The inaugural South Africa Brand Summit & Awards, which takes place 16-17 November 2017 in Cape Town, is calling for nominations of top South African brands.
The categories are as follows:
- Socio-economic development
- Policies and practice on rights issues (human rights, labour rights, environmental rights, children’s rights, animal rights, women’s rights, group rights, etc.)
- Community builders
- South African brand ambassadorship, locally and abroad
- Ethical leadership
- Embraces and promotes diversity
- Generates positive publicity for South Africa
- Attracts positive interest in South Africa
- Generates positive publicity and global goodwill for South Africa
- Mentors and grows young South Africans
Summit trends
At a critical time in South Africa’s history, summit will provide a unique platform to begin but not finish a series of important conversations about the health and future of South Africa’s nation brand, under the theme ‘Recapturing the South African narrative’.
Pioneers from business, politics and civic society will explore the challenges and opportunities presented by looking at:
- The size of the gulf that exists between South Africa’s brand identity and brand image;
- How South Africa is currently perceived, what it is associated with and known for, domestically and globally.
- Our nation’s brand narrative(s), ie the messages that are being received out there, domestically and globally, about the country; how these are generated and propagated, and how they inform the narrative of the nation brand image;
- South Africa’s best-loved brands, across the spectrum domestically and globally, that particularly influence South Africa’s image.
Speakers
- The Summit has secured a growing list of thought-leaders, speakers and panellists, including:
- Professor Jonathan Jansen - academic, columnist and author
- Siki Mgabadeli - ENCA Television and SABC Radio anchor
- Crispin Sonn - executive director, Gamiro Investment Group
- Alan Winde - provincial Minister of Economic Opportunities, Western Cape
- Yanina Dubeykovskaya - founder and chairwoman of The World Communication Forum, Davos
Solly Moeng, reputation specialist and project convenor, says, “We are excited about the feedback we have received for our inaugural summit. It is our honour to welcome a growing list of speakers, panellists, moderators and sponsors from all sectors of our society.
“The need for such an initiative has never been more critical or timelier. The Summit will initiate and lead critical conversations about our nation's brand image, the attributes that make us proud, as well as the opportunities that remain to improve on our best efforts to progress in an increasingly global and complex world.
“This initiative will also provide an opportunity to reflect on how best to position South Africa as an attractive destination for FDI, discerning tourists, project collaboration in many sought-after fields (academia, sports, etc), all aimed at promoting sustainable development, as well as regional and global leadership for South Africa.”
Early bird tickets and award nomination forms are available here.
