Brand South Africa Research Note. The Nation Brand Masterclass an Overview. By: Dr Petrus de Kock, Ms Sithembile Ntombela & Ms Leigh-Gail Petersen

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1 Brand South Africa Research Note The Nation Brand Masterclass an Overview By: Dr Petrus de Kock, Ms Sithembile Ntombela & Ms Leigh-Gail Petersen

2 Contents Brand South Africa & the Nation Brand Masterclass Purpose of the Masterclass Who will benefit from the Nation Brand Masterclass? How is the Masterclass structured? o Session 1 Understanding Brand South Africa o Session 2 Fundamentals of building strong brands o Session 3 What is a Nation Brand? Nation Brand Performance Research o Session 4 - Performance & Action What can I do to become a Nation Brand Advocate? Concluding thought

3 BRAND SOUTH AFRICA & THE NATION BRAND MASTERCLASS Brand South Africa, originally established in 2002 as the International Marketing Council, is the official marketing agency of South Africa. Established as a trust, with the board of trustees appointed by the President, the organisation works both in the domestic and international environments to market and profile the hard and soft attributes of the Nation Brand. Due to the fact that the organisation interfaces with a range of business, government, and civil-society stakeholders, Brand SA embarked on the process of creating a Nation Brand Masterclass. The Masterclass was developed as a flexible tool through which Brand SA can train, educate, inform, empower and engage with a range of stakeholders. As Brand SA s training and stakeholder engagements developed, we received several requests from the private sector, academic institutions, and other domestic stakeholders who are active internationally, but who would like to incorporate more country specific information, marketing material, and messaging into their own unique programmes. To this end Brand SA, in collaboration with the Marketing Association of South Africa, set out to design a Masterclass that can provide a training/orientation platform through which stakeholders can be empowered to become Nation Brand advocates in their respective spheres of activity. The full Masterclass is structured in such a way as to allow it to be delivered as a two-hour intensive orientation for executives, or, as a full day training programme aimed at marketers, communicators, corporates, civil-society organisations and a host of other stakeholders. While the structure of the Masterclass remains the same, the actual timing and mode of delivery of the programme depends on the needs of stakeholders. The masterclass is therefore designed as a flexible tool that can be adapted to different audiences, and different levels of management. This Research Note introduces you to the basic background of the Nation Brand Masterclass, as well as a brief overview of the content of each section covered by the programme. To what end? The crux and the essence of this class is to get South Africans to rally behind the brand. It is to get South Africans inspired to be the best in what they do, based on an understanding of the country s brand dynamics. Ultimately we will live in a country which we have remade (2030 NDP caption).

4 PURPOSE OF THE MASTERCLASS The Masterclass provides an introduction to what the Nation Brand is, and what it stands for. Additionally, it provides contextual information regarding the strengths and unique features/attributes of the South African Nation Brand. This Masterclass has the purpose of informing, orienting, and empowering stakeholders to become Nation Brand advocates. Whether you are a South African company conducting international business, an academic doing research and require more insight into the range of strengths and attributes of the Nation Brand, or a government communicator designing a campaign for a department s international engagements the Masterclass can offer you a thorough foundation for what the Nation Brand is, its identity, and essential performance attributes. As indicated in the image below, the purpose of the Masterclass is to create informed advocacy.

5 WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE NATION BRAND MASTERCLASS? You are a communicator/company conducting international business/hosting international guests and you want to provide stakeholders with an overview or broad introduction of the country s capabilities; You are from a government institution, or state owned enterprise active internationally, and want to align to the nation brand corporate identity and messaging when engaging with international stakeholders; You want to empower officials in a specific department on the role of a government employee to carry the nation brand message (e.g. Brand SA training of Department of Home Affairs officials; training of SA diplomats through DIRCO; or engagements with City, Metro and Provincial agencies); You want to learn more about research insights into the performance of the country and domestically and internationally; You would like to access specific research indicators on South Africa s global reputation, competitiveness, and per market indicators on SA reputation, competitiveness; You are a South African corporate doing business internationally and would like to learn more about the link between country of origin effect, and its impact on corporate profile; You are a civil-society organisation that would like to empower stakeholders and your organisation with relevant up to date information on the nation brand; Or, you are a citizen who would like to be empowered to become an informed nation brand advocate. HOW IS THE MASTERCLASS STRUCTURED? The Masterclass consists of four sessions/sections focusing on:

6 The sections below will briefly unpack the main elements/issues covered in each of the four sessions. SESSION 1 UNDERSTANDING BRAND SOUTH AFRICA

7 SESSION 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF BUILDING STRONG BRANDS Session 2 of the Masterclass aims to contextualise the unique features of the Nation Brand concept with reference to principles and approaches in classical marketing and communications. The most important distinctions drawn are between corparate brands and nation brands, and how the differences between these types of brands also inform the unique marketing, stakeholder management, communications, and research strategies needed to bring a country/nation brand to life and to keep it that way! With reference to the six pillars of classical marketing, the following six pillars of the nation brand are explored in some detail in this session. Investment Potential and attractiveness to outsiders Investment & immigration Potential attractiveness and economical contribution Tourism Exports Level of satisfaction with country s products and services Competency fair governance, human rights, international contribution Governance People Skills and openness Culture and Heritage Commercial and cultural products and sporting prowess

8 SESSION 3 WHAT IS A NATION BRAND? While the first two sessions focused on the organisation, Brand SA, as well as the basic elements of the Nation Brand in the context of marketing & communications, this session answers the question as to what a Nation Brand is, from several perspectives. In simple terms the nation brand is fundamentally different from corporate brands. Although certain corporate brands may have multiple sub-brands, or a wide variety of component parts that feed into and support the mother brand a nation brand encompasses a dizzying array of attributes, as well as factors that impact on the performance, reputation, and competitiveness of the brand. This session sets out to illustrate what the Nation Brand is, from practical and theoretical points of view. Brand SA approaches the nation brand as a composite construct that aims to present a coherent brand identity/image and country message to domestic and international audiences. This image and message is drawn from a vast pool of indicators, attributes, and unique cultural and economic features of the nation. The nation brand is therefore a composite construct due to the fact that typical research studies devoted to identifying the reputational standings of nations, or nation brands, usually measure the reputation of a nation on elements such as Investment, Governance, People, Culture, Tourism, and Exports. From the list of attributes tested through reputation studies one immediately learns that the reputation of a nation, or nation brand, depends on much more than government activity, policy, or leadership. A nation brand encompasses all the attributes, strengths, and innovations a nation offer the world in all its spheres of activity (business, arts, music, theatre, film, tourism, science & innovation, infrastructure, manufacturing, and governance to name but a few). This session furthermore explores data from Brand SA research that monitors and evaluates the performance of the Nation Brand in the domestic, as well as international environments. This information is structured in such a way as to empower stakeholders with necessary information, and indicators that are utilised to either identify strengths, or challenges the brand faces in a comparative perspective.

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10 NATION BRAND PERFORMANCE RESEARCH Brand SA research aims to develop insight and analysis into the performance of the nation brand from a domestic and international perspective. To this end Brand SA tracks a wide variety of competitiveness, reputation, and related global studies and indices. The goal is to monitor and evaluate over-all country performance in a highly competitive and uncertain global economy. In order to further deliver on research insights, Brand South Africa convenes Research Reference Groups that reflect on, and provide Brand South Africa with expert input and advice on key issues of concern at the time. Brand SA also conducts an extensive Domestic Perceptions Research study, as well as an International Investor Perceptions research study. The Nation Brand Performance research focuses on Assessing Nation Brand Performance in several realms of governance, being: Global governance Political governance Corporate & economic governance Ease of Doing Business Competitiveness indicators SA inbound & outbound investment profile SA footprint globally and on the African continent Human & social development indicators Domestic perceptions

11 International perceptions Brand Reputation Nation Brand Index City Brand Index Brand SA fieldwork research The SA Inc Series o o Brand South Africa conducts research in peer African states, to engage with various stakeholders from business, civil society, media, government, think tanks and academic professionals which allows for quality in-depth holistic analysis of South Africa s interaction with, and exposure to those markets. Perceptions shape a version of the truth in the minds of individuals', communities and nations which is often deemed as reality. Thus the purpose of this research is to develop a deeper understanding of the perceptions peer African markets have of South Africa. Additionally the research aims to develop a profile of the South African footprint, and reputation in those markets. Brand SA - Domestic Perceptions Research Brand SA International Investor Perceptions Research As noted above, the performance indicators shared with specific groups of stakeholders depends on sector, level of education/management, and stakeholder interest. The Nation Brand Performance section of the Masterclass can therefore be tailored to the needs of your organisation/sector.

12 Select indices Brand SA tracks and analyses from a Nation Brand Performance point of view: Competitiveness World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report Institute for Management Development Competitiveness Report World Economic Forum World Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report Governance, Economic & Business Environment Related Ibrahim Index of African Governance Transparency International Corruption Perception Index World Bank Ease of Doing Business Economic Freedom Indicators OECD Country Reports Good country index Human Development United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index Reputation Nation Brand Index City Brand Index

13 SESSION 4 PERFORMANCE AND ACTION The role of citizens, business, government and civil society in promoting the Nation Brand The final session of the programme will share more information about Brand SA s domestic and international programmes. For example, the Play Your Part programme, one of Brand SA s key domestic programmes that promotes Active Citizenship; the Global South Africans programme aimed at working with South African expats, and other initiatives are showcased to present examples of how individuals, organisations, institutions, and businesses can play their part to profile, market, and hence become a positive advocate of this nation brand and what it offers the world. CONCLUDING THOUGHT If there is still any confusion as to what the Nation Brand is, and what it stands for, then the Nation Brand Masterclass is an immersive session that will empower you with the necessary information, and background, to become an advocate of this exciting country called South Africa. The Nation Brand identity and positioning Brand South Africa works to create is directly linked to actual realities in the country. For this reason we wrap up with an invitation to engage with us, and to remember that a nation as young as ours is constantly evolving and developing. This means we want to leave you with some food for thought, being words from Homi K Bhabha from his book Nation and Narration: A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Two things, which in truth are but one, constitute this soul or spiritual principle. One lies in the past, one in the present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories; the other is present-day consent, the desire to live together, the will to perpetuate the value of the heritage that one has received in an undivided form.

14 Brand South Africa s Research Notes and Research Reports communicate findings from Brand South Africa research and related panel discussions. The Research Notes and Reports are intended to elicit comments, contribute to debate, and inform stakeholders about trends and issues that impact on South Africa s reputation and overall competitiveness. Views expressed in Research Notes are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of Brand South Africa, or the Government of the Republic of South Africa. Every precaution is taken to ensure the accuracy of information. However, Brand South Africa shall not be liable to any person for inaccurate information or opinions contained herein. For More Information: Dr Petrus de Kock General Manager, Research petrusd@brandsouthafrica.com MS Sithembile Ntombela General Manager, Marketing sithembilen@brandsouthafrica.com MS Leigh-Gail Petersen Researcher leigh@brandsouthafrica.com