Poor Johannesburg!

Posted on April 16, 2012 by admin

In the Western Cape, we see tourism marketing being depoliticised in efforts to make it more efficient and focused (see here), while Cape Town Tourism ups the bar to be more relevant and represent the interests of the industry and its members more effectively.

In Johannesburg — the country’s largest city and the main gateway to South Africa — we see the Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC) being disbanded and incorporated into the municipality, with an apparent scant regard for the industry’s interests.

I asked them some questions:

When will restructuring be completed?
“The process of integrating the JTC into the City of Johannesburg has begun and should be completed by the end of the financial year in June.”

What benefits does this restructuring offer?
“To ensure that the City of Johannesburg reaches its goal of a being a world class African city, the City announced that it is undergoing an Institutional Review Process (IRP).

“The IRP aims to align the activities of the city to the Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) – Joburg 2040 – which will result in an effective and modern system that will strengthen accountability, oversight, transparency and corporate governance.

“Changes to the institutional arrangements are prompted by the City’s quest to continually enhance service delivery; overall governance; and to respond to emerging needs of its communities. In recent times, some areas of duplication, span of control, clarity of lines of accountability, opportunities for economies of scale, efficiency and effectiveness have been identified, and needed to be addressed.”

Now that sounds like a load of bureaucratic hogwash to me!

Will Johannesburg’s tourism authority be more or will it be less accountable to the industry it serves; will it’s ties to the B&Bs and everybody else be closer or even more hidden in the bureaucratic maze of reports and processes?

Will they understand their customers — the tourists — better or are tourists the last thing on their minds, other than as statistics which they’ve played little role in growing?

I’ve been to the JTC offices several times and it gave the impression of a very elegant morgue.  Was it buzzing with tourists (…supposedly their bread and butter)?  No, I never saw a single tourist and the receptionist cast a lonely and bored sight.

Will tourism in Johannesburg be led by political agendas rather than the bottom line that sees everybody prosper?

In 2009, JTC hosted the Miss World pageant at a reported cost of R90 million.  What sort of return on the investment have they seen, or is this sort of detail unimportant in their, and the city’s, scheme of things?

At the tourism Indaba in Durban last year, Johannesurg, Durban and Cape Town announced that they would be working together on joint city marketing — urban tourism is the growth sector!  Since then, Johannesburg has pulled out.  Durban & Cape Town are going ahead with a joint campaign through National Geographic.

JTC’s response:  “The campaign with National Geographic will be relooked in the future following the full integration of the JTC into the City in light of the bigger City marketing and promotional strategies.

“The JTC has a multi pronged marketing and promotional strategy. Therefore, its non participation in the National Geographic initiative would not negatively impact tourism in the city.”

Is that convincing?  It sounds like more hogwash to me.

None of the tourism stakeholders I spoke to had any praise for JTC.  Not one!  None had any faith that the City of Johannesburg will do any better.  JTC was, after all, their creation with a board of directors they appointed.

Destination marketing requires shared ownership and participation by public & private sectors, and communities.

Yet Johannesburg has such potential as a tourist city which JTC has never capitalised upon… because it would have meant sharing or handing over control?  Johannesburg’s strength lies in the character of the different suburbs — effective destination marketing will only happen when there are effective public/private partnerships at regional levels.

Looking at the City of Johannesburg’s website, it’s impossible to find out which member of the executive committee is responsible for tourism.  It’s as though it doesn’t exist.

A search does show an undated, unattributed Tourism Strategy document.  It’s certainly no action plan for Johannesburg and could have been written by someone in Berlin or Bangkok!  Is this municipality a competent custodian of tourism?

Johannesburg needs a strong and independent destination marketing agency.

One wonders where representative bodies like Fedhasa and SATSA stand in all of this.  This is happening on their watch and they seem to be asleep, and certainly not representing the interests of their members.  (If municipal & provincial changes are a never-ending yawn, sometimes it is the private sector’s job to force the issue.  As Simon Anholt said, the only remaining superpower is public opinion.)  But please do comment and tell us if we’re wrong.

There’s also a poll to see what you think… please click here to vote!

Posted in Destination brands, South African life | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“It’s just a jump to the left… And then a step to the right…”

Posted on April 12, 2012 by admin

Recognise that?  It’s from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It’s astounding
Time is fleeting
Madness takes its toll…

I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by the announcements about the closure of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) — the Western Cape’s provincial tourism authority — and its incorporation into Wesgro — the provincial trade and investment promotion agency.

CTRU’s last media release on March 30 was a statement by Alan Winde, the provincial tourism minister, that he and the boards of CTRU and Wesgro had decided to incorporate trade, investment and tourism marketing under one roof from April 1.

On April 8, Wesgro issued a media release stating that this “would now be done by a single, ramped up executing agency to increase the province’s national and global competitiveness as a business and leisure destination.”

Why the italics?  Someone has yet to demonstrate how the agency has been “ramped up.”

The decision to disband CTRU is the correct one.  It was a fatally flawed structure from day one in 2003.  It became worse as time went by, and this was illustrated in our 2007 interview with Lynne Brown — then the Western Cape’s tourism minister.

A year before this interview, CTRU’s chairperson had agreed that the organisation’s corporate culture was wholly unsuited to a marketing organisation.  But it was all hunky-dory for Brown, a former schoolteacher, and her CTRU CEO, also a former schoolteacher.  Yet the interfence in the daily running of CTRU by the minister and her tourism department saw a chairperson and board director resign prematurely at various times.

In his comments on the Brown interview, Hugh von Zahn, a prominent businessman, wrote:

“I once wrote an essay on Napoleon the Third called ”A Tragedy of Good Intentions” which is apt when it comes to the organization of tourism marketing and development in our province.

“The real tragedy is that we have been traversing this ground in the same fashion for years, all to no avail.

“In order to understand why this type of failure happens in an organization like the CTRU you have to look at what is called “process” and how it impacts on service delivery. In the strange new world of contemporary SA we have elevated process to the level of a mantra, all to the exclusion of results.

“In the business world you focus on outcomes and results and decide on the shortest path to get there. This is standard business practice. In the weird world of the bureaucracy you follow a process, often to the exclusion of results. As long as you can show that you are following a process all will be well, the results are incidental.

“The real evil of this fixation on process is that bureaucracies create meaningless jobs filled by people who are function-directed rather than being held accountable for results achieved.

“You measure its effectiveness by hits and Rands generated. In the strange world of the bureaucracy everything is introverted. All things point to stasis. It is a form of navel gazing. So we see ”vision”, process writ large, pictures of staff, corporate manifestos, pledges and self-adulation – precious little about results.”

Shortly before publishing this post, I exchanged emails with Hugh and he said that little seems to have changed in the five years since he wrote that.

CTRU’s incorporation into Wesgro at this stage was rather puzzling, because the process to create an over-arching Economic Development Partnership is underway.

It seemed a rushed and stop-gap solution.  When I wrote to Winde’s media liaison person on March 12, asking who I could speak to about the changes, my request was ignored but I received the following bald statement:

  • “The Western Cape Government’s tourism destination marketing functions will move to Wesgro from 01 April 2012.
  • “A Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, CTRU and Wesgro, has been signed defining all roles and responsibilities.
  • “A Memorandum of Agreement is currently being finalized which will further give effect the arrangements discussed.
  • “All permanent CRTU staff will be transferred to Wesgro in line with labour regulations.
  • “We look forward to marketing the region under a single brand in a more streamlined and efficient. (sic)”

Little more has been released subsequently, other than the fact that CTRU’s board will continue with quarterly oversight of tourism marketing until various bits of legislation have been changed.  Monthly reporting will be to the Wesgro board.

What happened here contrasted so to the plans given in our November 2011 interview with Andrew Boraine, who is leading the process for the Economic Development Partnership (EDP).  The EDP will be launched as a Section 21 company on April 26, 2012.

All agencies in the economic development, film and tourism spheres that receive any public funding in the Western Cape will be required to be part of this partnership… as a condition for future funding.

The EDP will “lead, coordinate and drive regional economic growth, development and inclusion under a single brand platform through a regional marketing alliance.”  Execution of these plans will still be at the agency level.

So, last month’s sidewideays shift of CTRU was probably just a bit of housekeeping by provincial government — a start at putting all marketing under one roof.  April 1 (appropriately!) is the start of government’s financial year and with CTRU employment contracts coming up for renewal, it made sense to have provincial government’s perennial problem child out of the way before the EDP is launched.

It is a pity the Winde and his PR people haven’t kept the tourism industry better informed.  So what we’re seeing is still an ongoing process rather than any solution.  Winde should acknowledge more openly because, at the end of the day, it’s the people (not the processes) that will make for succesful destination marketing.

I have no doubt that Wesgro will be a better home — for starters, its existence is controlled by the provincial Wesgro Act, and it doesn’t have the same strictures that bound CTRU.

Nils Flaatten, Wesgro CEO

Wesgro is also a far cry from the schoolroom corporate culture of CTRU.  Nils Flaatten, Wesgro’s CEO,  is regarded as a good manager and team leader.  For Province, he must have offered a safe bet to move forward.

But Flaaten must still prove Wesgro’s abilities as far as tourism is concerned, which is very different to trade and investment marketing.  He is concentrating on cross-over benefits to start — of which there are many — and he is sharp enough to grow Wesgro into a more diversified marketing agency.

In Boraine’s interview, he made the point that “fancy mandates and structures will mean nothing if they does not attract the right people — and that is the risk.  It needs a creative environment to achieve that.”

So there are few more jumps to the left, and the right, and some more shuffling before that will happen.  But it is a start in the right direction.

Posted in Destination brands, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How Pick n Pay is destroying a winning brand

Posted on April 10, 2012 by admin

We’ve all become much more aware of the importance of brands, and not just the swing-ticket sort of awareness that speak out for “cool” and desirable brands.  Today, most people understand that “brands” speak about the very heart and soul of countries, cities and companies.

Internationally, Apple — the world’s most valuable company — understands that it cannot divorce the labour practices of its supplier companies in China from the Apple brand.  In South Africa, we’ve seen Cape Town become the most desirable SA city with the strongest brand — because locals have taken ownership and live their brand.

If any SA company stands out for doing the right thing when it comes to branding, surely FNB must top that list.  Until we get the CapeInfo interview with CEO Michael Jordaan, follow him on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelJordaan).  He lives and champions his company’s brand better than almost any other CEO I can think of.

So… what’s Pick n Pay doing so badly wrong to justify this headline?

Before going on, you might wonder if I have it in for PnP.  No I don’t, although I have written a scathing attack in this blog once before (The worst Pick n Pay in SA).  I’ve known the Ackerman family for almost 30 years and have deep respect, admiration and fondness for Raymond Ackerman.  He always epitomised the CEO who lives his brand.

My experiences may be peculiar to just one branch so other consumers should judge for themselves.

Pick n Pay promises

Does Pick n Pay live up to its promises?

Firstly, let’s look at the Pick n Pay pledge which you should find on the wall of every branch.  Based on my experience it’s the biggest joke I’ve ever come across.

Secondly, PnP has shot itself in the foot with its house brands.  When the new ranges first appeared in their new packaging almost two years ago, they promised the start of a better shopping experience.  That fizzled out quickly.  No sooner had one become used to selecting the PnP margarine, or whatever, they disappeared from the shelves.

So, from that point of view, it’s not a brand you can trust.  Imagine buying a car where parts are not available?

The milk saga which formed the basis of the previous attack has never been resolved.  Buying PnP brand milk was like playing Russian Roulette — when was the next bottle or bag going to be sour?  In the end, the local supplier, Moordrift Dairy, invited me to visit the diary.  Lovely people but I left with the feeling that they’re using technology (for long-life milk which still needs refrigeration) to hide a problem they’ve always had.  And I changed from PnP milk to Clover.

After a year of avoiding PnP brand milk, I bought a bag again last week… and yes, it was sour.  I took it back and asked the customer service lady to confirm that, which she did.  Am I unlucky in the extreme or am I surrounded by poor consumers who don’t demand their rights, I asked.  She didn’t answer.

I’ve complained many times about empty shelves and basic products  absent from the shelves.  The worst was in the middle of March when I couldn’t find a single thing I needed.  “We’re busy with stock-taking,” I was told.  So the customer is not really that important it seems…

One can forgive almost anything if one is aware that people are trying hard and they address issues head-on when they go wrong.  All I get — when I complain — is lip service and the same excuses over and over again.  I get a manager who rarely greets customers, let alone acknowledges their presence.

Now that’s not what I expect from Pick n Pay.  Anyone who has walked around PnP’s head office or any of its stores with Raymond Ackerman will know how he stops to greet people (often by name) all the time; asking genuine questions and taking an interest in the answers.  If managers can’t do this, they shouldn’t be managers.

Now imagine if store managers took a lesson from FNB’s Michael Jordaan, and used Twitter to get closer to their customers and develop the brand…

Posted in Brands, South African life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment