There are a number of strategic elements that contribute to Cape Town city‟s brand. The findings indicate that these elements are closely linked to the brand associations, namely;
the brand identity, brand positioning, brand image, and brand personality. Figure 5.2 shows examples of the perceived strategic elements of Cape Town city‟s brand in relation to the brand association model of Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005:508). It also confirms a link between the brand personality and the brand image on account of stakeholder perceptions which further add to the perspectives of Hosany et al. (2007) who highlighted the ambiguity of this linkage as a result of a lack of empirical and theoretical investigation.
98 5.4.1 Brand identity
Although the brand identity (logo and slogan) of Cape Town city is currently disputed among stakeholders, there are certainly shared key components that describe the brand identity of the city. Figure 4.3 in the findings illustrates these components, namely: natural, cultural, organisational, and sports. In the literature Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005) and Kapferer (2012) refer to key components as value propositions. These components further include strategic elements unique to the city‟s brand identity and are believed to make up the soft- and hardware of the city, which Hall (2008) expressed as important for developing city brand identities.
However, stakeholder responses clearly indicate a difficulty in distinguishing a specific element unique to Cape Town city‟s brand identity. Arguably, this difficulty leads to the strategic branding challenge concerning „the lack of commitment from stakeholders to decide and settle on a city brand identity as discussed preciously. The following excerpt reveals this common difficulty across responses:
“It is hard to distinguish a specific thing; whether it is Cape Town Stadium or Newlands Rugby (Stadium) or Newlands Cricket (Stadium), Table Mountain, Winelands, Cape Town‟s got it all. So you can‟t really pick one as being the best.
It is the whole lot that makes up the entire Cape Town” (Sports Branding Manager, Peninsula Beverages).
Importantly, the findings indicate that the strategic elements of sport in relation to sport facilities and sporting events positively identify with the city‟s brand. However, no reference is made to other areas of sport- for example sport teams as valued contributors to the brand identity (although they are more prominent to the Cape Town brand). Therefore, associations with sport facilities and events appeared interesting. In comparison to key components associated with the natural brand of Cape Town, associations with these sport facilities and sport events were not as valued and only became significant in response to the discussion regarding their contributing role to the Cape Town brand (as discussed later in this chapter).
5.4.2. Brand positioning
Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005) expressed that the brand positioning of a city, through its value proposition communicated to its target audience, should also demonstrate the city‟s competitive advantage. Although the findings indicate a degree of obscurity in the minds of stakeholders regarding the brand positioning of Cape Town due to the previously mentioned undefined brand identity of the city, the city‟s accurate brand positioning comes to light
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through its newly adopted events strategy: “to become the „Events Capital‟ or the „Gateway into Africa‟” (Director of Place and Destination Marketing, COCT).The potential of an events strategy was recognised as a result of the previously stated strategic elements associated with the city‟s brand identity, therefore including outdoor sports and cultural events.
Furthermore, stakeholder responses confirm that the key advantages of Cape Town city‟s brand positively distinguish the city‟s natural setting and home-grown events such as the Cape Town Cycle Tour and the Two Oceans Marathon. For this reason, the events strategy is capitalising on its competitive advantages to carve out a distinctive place in the minds of visitors, and therefore adhering to the expressed views of Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005).
However, Prayag (2007a) argued that although the foundation for building a powerful Cape Town brand is already in place, the positioning of the brand in terms of the city‟s competitive advantages over other national cities needs further refining. Prayag (2010:480) further argued that, not all natural attractions such as Table Mountain, wineries, the sea and climate adequately differentiate the Cape Town brand. He suggested that “whilst many positive associations exist with Cape Town‟s brand, only a few seem to adequately differentiate the city, such as scenery, value for money, and Table Mountain”. While stakeholder responses confirmed these findings, they added sport, in particular home-grown sporting events and sport facilities, as key differentiating features of Cape Town city‟s brand. From a branding perspective, it can be argued that the strategic elements of sport is essential for the advancement of Cape Town‟s brand especially as it is also significantly perceived for the brand identity of the city (as previously discussed).
5.4.3 Brand image
The findings indicate a consistency in stakeholder opinion regarding the brand image of Cape Town city. Stakeholder responses confirmed the city‟s brand image as “extremely good” (Sports Branding Manager, Peninsula Beverages) and “really positive” (Marketing Manager, ACT). The numerous accolades the city has won (for example the „2014 World Design Capital), mainly contributed to this perception. Cape Town city was also constantly referred to as “one of the most desirable destinations in the world to visit by the travel and tourism sector” (Director, CTCTT), which further promotes these perceptions of the city‟s brand image. Interestingly, the sentiment of stakeholders commonly centred on the strategic elements of Cape Town city‟s destination brand, despite the municipal influence of the city‟s brand identity. Therefore, the perceptions of stakeholders are arguably key drivers in the conceptual reality of Cape Town city‟s brand.
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Furthermore, with sport becoming increasingly global (Hoye et al., 2012:4) and Cape Town being frequently perceived as a globally competitive city for sport, the omission of sport as a representative from the brand image of Cape Town was somewhat unexpected. Stakeholder associations with the destination brand of the city were, as a result, strongly perceived, therefore, prevailing over any association of sport with Cape Town city‟s brand image. The significance of sport was later revealed during the discussion on the role of sport in the development of the Cape Town brand as stakeholders regarded the city‟s destination brand images as more important.
From a marketing perspective, it is argued that the lifespan of Cape Town‟s brand image is subject to minimal marketing efforts from Cape Town city authorities. The significance of brand related activities around the brand image of Cape Town became evident to city stakeholders as a result of the pressure that rests on the enduring band image of Cape Town. The findings confirmed that:
“Cape Town has been winning all these fantastic accolades purely on its leisure...the beautiful sea, the mountain, the penguins on Boulders Beach, the Winelands but we haven‟t tapped into our destination marketing strategy yet. We are winning these accolades by doing minimal marketing but we are just in a fortunate situation. We need to get the brand top of mind and if we don‟t start doing something soon we are not going to be top of mind in 10 years time”
(Director of Place and Destination Marketing, COCT).
Park et al. (1986) claimed that an understanding of visitors through brand related activities is critical as it will affect the lifespan of the city‟s brand in the long term. Prayag (2010) further expressed the importance for cities to send out compelling messages about the brand image of the city through its marketing channels, which will ensure a future positive perception.
Consequently, the minimal marketing around the brand image of Cape Town and an absence of a destination marketing strategy potentially jeopardise the future perceptions of visitors which further affects the city‟s long-term brand image.
Interestingly, some stakeholder sentiments still centre on the brand image of Cape Town city‟s political history in, “not providing equal opportunity for all” (CEO, WPCA). Arguably, this still affects the city‟s reputation and therefore culturally sets the city apart from the rest of the South African cities. This also indicates that the current brand image of Cape Town is still, at times, subject to the pressures of its perceived historical image. This scrutiny further suggests that the challenge of branding for Cape Town city authorities goes beyond the
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findings of scholars such as Park et al. (1986) and careful consideration of both visitors and domestic stakeholders is thus important when formulating lasting messages about the city.
5.4.4 Brand personality
Through a method of word association, Prayag (2007b) obtained associations from tourists regarding the brand personality of Cape Town. Although associations such as „young‟ and
„adventurous‟ were most enduringly perceived from a tourist perspective, he stated that they by no means make up the overall brand personality of Cape Town. In addition to these associations, stakeholders confirmed that Cape Town city certainly portrays characteristics of sport. While strategic elements i.e., „vibrant‟, „energetic‟, and „outdoors‟ implied the sporting trait of the city‟s personality, it was interesting to note that the word „sporty‟ or „sport‟ was seldom mentioned. However, one stakeholder referred to the people of Cape Town as
“sporty” (Marketing Manager, ACT). Another stakeholder confirmed that “Cape Town is a sport mad city” (Chief Director of Sport and Recreation, WCPG). Therefore, the brand personality of Cape Town communicates the strategic element of sport as a significant brand trait.
As previously discussed, Hosany et al. (2007) argued that there is a relationship between brand image and brand personality; however, due to a lack of empirical and theoretical investigation, this relationship remains ambiguous. Notably, linked to the stakeholder sentiments of Cape Town city‟s brand image, the CEO at WPCA expressed a cultural separation of the city‟s brand personality. He considered the city‟s brand to have a split personality – in that it was „fair to some‟ and „unfair to others‟ when providing equal living opportunities. The linkage to the „cultural challenge‟ affecting the city‟s brand image and brand personality affirms the relationship between these two associations and therefore epitomising the views of Hosany et al. (2007). This finding further adds to the branding literature through the investigation of stakeholder perceptions.