"No money to promote Serbia brand"

Trade Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic says that the budget for the national branding project is minimal. He was speaking at the 5th annual Belgrade Brand Fair, which, besides domestic officials, was attended by American brand expert Scott Bedbury, creator of Nike’s famous ad campaign—Just Do It. "No money to promote Serbia brand" Milosavljevic said that he had met with the American expert regarding the possibility of working on a brand for Serbia, adding, however, that there did not appear to be enough money at this moment in time to pay for such an expert. Bedbury gave examples of certain Serbian characteristics that could become recognizable throughout the world. “I think that people here are very interesting, their pride and ability to have a good time, that is very rare in the world. These are the basic fundamentals for creating a brand, whether it is branding Serbia or anything else. I have eaten Serbian food over the past few days and I think that it is fantastic,” Bedbury said. He said that branding countries was not an alien concept to him. “Many countries have called me up to work on their branding. Sometimes it was problematic, like Colombia, and I steered clear of that. I am now working on a book about reconstructing a new American brand, which is the strongest, but also the most problematic brand,” Bedbury said. He did not say whether he would be prepared to work for Serbia. Milosavljevic said that he had already held talks with Bedbury and his team over his fee for branding certain products. “The figures are in tens of millions of dollars and, unfortunately, Serbia does not have a national brand to single out, though the need for one undoubtedly exists,” the minister said. He added that the branding budget for this year was restrictive. “Unfortunately, this year’s budget, objectively, earmarked a minimal amount of funds for Serbia’s national brand. Along with NIP funds, it is about RSD 50mn (about EUR 543,000) for the entire year, and those are funds that will only be enough for continuing work already started, not for anything new,” Milosavljevic said. The Brand Fair, which is being held at the Belgrade Fair, runs from February 12-14. Slobodan Milosavljevic (Beta, archive)

"No money to promote Serbia brand"

Milosavljević said that he had met with the American expert regarding the possibility of working on a brand for Serbia, adding, however, that there did not appear to be enough money at this moment in time to pay for such an expert.

Bedbury gave examples of certain Serbian characteristics that could become recognizable throughout the world.

“I think that people here are very interesting, their pride and ability to have a good time, that is very rare in the world. These are the basic fundamentals for creating a brand, whether it is branding Serbia or anything else. I have eaten Serbian food over the past few days and I think that it is fantastic,” Bedbury said.

He said that branding countries was not an alien concept to him.

“Many countries have called me up to work on their branding. Sometimes it was problematic, like Colombia, and I steered clear of that. I am now working on a book about reconstructing a new American brand, which is the strongest, but also the most problematic brand,” Bedbury said.

He did not say whether he would be prepared to work for Serbia. Milosavljević said that he had already held talks with Bedbury and his team over his fee for branding certain products.

“The figures are in tens of millions of dollars and, unfortunately, Serbia does not have a national brand to single out, though the need for one undoubtedly exists,” the minister said.

He added that the branding budget for this year was restrictive.

“Unfortunately, this year’s budget, objectively, earmarked a minimal amount of funds for Serbia’s national brand. Along with NIP funds, it is about RSD 50mn (about EUR 543,000) for the entire year, and those are funds that will only be enough for continuing work already started, not for anything new,” Milosavljević said.

The Brand Fair, which is being held at the Belgrade Fair, runs from February 12-14.