The FIFA
World Cup is a chance for soccer fanatics to kick back their shoes and
watch back-to-back soccer matches for a whole month. The hosting country on the
other hand has to be up on its feet the whole time to not only making sure that
the event runs smoothly, but also has a positive impact on the country’s image.
The 2010 World Cup was hosted by none other than South Africa and the country
was hoping that the event would have a long lasting effect on its business,
tourism and overall brand. The main aim of hosting the event was for the
country to embed its image into foreign minds. An important aspect of pulling
this of was for South Africa to get its citizens in on the campaign and live
out the brand in order to make it more enticing. So the country started their
branding efforts a year prior to the event with a television commercial bearing
the slogan “It starts with you”.
Melanie McShane [1]states
that sport is the new way to promote a country to its counterparts. Countries
such as Spain are using their famed football clubs to start conversation among
potential tourists and lure them into their shores. With teams such as the
world renowned Barcelona Football Club
on their side I would say that it is indeed a wise marketing strategy.
Whilst an event of World Cup magnitude
brings about positive aspects it can also expose a country to criticism. It
sets the tone for a country to deliver an unrivalled sporting event. Melanie McShane
also equates hosting such an event to letting people into your home where they
are able to see all the clean rooms, but also the untidy little corners. In the
South African context those untidy little corners would be the nation’s sky high
crime rate and rational inequalities which still exist to this day nearly
twenty years post-apartheid.
After winning the bid to host the world cup
South Africa sought help on branding the event from IMO[2]
for this task the agency consulted private companies such as Uniliver for tips
on how to create a unified brand. Their
branding strategy for the country included approaching it like a company
looking to get listed on the London Stock
Exchange. In their defence for using this tactic IMO stated that approaching
Uniliver for advice on branding was inspired by the fact that the company is
global while still retaining a local identity and loyalty. This is an argument
which is plausible to me since I thought, for the longest time, that Uniliver
was a South African company. Although the world cup played a pivotal role in
South Africa’s branding McShane agrees that it should act as an opportunity for
the country to reposition itself and look beyond the event to build on what has
been established. Anitha Soni from the International Marketing
Council (IMO) believes that had South Africa publicised a strong united brand
it would have helped the country to have a stronger presence on a global scale.
This post was inspired by Jo Roberts article'South Africa united behind a single brand'.
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