Belgium's Quantum Leap Theory.

(This text will be published in a book on Belgian design, on the occasion of the Salone del Mobile in Milan, April this year)


I am not sure if I have the right credentials to talk about the brand of Belgium… being Belgian and all. Yet maybe my recent move ‘out’ of the country to the other side of the world gives me indeed the necessary distance to comment and - where deemed necessary – criticize the way Belgium and all implicated are working on a Belgian brand.

It is interesting to sit back and look at all the efforts that brands – in general - do in order to get noticed, and get bought, and not necessarily in that order.
I believe we have to redefine what we understand by the word ‘marketing’.

In space terms, and your brand being a space ship, the question arises: ‘which engines do we have to build, so that our brand space ship moves at the desired speed in the right direction?’

’Marketing’ whether for products, conventional brands or countries like Belgium could then be defined as Brand Gravity Control. Trying to control the point of gravity , so that the vehicle is moving into the desired direction, and all elements with it.

But yet that image is hardly sufficient, since it makes us think the object to control is a well defined shape. No brand is.

A brand is a collection of a zillion small or bigger pieces, interacting with each other and their surrounding, making it harder to define that point of gravity. A brand is a collection of brand molecules.

Marketing can then be defined as the research to apply some sort of quantum leap in order to get the brand as a unity to another level of energy. I recommend redefining marketing as brand energy.

Like all brands, Belgium is not easy to map.
What is our USP? What are our weaknesses, our strengths, our threats and opportunities?
‘Belgium’ is all about its people, original or imported, its important mix of historical and cultural references, its regional setting right in the middle of the cradle of the European union, not much of a football team, but a whole lot of tennis. Add to that a political model of compromises between its 4 different governments and you have a pretty chaotic brand.

To be honest, maybe the most important asset today is Belgium ‘s central role in Europe. Sadly enough, I’m convinced that Belgians themselves are tremendously underestimating the role we play in Europe.
If it were not for Europe and the eurocrates in Brussels, everything Belgium would have got, is Antwerp that conveniently believes it is the center of the universe, and the rest of the country that basically likes to eat very well and go to France on holiday besides minding its own business. The Walloon part, for the record, would be the preferred long weekend holiday spot for the Dutch.

Like all other countries Belgium has a complex mix of characteristics and is a pioneer in developing a multinational democracy.
Or call it eclecticism. Belgium has made eclecticism a way to govern, to organize and structure its society.
Ingenious people such as Magritte, Panamarenko, Eddy Merckx and Rubens have been taking it all to another level. Surreal and hands on at the same time. Northern and Scandinavian rationalism in the North, Southern passion and ‘Carpe diem’ mentality in the South.
No wonder companies like Coca Cola use our country to test new products.

I could talk for hours about the danger of a narrow-minded attitude in each subculture, division, or section of the Belgian society. Nothing is more contra productive then an inward-looking mentality. This is not only ‘Belgian’, it ‘s everywhere where human beings try to organize their life by hanging on to what they’re used to know and not to what they could learn.

But, believe it or not, changes are imminent. Belgian ‘s cultural diversity has been picked up. There is a growing interest in the fertile outcome of our little country.

Maybe it’s because of the tangible balancing between friction and harmony. The designers - and with them the rest of the creative scene - are taking control, yet not without the facilitating help of different old and emerging organizations, not without a well informed media apparatus and a growing public interest. It’s a balancing exercise between structure and creative freedom.

The creatives should therefore not necessarily be the pilot of our Belgian space craft. There are ample stories about crashes and businesses going bankrupt.
Yet they should be the driving force, the engines.
The different governments (Belgium/Flanders/Wallonia/Brussels) do have to make sure the cabin crew knows how to handle and the passengers are involved in decision making.


When the vessel’s construction then can stand the speed, the sky is the limit.