Branding Cuba

i read a somewhat puzzling article from South Africa's MarketingWeb, where the author discusses Cuba's marketing strategy.

it's a flawed article, as it does not seem to recognize that Cuba sells two products -- hard currency earners (such as cigars, vacations, nickel, and sugar) to foreigners and the idea that there is no alternative to King Fidel's regime to local Cubans.

and they do a good job at both. despite the U.S. embargo, Cuba's economy is growing, and hard currency is pouring in through tourism and remittances from Cubans abroad (mostly in Miami -- a bit of an irony there, i'm sure).

let's talk about the internal hard sell first. says the author:

It is a rare advertising- and commercial-free zone, with stores filled with generic products and services that strive only to be on a par with "competitors". Advertisements for beer and soap are non-existent. The triumphant system has replaced the dominant capitalist competition with its promotion of citizens’ revolutionary education and an ethical emulation among enterprises.

ah, but he misses the point. there's advertisements in Cuba everywhere you look. from every available space, slogans cry out "DO MORE FOR THE REVOLUTION" or "FIDEL, WE'RE BEHIND YOU ALL THE WAY," and a gizzillion other ads telling people how they feel, how they must feel, the only way to feel: support for the regime.

what is being advertised is the regime -- and at the same time it advertises itself, it makes its presence felt everywhere, and it tells you how to behave, how to be, who to be, and what to think.

it's also, in a way, like gang colors or tagging buldings. the Revolution "tags" every block, every open space. it marks it with a slogan, saying "this is my turf; you are in my turf." every day, Cubans are reminded that they are in the government's turf the minute they walk outside. and when you are in someone else's turf, you tend to tread cautiously.

brilliant.

there's a nice collection of recent Cuban billboards here, and here's a couple of the best examples:


fatherland or death
we shall be victorious



cuba: against terrorism and against war
(but terrorism and war against your own people is ok)


we are on the right path ("we are going well," literally)
(yeah... that's why the last time you could afford a car was 1958)


here's a particularly loaded billboard. it "advertises" the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR):



the text reads, "in every neighborhood, the revolution," and it shows the logo of the CDR (a man wielding a machete behind a shield painted in the colors of the Cuban flag). that's quite literal, you see. every block has a CDR representative whose job it is to report on suspicious activities, people who don't belong, who's spending money freely (where did they get it?), you name it. they are civilian snoops who keep tabs on everybody else.

this billboard celebrates them, and at the same time reminds everyone (as though they needed a reminder) that the revolution is everywhere, watching. and if you step out of line, the man comes and takes you away.

alright, let's talk about the foreign hard sell now. says the author:

As a result, its local brands (Romeo y Jiulietta, Cohiba, Corona, Havana Club and even Castro), riding on the wave of the national unity and culture, have become strong, if not luxury brands internationally, based on the sensory idea of what Cuba represents. Even Bacardi, which abandoned the Cuban ship decades ago, still rides on its origins in Cuba.

clearly, Cubans living in Cubaland can't afford fancy cigars, or even Bacardi's equivalent, Havana Club. you need hard currency to buy those. what dollars Cubans get from abroad or earn from tourists, must be converted to the new Cuban peso (the convertible currency), and most of that goes to food and other basic necessities.

no no no.... those brands are aimed at foreigners who will buy them either at home or when they come to visit Cuba. and that branding pretty much takes care of itself. Cuban cigars had been world-famous since before the 1959 revolution, and even years of neglect during the early part of the revolution (before Castro realized what a gold mine cigars were) couldn't kill the world's appetite for Cuban cigars.

the writer goes on:

Amazingly, this communist country that has vilified capitalism and consumerism for decades has managed to:

maintain a single message,
promulgated by senior management consistently,
bought up and lived by all the citizens,
without stripping away creativity and imagination,
been bundled into an alluring brand essence,
and disseminated through sensory cues that cover touch, taste, smell, sight and sound.


well, not if you ask your average Cuban in the street. yes, the message is mind numbingly single-minded (there is no choice other than the revolution), and yes, it is promulgated by everybody in power all the time, along with all state-owned media (and there's no other kind in Cuba), and the innumerable billboards and slogans everywhere.

but "bought up and lived by all the citizens?" hardly. there's no choice, pal. the alternatives are jail, winning the US visa lottery, getting in a raft and daring the Gulf Stream, or playing along. a few dissidents speak up and go to jail; many young people opt for the lottery or the raft (last year, Cuba's population grew by less than 3,000 total people, and emigration played a large role in that). but most Cubans have little choice (family or age ties them to Cuba), and so they must go on, as best as they can, complying with the wishes of the regime.

it's an easy sell because it's aimed at a captive audience. from time to time (such as during the Mariel Boat Lift and the Balseros mass migration of the late 1990's) the cracks open up and the people vote with their feet. most of the time, they just make time.

which is probably why Castro insists on a single-party government (he wrote it into the Constitution). no choice for Cubans, my friend. they get the hard sell on the one and single government they get. and if they don't buy it, the CDR is watching, patiently, and waiting.