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CLOSE your eyes and imagine yourself back in 1994. You’re tired of our recent apartheid past, a long period during which our people were separated primarilyon the basis of race.
Determined like most of us never ever to return there, and mindful of our new set of social contracts - completed or still in the making at the time - you set your sights 23 years into the future. What do you see? What kind of South Africa do you dream of? If you’re a brand manager, what is the vision of this new brand, what image does it reflect, at home and abroad, 23 years ahead?
You do not need to be South African to do this exercise, or to have lived in South Africa during apartheid. You could also have been from and in another part of Africa or the world, but a keen observer of the fascinating developments in South Africa at the time.
Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners had been released from prison after several decades out of public sight, former anti-apartheid movements had been unbanned, and general global goodwill was returning to embrace this country; one which had been relegated to pariah status over many years.
Because it wasn’t politically correct to have any dealings with South Africa prior to the above developments – some countries had even discouraged their citizens from visiting - only a few of those who did business with it had the insouciance to publicly boast about it.
You might also have been an active supporter of one of the anti-apartheid movements, a friend or partner of someone who was actively involved in the struggle against apartheid, or simply a keen, silent observer; fascinated by it all and wondering where it would all end. Deep inside, you wished it all ended well, of course, and that South Africa, newly led by Nelson Mandela, would prove Afro-pessimists wrong and show to the world that new global leadership could finally emerge from the tip of the African continent.
During those early days, South Africa had a president who would prove to be a magnet for celebrities of all kinds and from all over the world. To many of them a visit to South Africa was deemed incomplete without the obligatory photo shoot with President Mandela. Many Africans admired us; our victory was their victory. Some even moved to South Africa, leaving behind countries whose economies and institutions were either non-existent or on their knees thanks to bad, often despotic, leadership.
They came to join us believing that South Africa, then still referred to as the “new” South Africa, would never make the mistakes that were made in their respective countries by leaders who refused to cede political power through democratic processes.
Back to the future
Now, return to today, back to the future, and open your eyes. What do you see? Is the South Africa in front of you in any way similar to the one your imagined back in 1994? Is it on course to where you imagined it would be, back then, or has it been sidetracked?
Is it being sidetracked? If the latter, how far off course do you think it has gone? Would it need just a small correction to bring it back into line, or would it require major, radical work?
What promises did we make to ourselves and to the rest of the world that today, remain promises? Were we being naïve then? Were we being unrealistic in thinking that it would be possible to create a country where all belonged equally; a country where no politician would seek to divide us again on racial lines to appeal to raw emotions and anger for political expediency?
In making the promises we made, did we fail to imagine that we could, after Mandela, end up with leaders who would abandon the ideals we set for ourselves just to please despots elsewhere, or to demonstrate childlike defiance to the rest of the world? Why was it not possible then to imagine that like teenagers wanting to be accepted into a group and to belong, our leaders would give up the values we hoped to live by?
Back then, no world power could dictate to us who we could be friends with and let into the country. Our Madiba not only told the US where to get off when its leaders reportedly expressed displeasure at having to share the stage with the likes of Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi and others when attending key events in the country. He even publicly hosted the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, despite reported Chinese unhappiness.
The need to regain lost ground
Now, let’s imagine ourselves to be brand managers of an entity called South Africa. We’re not happy with the way it has been sidetracked from its carefully planned trajectory. We look around us, armed with memories of where we had envisioned to be, 23 years after the end of apartheid, and the conviction that all is still possible. We’re mindful, of course, that no brand grows in a linear course, but we also know that no successful brand grows organically.
What do we want our brand to be associated with? What are the values that should drive its various parts, institutions? What kind of leaders are ‘brand fits’ to lead this amazing brand and what kind of people do not even deserve a place at the main table of brand leadership for South Africa, the nation brand?
Where do we start? Where would you start?
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know and you could be published.
* Solly Moeng is brand reputation management adviser and CEO of strategic corporate communications consultancy DonValley. Views expressed are his own.
