Despite the ongoing political chaos and economic crisis, Ukraine has taken to international airwaves to improve its image and promote itself as a tourist destination
Despite the ongoing political chaos and economic crisis, Ukraine has taken to international airwaves to improve its image and promote itself as a tourist destination.
It is not the first blitz television promotion of Ukraine, whose rancorous politics continue to sully the nation’s reputation across the world. But communications experts say such positive promotion is a much-needed step towards attracting tourists and improving Ukraine’s image internationally.
Starting Nov. 10, CNN International viewers are seeing a different picture of Ukraine. The ads show aerial and swooping crane shots of the medieval Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv, the Opera Theatre in Odesa, remains of the ancient Chersonesos Greek city, Lviv’s market square, windmills, castles and the picturesque Carpathian Mountains. When the ads conclude, viewers hear a British baritone voice saying “Ukraine, beautifully yours” to end the commercial.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Vasyl Vovkun said he hopes that an “influx of foreign tourists after the successful broadcast of this clip guarantees Ukraine a spot in the world arena.’
Vovkun was the one who provided artistic direction for the clips, according to the Culture Ministry statement. The statement also said a tender was held among “several foreign and wide-reaching television companies like BBC and CNN to find the best deal for broadcasting the ads.”
Kostyantyn Gridin, chief executive officer of Kyiv’s CFC consulting company, the exclusive representative of CNN in Ukraine, said his company received more than Hr 2.5 million ($416,000) to place the commercials. CFC claims to have won a tender that was announced in early autumn.
“We submitted our proposal, but had no great hopes of winning. We were a bit surprised when we won it,” Gridin said.
Gridin’s surprise is understandable, given his company’s past experience with state-solicited bids. In late 2005, CFC was one of five companies who submitted proposals for a government tender to create a positive image of Ukraine abroad. Five bids were tabled for a Hr 13 million ($2.5 million) contract that was awarded to an obscure company from Kharkiv called Konglomerat.
Three months later, the Foreign Ministry terminated the contract with Konglomerat, alleging the company had failed to perform any of the promised works. The ministry sued the company to no avail and the funds were never returned to the state.
This sort of corruption scandal is what contributes to an already bleak image of Ukraine abroad. Swiftly gaining the reputation of a sex-tourism Mecca and still fighting the legacy of the Chornobyl disaster, Ukraine needs help with its perception in the world.
“With the current internal [political] situation in the country, a little external ‘make up’ will not hurt,” Gridin said.
“Bad news hits the headlines and there has been a lot of it: political chaos, economic crisis, etc,” said Jock Mendoza-Wilson, international relations director at System Capital Management, the holding company of Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. SCM ran a large-scale company image-improving campaign in Western media in 2005.
A British citizen, Mendoza-Wilson said Ukraine needs to show off its positive sides.
“As a non-Ukrainian who lives and works here, I can tell you there is more to the country than that. It’s clearly a good thing that Ukraine is making the effort to look after its image,” Mendoza-Wilson added.
But Gridin said the government-sponsored campaign has a chance to achieve multiple goals.
“With CNN International, we are targeting decision-makers and leaders. If the heads of foreign states see the ad on CNN – and they do watch CNN – one of them might say ‘I liked your commercial’ during a meeting with President [Victor] Yushchenko, for example,” Gridin explained.
He said Ukraine will get better bang for its buck with the new ad than during the first attempt to promote itself in winter last year.
Ukraine advertised itself as a tourist destination in 2007, spending $1.5 million on an integrated multimedia campaign, including “Ukraine: for snow lovers” commercials that were aired 80 times on Euronews and National Geographic television channels.
Ludwig Medyaniy, press secretary for the State Tourism and Resorts Service that had paid for the ad and airtime, said that his agency could not measure the effectiveness of last year’s advertising campaign.
But according to the State Border Service, the number of foreign tourists who visited Ukraine between January and September exceeded 20 million – an increase of 2.3 million people, or 12.5 percent over the same period in 2007.
“The world should know that Ukraine is more than borsch and potato dumplings. We have something to show,” Medyaniy said. “When you go to Egypt, for example, you see the sand and pyramids once and you’ve had enough.But in Ukraine, you can keep going back to Crimea or the Carpathians year after year.”
Thethree television ads mentioned in this story can be found on youtube.com:.
“Ukraine: Beautifully Yours” on CNN (2008) .
“Ukraine for snowlovers” on Euronews, National Geographic (2007).
