(a) Brand SA does not have a campaign called Made in SA. However, in line with its mandate, Brand South Africa profiles and showcases South African talent, skills, people, product and services. The recent campaigns anchored under brand advocacy focused on the following pillars on;
1) creative arts: where Brand South Africa profiled a young entrepreneur from Eastern Cape who owns a brand called Inga. Inga produces proudly South African bags that are designed, crafted, and produced in South Africa. Innovation & Technology: where Dr. Reza who is an aesthetics specialist and also owns an aviation company which exports aviation products. Dr Reza, through his foundation also offers skills and education on the aviation industry to his employees who come from the community the aviation company operates from. Brand South Africa recorded a video and promoted it on international platforms such as News Central. CNN Africa, Africa News, BBC News Africa, Supersports Blitz. This assisted in driving awareness, demand creation and expansion of his brand.
2) Exporting South Africa to South Korea: where Brand South Africa collaborated with influencers in South Korea with an objective of increasing familiarity and favourability of creative talent in South Korea. Some of the South African designers included Black Coffee, Maxhosa, and David Tlale. This campaign assisted in driving awareness of the nation brand, skills and talent.
3) In line with the Believe in SA strategy, Brand South has implemented a media partnership with BBC broadcast and BBC.Com on a campaign called ‘The Next Generation’ which profiles young South African entrepreneurs. The campaign puts a spotlight on the young generation showcasing their innovations in medical innovation, fintech and energy. As innovators, they have found new ways to make an impact and are ideal advocates for South Africa’s business story. The campaign is currently flighting across North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific until March 2024.
(b) While the focus of Brand South Africa is to instil confidence in South Africa and promote investment and tourism, Brand South Africa is equally committed to fostering the consumption of South African goods and services as a way to export the South African nation brand to the world and as a stimulus for economic growth and overall competitiveness of South African industries in the global market.
As part of its strategic initiatives, Brand South Africa conducts the Global Reputation Research Study, involving over 10,000 respondents across 14 international target markets. This research study evaluates South Africa's export competitiveness and appeal (among other measured variables) in key markets: the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, China, Japan, India, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, the country is also benched marked against emerging & established continental powers: Africa - Nigeria & or Egypt; Middle East: United Arab Emirates & Turkey; Asia: Vietnam & Thailand, Vietnam & Thailand, South America: Chile & Brazil, and UK.