Gareth Cliff’s letter to Government

12th October, 2010

Dear Government
 
OK, I get it, the President isn’t the only one in charge. The ANC believes in “collective responsibility” (So that nobody has to get blamed when things get screwed up), so I address this to everyone in government – the whole lot of you – good, bad and ugly (That’s you, Blade).

We were all so pleased with your renewed promises to deliver services (we’ll forgive the fact that in some places people are worse off than in 1994); to root out corruption (so far your record is worse than under Mbeki, Mandela or the Apartheid regime – what with family members becoming overnight millionaires); and build infrastructure (State tenders going disgustingly awry and pretty stadia standing empty notwithstanding) – and with the good job you did when FIFA were telling you what to do for a few months this year. Give yourselves half a pat on the back. Since President Sepp went off with his billions I’m afraid we have less to be proud of – Public Servants Strikes, more Presidential bastard children, increasing unemployment and a lack of leadership that allowed the Unions to make the elected government it’s bitch. You should be more than a little worried – but you’re not. Hence my letter. Here are some things that might have passed you by:

1. You have to stop corruption. Don’t stop it because rich people moan about it and because it makes poor people feel that you are self-enriching parasites of state resources, but because it is a disease that will kill us all. It’s simple – there is only so much money left to be plundered. When that money runs out, the plunderers will raise taxes, chase and drain all the remaining cash out of the country and be left with nothing but the rotting remains of what could have been the greatest success story of post-colonial Africa. It’s called corruption because it decomposes the fabric of society. When someone is found guilty of corruption, don’t go near them – it’s catchy. Making yourself rich at the country’s expense is what colonialists do.

2. Stop complaining about the media. You’re only complaining about them because they show you up for how little you really do or care. If you were trying really hard, and you didn’t drive the most expensive car in the land, or have a nephew who suddenly went from modesty to ostentatious opulence, we’d have only positive things to report. Think of Jay Naidoo, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and Zwelinzima Vavi – they come under a lot of fire, but it’s never embarrassing – always about their ideas, their positions, and is perfectly acceptable criticism for people in power to put up with. When the media go after Blade Nzimande, Siphiwe Nyanda and the President, they say we need a new piece of legislation to “make the media responsible”. That’s because they’re being humiliated by the facts we uncover about them daily, not because there is an agenda in some newsroom. If there had been a free press during the reigns of Henry VIII, Idi Amin or Hitler, their regimes might just have been kept a little less destructive, and certainly would have been less brazen and unchecked.

3. Education is a disaster. We’re the least literate and numerate country in Africa. Zimbabwe produces better school results and turns out smarter kids than we do. Our youth aren’t unemployed, they’re unemployable. Outcomes-based-education, Teachers’ Unions and an attitude of mediocrity that discourages excellence have reduced us to a laughing stock. Our learners can’t spell, read, add or subtract. What are all these people going to do? Become President? There’s only one job like that. We need clever people, not average or stupid ones. the failure of the Education Department happened under your watch. Someone who writes Matric now hadn’t even started school under the Apartheid regime, so you cannot blame anyone but yourselves for this colossal cock-up. Fix it before three-quarters of our matrics end up begging on Oxford Road. Reward schools and teachers who deliver great pass rates and clever students into the system. Fire the teachers who march and neglect their classrooms.

4. Give up on BEE. It isn’t working. Free shares for new black partnerships in old white companies has made everyone poorer except for Tokyo Sexwale. Giving people control of existing business won’t make more jobs either. In fact, big companies aren’t growing, they’re reducing staff and costs. The key is entrepreneurship. People with initiative, creative ideas and small companies must be given tax breaks and assistance. Young black professionals must be encouraged to start their own businesses rather than join a big corporation’s board as their token black shareholder or director. Government must also stop thinking that state employment is a way to decrease unemployment – it isn’t – it’s a tax burden. India and China are churning out new, brilliant, qualified people at a rate that makes us look like losers. South Africa has a proud history of innovation, pioneering and genius. This is the only way we can advance our society and economy beyond merely coping.

5. Stop squabbling over power. Offices are not there for you to occupy (or be deployed to) and aggrandize yourself. Offices in government are there to provide a service. If you think outrageous salaries, big German cars, first-class travel and state housing are the reasons to aspire to leadership, you’re in the wrong business – you should be working for a dysfunctional, tumbledown parastatal (or Glenn Agliotti). We don’t care who the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces is if we don’t have running water, electricity, schools and clean streets. You work for us. Do your job, don’t imagine you ARE your job.

6. Stop renaming things. Build new things to name. If I live in a street down which the sewage runs, I don’t care if it’s called Hans Strijdom or Malibongwe. Calling it something nice and new won’t make it smell nice and new. Re-branding is something Cell C do with Trevor Noah, not something you can whitewash your lack of delivery with.  

7. Don’t think you’ll be in power forever. People aren’t as stupid as you think we are. We know you sit around laughing about how much you get away with. We’ll take you down, either at the polls – or if it comes down to the wire – by revolution (Yes, Julius, the real kind, not the one you imagine happened in 2008). Careless, wasteful and wanton government is a thing of the past. The days of thin propaganda and idealized struggle are over. The people put you in power – they will take you out of it. Africa is tired of tin-pot dictators, one-party states and banana republics. We know who we are now, we care about our future – and so should you.

G

Advertisement

World Cup 2010 Ad Campaigns:

Nandos Tongue In Cheek Adverts

Nandos and their tongue in cheek adverts were very successful. Their traditional approach to breaking through the advertising clutter worked wonders during the period of the Soccer World Cup 2010. They were strategic and creative in their approach which enabled the brand to stand out from all the other brands during this time period. Therefore for an unofficial sponsor of the World Cup 2010 there were other successful ways to work around FIFA’s strict by-laws, Nandos kept to their traditional advertising methods and used humor and media (current newsworthy events) to their advantage which got consumers talking about the brand.

Click on the link below to view one of their T.V adverts:

• http://www.cracker.co.za/video/2220/nandos-mzansi-advert—wives

How to create a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign:

Another marketing strategy that creates brand awareness at a fraction of the cost and breaks through the traditional advertising clutter is Guerrilla marketing. It requires creativity, risk taking and therefore a brand must be flexible and adaptable to take these risks as the outcome may be very rewarding, and a brand doesn’t need a big budget to do so.

This type of campaign feeds off PR exposure thus in order for this approach to work a marketing and advertising team needs to be creative and strategic as the aim is to get media attention.  Guerrilla marketing is a great way to get your brand noticed by the public and this will differentiate your brand away from its competitors and if done correctly your brand will be seen as more fun and outgoing than its competitors. Guerrilla marketing can be done off any media platform, even online.

Guerrilla marketing is a campaign that is original, unpredicted and unique in approach. This approach enables a brand to stand out from the advertising clutter and draws viewers attention. Therefore it is an alternative approach to traditional advertising methods and if done correctly it will create a “memorable reaction from or interaction with the viewer”¹.

A guerrilla marketing campaign is a brand activation that is slightly unofficial or not completely permitted by the city or event etc. Therefore a brand needs to be risk taking and daring to use this technique when trying to create brand awareness. This campaign is disruptive as it grabs the audience’s attention and is news worthy.

Therefore it is evident that Guerrilla marketing is NOT a form of traditional media. This campaign needs time, imagination, creativity and strategic thinking thus it needs energy from its creatives instead of money.

This campaign should only be used by brands that want to make a statement that they are outgoing and diverse from their competitors, slightly risk taking and very creative, therefore for financial businesses like a bank, this is not really recommended as risk taking (gutsy) it not what you’d like to communicate to your consumers.

When creating a Guerrilla marketing campaign keep in mind that your main aim is to be original in approach and to create newsworthy brand awareness, so keep in mind that this could make cities and some consumers feeling unsettled. One word of advise is to step outside your comfort zone and be completely original, as something that has already been done is not newsworthy.

Steps to follow when creating a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign:

1. Determine what your core message is (essence). What are you trying to say to your consumer, what are you trying to say about your brand, summarise this down into a 5-second message or embed it into a clever system.
2. Set clear objectives for your brand, when doing so think about your category, where your brand fits into the category or market, how is it differentiated from its competitors, who are its consumers (therefore taking into account what appeals to them, what attracts them, what would get them talking), target market, what is your goal etc.¹
3. Next is to think of all the ways your idea can come to life.¹ All the media platforms that can be used to get your message or idea across and what your desired outcome is. It may help to imagine the story headline that your campaign will create, the ‘tweets’ you’d like to read on Twitter, the posts you’d like to read on Facebook, the photos you’d like to be taken as well as the YouTube videos that you’d want to view.¹
4. Research Research Research! As your goal is to create media attention and reach your target market, you need to research your ideas to see if they have been used before. As newsworthy information (PR) is original, and creating newsworthy and very creative and original campaign will make a positive connection¹ to your target market.
5. Do not aim to “upset, scare or provoke people in a negative way. The goal should be to implement something that people will embrace, enjoy and share with friends.”¹

An example of a Guerrilla marketing campaign that occurred during the World Cup 2010 was when Pepsi strategically placed Pepsi in the FIFA volunteers lunch boxes at Durban’s Fifa fan park instead of Coca-Cola.² And as Coca Cola was one of the main official sponsors this was a big no no. Pepsi apologised and stated that the driver must have got the venue confused or the address wrong (which all in all he may have yet it still created publicity and got Pepsi noticed).

Another Guerrilla campaign that some say was not very successful was Vodafone’s streaker. “In 2002, Vodafone caused quite a stir when it hired two men to streak across the field during a major Australian rugby match, wearing nothing but the Vodafone logo painted across their backs. CNN Explained: the match was being played in a stadium sponsored by Vodafone’s main competitor, Telestra. This one backfired as the streakers were fined and many fans were upset by the disruption (which potentially caused a game-winning kick to be missed). The stunt did succeed in getting tons of worldwide press, and it earned Vodafone a reputation for pushing the envelope. But most of the sentiments about it were negative–not exactly what you want to do with your campaign.”¹

Source¹: Male, B, 19 April 2010. How to Pull Off a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign It requires creativity, flexibility and a willingness to take a little risk. Retrieved on 23 August 2010 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/guerillamarketing/article206202.html.

Source²:  Mallinson, T, 2 July 2010. The World Cup Day that was: 2 July, The Daily Maverick, The Mail & Guardian, The Guardian Retrieved on 27 July 2010 from  http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-07-03-the-world-cup-day-that-was-2-july

Picture source:Pepsi vs Coca Cola, Retrieved from: http://www.usageorge.com/Wallpapers/Commercial/wallpaper/Coke-vs-Pepsi.jpg

Bavaria Stunt:

The Dutch brewery, Bavaria gained a great amount of brand awareness through exposure of their brand through a publicity campaign which was generated through their ambush marketing stunt. Bavaria created a stir when they organised a publicity stunt at the Holland VS Denmark match hosted in Durban at the Moses Mabhida Stadium during the World Cup 2010, which involved a group of girls wearing orange mini dresses which revealed a very tiny branded label on the bottom of the dresses, only visible to those who paid very close attention.

Bavaria’s ambush marketing stunt, as FIFA called it, created brand awareness worth a value of R 756, 728 through free publicity generated in South African newspaper and broadcast news coverage. This value is only a portion of it, Bavaria gained a total value worth R1 million in local coverage yet their main publicity value was generated from the publicity they received back home in Holland and internationally.  This publicity campaign was a great success as it played on the audience’s emotions as it created a ‘good guy’, ‘bad guy’ personification and this became the instant news which followed by extensive media coverage.

The media blatantly positioned the Dutch Brewery and the beautiful women wearing the bright orange mini dresses as the victims of the story and FIFA as the evil villain. Whether or not Bavaria planned the ambush stunt or not is irrelevant. It is obvious that the public would be drawn to read an article where 30 gorgeous woman, dressed in the same orange mini-skirts to attend the Netherlands and Denmark soccer match on the 14th June during the Soccer World Cup 2010 hosted at Soccer City. The women were taken in for questioning and eventually two of them (Barbara Castelein and MirteNieuwpoort), whom Fifa accused of being the organisers of the campaign, were threatened with prosecution for a criminal offence and arrested. They faced charges of contravening the SA Merchandise Marks Act because Bavaria was not an official World Cup sponsor. FIFA took this seriously as they were trying to protect their main official sponsor Budweiser, as Bavaria is a direct competitor in the beer beverage industry. Yet the legal stir created by FIFA played straight into Bavaria’s hands as the free and extensive publicity generated from the stunt was worth the R10 000 bail fees and are simple the fee’s paid to gain brand awareness around a mega sports event as the target audience who follows this event is huge.

The Charges against the girls were dropped after Bavaria reportedly agreed not to embark on any ambush marketing for the next 12 years and “to respect the integrity of Fifa’s commercial programme”.¹

It is probable that similar legislation will be introduced in respect of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and potentially also for other forthcoming major sporting events. For example, New Zealand has passed new laws against ambush marketing at major events such as the 2011 Rugby World Cup and 2015 Cricket World Cup.²

FIFA’s Advertising By-laws:

FIFA set out by-laws to prevent ambush marketing. These fall under Chapter 2 of the by-laws for the Principal Provisions for Advertising (FIFA By-Laws 2010). It contains prohibitions that restrict companies from ambush marketing and protects its official sponsors. These By-laws are restricting, some examples are:

“No Person shall, except with the prior Approval of the Municipality granted specifically with regard to the Competition, conduct any Advertising activity on any Public Advertising Media during the Term in the following areas, including on private property falling therein: at any Controlled Access Site, or within a one kilometre radius of a Stadium or as demarcated by the Municipality; within a 100 (one hundred) meter radius of a FIFA Fan Park or as demarcated by the Municipality;  at any place visible from the principal public road(s), as designated by the Municipality by means of appropriate signage, leading to the venue of a Stadium and  within two kilometers from the perimeter of a Stadium, as the case may be or as demarcated by the Municipality; and at any other area designated and/or gazetted by the Municipality. No Person shall, except with the prior Approval of the Municipality granted specifically with regard to the Competition, and to the extent applicable and within the Municipality’s jurisdiction, conduct any Advertising activity on any Public Advertising Media during the Term, in the following areas –immediately outside or surrounding airports; in or immediately outside or surrounding main train stations;  within a kilometre radius of the central business district of the area of jurisdiction of the Municipality or as demarcated by the Municipality; and to the extent the Municipality has jurisdiction, on the principal routes from the airport and main train stations to the central business district of the area of jurisdiction of the Municipality and to the Stadium. No Person shall, during the Term erect, maintain, distribute or display a Sign or a Billboard at a Controlled Access Site or within an Exclusion Zone, without the prior written Approval of the Municipality granted specifically with regard to the Competition.” 3FIFA also holds the rights to free billboard advertising on all public billboards within five kilometres of the stadiums in host cities across South Africa, for at least six months prior to the World Cup. FIFA also put into place pre-game preparations; they put an extensive trademark registration program into place covering trademarks such as ‘South Africa 2010TM, World Cup 2010TM, Durban 2010, 2010, soccer signs and symbols.4

*Buzz Marketing and Word-Of-Mouth Marketing are marketing terms used to describe a marketing technique where the consumers actually do your marketing for you, where they talk and discuss your brand due to the impact or publicity it made. This form of advertising is cost free to a company and has a much higher impact rate as consumer/people trust people over brands. Thus if Joe Soap hears a product is good or trendy from his friend, college, neighbour etc he is more likely to trust their opinion than if it is communicated across via an advert.

Guidelines to follow when considering an Ambush marketing campaign:

1. Never use any actual names, logos, slogans or branding of events, or any graphics, symbols or signage that might be confusingly similar to the sponsors or event owners.
2. Try to avoid the use of any pictures, words or symbols that are clearly suggestive of an event or which are intended to refer to it. (during the World Cup 2010, a low budget airline; Kulula got asked by FIFA to pull their advert which featured soccer symbols, a soccer player, flags etc )
3. Do not create an advert which refers to an event such as the World Cup 2010, but which uses the event in a negative light to promote your products or services. For example sending an email to consumers which reviews South Africa’s World Cup 2010 hosted by FIFA, and then goes on to suggest that readers can get away from all the ‘madness’ with a discounted holiday special using the ‘attached voucher’.
4. Do not run competitions or promotions that give away tickets to the hosted event as prizes, only unless you have the event owner’s (e.g.: FIFA’s ) permission to do so as this straight away links your brand to the event.
5. Never use the hosted event’s branding and/or names, logos etc on your product’s packaging if you are not an official sponsor, partner, supporter etc.
6. Do not use the words ‘Sponsor’, ‘Partner’ or ‘Supporter’ in your marketing campaign in relation to an event, unless you have been granted the rights by the event’s corporate body to do so.

If you follow these guidelines your ambush marketing should be safe from legal penalties, yet if you are unsure rather seek legal advice before the campaign is launched yet some might say that the legal fine for participating in ambush marketing is simply the fee paid to advertise with a mega event and draw publicity as it is a small fee in comparison to buying the rights to become an official sponsor. To gain brand awareness and have a successful ‘ambush’ marketing campaign ad agencies and marketing teams need to be innovative and creative in their approach to their campaigns as the results of a successful campaign are: brand awareness, breaking through the clutter of other advertising messages, ‘link/ties’ to a mega event in the consumers mind without having to pay the heavy fee of being an official sponsor as the line between being an official and unofficial sponsor in the consumers mind is blurred if your advertising approach is right. Another advantage is gaining publicity, Buzz marketing or Word-of-mouth marketing*, exposure and gaining a competitive advantage over your competitors. “Only imagination ultimately limits the possibilities for ambushing, making it difficult for event owners and corporate sponsors to protect themselves from hostile competitive activity”. 2

Ambush strategies or methods that can be used by a company: 5

1) Sponsoring media coverage of the event

2) Sponsoring a subcategory of the event and aggressively supporting that investment

3) Purchasing advertising around the event that may take two distinct forms:

a) Themed advertising or

b) Traditional advertising around the event

4) Sponsoring contributions to the player bonus pools

5) Creating special opportunities, such as giving away licensed souvenirs or trips to the event’s host country, running congratulatory ads, or creating imaginative tie-ins.

As more ambush marketing has occurred over the years and with sponsors paying a large fee for their sponsorship right attitudes to ambush marketing have become more harsh.2 Ambush marketing has been defined as:

“The unauthorised association by businesses with an event through any one or more of a wide range of marketing activities. It is a company’s intentional efforts to weaken, or ambush, its competitor’s “official” sponsorship. It does this by engaging in promotions or advertising that trade off the event or property’s goodwill and reputation, and that seeks to confuse the buying public as to which company really holds official sponsorship rights”. 2

Yet there is a growing understanding that ambush marketing is not an ad hoc activity, but a well planned creative and innovative effort to expose the companies brand and to link the brand to the event and thus gain the benefits associated with being a ‘sponsor’ or weaken the impact of a main competitor who is an official sponsor. Some see it as “neutralising the competitive advantage by confusing the consumer as to who the legitimate sponsor of an event is…There is a weak minded view that competitors have a moral obligation to step back and allow an official sponsor to reap all the benefits from a special event . . . (competitors have) not only a right but an obligation to shareholders to take advantage of such events”.2

Ambush Marketing that took place during the World Cup 2010:

1. Nike on Adidas
2. Pepsi on Coca Cola
3. Bavaria on Budweiser
4. Kulula on Emirates Airline
5. Coo-ee on Coca Cola

Strategic Advertising Campaigns: (That reaped the capital rewards from their successful campaigns)

1. SAB (VS Budweiser)
2. Nando’s (VS Mac Donalds)
3. Jockey
4. FNB
5. Sibaya

Campaigns to create brand awareness:

When faced with restrictions by consumers who have a zero tolerance to advertising, other means of creating brand awareness need to be utilised to get your message across to your target audience.

Ambush marketing is an alternative to formal sponsorship and is used by companies that either do not have the funds to be an official sponsor or who could not become one as there is only one official sponsor in each product category. Ambush marketing is an attempt by a company or brand to associate itself with an event or sponsored activity without gaining formal rights to do so.² FIFA has put into place harsh by-laws to protect its official sponsors from ambush marketing. Yet there is a debate on whether ambush marketing results in a weakening of the impact of an official sponsor’s marketing activities or that ambush marketing is a creative and strategic marketing tactic to try capitalise on a mega event, such as the FIFA World Cup 2010.

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To enable your brand to stand out from competitors and to break through the advertising clutter an Ambush marketing campaign might do just that.

Ambush marketing is when a brand that is not an official sponsor of a specific event, such as the FIFA World Cup 2010 or any other sporting tournament or music festival, carries out marketing activities in an attempt to create an association with that specific event and/or to take advantage of the status or image of the event, without being an official sponsor and thus without paying a sponsorship fee to do so, or without the event owner’s permission.

Event owners or corporate bodies of these mega events such as FIFA, react aggressively to ambush marketing. As they need to protect the value of their own commercial rights in the event, and to protect their official sponsors who pay millions to be a sponsor, especially if the official sponsor is a direct competitor to the advertiser (unofficial sponsor brand).  Official sponsors pay a large sum for the exclusive rights to be officially associated with the event thus any brand that tries to link itself to the event needs to be punished in the eye of the event owner.
Why can ambush marketing be unlawful?

Ambush marketing can infringe the event owner’s trade marks, copyright and other intellectual property rights in relation to the event. This is unlawful and can give the event owner grounds to sue the advertiser, which was evident in the Soccer World Cup Event 2010.
In some countries, creating a false or misleading association with an event can also constitute unlawful or unfair competition and/or it can breach advertising regulations. For example FIFA insisted that South Africa had to put advertising by-laws into place if they wished to host the World Cup 2010 in their country and as it was such an honour to host such an event South Africa obliged with open arms, yet the logic is changing your constitution to suit a corporate body like FIFA is quite a leap considering our country which has more important things to concentrate on than advertising by-laws and suppression of local brand who do not have the finances to be an official sponsor in comparison to the international mega brands.
Therefore it is becoming increasingly common for special laws to be introduced in countries where major events are being held, which give event owners additional protection by making it unlawful to carry out certain ambush marketing activities which would otherwise be permitted under the general law. Sometimes, these laws can even make ambush marketing a criminal offence.¹

What if brands could only state their facts?

Comment on ‘What if brands could only state their facts?’ and brands were not allowed to use persuasive marketing as a tool to push their products or services?

Links:

This page contains links to related articles articulating around the subject of innovation, ambush marketing, branding and marketing.

• http://www.bizcommunity.com/Search/196/11/s-ambush+marketing+2010.html
• http://prblog.typepad.com/strategic_public_relation/2009/06/does-your-brand-have-a-point-of-difference-or-a-red-flag.html
• http://www.toprankblog.com/
• http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=98
• http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/147/49102.html
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/15/holland-ambush-marketing-fifa-dresses
• http://www.penn-olson.com/2010/06/14/ambush-marketing-how-nike-and-pepsi-hijacked-the-world-cup/
• http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-07-03-the-world-cup-day-that-was-2-july
• http://blog.technologyevaluation.com/blog/2010/04/09/what-is-sustainable-innovation/

More Interesting articles to read:

• http://www.slideshare.net/Brett509/measurement-evaluation (Measurement & Evaluation of PR campaigns)
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/publicrelations/prcolumnistrachelmeranus/article164816.html (Measuring the value of PR)
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/guerillamarketing/article206202.html (How to Pull Off a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign)

• http://lawinsport.com/index.php/news/editors-choice/1612-ambush-marketing-how-to-stay-on-the-right-side-of-the-law (Ambush Marketing …how to stay on the right side of the law)
• http://www.timeslive.co.za/business/article524593.ece/Orange-dress-campaign-worked (‘Orange dress’ campaign worked)
• Sustainable insight: http://accountablekate.wordpress.com