South African Tourism shatters the global destination marketing mould

SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM is changing the face of global destination marketing forever with an exciting new campaign that launches this month.

A Nigerian couple, Seun and Abimbola (Bimbo) Somolu featured prominently in the campaign. Others are Andrew Smith and Hannah St Paul from the UK, Artie and Carol Rosenblatt from the US, and from India, Gurjap Singh and Radha Brahmbhatt.

It's nothing like any destination, anywhere, has ever done before. South Africa's newest destination marketing does not use models or actors. It was not scripted. And it has not been through hours and hours of sophisticated experiences. It tracks eight ordinary people on extraordinary South African holidays to show the genuine and unabridged delight, wonder and amazement that South Africa evokes in visitors.

The campaign was devised to succeed the global prominence South Africa won as host nation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"We wanted to maintain our strong brand prominence in the wake of the World Cup," says Roshene Singh, chief marketing officer at South African Tourism. "However, we also wanted to put daylight between our destination allure and our status as World Cup host nation. South Africa is not only a profoundly capable global event host. It's also an exciting, beautiful, friendly holiday destination.

"This is the first time that a global destination marketing campaign has a ‘reality TV' element. The participants, for example, had no idea in the evening what they would be doing the following day. So the material is fresh, authentically exciting and completely realistic. It's brutally honest. It's intimate and personal."

The campaign is brilliant in its simplicity. Four couples were invited to South Africa for ten days to enjoy the ultimate and perfect South African holiday. Each couple undertook a different itinerary, ensuring that the eight people covered the length and breadth of the country. In experiences ranging from Great White Shark cage diving to gourmet dining experiences, safari, clubbing, mountain biking, picnicking, museum visits, hot air ballooning, and luxurious safari experiences.

Each couple was accompanied by a small television crew that recorded their every move. Each ‘ooh', ‘ah' and "Oh my, that's beautiful!' was captured. Every experience caught on film is authentic. Their response to South Africa is delightful, refreshing, intimate and completely believable in its sincerity.

The reality TV-like footage of their holidays is being taken to the global market in the form of 60-second television commercials (that will be screened on BBC World, CNN International, the National Geographic Channel, EuroSport, and Sky), social media content, cinema commercials and vignettes.

The campaign does not focus solely on the participating couples and the wonderful places they visit. It stars South Africans, too. Roshene Singh: "The World Cup proved once and for all that South Africans are the happiest, friendliest and most welcoming bunch of people on earth. In this campaign our visitors interact with ordinary South Africans. Again, none of this is scripted. It captures the genuine warmth of our people and the sincere friendliness that people encounter from South Africans no matter where they go in South Africa, and no matter where they come from."

This article was originally posted on South Africa Business Communities