Johannesburg, Tuesday 22 September 2015 – Brand South Africa’s flagship domestic programme aimed at building pride and patriotism, Play Your Part, has been shortlisted for the internationally distinguished City Nation Place Awards within the Citizen Engagement category.
Speaking about this nomination, Brand South Africa’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ms Sithembile Ntombela said, “Citizens are a critical driver of a country’s reputation and this is manifest in, amongst others, their pride and patriotism in promoting the nation brand. Brand South Africa therefore prioritises citizens as a pillar of our national engagement strategy and we therefore welcome this nomination.”
The City Nation Place Awards were launched to celebrate and benchmark excellence in place branding with shortlisted entries have demonstrated a combination of creativity, intelligence and effective strategic planning to deliver results in each of the categories. Brand South Africa is competing against 5 other participants from the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States of America in the Citizen Engagement category.
The City Nation Place awards consist of 4 main categories namely, the Best Citizen Engagement Awards; the Best Communication Strategy; the Best Use of Social Media; as well as the Place Brand of the Year. The final judging for the Awards will take place at the City Nation Place Forum in November, which will bring together delegates from around the world to focus on the challenges they face as they work to build a competitive identity for their place.
Why Play Your Part?
Brand South Africa, is mandated to position South Africa as a globally competitive inward destination. This cannot be achieved without the collective efforts of all citizens in the country. Brand South Africa therefore needed to find efficient and impactful ways to drive meaningful engagement with South African communities in the quest towards nation-building and social cohesion.
To achieve this, Brand South Africa launched the Play Your Part programme – a nationwide social movement created to inspire, empower and celebrate active citizenship in South Africa. The campaign is targeted at all South Africans – from corporates to individuals, non-profit organisations, to government, youth platforms and young to not so young.
The Play Your Part initiative aims to encourage South Africans to use some of their time, money, skills or goods to contribute to a better future for all. Ultimately the end result is for every South African to do what is within their capacity to make a positive difference in the communities in which they live and operate. This kind of active citizenship, aligned to the country’s national priorities as outlined in the National Development Plan, will drive the implementation of the nation’s Vision 2030.
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