On Friday, Peru officially launched a brand for the country, by stringing its new logo across the front entrance of the New York Stock Exchange. Gone are the old logo and slogan, “Land of the Incas.” In its place is a new identity developed by the British firm, FutureBrand, which also created Australia’s country brand in 2003.
The adoption of the spiral letter “P” wordmark represents the country’s bold move toward raising its identity internationally, not just as a tourist destination, but as the source of a broad line of export goods.
“The brand is not just a decoration; it’s a tool,” says Isabella Falco, director of PromPeru, short for Peruvian Export and Tourism Promotion Board. The hope is that the logo will be used on labels and tags on Peru’s exported goods to raise global consciousness of just how many products hail from that Latin American nation. According to Jose Luis Silva, president of Peru’s exporters association, ADEX, “3,000 Peruvian products or more are on the tables of consumers throughout the world. We need to put the brand on all these products.”
The spiral “P” pays homage to the intriguing concentric circle terraces found at Incan archaeological sites such as Moray near Cuzco. To complement the mark, TypeTogether was commissioned to create a proprietary font called Bree Peru. A red background is intended to be the predominant color for the Peru brand, with the option of using other bright solid background colors, including blue, green, yellow and purple.
Before the nation can sell Peru as a brand to foreign investors and retailers, it first has to convince businesses within the country that they will all benefit from a unified identity. Starting April 26, the brand will be promoted in a campaign within Peru. Then the hope is that shortly after consumers around the world will begin seeing the Peru brand on an array of Peruvian-grown foods and manufactured goods.
