Strategic nation brand-building guidelines that can contribute towards the South African National Development Plan 2030’s objectives of social cohesion, nation building and transformation.

Abstract

“South Africa remains a divided country despite progress made since 1994” (National- Planning-Commission 2012). Although the country officially managed to transition from an oppressive apartheid state to a democracy in 1994, the government still lists social cohesion and nation building within the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, chapter fifteen, amongst the top priorities for the country. The goal of this study is to determine how a nation brand-building strategy may help the South African government to achieve the goals specified in Chapter 15 of the NDP 2030. Considering that the objectives listed in the NDP aim to benefit the citizens of the country, the purpose of this study is to develop strategic nation brand building guidelines to follow when developing nation brands that incorporate citizens as an important stakeholder in nation brand building. The secondary objectives, as described within the problem statement, aim to address the imbalances present within strategic nation brand building activities, such as unequal stakeholder engagement. It is argued that when it comes to nation brand building, greater emphasis is placed on external stakeholders, mainly with the purpose of attracting tourism and foreign trade and investment, with very little emphasis placed on internal stakeholders. When reviewing the literature, the emphasis on external stakeholders in nation brand building activities is found to be contradictory to corporate brand building strategies. The comparative discussion between corporate brand-building strategy and nation brand building strategy is thus addressed through the lens of the literature review. Brand building strategy is conceptualised in the literature review and the similarities between corporate and nation brand building strategy are explained. This ultimately allows for the conclusion to be drawn that a nation brand building strategy should aim to align to corporate brand building strategy, specifically with regard to balanced stakeholder engagement. The abductive approach, which guided this research, allowed for scholarly insights to mould the approach and provide greater depth and insight in understanding the subject. The insights were measured against data collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with brand experts to ultimately provide guidelines for nation brand building that can contribute to nation building and enhancing social cohesion. 9 Within this study, it was found that a nation brand inclusive of strategic elements such as a brand purpose, vision, values, and personality are ideal for strategic nation brand building activities, which, in turn, contributes towards social cohesion, nation building and possibly transformation. The guidelines to follow when developing strategic nation brands are therefore defined and proposed within this study as follows: developing purpose, vision, values, and personality. The guidelines proposed illustrate the importance of strategy and, more importantly, stakeholder engagement within strategic nation brand building. The guidelines developed further highlight how strategic nation brands could contribute towards the set problems mentioned in the NDP 2030 (chapter 15) in terms of promoting social cohesion, nation building, and transformation.