Chairperson, Minister, hon members - all protocol being observed - the topic I am going to discuss is the International Marketing Council, IMC. The International Marketing Council of SA was established in August 2002 for the purpose of creating a positive and compelling brand image for South Africa.
The IMC's main objective is to market South Africa through the Brand South Africa campaign. In this regard, Brand SA has recently launched a single commercial identity. As the IMC puts it, the most important advantage of having a consolidated brand image is that a consistent South African brand message creates strategic advantages in terms of trade and tourism for the country in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
This is a very crucial year for the country, as the manner in which South Africa hosts the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup tournament will set the standard for how South Africa is perceived and positioned in the future. It is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase the country on a large scale. However, efforts to manage the country's reputation throughout the world have experienced a few challenges, such as the xenophobic attacks and, recently, events related to the death of AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche, which have sparked fears of the outbreak of a racial war in the country. However, as the former IMC chairperson once stated, and I quote:
For the Marketing Council, 2010 is the ultimate opportunity to tell the global community about the resilience of the country and South Africa's ability to unite people of all races and the many small daily miracles that make the country the vibrant nation that it is.
The IMC's aim is to influence the perceptions of South Africans, the government, the local media, the African continent and the international community at large. Its mandate is to build South Africa's national brand reputation in order to improve the country's global competitiveness in trade, tourism and other economic sectors.
The IMC intends to position the country as an attractive destination and partner for trade and investment and tourism. The IMC's vision is for Brand South Africa to be acknowledged as one of the top 20 nation brands and as one of the top 30 nations in the Global Competitive Index by 2020.
With regards to IMC leadership, the current IMC board members were appointed by President Jacob Zuma in November last year to serve on the IMC board of executives for a period of three years. Now, I would like to refer to the executive that was nominated. Ms Anita Soni is the chairperson of the board. In March this year the IMC announced the appointment of Mr Miller Matola as the chief executive officer. Matola has been the CEO of the Durban ICC since 2006. He took over from Paul Bannister who was the acting CEO in 2009. The IMC now has a full-time CEO who is ensuring stability in the organisation as the country hosts one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
What has the IMC achieved thus far? Now, Chair, I am going to talk about the achievements of the IMC. Part of how the IMC delivers to the market is driven largely by relationships with its key stakeholders and partners. Its partners include national departments, provinces, businesses, civil society and private citizens. Key to the work of the IMC is the alignment of all stakeholders around one national brand.
Until recently, we as a nation had no clearly recognisable identity and presented an inconsistent, fragmented and often confusing image to the world to attract or welcome visitors and investors to our country. Cabinet approved a singular brand image and identity to become the face of South Africa and to communicate the story of South Africa to the world. The IMC was the driver of the project. On 2 March 2010, President Jacob Zuma used the occasion of his state visit to unveil the new IMC logo at a function attended by 900 guests, a community of South Africans based in London, as well as to the "Friends of South Africa". The project to popularise the logo is currently in the roll-out phase.
The IMC made an impact on the World Economic Forum in Davos in February this year. The forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape the global, regional and industrial agendas.
In 2010 South Africa's goal has been to use the Davos platform to build South Africa's nation brand reputation, with specific focus on socioeconomic and political issues. The success of South Africa at the forum can best be summed up by an article that appeared in Time magazine of 15 February 2010, which states:
There have been many nations that have used Davos to "brand" themselves, but - from the ubiquitous scarves in South African colours, the music at the closing night's party, and a screening of Anant Singh's wonderful film More Than Just a Game, about the football played by political prisoners on Robben Island - none have ever done so much with such brio as the South Africans.
In the build-up to the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, the IMC has been involved in a number of initiatives aimed at local mobilisation, as well as mobilisation on the African continent. These initiatives have been taken in partnership with the GCIS, the SA Broadcasting Corporation, SA Tourism, the Department of Arts and Culture, the Department of Sport and Recreation, the South African Local Organising Committee and the Department of International Relations and Co-operation.
The activities included the 2010 road shows in the five countries in Africa that qualified, led by the Department of International Relations and Co- operation. There were promotional adverts in the build-up to the Confederations Cup and the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup that were flighted on all SABC stations and on e.tv. There was also the hosting of the National Communication Partnership Conference with 500 communicators across South Africa and Africa.
Locally, the IMC initiated the following campaigns. The "Fly the Flag" campaign, included the national anthem campaign, over key countdown days: 250, 200, etc; and the distribution of the South African flag to host cities, provinces, corporate entities, public areas such as tollgates, malls, beaches, schools - the list grows.
The "Football Friday" campaign entailed encouraging support for the national team by wearing football T-shirts every Friday. The People's Bus campaign was launched to help the domestic campaign in reaching everyone in the nine provinces of South Africa.
The Global South Africans Initiative was conceived to leverage the knowledge and connections of South Africans who live abroad, but remain committed to the country and its success. It complements initiatives like the Homecoming Revolution, which seeks the return of skilled expatriates by tapping into the invaluable resources represented by those who are not coming home just yet. A primary goal of the Global South Africans Initiative is to empower global South Africans to act as brand ambassadors and effective advocates for the country as a destination for investment and travel.
The challenges faced by the IMC include activating influences with the South African audience groups in a more focused manner, thereby building momentum; unlocking support and collaboration on various platforms both in government and business in support of the 2010 domestic mobilisation campaigns; effectively measuring the success of the 2010 Soccer World Cup prior to, during and after the event; limited financial resources to achieve a plethora of tasks; articulating the Brand South Africa value proposition in a way that resonates with all key stakeholders - national, provincial and local - primarily across citizenship, investment and tourism, and differentiating against competitive regional and global markets; engaging and empowering key stakeholders around a central Brand South Africa initiative and positioning to build awareness, understanding, belief and championship of Brand South Africa and image; ensuring accurate usage of Brand South Africa marketing tools, namely aligned national central image, visual language and Brand SA marketers' portal; getting the media to understand the role they play in nation-branding and the impact they have on conservation.
The IMC is planning to embark on the following projects. With regard to the Shanghai Expo, the IMC is providing lead direction on branding and media- related elements in partnership with the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. The IMC is participating in the Global Forum in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry in June 2010.
The IMC also intends being involved in international trade and investment initiatives in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry throughout 2010. The IMC is also involved in organising media functions in partnership with the Presidency, the GCIS - per quarter. Also, the IMC is embarking on repositioning Brand South Africa beyond 2010. Thank you. [Time expired.]