A walk on the wild side

With social media networks hosting billions of monthly visitors, conversations and connections, the CMO Council's new GeoBranding Center is looking to evaluate the level of voice, influence and creative pull in these interactive online communities, particularly as it relates to shaping perceptions of countries, destinations, locations and origin of products.

The Get Wildly Creative About South Africa ad contest will be hosted on the Zooppa.com people-inspired advertising platform and will use viral communications, online conversations, blog postings and cyber chatter to talk up interest and participation in this inventive country branding programme targeted at the world's 1.7 billion Internet users.

Current and aspiring creative professionals, digital media buffs, South African citizens and expatriates, and anyone with a lust for travel to Africa, are invited to come up with inventive ways to produce a fresh and evocative message about a country that has gone from tragedy to triumph in less than two decades. Contest entry information and a creative brief, giving background on the contest assignment and links to South African resources, are available at the Zooppa.com contest centre.

Cash and prizes - donated by SA Tourism, in-country partners and creative technology solution providers - will be awarded to the top submissions within each category including Best Print Campaign, Best Online Banner Campaign, and Best Video Segment or Commercial. Winning entrants will have their work showcased globally to the CMO Council's 5 000 members who control more than US$150 billion in annual marketing spend and recognized at a special IMC-hosted reception in New York City, the world's media center and creative hub. They will also win trip packages courtesy of SA Tourism and other travel, hospitality, lodging and merchandise partners in South Africa.

"We're looking for inspired messaging and out-of-the-box advertising executions that capture and convey the essence, attributes and qualities of Brand South Africa," notes Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council.

"With the world's eyes upon it as host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa is seeking to establish itself as a competitive and relevant nation brand," adds Paul Bannister, CEO of the International Marketing Council of South Africa. "We're excited about the potential for social media channels to generate greater discourse and narrative about our brand from people who have experienced or researched our special place in the world."

Separately, the CMO Council's GeoBranding Center will be conducting monthly analytics on the tonality, sentiment and prevalence of conversations, commentary and news about Brand South Africa leading up to the four-week FIFA World Cup event, starting June 11. It will source PR Newswire's Social Media Metrics service, which analyses five million forum posts a day, as well as conversations and commentaries in 20 million blogs, social media networks, news groups, bulletin boards, etc. With billions invested in this year's Africa sports spectacular, the CMO Council's GeoBranding Center will be looking at the host country's effectiveness in shaping perceptions and using the global football spectacle to optimize its reputation and appeal worldwide. Key determinants of Nation Brand value creation will be effective message management and clarity of brand positioning relative to the visitor/player experience, global media attention, and viral online community conversations and content sharing.