By: Louise Marsland


When Margate and the South Coast of Kwazulu Natal was first announced as the new venue of the annual advertising and marketing industry showcase there was widespread initial scepticism. In fact everyone thought was a joke to keep the real venue secret. Then the idea took hold and with some heavyweight industry support and clever spin doctoring, pretty much everyone is going.

The Kwazulu Natal South Coast, known as the annual 'Vaalie' holiday haven over Easter and Christmas, as well as year-end student pilgrimages, has Margate at the centre... a typical seaside holiday dorp with the usual seedy bars, local character, hidden culinary gems (if you have an inside track), maligned over-development, beautiful beaches, and of course the place everyone ends up for shopping and entertainment down there.

And while people 'talk down' to Margate, it is the epicentre of the sleepy, more 'socially acceptable' luxury seaside strip on either side of Margate - what is all officially called the Hibiscus Municipality and which stretches from Port Shepstone to Port Edward: 10 seaside dorps in all, including Margate.

A tourism treasure

So, for an industry association such as The Loerie Awards to take a decision to host its annual industry showcase in a particular region, has far reaching economic consequences and could be a tourism windfall for the area:

In total, there is an estimated R6.8 million direct expenditure expected for Margate and its surrounds alone (accommodation, venues, transport, sponsorship, party bookings, food, staff etc).

R168 000 has been spent on hiring casuals (from cleaning staff, security, ushers and waitrons to tourist ambassadors for practically every street corner!).

The fact that a totally different LSM group is being accommodated in what is traditionally, a middle-class, student holiday destination.

The South Coast is beautiful, with 28 swimming beaches along 80km of coastline, including five internationally recognised 'Blue flag' beaches. The South Coast is a gem - one which many of us have rediscovered.

Property prices are reasonable and you can still find a house reasonably close to the beach for under R1 million and further inland for R500 000 or less. Estate agents are hoping for a boom, with several holding special show days in the hope that the visitors will recover sufficiently from their hangovers to view a little bit of property...

The economy of the South Coast of Kwazulu-Natal is built on tourism and it is unprecedented for an industry such as the advertising industry and professional organisation like The Loerie Awards to "take over" an entire town and region in South Africa for one event. So it's not unexpected for the locals to have extremely high expectations.

And if Loeries works this weekend, the event could be held in Margate for the next five years - bringing a tourism windfall of note over time to the area.

Of course, any negative publicity could have the same effect and tourism, the local council and business chamber have worked hard in pulling together the community to put the best face forward:

There is a long list of local characters and "talent" participating in one of the entertainment surprises...

A special sewing circle of locals was established to sew the special Loeries seat covers provided on the very uncomfortable gallery seating of the Moscow Circus Tent which is where the awards are going to be held.

Majollas Magic Cleaners is another empowerment CSI project being deployed throughout the area.

Local waiting staff and casuals have been sent on a service excellence crash course to instil service values.

A local employment agency was tasked with ensuring the surrounding community benefited as well from Loeries, employing thousands of casuals. All food is also being bought and made locally with a "Bollywood theme" and overseen by one of Durban's leading restaurants.

Margate makeover

Margate is literally getting a facelift too, with new paint and road signs. And the transformation won't stop there if Loeries stays in this part of the world for the next five years.

Loeries has been held at Sun City for more than a decade, and following on the controversy surrounding Loeries over the past few years when the defunct Marketing Federation of SA ran it, and transformation issues in the industry, a total break from the past was needed. The current Loerie Committee have gone even further than that, taking a huge risk by moving Loeries down to an entire region, away from city services and logistics - a mammoth task to ensure the event runs smoothly, getting everyone down there: 2500 - 3000 industry people and their families, accommodation bookings, security, and so on.

They were aided and abetted by a special Loerie project committee made up of all local stakeholders, from Day 1.

Lood Boshoff, Director of Hibiscus Tourism (who doubles as a female impersonator in his spare time for charity!) says the local authority, tourism and business, have identified that they have something coming to town that is a sought-after commodity. "We think it is magic that the ad industry has chosen to come to our holiday mecca to grow their brand. We are thrilled and the challenge has been to throw out the 'I' and make it a 'we' so that everyone benefits. It is a feather in our caps and we are in the process of grooming that feather!"

Boshoff said the region does not regard The Loerie Awards as a "short term issue". "We think this will spark new life into the South Coast. We've got the goods and we've got the people.

"Yes, it is up to the town of Margate to create the enabling environment. We have gone out of our way to create public and private sector partnerships to make this event a success. People here are genuinely so nice and hospitable and we look forward to hosting the advertising industry. We're a small town really... with small town character."

Weathering the storm

Okay, this was before the Margate beach was deemed structurally unsound to erect the huge tent that will host the actual Loerie Awards ceremony, particularly after a week of bad weather and gale force winds made any attempt to erect the structure dangerous. That has been solved by erecting the former Moscow State Circus tent on a more stable grass embankment at St Michaels-on-Sea beach next door, which is technically still within the Greater Margate municipal area, red faced officials and the Loeries Awards Committee hasten to add!

Of course, a lot relies on the weather and the overall experience that the industry has this weekend, not just at the awards evening, and whether the sponsors feel that it has been a worthwhile branding exercise for them. After problems at the last two Loeries at Sun City, it is to The Loerie Awards committee's credit that they got Mnet and Media24 back on board!

There's always risk involved when so much depends on the weather - as we saw this week with the tent story - and when so many individuals will have different experiences, depending on where they booked to stay, where they eat and how they feel about the total experience.

Let's not forget though, that there is an entire community here that has bent over backwards to accommodate the demands of this industry and sponsors and we need to recognise and respect their efforts to provide us all with an experience of note.

More by Louise Marsland

• A guide to finding a starting point on the web - 29 Sep 2008
• Make digital part of your campaigns - 22 Sep 2008
• Prepping marketers for the global market - 25 Aug 2008
• We are all wire-service journalists today - 31 Jul 2008
• Ten truths for B2B journalists - 28 Jul 2008

More...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louise Marsland is editor and editorial director of Bizcommunity.com, Africa’s leading provider of daily media, marketing, and advertising news and information. She is also the South African joint-coordinator and founder of the Trade, Association, Business Publication International (TABPI) Editor’s Chapter. She has recently also been appointed to head up the Magazine Publishers’ Association of South Africa (MPASA) Business-to-business Media Sub-committee. A journalist with 21 years’ experience, Marsland started in daily newspapers in South Africa in the 1980s and has specialised in media strategy and B2B and online media in the last decade, editing and launching publications in the main in the marketing and FMCG retail market, both print and online. She recently researched the sustainability of the B2B media sector for her Masters in Commerce degree: Strategy & Organisational Dynamics, through the Leadership Centre of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is currently researching a book in her field and develops training programmes in the B2B media sector; and marketing communications arena in knowledge management from a media perspective. Contact her on: editor@bizcommunity.com.

[11 Oct 2005 23:00]

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