Entered by Wesgro

In 2017, challenges facing South Africa's economy made global news - from credit rating downgrades to wide-scale corruption - and the investment brand was severely damaged. The Western Cape Government therefore launched a campaign that would change perceptions by positioning the Western Cape as a successful region and an attractive place for local and international investors. A survey of the Western Cape's top 6 international investment source markets helped identify the key barriers and opportunities that needed to be addressed through a global campaign & a digital approach was adopted with a primary objective of awareness and reach.

The investor confidence digital campaign strategy included changing perceptions of Cape Town and the Western Cape. The perception was that the destination is a beautiful tourism hotspot, known for iconic landmarks such as Table Mountain and the Cape Winelands. It was therefore important that the team used these ‘known’ elements, to draw people in and divert their attention to the lesser-known thing, which is that Cape Town and the Western Cape is a lucrative investment and business destination. The team needed a simple concept that could illustrate the idea that there is more to Cape Town and the Western Cape than people thought. The words “more than” were adopted to be used across communication and creative collateral to indicate that this was “more than” a tourism destination and that there’s “more than meets the eye” in the destination. The call to action was developed off the back of the “more than” approach and became “see more”, with the idea in mind that at every touch point of the communication strategy, the user or reader is told to “see more”…and more…and more. This demonstrated the depth and breadth of economic opportunities across the region. The long-term strategy is to position Cape Town as the springboard into Africa - “tech capital of Africa”, “film capital of Africa”, “BPO capital of Africa” – a region with a wealth of opportunities in a variety of sectors to demonstrate that tourism and natural beauty are not the only things to shout about. The team wanted to position the region as a "Place of More" - i.e. a place of economic abundance.

A place strategy to change perception was implemented and used a ‘big idea’, which drew users in through what they already knew about the destination (the tourism features) and then used the opportunity to showcase the economic/business landscape that exists. In other words, the very things that make the destination famous are the same things that also make it an economic powerhouse. The creative campaign was developed from the strategy and included showcasing a range of investment opportunities in a variety of sectors, from agri-business, to tech to a range of proof points that support the growing economy narrative. The media strategy consisted of three digital “bursts” lasting roughly two months each. A campaign-specific microsite was launched - www.investwesterncape.com – providing the investor with more information about the opportunities across the region. The in-country IP team were armed with toolkits for further engagement and conversion. There was an "on the ground" element to the digital work which included stakeholder
engagements to build confidence and direct to the portal. The investor confidence strategy was supported by multiple government bodies, including Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town. The project was funded by three different levels of government: National, provincial and local, and was a first for the province in this regard.

The key objective of this campaign was awareness and reach to change perception and position the region as a "Place of More". Results included 50.96 million impressions, 16.4 million unique users, 1,391,340 engagements, 1,377,238 100% video views & 256,826 clicks through to microsite: www.investwesterncape.com. The campaign was so successful that further funding has been secured by all levels of government to redo it in 2019, this time with a hard-sell lead generation objective.