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Victoria Mindova

"It is time to let Zorba rest. His image no longer summarizes the Greek national traits" as stated by Manolis Makris, marketing director of Louis Cruises company. Although the marketing experts in the country recognize the importance of the local origin, the idea of ​​the Greek traits being the basis of the products is changing. The symbolic faces of the country familiar from past decades are no longer relevant. They are even considered as obsolete.

The sun, the sea and the history of Greece remain its trademark. The difference is that they are no longer associated with the cheery characters of dubious morality presented in films such as "Zorba the Greek" or with the noisy and chaotic Greeks such as the characters of "My big fat Greek wedding." The marketing experts now rely on clearer and simplified messages which express the new face of the country.

During the business forum "Greek Brands," Makris talked about the added value that the Greek origin can bring to the goods and services in working with international customers.

The opinion of the marketing expert is based on the experience of the company represented by him. It started its activity in 2005 by selling travel packages to the Greek islands. "Until 2011, we tried to offer the multinational audience an international service during our cruises, regarding both the menu and entertainment."

The company offered sushi to Japanese groups and German music and dancing to German customers. The packages included the most popular Greek islands such as Mykonos, Santorini, Paros. "The truth is that we had to compete with a large number of major international companies. For example, I will tell you that two companies in the world hold 75% of the cruise market. The remaining 25% share is to be divided among the smaller players, including our company."

After in-depth research of the opportunities, Louis Cruises has made general changes in its marketing strategy, relying on the Greek brand but in an alternative way. According to the specialist, people go on a journey for the sake of change.

The cruise ships available to the company are smaller than the giant floating hotels operated by the major competitors which enables it to visit the smaller islands that represent the pristine face of the country. "We do not ignore the recognized tourist destinations such as Mykonos and Santorini but we do not focus only on them," states the specialist.

The menu has also been changed and it now offers a larger variety of the Mediterranean diet. A simple piece of feta seasoned, by tradition, with oregano and olive oil can move the tourist to enthusiasm and make him or her feel Greece. In order for the company to enhance the campaign, it organizes special seminars on history and hires chefs to reveal the secrets of the typical Greek cuisine. This enriches the experience of foreign tourists during the holiday and makes the offered tourist packages more attractive.

The domestic market has also changed due to the deepening crisis. The label "Made in Greece" plays a crucial role in consumer behaviour as shown by the results of the research entitled "Consumption and Greek products" conducted by Nikos Balatas from Athens University of Economics.

Seven out of ten respondents say that they prefer Greek to foreign goods of the same type, and 61% of respondents believe that Greek products are of higher quality than imported goods.

Greeks traditionally associate the idea of ​​Greek products with food. In this section, the respondents are adamant that they would prefer food from Greece to imported competing goods. According to Baltas, this does not apply to home appliances.

The mass opinion of recent years is that Greek production has a much greater potential for development. 85% of respondents believe that Greece has better production capabilities compared to what it is currently producing. This applies primarily to industrial production, agriculture and food industry. 90% of respondents believe that agricultural development can improve.

Agis Pistiolas who is a board member and export and marketing director of Agrino, a company for the production of cereals, stresses that the local production has many advantages but also some disadvantages. One of them is the price of domestic products which, for purely technical reasons, is always higher than that of imported products.

He compared the price of a package of premium rice produced in Greece with rice imported from China, the same quantity of which costs only one euro. "Then what is crucial is the quality. The problem is that we are in a period of crisis. Consumers may say they are ready to buy Greek goods but when they are at the shelf, they will buy the less expensive product." The solution to this problem is exports.

86% of respondents agree with this view. They think that exports should increase in order for the economy to recover and for Greek products to be promoted abroad. At the same time, this will help the companies offset the losses from the reduced purchasing power in the domestic market.

Nine out of ten respondents in the poll "Consumption and Greek products" say they prefer domestic production because this helps retain the jobs in the country. The rate of unemployment in Greece is not falling below 26%.

Elli Papaionatopoulou who is in charge of corporate relations of Athens Brewing Company emphasizes that it is not enough for a product to have a Greek name. The consumers may not know whether the primary raw material is local but they want the product to be produced in Greece. In advertising the companies, particular attention is being paid to the number of jobs of the companies, the taxes they are paying and to their programmes for social responsibility in order for them to convince the customer that the company is worth preferring.

The studies show that the change in the economic model of the country is the basis of its recovery. 80% of citizens believe that a highly industrialized country can be economically independent. Therefore, the majority of the producers are taking advantage of this wave of change by providing in advertising campaigns information about the investments made over the years and the number of jobs opened.

However, the experts believe that the domestic production has a long way to go before gaining a dominant role in the country. Agis Pistiolas states that the products produced in Greece constitute only half of the turnover in the country. This means that regardless of the positive findings of recent studies on consumer preferences of the label "Made in Greece", the domestic production is far from covering the needs of the market.