Getting South Africans excited about South Africa normally happens only when we win the Cricket World Cup, or Madiba does his shuffle with the African Nations Cup in his hands. It becomes a bit more challenging when it is done through the use of technology.
So when cyber squatters hijacked the www.southafrica.info domain for more than a year, several geeky but patriotic South Africans threw their muscle behind the task of claiming back what was intellectually ours. But, without marketing and very little push, the resulting website has seen only steady (rather than dramatic) growth. Its main users are expatriates looking to catch a wiff of Mrs Ball’s chutney.
The International Marketing Council (IMC) is the custodian of the portal, which has been designed to provide both local and international travellers a snapshot view of South Africa, as well as a where-to and how-to list of the goings-on in our country. The IMC has renewed its interest in the site and is starting to push greater marketing resources its way.
But where to next? Besides offering a restaurant guide and some pictures of elephants, what extra can a portal provide? According to the IMC, there are many initiatives on the way, intended to bolster traffic to the site. These include message boards, mapping services, and the possibility of live chat, as well as news blurbs and reports on topical issues such as voting dates, advice on interest rates and information on the most frequently visited areas in the country.
The site has enormous scope for growth. Is it going to bring international trade to our country? Every bit of marketing helps‚ but whether such support is going to enlarge gross domestic product, I don’t know. Websites and portals should be seen as just that — extensions of a marketing plan and message. Make sure the content is accurate and up-to-date, with a bit of eye-candy, and you have a winner.