Let’s brand Bahrain.

We have debated about this in the last Bloggers Gathering, and it came up again with the guys, and I thought I would right more about what I have in mind on the blog since it’s a very rich subject.

I first heard about this on Branding Bahrain and I couldn’t help but think about the real meaning of this, what do we need from it, what use would it be to US the average Bahraini Moe, got into many arguments with people that flame the Idea, unfortunately those who flame it, are those who want a better life one the small Island that they were raised on.

The most important questions here are, How do we Brand/Rebrand Bahrain? What is the Brand we are labeling this country? I personally believe that going about spending millions on marketing and media studies will be nothing but a waste of effort and time, what we need here is many specialized independent entities should be assigned to do real SWOT analysis to all the fields in Bahrain and then form solid plans to improve the quality of the public services, infrastructure, commercial and legal systems in Bahrain.

We need to look at all aspects that will make a Modern Bahrain and improve the quality of life, I don’t mean higher salaries and more benefits, but a better future for the country and those who live in it, we need to improve the education and Brand Bahrain as a well qualified work force source, improve the Legal system and Brand Bahrain is a Land of Law and an investment friendly environment, many things need to be restructured and rebuilt to have a Bahrain worth Branding, we don’t need to call Bahrain names that we don’t live up to, just like calling Bahrain the Mother of motorsports in the region and forgetting to do the work behind it.

The Bahraini youth have proved to be creative, will educated and eager to learn, with proper education and training Bahrain can be a destination for research and development, but no one is investing in industry not technology, we need to bench mark with countries like Finland that is now supplying the whole world with advanced electronics and technology, Switzerland the financial destination of the world.

Bahrain can be a capital for arts and culture, a media station that shines on the world from the tele, radio, galleries and Internet but we decided that all that is not important and we need to be all involved in politics and get drowned in the superficial city life, our people have proved there Media capabilities with most primitive of equipment by covering major events like F1, Moharam, and many others through forums and blogs, why don’t they get the chance to revive the dying National TV and Radio stations.

For many years Bahrain has been a destination for tourism, but the wrong one, a tourism based on cheesy bars and easy women for east Europe and Asia, while every one is calling for a clean tourism the only 2 real projects are the Bahrain International Circuit and the Lost Paradise , we need to discover how encourage new types of tourism like creating real facilities for Moharam to accommodate for more visitors from the region and the world, specially that the scene is now very developed and includes very informative activities like the Hussaini Galleries and Plays.

Bahrain and its people have the potential and all what’s missing is the initiative, the workshop was a good sign and now is the time for work, lets wait and see what the EDB have up its sleeves.