Hope for a better tomorrow

While Weskus is a well-known tourism destination, and tourism marketing is well-managed, it needed some guidance in positioning it as a place to invest in. In other words, strategic destination marketing.

“I was initially impressed with their track record of running a clean administration. Twelve years of getting clean audits was testament to their commitment to governance, and this has now stretched to the 13th year of getting a clean audit. Incredible!”

However, the job was to find what lies beneath this enviable record of governance and articulate and present it well.

There are four pillars or brand values of Brand Weskus Distrik and unlike the hollow promises of some brands, these all have supporting evidence.

SOLID – the clean audits are indicative of their commitment to governance. Also, the people – from the Executive Mayor and his executive team to all the managers and officials that I’ve met – are all down-to-earth, real people.

ACTIVE – Acts and Regulations inform their actions but once an initiative or project is agreed on, they make it happen. I like their decisiveness as sleeping on a decision delays service delivery. The Executive Mayor’s call to action of Laat Waai! says a thousand words, mobilises the team and creates a sense of urgency.

INCLUSIVE – whether it’s the road engineer or Stop-Go operator; Head of Emergency and Disaster services or call-taker, they all have a common purpose – to serve their communities. Some of them refer to what they do as a ‘calling’.

ASPIRATIONAL – arguably, the most relevant brand value which speaks to their obsession with mentoring and developing their team to create an environment which attracts and retains rare talent. You simply cannot achieve clean audits consistently without the right people. And you cannot properly execute the call to Laat Waai! without well-trained, committed, and qualified people.

“Personally, working with Weskus Distrik has given me great hope for a better tomorrow for South Africans and has shown us how things can and should be. Simplistically, good people doing good things and putting their communities before themselves”.