Egypt, Now Less Arid

One of the destinations I would like to one day visit is Egypt and its surroundings to, at the very least, confirm my suspicions that there is more to Egypt than pyramids and pharaohs. (I know there is more, I’m being sarcastic). A new campaign for the Egyptian Tourist Authority developed by the Cairo office of JWT aims to establish Egypt as a place where there is more than really big tombs. And accompanying this campaign is a new logo.

The print and TV campaign perhaps does too good a job in touting other things to think about when we consider Egypt, and it starts to look more like a Caribbean island combined with a non-stop party place where you can golf and, by the way, you can catch some pyramids in between all of that. But maybe after all that, Egypt just starts to feel like a generic destination.

Regarding the logo, the biggest shame is that it is used so small in the web site, where the detail of the texture gets completely lost and reduces to what looks like a cheap watercolor painting. Seen at a large size the logo is quite elegant and energetic and it’s always nice to see someone actually pick up a writing instrument to craft something. Aside from the texture, the lettering is well done, although I feel the “e” is a tad light and small in contrast to the rest of the letters. I’m torn in whether the “t” being represented by the well-known Ankh symbol is a cliché or not but it works in triggering associations to Egyptian hieroglyphics — it’s also a little big and stands out too much from the rest of the letters. I also really like the shift in colors from something less sand-ey to something more fluid.

Where things start to fall apart, almost literally, with a splat of the watercolor dotting the “i,” is in the tag line with the jarring use of Skia, a Matthew Carter typeface that functions for all things Greek, Roman, and, now, Egyptian. Compared to the old logo, despite it warning us that “Nothing Compares!” this is a great redesign with far more character than the previous.

Thanks to Aleksander Lenart for the tip.

ado’s comment is:

what? “Cgyrf”?

On Mar.17.2010 at 07:30 AM

Dale Campbell’s comment is:

that poor tagline…

On Mar.17.2010 at 07:45 AM

Ivan’s comment is:

@ado: exactly

On Mar.17.2010 at 07:48 AM

cj’s comment is:

I’m sorry, but can someone explain the white blue-eyed ladies in the ads??? AWFUL.

On Mar.17.2010 at 07:53 AM

cj’s comment is:

otherwise the script is great, but I’m having trouble getting past the stupid ads.

On Mar.17.2010 at 07:53 AM

Brendan’s comment is:

Skia isn’t all that great, and random photos of women in each ad is pretty lame. But I love the lettering and texture, and no, I don’t think the ankh is cliche - it’s very Egyptian to me and it’s executed well here.

It might not be the most legible but when you see the g, the y, and the p, and letters that look close to e and t, you know this is going to be Egypt. Does it look like cgypf? A bit, but people aren’t going to see that first, so I don’t think that matters.

On Mar.17.2010 at 08:00 AM

Marty Alchin’s comment is:

Ah, if ever there was a fitting use for Papyrus …

On Mar.17.2010 at 08:04 AM

John McCollum’s comment is:

The blue-eyed ladies are tourists. It’s a tourism campaign.

Anyway, I think that the overall effect of the new branding is very positive. It seems to emphasize the Nile water over the desert sand; it’s more inviting that way.

I do wish they’d worked on making the “Egypt” more legible. They could have easily improved legibility while retaining the free-flowing script.

And my problem with the tagline is strictly typographical. It’s fugly and amateurish. The splashdot over the i doesn’t help one bit.

The phrase itself isn’t bad — Egypt was one of the world’s great early civilizations, and can make some claim to being the birthplace of much of Western AND Eastern cultures. So, it makes sense.

As a whole, it’s a drastic improvement. I just wish it had been more finely tuned.

On Mar.17.2010 at 08:05 AM

cj’s comment is:

ah, I see. so they only want to attract aryans to egypt? it’s so completely over the top.

On Mar.17.2010 at 08:23 AM

Larry W’s comment is:

One word: AWESOME.

Interesting, intriguing, cool, fun…

I think the texture is a little over-the-top, but on a whole, I think its really cool. Its a vast improvement over the last one, without a doubt.

On Mar.17.2010 at 08:55 AM

NM’s comment is:

I’m so glad you covered this redesign!

They had a goofy ad during the Vancouver Olympics in sports tv Eurosport. It featured a Ski Jumper, you know, dudes who jump from huge snowy slides onto a downward sloped hill, flying breafly and then it cut to that new logo.

So yeah, aparently there is more to Egypt than just pyramids… You can ski jump and all.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:08 AM

Florian’s comment is:

Cold, frosty, … everything Egypt does NOT stand for. The blue variant shown here is far off imho.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:10 AM

Cory ’s comment is:

Hieroglyphs, not hieroglyphics.

I much prefer the untextured version, as it looks clumsy at a smaller size.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:13 AM

Shawn Green’s comment is:

Meh. It works…but I don’t really care for it.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:25 AM

Matt’s comment is:

For me, this just screams STUDENT PROJECT.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:25 AM

Mr. Kim’s comment is:

There may be more to Egypt but if by “more” they mean beaches, night life, and restaurants… you can get that any where. Destination programs, to me, should be about the culture but it’s difficult since most cultures have been washed with commercialism, ie; the American way of life, which is why these ads, along with ads from Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore all look American. Philosophically I’m not saying this is wrong… the strong have a natural right to dominate. But, I’ve got beaches locally so I’m not going to fly all the way to Egypt to lay on a beach…

Most tourism programs feature affluent white people… I’m a graphic designer which means I’m poor, and I’m Asian… thus, I don’t get an invitation. So the conclusion I’ve come to is (assuming the marketing department have done their research) rich white people ARE willing to fly to the other side of the world and lay on a beach.

The mark itself looks great… progressive but still rooted in heritage.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:25 AM

David Hickox’s comment is:

This makes a great Enya cover.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:31 AM

cody’s comment is:

@cj

I think it’s obvious they only want to attract pretty women tourists.. and maybe their photographer boyfriends.

That aside, I like the aesthetic of the logo, I just wish they’d paid more attention to readability, and I also agree on the lameness of skia in the tagline.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:31 AM

MSGDS’s comment is:

I like the redesign, but prefer it as one solid color. The textures in the logo make it very messy and unattractive. Wrong font choice for the tag line.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:40 AM

stan’s comment is:

love the mark, but the tagline is a hot mess.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:51 AM

Penn’s comment is:

Take out the tagline and this would be excellent.

It’s blue because it’s supposed to be WATER — hence the rippled texture and the watery ink in the ad — and they’re trying to attract tourists.

Well done on the script, poor choice for the tagline.

On Mar.17.2010 at 09:53 AM

peanutpickle10’s comment is:

from a full-blooded Egyptian’s point of view, I think they found a great way to highlight and differentiate the touristy side of Egypt from the current political and cultural ebb we are currently experiencing

beautifully executed- feels modern, yet captures the ancient mystique surrounding all the spots these ads are directed towards

On Mar.17.2010 at 10:24 AM

felix sockwell’s comment is:

nice job. we know who the designer/ calligrapher is? appears to be no photoshoping, which is nice.

On Mar.17.2010 at 10:37 AM

Mantoe’s comment is:

One minor problem, the word ‘Egypt’ is illegible.

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:01 AM

Nathan McKinney’s comment is:

From my point of view, people already associate Egypt with ancient ruins. I think the ads do a nice job of romancing that part of the draw to Egypt along with highlighting parts of it that most people don’t think about. It kinda makes me realize that going there would involve more than looking at sphinxes, and in that way I feel it’s a complete success.

I do like the logo, but worry it’s a little hard to read when the word “Egypt” is probably the most important thing to communicate. The backgrounds and graphics are lovely, but make it a little hard to read.

If anything, that’s about the only place where this fails, it communicates the differences in expectations to a trip to Egypt, but fails a little to say.. oh by the way, we ARE talking about Egypt.

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:10 AM

Joe Lamour’s comment is:

At least the tag line wasn’t done in Papyrus (ba-dum-tish)

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:18 AM

Jem’s comment is:

Are you serious Felix?

Those Ads look like some detonated the PS ‘Artistic’ filter over a sheet of blank paper!

Anyway, my question is, why do tourism logotypes always have to use handwritten script?

http://logoblink.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/tourism_logos_by_country.jpg
(Can someone post this as an image for me, thanks)

Predictable.

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:18 AM

John Lascurettes’s comment is:

Since Egypt is the source of the ankh, they’re allowed. It’s not cliché in this context.

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:18 AM

Florian’s comment is:

@Penn
I bet you’re right on the water part. But ‘water’ isnt exactly the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Egypt. It’s sand, sun, pyramids. Warm, orange colors. Terracotta. The visual ads are more on spot.

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:47 AM

Alphonse’s comment is:

Is this for Egypt or Mexico?

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:51 AM

izzy’s comment is:

messy.

On Mar.17.2010 at 12:24 PM

David Airey’s comment is:

A huge improvement over the previous logo, and I couldn’t agree more, Armin, about the ink splat spoiling the tagline.

On Mar.17.2010 at 12:42 PM

John’s comment is:

1. It’s so very, very nice to see actual brushwork instead of &^%$ing Illustrator brushwork. Kudos for craft.

2. That said, I can’t help but feel that this is something I would see getting off the plane in Las Vegas. What goes around comes around, eh?

On Mar.17.2010 at 01:09 PM

Luke Holschbach’s comment is:

I think this is just beautiful (at a large enough size.) Great redesign. The tagline is implemented somewhat clumsy, but it definitely says more than the old one.

I don’t think the blue makes it “cold and frosty,” my initial response was of lapis lazuli.

On Mar.17.2010 at 01:12 PM

BJN’s comment is:

Equipt?

Sorry, Egypt is sandy. There’s nothing wrong with sandy.

On Mar.17.2010 at 01:18 PM

Aaron Asbury’s comment is:

The logo and texture are quite nice but the advertisements and catch phrase are terrible.

On Mar.17.2010 at 01:57 PM

qwertyale’s comment is:

it’s OK.
blue or water signs are WELCOME on any desert scenary and If this is a signature, you need to respect their caligraphy … there is no “cgypt” on our iphone dictionary, you can go “egypt” flawlessly.
the ankh symbol is not a cliche, this is related as a symbol of life and Egypt is a celebration of some ancient civilization LIFES not only dead things memorabilia. there is no human or mummmies without water. this logo is refreshing as crystal water from OASIS that they want to attract foreigners.

On Mar.17.2010 at 02:19 PM

Brian Son’s comment is:

Wow, this is a beautiful mark. It’s very rare that you see hand-crafted logos, not strictly digital. I’m biased, I’ll admit, watercolors produce one of my favorite textures. But in this case, it’s not just visually appealing, it works for how JWT approached and branded this campaign. It can be interpreted as basically as you will: hand-crafted, traditional, multi-layered, etc. But the colors and use of the lettering make it modern and fresh, take traditional things and use them in a way that is refreshing.

The ads and spot are dead on in what they are trying to do, the spot itself was a bit expected, what with the short clips of someone creating the mark, but it takes you through Egypt in a minute, enough to show all the key aspects of why you would wnat to travel there. Which brings me to the point that a lot of people seem to be having difficulty with, caucasian people in the ads. I’m sorry, this IS a travel campaign is it not? Who’s going to be visiting Egypt? The American family, European couple or the Egyptians who already live there?

The biggest disappointment in handcrafting this great, textured mark is that it feels absent from any of the print ads (where it’s a solid mark with no textures) and the TV spot. Visually, it could have tied in so much more.

All in all, it’s nice to see a new branding effort that isn’t boring.

On Mar.17.2010 at 02:28 PM

Marcy Shu’s comment is:

“this logo is refreshing as crystal water from OASIS”

Give me a break!

Hand drawn script logotypes, are currently used by:
- Australia
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Caribbean
- Spain
- Greece
- Maldives
- Malta
- Poland
- Turkey
- Hungary
- Israel
- Korea
- Taiwan
- Venezuela

ETC.

Refreshing, this is not.

On Mar.17.2010 at 02:35 PM

Tim Gengler’s comment is:

Despite being borderline illegible, I love that logo. The video is quite fantastic as well.

If you’re looking for a weakness, I would say the tagline and those print ads are where failure sets in. The one ad in particular looks like a low-budget casino handout.

I wish they’d stick closely to their beautiful sand and turquoise combination, that’s where the strength of this campaign lies.

On Mar.17.2010 at 02:46 PM

Juan Manuel’s comment is:

I think the brand structure could be better, but I think the most important is the reposition they make with this. I saw the spot for the previous tagline and position about a place that have a sun, but I you think many places have sunny lands, or cities, that is not a difference. The new brand invites you to a place which was point “0”, where everything began, and that is a differential for a tourist place.

On Mar.17.2010 at 02:49 PM

Tobi Laniyan’s comment is:

I like it the typography fits well and represents the elegance of Egypt. I personal feel the (T) is too cliche it takes the focus out of the whole type and you can see that they have emphasized it by making (T) bigger.

Apart from that a nice Identity and a much better slogan compared to “nothing compares”

On Mar.17.2010 at 03:34 PM

qwertyale’s comment is:

@Marcy Shu

forget other countries, TARGET on their country scenary or past logo, they’re rebranding.

any other logo of these ridiculous list is POWERED BY ANKH INSIDE???????

please you can compare anything you want but make effort to GESTALT your point of view.

drink a COLD lemon tea and come back with no nerd’s lists.

On Mar.17.2010 at 04:10 PM

Danne’s comment is:

yeah, it’s a shame that when it’s viewed small you don’t really get the watercolor effect, which i actually kind of like. i definitely don’t like the use of skia and that watercolor blob for the i dot.

On Mar.17.2010 at 04:17 PM

Mary Shu’s comment is:

Yeah lets NOT try and differentiate our logo from all our competitors, lets just blend in.

Genius move.

POWERED BY ANKH or not, bottom line is ‘scripty’ tourist logos are P-layed. So catch up Qwertyale!

Nerd out!

On Mar.17.2010 at 04:23 PM

Alex P.’s comment is:

What happens in Egypt stays in Egypt.

On Mar.17.2010 at 05:10 PM

Tez’s comment is:

Refreshing from the old? Yes. Groundbreaking? No. Agreed the script logo is clichéd in that almost every tourism authority uses it worldwide. As far as it working for Egypt it works on so many levels. Although I see the t looking like a combination between the Ankh symbol and a cursive ‘f’ as others have mentioned. I personally would have preferred the ‘e’ to be capitalised like a flipped ‘3’ though. As for the TV campaign argh! or should I say woof! it screams of rank advertising clichés and personally although I’ve never been to egypt am not in the least bit convinced that it represents what the real Egypt would be like to visit. Personally I would have liked to have seen more of an animated play on the tag line as hieroglyphs revealing to the english type and a much better typeface than skia of all typefaces. As well as a stronger script concept!

On Mar.17.2010 at 05:59 PM

Glenn Sakamoto’s comment is:

The logo formerly known as “Egypt.”

On Mar.17.2010 at 06:18 PM

qwertyale’s comment is:

@Mary Shu

hey then the countries on your list are “COMPETITORS”?

what a shame… you’re insane… no countries are “competing” themselves…

please look for ankh on your list logos xD

On Mar.17.2010 at 07:41 PM

jinushaun’s comment is:

Anyone who thinks the blue doesn’t work, probably doesn’t really know much about Egypt outside of the pyramids and desserts. Egypt has a significant coast line that borders both the Red Sea AND the Mediterranean! (Yes, the same Mediterranean that Greece, Italy and France borders) The Red Sea is a HUGE travel destination and SCUBA diving in Egypt is world class. And let’s not forget the gigantic Nile River.

I think that’s the point of the entire campaign. Egypt is more than pyramids and deserts.

As for the logo, I agree with others on the legibility. The print campaign is cheesy and looks quite amateurish. I like the video campaign, however.

On Mar.17.2010 at 08:32 PM

Simon’s comment is:

I don’t understand all the love for this. Sure it looks fairly nice but you can barely read it. Shouldn’t a ‘great redesign’ be atleast legible. They were going in the right direction but it’s still way off in my opinion.

On Mar.17.2010 at 10:06 PM

craig’s comment is:

I understand that everyone has, and is entitled to, their own opinion. I just wonder how many of you are purely designers and don’t really (or always) understand the marketing implications behind a logo, brand or marketing campaign. God help you if any of your work is ever picked apart in the same way. Some of these comments are spot on for constructive criticism; others are just plain mean and show what kind (or lack of) designer you are.

On Mar.17.2010 at 11:18 PM

Serg’s comment is:

They should implement some “hot fixes” soon. I’ve spent 10 minutes and got this:

On Mar.18.2010 at 01:00 AM

phanyxx’s comment is:

Placing a hot chick in each advert is way too try-hard. Otherwise, the white wordmark is against the vibrant photography is really stunning. Well executed. As it the painted quality of blue version (though it is lost at a certain size).

All-in-all the visual identity is daring and exciting… the advertising is a little of base and more suited for a destination like Ibiza.

On Mar.18.2010 at 03:21 AM

Zanda’s comment is:

I have dived the Red Sea for 2 weeks, traveled down the Nile on a luxury boat for a week and spent another 2 weeks exploring Cairo and the Pyramids. My taxi driver and guide for Cairo and the Pyramids was an Egyptian civil engineer educated in the USA.

It was more lucrative for him driving a taxi than being employed as a civil engineer. Wow, did he enlighten me about Egypt – within a week I was offered genuine antiquities complete with covert shipping by boat to any destination in the world.

Cairo is a dump – its a wonder JWT could find water color paints to do the (illegible) lettering because buildings have only seen the one coat of paint they started life with some 50 or so years ago.

Every Egyptian is out there sharking the tourists starting at the airport and only ending when you are safely on your way home on an airline other than Egypt Air.

Every policeman including the tourist police is out there bribing his fellow Egyptian and every official and person with some authority exploits everyone else.

Only in Egypt do you get “standard 5 star (meaning less than one star) to 5 star luxury “ accommodation.

The JWT campaign and redesign, although a poor effort in terms of rebranding, is spot-on, what you see is very far removed from what you will actually get. I have traveled extensively and Egypt must be the biggest tourist rip-of I have ever come across.

The slogan is perfect and really means “where it (dictatorships, nepotism, tourist rip-off, corruption and bribery) all begins”.

Egypt is the perfect university for Advertising Account Executives and a visit to this wonderful country should be compulsory part of their curricula.

Again, well done JWT for perpetuating the Egypt myth.

PS Armin, there is more to Egypt than pyramids and pharaohs but it is not what you expect. Buy some DVD’s on Egypt, take a week of work, get some good food and your favorite take-outs, kick back and watch the DVD’s. This will be far more comfortable and relaxed, cheaper and unlike the real trip, you will be left with some romantic memories off Egypt.

On Mar.18.2010 at 04:07 AM

James’s comment is:

I like it actually, it even works quite well reversed. The tagline seems to be a complete afterthought though - that must have been shoehorned in by committee at the end of the job! Also, how over the top is the photoshop work in those print ads?

On Mar.18.2010 at 05:49 AM

Ricky’s comment is:

Serg’s fix to the ‘e’ is exactly what it needs. But Skia? It seems a lazy choice but surely that can’t be the case. I still really like the texture and overall feel of the lettering though.

On Mar.18.2010 at 06:27 AM

Mike’s comment is:

qwertyale’s comment is:

“@Mary Shu

hey then the countries on your list are “COMPETITORS”?

what a shame… you’re insane… no countries are “competing” themselves…”

Countries are absolutely competing against each other for tourist dollars. Please be more respectful with your comments.

On Mar.18.2010 at 06:56 AM

Erwin’s comment is:

@Serg
You do know the T is supposed to be an “ankh”, right? Stripping the logo of the ankh is a bad move imho, and I disagree with Armin that it’s cliche… Your E and T aren’t really improvements and what remains is a less interesting wordmark… However, your use of the tagline is much more interesting than the original.

@Marcy Shu/Mary Shu
Get over yourself! Sure there are many countries with handwritten logo’s, but if there would be a country most deserving to have one, it would be Egypt with it’s rich tradition and history in developing script (scribes, hieroglyps etc.) Egypt has every right to brag about it’s contributions and it SHOULD show this in it’s logo. Ask Korea why it uses a handwritten wordmark and see if they have an equally valid explanation…

I think it’s a clever logo in which hieroglyphs and the western alphabet are well combined. The use of blue is very fresh and I have no problems with readability at all… It’s far from cliche imho, cliche would be a pyramid, camel, a palmtree, the color of desert sand… This is the complete opposite, and it’s still very Egypt!

I agree they completely srewed up with the photoshop ads. The commercial is okay, I saw it months ago on CNN, and when I saw the logo I knew it would be Brand New-worthy… And here it is!

PS: Calling this a student project is really disrespectful… Please…

On Mar.18.2010 at 07:32 AM

???’s comment is:

One minor problem, the word ‘Egypt’ is illegible.

On Mar.18.2010 at 07:46 AM

qwertyale’s comment is:

@Mike

We’re not here to vote on MISS UNIVERSE OF LOGOS as Mary Shu is trying to do with that pathetic list.

It’s a insult for everybody here trying to understand every detail on this “simple” caligraphic brand.

The country will not avoid to do it caligraphic even neighbour country do the same. It’s totally insane to think with this prerrogatives.

On Mar.18.2010 at 08:33 AM

Mitch’s comment is:

I did a quick search, but didn’t see anyone mention the fact that the lower left graphic from the campaign appears to say “and mummy told me I could be a little mermaid for the day.” Egypt: Mummy to Mermaid.

On Mar.18.2010 at 08:49 AM

Serg’s comment is:

@Erwin
This cross (ankh) looks totally like f. Good solution is to make little hole in the top of “t”, so it will be just tiny trace of “ankh”. It must be hidden from first sight.

On Mar.18.2010 at 09:04 AM

Waleed Shebani’s comment is:

I think Egypt is still an Arab country and i think they should have implemented that to the ads and logos but after all it is a big improvement over the last one.

On Mar.18.2010 at 09:29 AM

Yaysayer’s comment is:

There seem to be a lot of complaints around it being illegible. It seems like everyone is far too quick to jump into I-wish-I-were-a-design-professor mode and critique the details that they *think* matter, but ignoring the ones that really do.

Do this: find someone on the street who speaks English fluently and looks at this wordmark and honestly believes that it says “cgypf.” I’ll wager to say that you won’t find that person. The beautiful thing about our brain is that it has the remarkable ability (I know, this sounds incomprehensible to some of you) to use gestalt principles combined with its own experiences and expectations with language to bring meaning out of an image. Whoa, what a concept! “You mean not everything has to be in Helvetica?” “You mean that the human brain is truly smart enough to understand that this wordmark says ‘egypt’?”

Were this executed any other way, you’d have just as many people complaining “It’s too legible! It lacks the history of Egypt!” or “So-and-so did this already!” while comparing it to a completely different logo for a completely different purpose. All the people shouting “foul!” on the blue are the same kind of people who would shout similar things were it yellow (“stereotypical sand!”), green (“unoriginal!”), black (“racist!” just kidding on that one).

On Mar.18.2010 at 10:56 AM

Manfredi Pumo’s comment is:

It seems like they translated the logo in several languages.
http://www.egypt.travel/UK/index.php?lang=it&country=it&flashinstalled=2
I don’t think that’s usual.

On Mar.18.2010 at 11:20 AM

Marcy Shu’s comment is:

Qwertyale, for a logotypes to be effective it needs to be distinctive, it needs to to distinguish it from other identities in its market. In doing this it will have greater chance of being noticed and hopefully remembered.

Clearly the Egypt logo doesn’t do this. Yes, it is attractive (to some), but it repeats the status quo, it falls in line, instead of adding something new and engaging.

You seem very passionate about this logo, and that is good, but you need to step back from the calligraphy and look at the big picture.

:)

On Mar.18.2010 at 11:43 AM

Alisha’s comment is:

@yaysayer… THANK YOU!!! All the thoughts I had myself put in words.

It seems like ANY hand-written logo I’ve seen on Brand New, there are always complaints about legibility. But I think some people overlook the fact that it’s based on handwriting… not a square grid-structure. Things aren’t going to be mathematically proportional.

And my thoughts on the blue: I like it, it’s very refreshing. As for it’s relationship to Egypt, how about the Nile River? Only the largest river in the world (if my geography knowledge is correct… I could be wrong. But I know it’s up there).

On Mar.18.2010 at 11:49 AM

Andrew Sabatier’s comment is:

This new campaign identity achieves a refreshing sense of dynamism and modernity over a rigid, archaic and dusty predecessor.

The previous identity is clearly ‘old-school’ and corporate. The symbols are generic and cliched, despite, perhaps, an unrivalled claim to the sun in relation to the god Ra. However, I do have to offer strong support for the previous brandline, “nothing compares”. Quite obviously, Egypt offers a truly unique destination experience.

“Where it all begins” is appropriate but I have to work harder to see how the core message is not as generic as it at first appears. I can see an ambitious strategy in terms of how Egypt might be a life-changing experience. Egypt may indeed be where ‘it’ all begins on a personal as well as historical level (although the latter is tenuous) but in the context of the poor brand identity work this brandline strikes me as over-ambitious.

The advert shown is a first-class production. It’s sophisticated, vivid, exciting and makes a good case for a distinctively Egyptian tourism experience. The modern Egyptian cultural experience on show in the advert delivers all the rich promises a contemporary mass tourism audience might expect. The hieroglyphics and pyramids deliver the message of a core experience few other destinations can compete with, and against which, indeed, “nothing compares”.

Although the cues in the brand transformation are refreshing and appropriate, it seems that most of the budget was spent on traditional advertising. Egyptian tourism now has a first rate advertising campaign but a second rate brand identity. The ‘Prince of Persia’-esque photoshop glows and generally over-photoshoped promotional imagery in combination with an overly fussy, illegible and symbolically awkward brandmark suggests that the client was either persuaded to believe that an advertising agency is as good as a brand consultancy, or they have no clue as to the difference.

The advertising campaign is not likely to hang around for long but, unfortunately, the brand identity is probably going to last a lot longer. It’s likely that in the absence of a high intensity advertising campaign that the weakness of the key branding elements of this campaign will become more apparent.

This new campaign identity isn’t arid but it is confused.

A.

Permalink

On Mar.18.2010 at 12:11 PM

qwertyale’s comment is:

@Marcy Shu

WOW… if you don’t know, COUNTRY BRANDING is different than selling products strategies.

Some words from WALLY OLINS:

“Does it work? Sometimes, but the relationship between product and place brands is by no means simple. While there may be similarities between product and place brands, “the idea of a nation as a brand – as Kellogg’s Corn Flakes is a brand – is a very big mistake,” cautions Wally Olins, chairman of the branding consultancy Saffron in London and Madrid. “

visit his page at http://www.wallyolins.com/

and please better you go back to classrooms and not post direct to me.

On Mar.18.2010 at 12:37 PM

Travis Ludwig’s comment is:

@Yaysayer Bravo. Your comments are spot on. If I had the ability to string together that reasoning into a coherent explanation I couldn’t have put it better.

@Zanda I would say given your negative comments about Egypt, this campaign is very successful. Beautiful water, landscape, nightlife and women grace the ads in the campaign, not the squalor and corruption that you mentioned. I don’t think advertising is about reality. It’s what advertising wants you to believe is reality. Jamaica is a third world country where people live in shipping containers in the mountains. I must have missed that in my travel brochure.

On Mar.18.2010 at 12:48 PM

Arron Lock’s comment is:

Overall I like this. Sure, there are a few small things I would change. I don’t really care for the tag line font and the ink blot kinda kills it. We can pick things apart all day.

As for all of the comments about the ads saying that this doesn’t make them think of Egypt and the casino comment I think that is exactly what they were going for. When I think of Egypt I do think of sand and warmth and such but I would never think of diving or that Cairo has a night-life like Vegas. I think they are trying to show people that Egypt is more than pyramids and sand with those ads. As for using blue-eyed white women, its a lot easier to sell to people when the women in the ads look like your target market. (American, Europe, Australia for example)

On Mar.18.2010 at 12:52 PM

Sara Tack’s comment is:

Would you associate some of the most beautiful stretch of white sand beaches in the world with crystal blue water, mountain views and intensely rich sunsets to be in the middle of the desert? Would you have guessed these beaches are in Eqypt?

Egypt wants to expand its tourism business beyond the ancient ruins. They have the goods to make it happen and it’s not on the Mediterranean, but along the banks of the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba. These waters are a far cry from the muddy Nile River. The experience of seeing the moon rising over the mountains of Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea from Nuweiba is one I will never forget.

I do not like the print ads -too cliche for my tastes. The TV is fairly well done and as Andrew said it delivers the message of a core experience few destinations can compete with. I can’t say that the new logo delivers on just how stunning the ‘other Eqypt’ is, but at least it starts getting us thinking there might be more there than our narrow view.

On Mar.18.2010 at 01:34 PM

Marcy Shu’s comment is:

Qwertyale, I agree, developing a brand for a country is not the same as developing a brand for a product or corporation. But this is not an identity for a country, it is an identity for the Egypt Tourist Authority. Tourism is not the only way to frame and define a country.

That aside, your attempt to get Wally Olins to back up your original argument that ‘it’s totally insane’ for Tourism Authorities to visually differentiate their logo from other countries logos, is unsubstantiated. Why not? Countries are different, why should their logos all look the same?

(and no need to be rude and aggressive, it is unnecessary)

On Mar.18.2010 at 03:32 PM

David Sanchez’s comment is:

You have to be serious about the cliché poll? - Very insulting, if I was the Egyptian Client.
They practically own it.

Amazing job praise worthy for JWT Cairo.

Well done.

On Mar.18.2010 at 05:30 PM

qwertyale’s comment is:

@Marcy Shu

Who was agressive and rude?

***** I need to remember on your first post you quoted my words WITHOUT refer my name and ended with an exclamation. Yes, it was rude and agressive.

About Wally Olins: I don’t care if you don’t want to accept the fact that he has the same point of view than mine, with argument like “it’s unsubstantiated”. I mentioned an author for your studies about COUNTRY BRANDING, we are not in the classroom, pay for it and good luck.

Sorry but this is the last message for you REALLY.

On Mar.18.2010 at 06:56 PM

Marcy Shu’s comment is:

Qwertyale says:
“hey then the countries on your list are “COMPETITORS”?
what a shame… you’re insane… no countries are “competing” themselves…”

Qwerty, I’m not so sure Wally and you share the same point of view (as you claim), in fact if you read further along Wally says:

“The nation that makes itself the most attractive wins the prizes – others suffer.
I’m not suggesting that branding the nation is the same as branding a company – only that many of the techniques are similar; that people are people whether they work in a company or live in a nation and that means they can be motivated and inspired and manipulated in the same way, using the same techniques. In fact although it’s dangerous to take the analogies too far, branding businesses and nations do have a lot in common. “

You also stated that it is ‘totally insane’ for the Egyptian Tourist Authority to avoid calligraphy, even if neighboring countries look the same.

Wally disagrees….

“They have to present an idea of themselves which is very very singular and different and they have to make a noise in a world where they are very small and their competitors are very big. Inevitably they focus on what makes them different and that makes them focus on their brand. They don’t like calling it a brand because when you’re talking about nations you don’t call it a brand, but if you think about the history of nations, the way in which culturally, economically, militarily and socially, the way they’ve presented themselves – these are all versions of branding”

I should also reiterate:
Mr Olins is talking about branding nations.
We are talking about the new logotype for the Egyptian Tourist Authority.
You are talking Na’Vi.

Peace out.

On Mar.19.2010 at 02:03 AM

Jesse Fresnedi’s comment is:

@yaysayer and erwin, well put. I absolutely agree with what you have said - especially on the logo’s ‘illegiblity’. I believe that assuming that most people would be unable to read it as ‘Egypt’ is not giving the human brain enough credit ;)

@Zanda, I am sorry to hear about your time in Egypt. I have to say though, I have been to the same place and I have not experienced most of what you said. In fact, I found it a very hospitable country; you’ll find people taking advantage of tourists just about everywhere!

On Mar.19.2010 at 08:46 PM

enrolled agent ’s comment is:

Still a classy change though. The ankh symbol would always be associated with Egypt. With their new ads, the new logo definitely goes along with it, while the old logo would just stick out like a sore thumb.

On Mar.20.2010 at 12:01 PM

Helen’s comment is:

Guys, the color is not blue, because there is no difference between blue and green in Ancient Egypt. It’s called lapis lazuli, a decoration method used extensively in Ancient Egypt.

The signs are not hieroglyphs, it is an allusion to late hieratic hand writing which wasn’t legible sign by sign, but as a whole - in the same way we read nowadays.

The Ankh is not a symbol. It is a sign. There are no “symbols” in Ancient Egypt.

On Mar.20.2010 at 02:54 PM

Nasser’s comment is:

Like the Anhh script, but the whole logo is not legible enough.
The whole branding campaign does not look like professional enough either.
The woman is not relevant with the current islamization of the country (even if they are supposed to be tourists), the cropping is out of place. Photographs effects are kitsch.
Egypt deserves much better imho.

On Mar.20.2010 at 07:33 PM

brandsimplicity’s comment is:

What bugs me about this branding is the that one of great wonders of the world plays second fiddle to a hot chick going partying…my goodness, missed the target or what. Has the Nile got coral reef? damn…can someone fill me in on that one? I personal would of played just with that T…love how that looks, maybe played with the human shape to make it the new sign of Egypt.

On Mar.21.2010 at 07:17 AM

Connor Crosby’s comment is:

I think the logo is kinda hard to read. If they were to fix the e a little more and close the lettering a little more, then I think that it would be legible. Otherwise, it does not really look like it says “egypt.”

On Mar.21.2010 at 08:40 AM

Roma’s comment is:

I have to agree with that this is just another same old, same old tourist solution.

As someone listed above, there are already way too many tourist boards who already use hand drawn, calligraphic type.

It’s been Done.

On Mar.22.2010 at 12:10 AM

Col’s comment is:

I really don’t mind the logo, however the tag line type is disappointing at best…

On Mar.23.2010 at 09:14 AM

Ian Morrison’s comment is:

Sigh.

Really? another scripty logo for a tourist board?

Nothing lamer than a logo that imitates.

On Mar.23.2010 at 01:49 PM

Gucci Mayne ’s comment is:

I think you spent more time analyzing the new logo then the guy who actually made it in Masr.

On Mar.25.2010 at 02:43 PM

Blind Acre Media’s comment is:

I could say a lot of things about this logo….but what is the significance of the ink splatter above the word “begins”

On Mar.26.2010 at 02:08 PM

Berthold’s comment is:

I like it, even though like others here I have been there and seen what Egypt is really all about, so while it promises a lot, the message of the new logo is absolutely fake. Egypt is dirty and cheap. Anything that was ever there to amaze you has been exploited to a shameful degree. Blame market economy I guess. It’s certainly not worth a trip around the world.

This is a good work for a weak brand, and it will never work to counteract the reality of tourism in Egypt, so in terms of representing holidays there, it falls flat. Also, the tag line…

Please, don’t feed the troll.

On Mar.29.2010 at 08:33 AM

bf53’s comment is:

Shouldn’t the tag be “Where it all began”?

On Mar.30.2010 at 04:43 PM

Jackal’s comment is:

For God’s sake! The people talking about the capital T !! It’s representing the “Key of life” in the Egyptian hieroglyphs!
I see it’s quite impressive to use an element like that in the logo and makes it elegant! Yet the Blue color makes it awkward a bit but overall very nice job

On Jul.26.2010 at 02:32 AM