Text & Photos: Francisco Collazo
[vease abajo para la version en espanol]
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Since I was little, going to movies has been one of my favorite past-times. There, in the theatre, I’d fight powerful enemies and conquer strange, far-off lands. It’s where I learned the art of the conquest, the secrets that were still off-limits in real life. Movies taught me about art and about language. I was a samurai, a Viking king, a corsair, and the hero a thousand battles.

For me, Havana had the best movie house in the world. My heroes came from everywhere, and their struggles were my own. I remember seeing movies not once, not twice, but over and over again. I had girlfriends and admirers everywhere, all standing behind me, with courage. I escaped from unjust prisons and defended the innocent. I was Zorro, William Tell, Sidney Poitier, Muhammad Ali, and the general of the Free Army… all at the same time!

I believed in the adventures on screen so much that I translated them into real life. The screen was a book that taught me how to act and how to see the world, even at such a young age.
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I remember that when I arrived in the United States, I suffered because of what the movies had taught me. In my mind, I still believed that Americans–even those who were married!–slept in separate beds and that bathrooms didn’t have toilets. The husband kissed his wife in the morning, and both were always well-dressed, with their hair well-combed and in place. I remember the first time I visited an American home, I was so curious just to peek into a bedroom to see those two twin beds, separated by a bed lamp, or to enter the bathroom and see where, exactly, people took care of their necessities. It was all a secret desire of mine to discover–or at least verify with my own eyes–what the movies had taught me. I carried that curiosity inside for years. Now, I was 007!

When I learned, predictably, that American homes weren’t like the movies had shown me, I felt cheated. I learned how subjective everything is, and how easy it is to believe, how easy to be manipulated, sometimes for the better, and other times, for worse.

But I still enjoy the movies. Even today, I spend hours watching movies. Heroes and villains enter the privacy of my home with my permission. They don’t have to sleep in separate beds, as they did in the past, nor does their hair have to be in perfect order for me to like them. In fact, I don’t even have to go the theater anymore to see the heroes of films– stars have come to me, by plane and by car. In my work as a private chef, I spent 10 days designing and preparing meals for the actress Scarlett Johansson, star of “The Girl with the Pearl Earring,” “Lost in Translation,” and “The Nanny Diaries,” among others. The experience was a positive one, and, above all, an unexpected one. Our conversations were casual and even mundane–talking about life in Cuba, our favorite ingredients, and places to visit on the island.

The last night of her visit, we all went out to dance salsa. She left Hollywood behind and I… I made my own movie, becoming the star with my Havana dance steps.

3, 2, 1… action!

*


Desde muy pequeno el cine ha sido para mi uno de los entretenimientos favoritos, lugar donde me encuentro luchando contra enemigos poderosos, conquistando tierras lejanas y extranas. Es donde aprendi el arte de la conquista y los secretos que en la vida real se me estaban prohibidos. Me enseno el arte y las lenguas. Fui Samurai, Rey Viquingo, Corsario, y heroe de mil batallas.

La Habana era para mi el cine del mundo. Mis heroes venian de todos los rincones y sus luchas eran las mias. Recuerdo haber visto peliculas no una ni dos veces pero, infinidades de veces. Tenia novias y admiradoras por doquier y a todas las defendia con mi espada y con valentia. Me escape de prisiones injustas y defendi al inocente. Fui Zorro, Guillermo Tell, Sidney Poitier, Muhammad Ali y general de Ejercito Libertador. Todos ellos de una vez.

Crei en las aventuras vista hasta punto de hacerlas mis realidades. La pantalla era un libro que me ensenaba como moverme y ver el mundo a muy temprana edad.

Recuerdo que al llegar a los Estados Unidos sufri un impacto tremendo con lo que en parte este cine me habia ensenado. En mi mente todavia llevaba la idea que los americanos aunque casados dormian en camas separadas y los banos no tenian inodoros. El esposo besaba a la esposa al levantarse, siempre vestido y el pelo de ambos siempre bien peinado y en su lugar. Recuerdo que la primera vez que entre a un hogar Americano siempre quise ver con curiosidad el cuarto de dormir con las dos camas separadas por una lampara de noche, entrar a sus banos y ver donde en realidad ellos hacian sus necesidades. Todo esto era un deseo secreto de descubrir o al menos verificar con mis propio ojos lo que estas pantallas me decia. Lleve por dentro esa curiosidad por anos. Ahora me habia convertido en el agente secreto 007.

Como es de esperar todo esto se desrrumbo y como es logico me senti defraudado y paralizado por la experiencia de descubrir que habia sido enganado. Aprendi con todo esto lo fragil y facil que es creer y ser manipulado una veces quizas para bien y otra para mal.

Todavia disfruto del cine. Le dedico a este muchas horas de mi vida. En la privacidad de mi hogar a heroes y villanos que entran ahora con mi permiso. Estos ya no tienen que dormir en camas separadas como en el pasado, ni su cabellos tienen que estar en un rigoroso orden para que me gusten como caracteres. De hecho ya no tuve que ir al cine para verlos, llegaron a mi vida via avion y manejando. Durante 10 dias mi trabajo como chef privado fue disenar y preparar la cena para la actriz Scarlett Johansson: La Mujer de los Aretes de Perlas, Perdida en la Traduccion, El Diario de la Ninera, entre otras cosas. La experiencia fue positiva y

sobre todo inesperada. Nuestras conversaciones fueron casuales y de lo mundano: la vida en Cuba, ingredientes favoritos, y lugares de interes en la isla.

La ultima noche de su estancia en la isla todos nos fuimos a bailar salsa. Ella a dejar a Hollywood detras y yo a hacer mi propia pelicula… brillando como una estrella con mis pasillos Habaneros.

3,2,1….Accion!

Text & Photos: Francisco Collazo
[vease abajo para la version en espanol]
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Headed north of 96th Street on Manhattan’s East Side you enter the heart of Latin life in New York. Bordered on the east by a river of the same name and by Fifth Avenue on the west side, this neighborhood was originally a haven for Italians and other recently arrived European immigrants…that is until the arrival of Puerto Ricans around the 1940s.

Today, the community gardens, cafes, churches, and retail stores of all types play their music and imbue a distinct flavor in this little corner of the city. Salsa, bachata, reggae, calypso, and romantic Mexican melodies float through the air, setting the atmosphere.

Ten years ago, the signs of progress were easily visible. Finally, El Barrio, as Spanish Harlem is known to its residents, was taking off. There was construction of every type: small boutiques, trendy restaurants, bakeries, art galleries, and high cost beauty salons all announced their openings.

Yet this progress has slowed just as quickly. Today, money isn’t flowing as quickly, in the same quantity, or with the consistency that it did then. Today, signs announce the closure or rent of storefronts. It seems that everyone here is preoccupied with just maintaining the basics needed to live. El Barrio, like New York, has felt the free fall effects of unemployment and the declining economy. Few of those businesses of the past are still around.

It’s not the first time that El Barrio has gone through ups and downs. El Barrio is a microcosm of New York itself, with all its contrasts: happiness and sadness, hope and desperation. Here, it’s hard to believe wholly in defeat. Like the phoenix, El Barrio will rise from its ashes.

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Pasando la calle 96 del lado este de Manhattan hacia el norte comienza el corazon de la vida latina de Nueva York. Bordeado por el este por el rio del mismo nombre y por la Avenida Quinta al oeste. Originalmente esta seccion de Nueva York fue la cuna de inmigrantes Italianos y Europeos recien llegados hasta la llegada de los primeros Puertorriquenos alrededor de los anos 40.

Hoy los jardines de la comunidad, cafes, iglesias, negocios de venta de todo tipo ponen su musica y su sabor distintivo de este pequeno rincon de la ciudad: salsa, bachata, reggae, calypso y las romanticas melodias mexicanas inundan el aire y contagia la atmosfera.

Diez anos atras se podia notar con claridad signos de progreso. Finalmente el barrio estaba despegando. Construcciones de todo tipo: pequenas boutiques, restaurantes de alta cocina, panaderias, galerias de arte, y salones de belleza–todo de alta costura– anunciaban su proxima apertura.

Sin embargo ese progreso se detuvo o mejor dicho este progreso ha perdido altitud y velocidad a raiz de su despegue. El dinero no esta fluyendo tan rapido o en la misma cantidad y consistencia que en el pasado. Ahora los carteles anuncian el cierre o la renta de los espacios. Parece ser que todo el mundo esta preocupado por mantener lo basico para vivir. El Barrio, como Nueva York, ha sentido los efectos del desempleo y la economia en caida vertical. Muy pocos negocios han permanecidos.

No es la primera vez que El Barrio ha pasado por periodos de altas y bajas. El Barrio es Nueva York con todos sus contrastes y escenarios de una ciudad Americana: alegria y tristeza, esperanza y desesperacion. En El Barrio es muy dificil creer en la derrota; como el fenix, este se levantara de sus cenizas.

A few years ago, I was reading the Sunday Times when I saw it: the full page ad in the Arts and Leisure section announcing that Sean Combs (you know, the man who’s variously gone by the monikers Puff, Puff Daddy, Puffy, P-Diddy, and Diddy) was now starring in “Chicago” on Broadway.

Huh?

Photo: nycarthur

Daddy Diddy started his career in music, enjoyed admirable success, and then launched himself as an all-purpose brand, following in the footsteps of other celebrities who have achieved success in one field and crossed over (dubiously) to another. A clothing line, a few colognes (including the latest, “I Am King,” not, allegedly, a reference to himself, but to Dr. Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, and President Obama), a Ciroc Vodka deal, a reality show, a couple of restaurants, and a few acting credits later, the artist now known simply as Diddy is reported to be one of the richest men in hip-hop.

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I’ve always been puzzled by and more than a bit suspicious about this phenomenon–this tendency of big business to pick up a person who’s successful in one genre and appropriate their cachet by importing it wholesale into another genre for which that person hasn’t expressed any particular inclination or talent. I mean, I get it on a purely entrepreneurial level–the idea is to ride the wave of someone’s image and success as hard and far as possible before it crashes and ebbs. But from a philosophical standpoint, I don’t get it at all–there are plenty of people more talented than Diddy waiting tables, paying Equity dues, and auditioning for Broadway, but the more people like Diddy (and Sarah Jessica Parker, and Jennifer Lopez, and on and on) genre-cross for the sake of making a buck, the tighter the market becomes and the less likely the talented but struggling actor, perfumier, or restauranteur to be has a chance to make it.
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So who is Yoani Sanchez and what does she have to do with Diddy?
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Photo: blogpocket

I first learned about Yoani Sanchez, a Cuban blogger, over a year ago. I’d read an article about her in The Miami Herald, where she was praised as a bold, courageous woman using the Internet to question the Revolution and to do so in front of the world. The Cuban government had blocked her blog, only adding tinder to the quickening flame. Shortly after the Herald article, Yoani’s name was everywhere: the New York Times, Newsweek, NPR. She was named one of 100 of the world’s most influential people in TIME Magazine in 2008, she won an Ortega y Gasset prize for digital “journalism,” and was sent messages of solidarity from as far away as Myanmar.

I’ll admit that I even contacted Yoani in February 2008 with the idea of writing a story about her. She responded positively. But uncharacteristically of me, I never responded to her and decided I wasn’t really interested in interviewing her at all. As I thought more and more about Yoani Sanchez, what I couldn’t help but think was “What about the other Cuban bloggers?” Yoani had become an international media phenomenon, and despite her own efforts and beliefs, had effectively drawn attention away from any other blogger in Cuba.

What bothered me–and what bothers me still–isn’t what Yoani believes or what she writes about. Rather–and this is important–it is the fact that the international media have treated Yoani–and continue to treat her–as if she is the sole blogging voice of Cuba. It’s the fact that the media pick up Yoani’s words as if they’re the only opinion of her Cuban peers. And most of all, the fact that they don’t really learn anything more about Cuba, about how complex and contradictory it is, or even really about Yoani herself. She’s become Cuba’s token blogger.

This became evident recently when TIME and CNN named Yoani’s blog one of the 25 best blogs of 2009, but referred to Yoani as a “he.” (The error has since been corrected.) Her blog is, it seems, the only non-U.S. blog on the list. TIME and CNN call her writing “fascinating” and “brave” because she’s writing from “one of the few places where it’s still dangerous to be a blogger.”
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Recently, Yoani was offered–and accepted–a position blogging for the wildly popular Huffington Post. She published an article in my favorite Mexican magazine, Gatopardo.

She’s not a cross-over in the Diddy sense, but you get my drift, right? The media, like big business (hell, the media are big business), will ride the wave–and pull us along with them, if we don’t stop and question them–as long and hard as possible.

And that’s all well and good. What Yoani has to say is important. But hers is not the only voice. When we practice tokenism, when we ride that wave of the brand we’ve helped someone become, we run the risk of not being able to hear voices that are just as powerful, just as talented, and just as important.

Text: Francisco Collazo
Washington, D.C. & New York photos: Francisco Collazo
Havana Photos: Brayan Collazo
[vease abajo para la version en espanol]
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There are certain political events that continue to preoccupy me, though I don’t really know why.

The letter sent to US Senator Daschle with Anthrax. The Oliver North scandal and the Nicaraguan contras. Fujimori and Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos in Peru. Carlos Andres Perez, former president of Venezuela, accused of theft and corruption. The firing squad execution of a Cuban general. Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez and his alleged treason and narcotrafficking. The Abu Ghraib prison scandal. And the most recent: the dismissal of 12 Cabinet level ministers in Cuba, including Felipe Roque y Carlos Lage, both key ministers in the Cuban government, one, the minister of foreign relations, the other, vice-president of the Congress.

Common threads can be seen in each of these cases, whether it’s the destructive capacity of the acts, the manipulation of the press with respect to minimizing or misconstruing the events, and the circumstances through which the public comes to learn of them. All of these were events that were difficult to just sweep under the rug.

Although little has been given in terms of information or details regarding what occurred this week in Havana, I can’t help but think the development is one of profound seriousness and with serious political implications, particularly considering it occurred after the announcement that possible conversations between Cuba and the US could occur.

I’ll admit that I’m not a political expert. I’m not an intelligence agent. But I’ve lived through plenty of significant events in modern Latin American and world history, and as a result, I’ve learned how to read between lines rather well.

I have profound doubts about the relative silence of the foreign press about what occurred in Cuba this week, the lack of details or interest, especially when we consider the extremely sophisticated intelligence available at every level: radio satellites, secret missions, infiltration, misinformation, and other methods of high–and not so high–technology. Perhaps this is the reason Barack Obama sent a personal letter to the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev instead of an e-mail. Perhaps it’s also why, years ago, when Fidel Castro was asked what would happen to the Revolution when he died, he responded with all seriousness, “You should ask the CIA that question; I’m sure they have the answer.”

Really, it’s difficult for an ordinary person, a consumer of mass media, to decipher the reality within the news if they’re not using all the information and events they’ve accumulated in their lives in order to interpret events. For example, according to international news, I believed that communism and socialism had disappeared with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This whole system had disappeared as rapidly as it had appeared. But it wasn’t that way. Venezuela, Bolivia, and even Ecuador, are on the road to socialism. The news tried to convince me that the arms race and the fear of nuclear attacks ended with the Cold War, but that hasn’t been the case either. North Korea and Iran appear to have active nuclear plans, and the politics of fear is alive again.

On more than one occasion I’ve had to read between the lines as a news consumer to read what hasn’t been written: the stock market is actually dropping when we’re being told it’s rising; the days forecast as sunny end rainy and cloudy; the promises of a free digital camera turn out to be false.

Today, with this news, an old proverb came to mind: The fish starts to rot at the head. And this fish has been the Cuban ministers removed from their posts. If it’s the case that enemy intelligence succeeded in penetrating the ministers of Cuba, this will have been a blessing to close the breach and reaffirm the government’s position, namely: that the US is a constant threat, an opportunist, a traitor, and untrustworthy.

The more attacks, the more obstacles, the better; it allows a country to define its politics and portray itself as overcoming challenges, which would not have been possible otherwise. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were a surprise attack but were transformative at the same time. The emotional response of many Americans was “Respond with force once and for all.” But in spite of the sobriety and impact of the moment as the nation endured a sad and difficult phase, some investors celebrated because the attacks signaled that the machinery of war would kickstart the arms industry. I thought that, ethically speaking, this attitude was out of step with what the rest of the population thought.

I truly hope that all of these tactical movements made on the part of the Cuban government haven’t been the result of a Cuban counter-intelligence operation due to some sort of infiltration. This would send a signal to the government of Havana, and to Cuba, that the government of Washington hasn’t changed its foreign policy with respect to Cuba. If this is the case, the possibility that both parties will sit down at the negotiations table will be unlikely.

After everything, history has taught us something basic and fundamental: we’ve learned that we’ve learned nothing. We’re still speaking the languages of Babel.

**


Hay ciertas maniobras politicas o eventos que me llegan a preocupar personalmente y no se por que.

La carta enviada a Senador estadounidense Daschle con Antrax. Los escandalos de Oliver North y los contras de Nicaragua. Fujimori y Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos del Peru. Carlos Andres Perez, ex-presidente de Venezuela, acusado y destituido por robo y corrupcion. La ejecucion por fusilamiento del General de Division Cubano. Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez por su alegada traicion y narcotrafico. El escandalo de la prision de Abu Ghraib. Y el mas reciente: los cambios de 12 ministros, incluyendo Felipe Roque y Carlos Lage, ambos ministros claves en el gobierno de Cuba; el uno, ministro de relaciones exteriors, el otro, Vice presidente del consejo de estado.

En cada uno de los casos, hubo elementos muy particulares, ya sea la capacidad destructiva de los eventos de los involucrados, la manipulacion por parte de la prensa en darle voz oficial minimizando los eventos en su comienzo, y las circunstancias en que todo estos aparecen en los medios de comunicacion. Todos fueron hechos muy dificiles de barrer bajo la alfombra.

Aunque no se ha dicho mucho en terminos de informacion y detalles de los sucesos ocurridos en La Habana, no dejo de pensar que es un suceso de tremenda gravedad y magnitud politica, especialmente despues de que se anunciara posibles conversaciones entre los gobiernos de Cuba y de los Estados Unidos.

Debo confesar que no soy un experto en material politica, no un agente cubierto o estoy haciendo el trabajo de radio-bemba. He vivido a traves de muchos eventos significativos en la americalatina y el mundo que me han dado cierta habilidad de poder atar los cabos para llegar al obillo, o mas bien, leer entre lineas.

Tengo inmensas dudas en el silencio de los medios extranjeros de prensa; la falta de detalles e interes, estan un poco oscuro, especialmente cuando se cuenta con una tecnologia de espionaje extremadamente sofisticada a todos los niveles: satelites de escuchas, misiones secretas, infiltracion, desinformacion y otros metodos de alta y no tan alta tecnologia. Quizas esta fue una de las razones la cual Barack Obama envio una carta personal al presidente de Rusia Dmitry Medvedev en vez de un e-mail; quizas tambien cuando en anos pasados durante una entrevista le preguntaron a Fidel Castro que pasara con la revolucion cuando el muera. Fidel le respondio con toda seriedad: “Eso debes preguntarselo a la CIA, que estoy seguro que ellos tienen la respuesta.”

Realmente es dificil para una persona ordinaria, consumidor de los medios masivos de comunicacion decifrar la realidad dentro de las noticias si no usas toda la informacion y eventos disponibles durante tu vida para interpretar los eventos. Por ejemplo segun los medios noticiosos internacionales yo crei que el comunismo y el socialismo se habia derrumbado con el muro de Berlin y la desintegracion de la Union Sovietica. Todo este sistema habia desaparecido tan rapido como aparecio. Pero no fue asi. Venezuela, Bolivia, y Ecuador estan en camino al socialismo! Me convencieron que con la terminacion de la guerra fria, se reducirian la carrera armamentista y el miedo a un ataque nuclear seria una cosa del pasado y tampoco ha sido asi. Corea Norte e Iran estan haciendo noticia de primera plana y la politica de miedo esta de nuevo vivita y coleando.

En mas de una ocasion como consumidor de noticia he tenido que permitirme leer entre lineas lo que no se ha escrito: la bolsa de valores que baja cuando nos dicen que suben, los dias que se pronostican soliados y terminan lluviosos y nublados, las promesas de una camera digital “gratis” con la compra de esto o lo otro.

Hoy con esta noticia tengo que admitir que me viene a la mente un viejo proverbio que dice: El pez se empieza a pudrir por su cabeza. Y este pez ha sido los ministros cubanos removidos de sus puestos. Si el hecho ha sido que la inteligencia enemiga logro hacer un trabajo de penetracion en los ministros de Cuba, este ha sido una bendicion para cerrar la brecha y re-afirmar su posicion. Para el gobierno de Cuba, los Estados Unidos son una amenaza constante, oportunista, traicionero, y no confiable.

Mientras mas ataques y mas obstaculos, mucho mejor porque se libran mas batallas, porque se vencen mas obstaculos y se define la politica a tomar que si no fuera por estos eventos jamas tomarian forma. Septiembre 11, 2001 fue un ataque sorpresa y un hecho transformativo a la vez. La respuesta emocional de la mayoria fue “responder con fuerza de una vez y por toda.” Sin embargo, a pesar de su seriedad e impacto aprendi que mientras la nacion pasaba por una etapa triste y dificil, inversionistas celebraron los eventos del 11 de Septiembre por lo que esto significaba para la industria armamentista. No podria negar que pense que eticamente esta actitud estaba fuera de tono con lo que el resto de la populacion pensaba. a la misma vez seria imposible la political actual en el mundo arabe sin los eventos de ese dia.

Realmente espero que toda esta movida tactica por parte del gobierno de Cuba no halla sido la respuesta al trabajo de contra-inteligencia de la seguridad Cubana tras el hallazgo de una infiltracion. la cual seria un hecho bochornoso de admitir publicamente. Por otra parte este hecho enviaria una senal al gobierno de la Habana, a Cuba, que el gobierno de Washington no ha cambiado su politica exterior en cuanto a Cuba se refiere. De ser este el caso, las posibilidades de sentarse a la mesa de negociaciones en terminos amistosos y con respeto serian nulas y bien lejos de la realidad.

Despues de todo yo digo tomates, tu me dices tomato, yo digo patata y tu me dices potato. La historia nos ha dicho que algo basico y fundamental esta perdido, hemos aprendido que no hemos aprendidos. Todavia hablamos las lenguas de Babel.

Text: Julie Schwietert Collazo

…and what other PR firms and tourism boards should learn from them.

I don’t have an MBA and I’ve never studied public relations or marketing formally, but I spend a good bit of time talking with tourism boards and the PR firms that work with them. Through these conversations, I’ve learned a thing or two about what makes the promotion of a country successful… or what makes their efforts unlikely to gain traction.

It’s true–so let’s just get it out of the way–that one country’s successful marketing campaign is not necessarily going to produce the same results if replicated by another country. Indeed, a surefire formula for failure is to mimic the strategies used by another country without considering how those strategies might not apply to your country.

For this reason, each country’s tourism board and PR firm need to answer a few critical questions before embarking on any campaign:

*What’s our core target audience?: While most countries would love to corner the entire tourist market, from backpacker to luxury traveler, that goal is overly ambitious, especially for countries that are considered “developing” or which are emerging from recent conflicts. Target audience doesn’t just refer to budget, though; it also refers to nationality, adventure vs. relaxation traveler, and many other demographics. Many countries make the mistake of trying to pitch themselves to every potential traveler, thus diluting their marketing message.

*What’s our main draw?: No matter how spectacular, no country can be everything for every traveler. Even in a country as incredible as Chile–which really DOES have it all–a tourism board and its PR firm must develop a clear focus around which it can build a tagline, visual components, and the spirit of its campaign.

*What are the primary resources our core audience uses to learn about destinations and plan trips? Time and again, I listen to tourism representatives talk about strategies for reaching their target audience that sound incredible in theory… but which are unlikely to be effective for capturing the attention–and then, the buy-in–of their target audience. If you’re investing the bulk of your meager PR budget on trade shows and travel agents, then you’re unlikely to reach the end user.

Let’s take a look at a country that’s doing its PR campaign right: Aruba**.

Photo: atomicshark

Aruba’s target audience: New Yorkers.
Specifically: cold New Yorkers.

At the beginning of winter, Aruba rolled out a print-based campaign whose primary platform was the interior of subway cars. Perfect location: Aruba now has a captive audience. NYC subway riders have an average commute of 45 minutes. Even if they’re reading or zoning out to their ipods, subway riders are likely to give the ad at least a cursory glance.

The ads are incredibly appealing and have tremendous personality. Beautiful, rich colors take you straight to the tropics. For the length of your commute, you can fantasize about what it would be like to escape the cold North and warm yourself on a Caribbean beach.

Photo: animalvegetable

And Aruba makes it even easier to nurture that fantasy… each ad features a smiling local who shares his or her story in their own handwriting. Each anecdote also reveals an insider’s tip about a special place or experience on the island. Smart! The tourism board conveys information without making you feel that the campaign is at all didactic.

The tagline? Brilliant: 90,000 friends you haven’t met yet. After looking at these tanned, smiling people who’d opened up a page of their lives to you, you’re ready to consider them friends! And guess what… they’re real people. I know because Francisco met one of them at the New York Times Travel Show last month!

But that’s not all. It seems simple, but the easy to remember website– www.aruba.com– appears at the bottom of each ad. Go to the site and what do you find? The same smiling people! The same beautiful colors. The same font. Consistency is critical. Any successful brand knows this.

What else is on the website? TONS of information that keeps you on the site– you don’t need to look anywhere else. A community forum where visitors can share their experiences and tips (remarkable transparency). And two other features that seem so obviously necessary but which are all too often overlooked: a search function and language options.

Aruba ads have appeared on other platforms; I saw an ad in The New York Times Magazine, and, as mentioned, the tourism board participated in the New York Times Travel Show. Fine and fine. But what really worked were these highly specific, seasonally targeted ads that stimulated visual interest and personal investment in a country that maybe you didn’t know much about– but in which you were suddenly very interested.

There are other things Aruba could do better: Get rid of the Lewis Black gimmick (a satirist who makes videos about Aruba–doesn’t quite fit with the vibe the campaign has established). Develop a stronger presence on Twitter. Open up a Flickr pool. But it’s definitely on the right track…and other countries should take note.

What countries have campaigns that engage you? What are they doing that works? What could they do better? Share your opinions below!

**I have not met with any Aruba PR or tourism board employees or their representatives, nor have I conducted any interviews or done any formal research about their current campaign. My opinions here are based entirely on my observations of their campaign, considered against the successes and shortcomings I’ve observed in other marketing efforts with countries and officials with whom I do have relationships.