Weskus Distrik embarked on a journey of building a South African municipality brand to resonate with key audiences. Dr Johan Tesselaar discusses the rationale and progress.
“Developing a brand is crucial as it builds customer loyalty, increases recognition, and differentiates a business from competitors. In our instance, our tourism and resident brand is performing well, and we shifted our attention to building a brand that would resonate with investors, funders, and people looking for a desirable place to call home.
“In doing so, we recognised that our track record of clean audits was not enough, and we needed to tell our story to our strategic audiences. There’s little percentage in being an investible destination if people looking for what you offer don’t hear about you”.
The Weskus story is told consistently on social media platforms, especially LinkedIn, and reaches a substantial target audience each month. It is also told in print and digital platforms through earned media, conferences and dialogues, and the executive and political team is very active in talking to and lobbying our strategic audience.
“Each story represents one or more of our brand values which is the ‘connect’ between what we offer and what our audience is looking for”.
The brand values are:
SOLID – clean governance, consistent performance.
ACTIVE – decisive action when it comes to decision-making and implementation,
INCLUSIVE – acceptance of diverse views, and willingness to engage and partner with the private sector.
ASPIRATIONAL – about growth and development of management and officials, and the vision for Weskus.
“A brand promise must be substantiated through supporting evidence, and we can match our values to what our audience is looking for”.
In an environment where the political and administrative arms of Weskus work together seamlessly, the brand values provide a unifying call to action and another reference point.
“We are seeing the benefits of investing in our brand. When initiating discussions with our target audience, they already know who we are, what we stand for, and what we can mean to them”.
Dr Johan Tesselaar
Weskus Distrik.
