Now that the World Cup is over South Africa can be proud of its efforts in hosting a truly world class event. All the worry about whether the stadiums and infrastructure would be ready in time was in vain as the country put on a spectacular display for the world.
Over £2.5 billion was spent staging the tournament, but while the games went ahead with very few glitches, there was debate about whether the legacy the World Cup would leave would be enough to deliver sustainable employment and prosperity going forward.
Throughout the competition, the country’s social and economic issues were well documented and clearly demonstrated that despite all the pomp and ceremony there is still a huge gap between the haves and have nots. But it’s not just South Africa that suffers from social inequality, the same divisions can be seen in many places around the world, especially in cities.
Quite often we find that unequal access to public resources is at the heart of social inequality. This can be for a whole host of reasons, but without pathways to cultural and educational growth, social division in any society is likely to continue.
Like South Africa, the UK is hosting major events in the coming years and, like South Africa, we will want to use these events to communicate to the world about who we are. As marketers, we have a responsibility to ensure that when we develop destination brands it is critical for them to have longevity and to be agile enough to translate across all social boundaries. Only by connecting with all sections of society can we be sure that we have removed any barriers to access by generating an awareness of what is available.
Culture & Sport Glasgow (CSG) is a case in point. It recognised the need to tackle some of its biggest social challenges by getting more people, more involved in cultural and sporting activities. Tayburn was brought in to carry out a strategic and creative review of CSG’s brand, which operated disparately across 55 separate customer facing brands, housed within the eight sub brands of museum, concert halls, sports, libraries, communities, arts, events and young Glasgow.
With over 14 million customers each year, the new brand had to be flexible enough to be relevant to multiple audiences, but consistent enough to create a relationship between every single piece of communication. Following a huge research process, Tayburn dispensed with the existing brand chaos by unifying the brand identity and Glasgow Life was born. This new cohesive approach generated greater awareness of the organisation’s services by cultivating a wider knowledge of what was on offer, thus effecting better cross selling of those services.
Showcasing destinations is difficult enough, but what brands such as Glasgow Life do is widen access to shared resources, helping to eradicate social divisions and shifting external perceptions of a destination. And when you have an inclusive brand that translates at every level, you have a brand that holds its value long after the party is over.
