Rebranding a country

'Colombia is Passion' is a campaign that started about 2 years ago to rebrand Colombia. Nowadays a lot of countries have their own brand and logo: India, Brazil, Australia, etc. This is not only an effort of the Colombian government, but of the businesses, cultural and educational institutions, and of all the Colombians as well. You can learn more at ColombiaisPassion.com

Of the many entities tied to 'Colombia is Passion,' the Fondo de Promoción Turística Colombia (tourism board) developed a new message to increase international visitors/tourists in Colombia and tied it with the Colombian brand. When I was coming back to the States in January I saw many billboards throughout El Dorado, Bogotá's international airport. I basically fell in love with the message because I was seriously considering not coming back to the States. Find more about traveling to Colombia at: VisitColombia.com


In December, two friends from school decided that they wanted to backpack throughout Colombia in January. I told them that they should definitely go for it, that the country was now a safe place to visit. And they indeed came down and stopped by my house for 2 days, which is in the mountainous region where the majority of Colombia's coffee comes from.


Overall, I'm pretty proud of the campaign and the collective efforts of Colombia to have a better international image. Although the image below does make it look like Disneyworld's "It's a Small World" ride, I still like it a lot and have that same sombrero that is soaring. The sombrero is called a "Sombrero Costeño" which comes from the Atlantic coast of Colombia, Barranquilla in particular.


Client: the people of Colombia
Agency: Proexport and Sancho BBDO, Colombia


Facebook Groups:
Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay - Discussion boards on traveling to Colombia are quite educational especially for those visiting for the first time.
Colombia es pasión - Group composed of people who love the country, Colombians and others from around the globe.

Solidarity back home

Every time I go back home to Colombia, I love to flip through magazines, newspapers, TV channels, basically all media... just looking at the ads. While I'm back here in the States, I like to keep looking, but from a distance.

Recently, a campaign that caught my attention, which was featured in Creativity Online, was a unique campaign where actors were chained to transit ads at bus stops to urge Colombians to go out and march. This campaign was delivered by Sancho BBDO and OMD in Colombia, and it really stressed the fact that those of us who are "free" should do something. The message was: "Tú que puedes sal a caminar en contra de las FARC" and in English it translates: "Since you can do it, go out and march against the FARC."

As you can see, this campaign attracted a lot of attention on the streets and got a lot of press coverage.

This is another reason for which I like advertising. You can use your creativity to support a national cause or any cause you deeply believe in. Many creatives here in the States are showing their support for Obama or other candidates.


Client: OMD
Agency: Sancho BBDO, Colombia
Creative Director: Giovanni Martinez, Hugo Corredor
Art Director: Giovanni Martinez
Copywriter: Hugo Corredor



The Backstory - if you'd like to know more.

Solidarity struck Colombians across the world as they all set out to march in protest against the FARC, a rebel group that has been causing grief and pain for decades. On Monday February 4th, Colombians all wore white shirts and set out with a unified voice that said: No mas secuestro, No mas mentiras, No mas muertes, No mas FARC. Which in English translates as: No more kidnappings, No more lies, No more killings, No more FARC.

That day, the entire country basically shut down as millions of Colombians took to the streets that afternoon. Not only were marches coordinated in Colombia's major cities, but marches were also present in major cities throughout South America, Central America, North America and Europe, basically wherever there was a group of Colombians there was a voice of solidarity. Pictures from BBC.