BRAND LEBANON

By Ibrahim Lahoud

As anywhere else, it all started with family; fathers proudly featuring their full name on the sign of the shop, a heritage they left to their children and later, their grand children.

And then suddenly…

Names faded and brands appeared. This is the story of Brand Lebanon.

It is an undeniable fact that every Lebanese is a walking brand. The individuality manifested finds itself reflected in businesses, pubs and restaurants, beauty parlors, banks and insurance companies, supermarkets and cellphones shops.

But the most powerful branding exercise of all happened in the past 10 years. The right factors came together and created the branding boom:
A- Economically, the country was slowly emerging from years of stagnation
B- Then came the Cedar Revolution and all other political events. An amazing branding feat
C- Later came the entertainment / hospitality industry boom. Although there for a while, it matured recently

We’ve noticed how most of the financial institutions went on a branding rampage changing their names to trendier abbreviations, revamping their visual identities and redesigning their branches.

What happened?

This is the most compelling proof that branding works. Lebanon has managed to brush off the remnants of the dark times via the creation of appealing brands that placed us at par with the rest of the world.

What really happened is a manifestation of two of the most powerful drivers behind Lebanon’s image: Businesses on one side and branders and communicators on the other. They came together and decided to redefine the way the world looked at Lebanon. They all agreed that you don’t have to drown in dubious ideologies to retain your identity, and decided to free their minds and start from scratch, and so they did.

Today, Lebanon is an amazing jigsaw of brands that make it hard to guess whether they are international franchises or locally bred. The quality of brand development and strategies have led to the creation of some of the most famous brands on this side of the continent. Some have even crossed the boundaries to other continents. We have to admit, very few regional brands outside Lebanon have managed to do so.

Who’s the hero?

Look around. In every single communication-related industry, all over the Middle East and Gulf, there’s one or more Lebanese dressed to kill, eloquent to an annoying point and ready to convince you that branding is everything. What’s more, they always manage to prove it!

Lebanon has learned the golden lesson over its roller coaster history: Economic downturns are the ultimate times to brand and communicate. While the rest of the world was bragging about knowing so, Lebanon was simply doing so! And today, the Lebanese are masters in this discipline and are already offering it abroad.

Lebanon has realized that clearly, it’s the way you look that make people want to know who you really are and what you do.

And Lebanon can prove it!