Building a local government brand

Weskus Distrik Municipality embarked on a journey of developing its brand, extending way beyond Tourism marketing.

“The Weskus is a compelling tourism destination brand. We can improve, and will do so, but the strategic brand that we’re building is aimed at local and global investors, funders, and the semigration market”, says David Joubert, Weskus Distrik’s Municipal Manager.

“The trick lay in uncovering the essence of Brand Weskus Distrik so that our brand values not only resonated with our strategic markets but residents as well. And of course, our brand had to be authentic, based on truth and our ability to deliver an expectation of clean governance and service delivery”.

The structuring of the brand involved the Executive team, and members of the management team. Weskus Distrik has a complete brand architecture and strategy in place, but the essence of the brand is found in its brand values.

We focused on what it was that enabled our performance, and these became the core features of our brand. These features “laddered up” to our brand values which are:

ACTION – working within the legislative and regulatory framework, once a decision is made the Executive Mayor instructs “laat waai” and things happen quickly. Being confident and decisive is a key trait of Weskus Distrik.

SOLID – our record of governance and service delivery speaks for itself, so this brand value is central. We present stability, comfort, and trust to our target audiences.

INCLUSIVE – a diverse team of youth, experience, and cultures all with shared purpose.

ASPIRATIONAL – Weskus Distrik is almost obsessed with people development, and this means that our people thrive on growing their skills, ensuring that we stay relevant in a changing world. The “people” factor is the fulcrum of any brand.

“We tested these values thoroughly, making sure that they were real and not just words on a poster. In each, we looked for supporting evidence which was easily apparent. Our brand is not about meaningless promises, but it is authentic and we back our claims and promises”.

The brand values feed off and into each other. Using just two examples, the cry of “laat waai” would be viewed as somewhat reckless without our value of SOLID to moderate it. Or we could not be SOLID or ACTIVE without motivated and skilled people who aspire to continuously improvement.

“No brand truly emerges until enough of the right people are saying or thinking the same or similar things about you. It is early days for Brand Weskus Distrik and we have much to do, but we’ve achieved important milestones and are committed to our brand claiming its space locally and abroad”.

David Joubert
Municipal Manager
Weskus Distrik Municipality