BERMUDA should re-make itself and promote the Island as a place of mystery, sensuality and intimacy, according to one of the world's leading advertising gurus.

Kevin Roberts, chief executive officer worldwide of Saatchi and Saatchi, one of the world's leading advertising and creative companies, said that Bermuda has to market its people, warmth and exotic location to make its mark on the world.

"Bermuda shorts are not the answer,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

He said: "I bet if you go to the web site for Bermuda there will lots of information about Bermuda. But you don't want a picture of a man in Bermuda shorts on Front Street looking out to sea, that's not what it is about.'' Mr. Roberts, who has been coming to Bermuda on a regular basis since 1988, said that these are not the things that make the Island special.

"People don't talk about the beaches, hotels or food when they come back from holiday, they talk about the people.

"Adverts saying my beach is better than your beach, or my alps are bigger than your alps, are not where it is at. I like it here because of the people.

It is the key to tourism in any place.

"The locals are relaxed about the place, and the people who come are here because they have actually chosen to come for two or three years, and you get very positive vibes off this.'' He added that in the age of the Internet, Bermuda had a particular advantage.

"The Internet is a great enabler and equaliser. It has no regard for scale, size or geography.'' Mr. Roberts, whose company is linked to the local advertising company AAC on Front Street, was on the Island to speak at the American Magazine Conference 2000 at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

On Friday he also addressed a large audience at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on `Lovemarks', a new way of looking at branding.

The philosophy is that people have to feel passionate about a product, place or thing, to develop a loyalty to it.

He gave the example of reader loyal to their local newspaper of magazine who are `in love' with the product.

He added: "I don't think Bermuda is a love mark. A love mark is full of mystery, sensuality, intimacy, a thing that is not in a brand.

"President Clinton is the world's premier love mark. He has mystery, sensuality and intimacy. Margaret Thatcher was never a love mark. Bore and Gush (Gore and Bush) are never love marks. Bermuda needs to become a love mark.'' He said that Bermuda is a product, not a brand, and this needed to be changed.

And he said that the exoticism and mystery surrounding where Bermuda is should be played on.

"When I come here from New Zealand, people think it is exotic. They have no idea where it is. If you bring out a map, they point to Barbados or something in the Caribbean. So don't try to tell people where it is.

"People think it is exotic. It is not really exotic, but people think it is, which is important. And you can use the Internet for this.

Bermuda needs rebranding -- expert "I've not done it, but I bet if you bring up the Internet site for Bermuda it will be full of information, an information driven site. But it is not about information, but about mystery, sensuality and intimacy.

"It should be dripping in love and sensuality, not be some bland Internet site. The sensuality should come from the colours, the pink sand and the houses. The intimacy is its people. It should not be a man in Bermuda shorts outside Parliament.

"And becoming a duty free shopping centre is not the way forward.'' He conceded that having unique shops would be a bonus, but it is not why people return to a place year after year, or come on holiday in the first place.

He explained that last week he took his wife, his mother-in-law and a few friends out on a cruise in Bermuda, and they had dinner, and he bought special gifts he selected himself for his guests. The women received hand made jewellery from Pulp and Circumstance, and the men, CDs of local music.

He said: "They were delighted. These kinds of things had a kind of mystery.

They don't sell them anywhere else. It is the experience, not the things that are important.''