By Ebrahim Deen; Researcher at Brand South Africa
On the 30 March 2023, Brand South Africa hosted an event, at its offices in Houghton, Johannesburg, to launch the initial draft of the State of the Nation Brand Report. The report is the culmination of the institute’s domestic and international research, which aims to position South Africa favourably and accurately.
Research for the report was consolidated from the Domestic Perceptions and Global Reputation studies, which saw thousands of individuals continually surveyed, as a means of ensuring representativity and accuracy. The Domestic Perceptions programme comprises of an omnibus survey of over 2500 South Africans, quarterly focus groups and a monthly online poll, while the Global Reputation Study saw over 7000 individuals from over 13 countries, including the USA, UK, Japan, China, India, Germany and France surveyed.
Views canvased included those relating to investments, exports, tourism, talent, prominence and working in South Africa, and individuals were also requested to rate initiatives around the Dubai Expo, Covid-19, perceptions around political instability and government initiatives. These were then compared to respondents’ perceptions of similar issues held in relation to other established and emerging Nation Brands, including Nigeria, Egypt, the UK, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Chile and the UAE, as a means of assessing South Africa’s comparative global standing. In addition, Productivity SA’s analysis of South Africa’s competitiveness as per the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022, was also included as a means of ensuring that hard facts would inform views about the country’s competitiveness and global standing. This is especially since over 300 variables were included in their analysis.
Results emerging indicate that South Africans are both proud of the country and are increasingly active in playing a part complimentarily to government. Social cohesion has improved, yet there remains a continued dependence on government. Globally, perceptions about the country remain positive, with 31% of the surveyed individuals indicating that their views on South Africa had improved in 2021. In addition, over 76% of individuals being interested in purchasing South African products, 74% interested in visiting, and 59% interested in investing in the country. South Africa’s culture, history and people scored highly, while crime and insecurity remained as the main disabling factors. The country’s national cricket team appeared in over 800 thousand searches in 2021, with both football and history receiving over 400 thousand searches.
Discussions at the event mainly focused on the reasons informing the country’s current trajectory, with individuals concurring on the need to build strong institutions, which would foster growth. The country’s maturation was also acknowledged, with participants lamenting the lack of focus on democracy and choice which are two core tenants of South Africa’s democracy, and remain highly favourable and available. Participants did however argue on the need to conceptualise a central idea, which they referred to as a national purpose.
Brand South Africa’s research in 2023 endeavours to formulate this, by involving citizens, business and government, ensuring that the end-result is both accurate and representative.
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