?Everything is a brand,? say the marketing people. That?s not quite correct as there are still places in the world which remain untouched by western (and now eastern) style consumerism. But like it or not ? there really is no escape ? every country has a brand. For example, what images pop up in your head when you think of Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India and the USA? An interesting variety, I bet. The question, therefore, is not so much whether Mauritius should have a brand but what should that brand be? For a country hoping to raise the number of tourists to two million in the not too distant future this is a very important question. It?s vital to get the answer right.

Local commentator, Syam Seebun, makes some interesting points about the government-sponsored Branding of Mauritius project in his recent article (l?Express, 28 December). Among other things, he identifies Mauritius as first, a tourist destination; second, a potential destination for foreign business capital; third, a manufacturer of top line products for other famous retail brands like Marks & Spencer in the UK and Betty Barclay in Germany; fourth, an exporter to Europe of small-scale brands like the pickle and spice manufacturer Sarjua Internationale; fifth, a growing financial services centre; and, finally a country with a significant number of successful items produced for the domestic market like Green Island rum and Phoenix beer which, because they have maintained a good market share against international competitors, Seebun thinks reinforces the nation?s self-image and self-worth (he might be right).

He also mentions that Mauritius does well in various international political league tables for sub-Saharan African countries like the recently published Ibrahim Index of African Governance where it achieved first place (which is a nice accolade to receive).

Because of these factors, ?Mauritius is well-poised to develop a strong, favourable and unique brand that will attract investors for its opportunities, visitors for its leisure and hospitality, and buyers for its exports,? according to Seebun. He continues: ?Mauritius does possess a strong tourism destination image in its markets.? In fact, he quotes a French diplomat who, when asked what comes to mind when he thinks of Mauritius, says simply, ?Paradise?. So far so good. But by the end of the article, Seebun has introduced two additional, overlapping concepts? ?Star of Africa? and ?Star and Key of the Indian Ocean? ? which he thinks capture different aspects of what makes Mauritius special and unique taking into account the realities of a highly competitive and fast-changing global trading and services system.

In any event, it is worth noting that if these two concepts were deployed simultaneously, it would be a nightmare for the advertising people who would have to come up with suitable copy. Put simply, multiple concepts do not work when promoting a brand, even when applied to a single country like Mauritius where different aspects of the economy including tourism and the various industrial and service sectors need to be highlighted.

That?s why American marketing guru, Al Ries, is right to point out that the most successful brands are ones which tend to have a narrow focus, avoid the use of generic terms and, although this is not always possible, have simple and short names attached to them. Think of Intel, Lexus, Microsoft, Nike and Sony. These names stand for instantly recognized products and services.

So let?s look at the two contenders for rebranding Mauritius in a little more detail. ?Star of Africa? has the obvious disadvantage that while Mauritius is classified as part of sub-Saharan Africa for political and economic reasons, most visitors ? certainly the tourists ? do not think of Mauritius as an African country. Instead, they think ? quite accurately ? of Mauritius as an island in the Indian Ocean a long way from the African mainland or anywhere else for that matter. That isolation is a major part of its appeal as a holiday destination, after all.

?Star and Key of the Indian Ocean? is heading along the right lines but is too long to be effective in print or verbal presentations. It could, however, be shortened to ?Star of the Indian Ocean? which would give it a lot more appeal (although it would then lose some of its meaning) but perhaps it would still be a little long. The major disadvantage, however, is that it is an unknown quantity.

And why bother? Mauritius already has a highly effective brand concept that has stood the test of time and which was identified by Seebun?s anonymous French diplomat ? the idea of Mauritius as ?Paradise?.

The immediate problem with the ?Paradise? label is that it is generic and a number of other island tourist destinations can make the same claim, some of which like the Seychelles and the Maldives are also located in the Indian Ocean. On the other hand, Mauritius can lay claim to being the original paradise destination because of Mark Twain?s famous and memorable comment first published in 1897, long before the advent of modern mass tourism: ?You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.?

The Mauritius tourist industry has used this quotation in the past but, unfortunately, it is no longer to be found on the country?s website. Instead, the Mauritius Tourist Promotion Authority uses the headline ?Unforgettable Experience? which is, frankly, a very forgettable (and unoriginal) concept.

My advice is that Mauritius should focus primarily on its appeal as a holiday destination using Mark Twain?s ?Paradise?theme (and variations like ?The Original Paradise? or ?The Original Paradise Island») rather than coming up with something new just for the sake of it. The advantage of this strategy is that the country can then build on this key idea in order to promote other sectors to other audiences which can also share the ?Paradise? attribute ? in other words, Mauritius is not only a ?Tourist Paradise? but a ?Business Paradise? and a ?Financial Paradise? (with a strictly limited number of appropriate add-ons in order to maintain the brand?s integrity). Of course, it?s then up to the authorities to make sure that the reality delivers on the brand promise but that would be the subject of a different article.

The big lesson therefore in promoting Brand Mauritius is that it?s all too easy to get overly complicated and sometimes it?s more useful (and simpler) to remember what made the country famous and successful in the first place.

*Dr Sean Carey is Research Fellow at the Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (CRONEM), Roehampton University. He has a long-standing interest in marketing and brands.