South America. Panama is also the crossroad of life between East and West, as it hosts the globe’s most important canal that transports the world’s lifeblood from one continent to another. Furthermore, Panama’s parrot-colored Biomuseo / Bridge of Life Museum (designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry) is already trumpeting the beautiful and poetic symmetry of the “life” branding for Panama.
The mermaid logo represents the enchanting beauty of Panama and its people, as well as the discovery of the New World. (Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids in the Caribbean during his 1492-93 maiden voyage of discovery.) The mermaid’s horizontal pose symbolizes Panama’s east-west geography, and the parrot depicts the colorful and thriving life of Panama today.
Competition
The regional competition continues to embrace uninspiring, cliché-based ad campaigns seeking short-term tourism: Mexico, Live it to believe it —- Essential Costa Rica —- Belize is closer than you think —- Colombia, Magical Realism —- All you need is Ecuador — et al.