It’s not easy to define the smart way of branding a tourism destination in the perspective of visual communication. This is because the basic principle of branding is how one is perceived whereas one can be interpreted as an institution, a territory, and so on.
This was said by Dr. Sumbo Tinarbuko, M.Sn, Semiotics lecturer from Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta, during the Seminar Series on Tourism at the Centre for Tourism Studies UGM on Tuesday (14/3). According to Sumbo, talking about tourism destination, people have to see the personal branding first, because personal branding will inform someone on how to communicate well with many people. "Currently, people can establish their personal branding and make them perceived through social media,” he said.
Sumbo said brand is essentially a part of life, so a brand has to be alive, becoming a verb, not a noun.
"Up to these days, assumptions emerged that brand means label. Whilst a label is just a name, sometimes it lies at a distance from the object it signifies,” he said.
Sumbo said the weakness of tourism brand of Yogyakarta lies in the rebranding of the logo. The brand of Yogyakarta still signifies a noun. A noun, like it or not, cannot walk on its own, and it is inconsistent.
Thus, every individual, institution, or community considers the logo not theirs. The truth is that the brand of Yogyakarta should be part ot emotion bond, the spirit, and the soul of anyone living in Yogyakarta.
Sumbo saw that in terms of personal branding, Kulon Progo regency with their defend-and-buy brand has displayed their own potential, including, batik geblek, rocks, Krumpyung arts, or mineral water product, successfully.
"On personal branding, Hasto Wardoyo, Regent of Kulon Progo, are on the same front with Bandung Mayor, Ridwan Kamil. Such successfull personal branding is nowhere to be seen in Sleman regency, or Yogyakarta city, Bantul regency, or the provincial government office. The Governor does not want to make personal branding as brand ambassador. Hence, the local Planning and Development Agency needs to encourage towards this direction,” he said.