The state of the nation's brand

Said Motlanthe, “The true legacy of the event will be in our ability to showcase South African and African hospitality and humanity - to change once and for all perceptions of our country and our continent among peoples of the world. That depends on all of us, and to that we can attach no price.”

At the recent Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council meeting held in Seoul, Korea, the global state of nation branding was reviewed. The CMO Council is a global channel, representing 3500 CMOs that control in excess of US$120 billion in annual marketing spend.

In his presentation on nation branding, the founder and executive director of the CMO, Donovan Neale-May, reviewed how products or programmes reinforce and stand for nation brand characteristics, such as Switzerland's banking system for confidence and reassurance, Norway's Nobel Prizes for relevance and influence, Finland's mobile technology ingenuity for skill and capability, Sweden's furniture for contemporary, clean and functional design, and Canadian Mounties for trust and integrity (which was most recently reinforced by a World Economic Forum survey that proclaimed Canada to have the world's soundest banking system).

Brand South Africa

Which products stand for and reinforce Brand South Africa, whose brand essence is “to inspire new and different ways”? And where in the global landscape of nation brands does Brand SA currently fit in?

Interestingly, Neale-May placed South Africa in the second highest category of nation brands, as he segmented country brands into the following four categories:

1. Four Star Nation Brands that are “established, stable and well-defined”, such as the UK as perceived by financial services and wealth management, Germany as per electronics, construction and engineering, and France for fine food, fashion and cosmetics;
   
2. Three Star Nation Brands that are “emerging, evolving global contenders”, such as India as per business process outsourcing and IT integration, Brazil in terms of agriculture and eco-zone management, and South Africa as per gold, diamonds and wildlife experiences;
   
3. Two Star Nation Brands that are “challenged, complex and controversial”, such as Russia for energy, commodities and energy, China for manufacturing and infrastructure development, and Israel for military technology and intellectual capital;
   
4. One Star Nation Brands that are “ill-defined, under-valued and asset-rich”, such as Argentina as per beef, football, spectacular scenery, Korea for heavy industry, electronics and mobile technology, and Turkey as in music, belly dancing and coffee.

Asked what makes a nation brand stand out, Neale-May pointed to the imperative of creating “a defined and differentiated experience”, based upon the unique “cultural fabric, mindset, attitudes and values” of the respective country - this boding well for the key differentiator of Brand SA, which is “to inspire the world to a new way of doing things because our unique combinations create refreshing possibilities.”

Transforming SA's brand image

Of the two drivers that Motlanthe pinpointed for transforming SA's brand image post 2010, hospitality and humanity, the former - contrary to popular perception - ranks well amongst foreign visitors. The 2007 Annual Report on Tourism South Africa identified customer service as the third best experience of tourists, only to be superseded by the experiences of scenic beauty and visiting family and friends. In fact, only 2.1% of all foreign tourists surveyed in 2007 cited poor service as their most negative experience. The same survey identified ‘hospitable and friendly people' as the second highest driver of visitor satisfaction, second only to the natural attractions.

However, a global survey on “Government Leadership in Customer Service”, conducted across 124 countries in 2007, ranked South Africa 111th. Assessing levels of service delivery by Government, the report (which was misreported in the local tourism media for addressing service levels in the tourism sector) showed that “South Africans are highly dissatisfied with the service they currently receive” - a sentiment that was echoed by Motlanthe in his State of the Nation address, when he said, “much more needs to be done to improve the service culture and orientation of some public servants, especially those at the coalface of direct interaction with the public.”

As for foreign visitors to South Africa, the single most negative experience reported was safety and security, ranging from petty theft to serious contact crime, and, as many other surveys have evidenced, this is the single most damaging perception, both domestically and internationally, to SA's brand image.

At a recent media leadership seminar in Johannesburg, Germany's sports journalist of the year, Jens Weinreich, concluded his address by stating that “if I try to summarizs the German media coverage of South Africa, I have the impression that it is dominated by five points: violence, violence, violence, corruption, and political instability. I do think it will influence the tourist sector in advance and during the World Cup.”

With just 484 days to go to the World Cup kickoff, these two factors - service delivery and safety and security - are the ultimate determinants of whether we will be able to make Motlanthe's prediction come true - “to change once and for all perceptions of our country and our continent among peoples of the world.”