Place branding: Morocco
With countless experiences and an authentic global brand, Morocco is a successful tourist destination. But positioning that offer to English-speaking audiences required a new brand that could effectively depict and promote Morocco’s bounty as a place to be experienced. Pritcia Wongwaisayawan reports
As a competitive contender to be one of the world’s top tourist destinations in the coming years, Morocco has redeveloped its brand to specifically target the wider, English-speaking audience and further showcase the cultural diversity and historical vibrancy of its country.
In cooperation with Spring, a strategic communications design agency based in the UK, the Moroccan National Tourist Office (MNTO) launched the Much Morocco campaign targeted at the English- speaking market. “We teamed up with an English creative agency because they are more skilled to convey the right message to this audience,” says Amine Boughaleb, director for UK & Ireland branch of MNTO. “What Spring has done with Much Morocco creative is just stunning and innovative, succeeding to portray the diversity, eclecticism, heritage and the uniqueness of Morocco through the Much More brand line combined with an impactful visual identity using vibrant and colourful images in the backdrop.”
Just a short flight from most of Europe, Morocco is namely the closest ‘exotic’ destination and has long been a retreat for European budget and luxury tourists alike. But with its tourism figures on a rapid increase, it is hoping to double the size of its tourism sector and increase employment rate by creating half a million more jobs. “It is a challenging situation, but we have to cope with current geo-political and global problems within the tourist industry and find the right message to convey to the people,” says, Boughaleb,
The creative team was briefed to reach out to a wider and larger market of potential English-speaking, holiday- goers, “In order to draw people into not just going for the standard four-day weekend to Marrakech, but to also get families heading to the coast for beach holidays and backpackers trekking and cycling on adventure trips. As well as promoting dual-location holidays for all,” says Simon Hazelgrove, co-founder of Spring.
With the creation of a strong and dominant visual that incorporates the delicate tile pattern representative of Morocco’s heritage in a bold black mosaic to contrast with the brightly coloured images of the country, the design has a powerful visual effect. Boughaleb adds, “This shows a little bit of heritage and culture, and is what, I think, Morocco evokes to a lot of people in the UK and even the US.”
A destination that boasts beautiful mountain ranges, lush oases in the Sahara desert and famous coastlines to both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, this resource-rich nation caters to travellers of all sorts. From the range of spices at the busy markets to the intricate mix of Moorish and European Art Deco architecture throughout various cities, the vibrant colour and allure of this North African nation is clearly unique.
The campaign covers a range of media with specific focus on a user-friendly website. The site allows navigators to search by location or experience, with options to be inspired or make your own selection. It also offers shopping destinations alongside food and cultural options. Hazelgrove says, “We’ve also got a visually adaptable message that works very neatly because you always read ‘Morocco’ even though the message is different when split down into much more.”
The clever wording along with the clean design of this Much Morocco campaign strongly incorporates culture with visually impactful messages. Successful results may lead to campaigns in other regions around the world, because according to Boughaleb, “Morocco needs to be experienced, there is a magic in it.”
