Jordaan’s 2010 Branding Dilemma – How to align Public Expectations to Mbeki’s World Cup Promise

For the second time in as many months, LOC boss Danny Jordaan has slammed the media for sowing doubt about SA’s ability to stage the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

In an interview with the Daily Dispatch, Jordaan said events in the last couple of months propelled him to break his silence and voice his “utter disappointment” at the way the South Africa media have been reporting.

Jordaan said the media were responsible for cultivating a growing seed of doubt about South Africa’s ability to host the World Cup in 2010. “I’m not saying we are immune from criticism, but it should be fair.” His outburst comes a day after a media conference scheduled for Tuesday failed to materialise because the meeting Jordaan and other Local Organising Committee (LOC) board members were in, ran over time. The no-show infuriated the strong media contingent which included international journalists.

Comments German brandologist, Dr Nikolaus Eberl, author of The IziCwe Code: “Blaming the media for the image problems surrounding the 2010 LOC, is akin to charging the pope with undermining Christianity. At the heart of this matter lies the promise President Mbeki made at the unveiling of the 2010 emblem in Berlin, when he re-iterated his pledge of hosting “the best world cup ever”. This promise obligates South Africa to surpass Germany at all the factors that make for a successful world cup. Whilst the LOC is focusing their attention on timeous stadia construction, a plethora of other, equally important brand touch-points are demanding world-class standards in planning and executing.”

“First and foremost, this applies to the hosting team. Germany has proven that a successful world cup requires a successful hosting team, to shore up the support and enthusiasm of the hosting nation. Before their first game, only 8 percent of Germans supported their team. By the time Germany had progressed to third place, the support base had grown to a massive 95 percent – creating a huge boost to consumer spending and national well-being.”

“Bafana Bafana’s recent dropping out of the Top 50 FIFA and sliding to an ignominious 66th ranking (below no-name soccer nations such as Burkina Faso and Belarus) calls for an all-out effort from all involved to deliver a world class team by 2010 – and this means reaching the semifinals at the very least.”

Secondly, Visitor Safety: Newly appointed US ambassador to South Africa, Eric Bost, weighed in on the 2010 debate this week, saying his German equivalent had told him about a group of German tour operators who had visited South Africa soon after the World Cup to look at the facilities that would be available to soccer tourists in 2010. “They were robbed. We know this. They got on the bus, they robbed them. So you’re in Berlin, you’re sitting at your desk, someone comes in and they say: ‘You know, I’m thinking of going to the World Cup down in South Africa, what do you think about that?’ What are you going to say?”

“To host ’the most successful world cup ever’, South Africa has to deliver a crime free world cup, which means zero incidents during the event and safe conduit and free passage (at any time of day and night) at the time of the final FIFA inspection in 2008. The current levels of crime are being reported on global networks such as CNN and Sky News, and have caused Brand South Africa to suffer a significant setback recently, when the latest Nation Brand Index (NBI 3/2006) listed South Africa 32 out of 36 countries surveyed - barely a year after the country had earned a respectable 22nd ranking in the NBI ratings. It appears that the world is becoming increasingly critical of a brand, that not long ago was heralded as a shining example of successful transformation and a symbol of hope."

“Thirdly, Nation Building: The main lesson from the 2006 World Cup is that soccer has now gone beyond being a vehicle for entertainment. In a few weeks time, it has done something to the German psyche that no politician has ever achieved - it has imbued the nation with a sense of pride and a unified fraternity that extends beyond the borders of creed, gender, culture and social class.”

“British Prime Minister Tony Blair pointed out this unprecedented phenomenon in an opinion piece for the BILD newspaper, and declared: “The old clichés have been replaced by a new, positive and more fair image of Germany.”

“The German emblem of smiling faces, in conjunction with the brand slogan "A Time to make Friends!", has transformed the national spirit from years of economic depression and individual resignation to a new found sense of hope and celebration. Every foreigner that was interviewed about their experiences at this Fifa World Cup™ has expressed their disbelief at how friendly and celebratory the Germans welcomed them in their pubs and homes - in fact a group of South African visitors even referred to a spirit of ubuntu that they had encountered - the word Nelson Mandela popularized for true humanity.”

The true opportunity for 2010 lies not so much in overcoming the technological and infrastructure challenges, but rather in extending the reach of the World Cup beyond the stadia and into the nation – making this a People’s World Cup. This is a unique opportunity for South Africa to reverse the traditional image of poverty and racial division into one of hope and aspiration and to convert the country’s brand promise from a message aimed at investors to a rallying cry for worldwide peace and prosperity.

Dr Nikolaus and co-author Herman Schoonbee published “The IziCwe Code: Internal Branding” in 2005 (Academy Press, foreword by Reuel Khoza), which was recently critically reviewed by President Thabo Mbeki in his Letter from the President; using “the analytical tools contained in The IziCwe Code”, the President issued the challenge to government leaders to “generate the kind of commitment that will ensure that …our government at all levels … can be trusted to honour the brand promise!”

Dr Nikolaus Eberl
Chairman: IziCwe Academy
Internal Branding™ Division
Tel: +27 (0) 83 270 6009 / 10 / 11
Fax: +27 (0) 86 500 1800
Email: nikolaus@internal-branding.net
Web: www.internal-branding.net

IziCwe Academy is the global leader in Internal Branding Advisory Services. Based upon twelve years of global research, IziCwe Academy has assimilated best global practices in Internal Branding to assist coporate organisations to align employee commitment to their brand promise and motivate employees to engage in soft innovation.

This release was published on openPR.