BOCCIM changes name to �Business Botswana�
Isaac Pinielo | Thursday May 21, 2015 18:04
The rebranding means the organisation has officially discarded the name BOCCIM, which it has been using since its establishment in 1971.
The name change is only a single component of the organisation’s refocus as it aims to establish itself as an apex body that is more representative of the private sector.
Speaking at a general meeting held in Gaborone yesterday, chief executive officer Maria Machailo-Ellis said the rebranding is to align the new brand with the current restructuring process of forming it into an apex body.
Machailo-Ellis noted that the change of name and logo would ensure brand reinforcement in order to keep up with the emerging business processes, adding that rebranding will create a long term impression to support the new services that the organisation will offer to its members.
“BOCCIM name carries a lot of baggage following a lot of incidences that had happened previously. The BOCCIM logo was designed in the 70s when the organisation was formed as an employers federation,” she said. She also said there is a need to modernise the name and logo so that it ‘speaks to today’s business clientele’.
She added that the organisation seeks to create a long-term brand identity that clearly communicates the value of BOCCIM with a continued transition of the apex model.
BOCCIM president, Lekwalo Mosienyane said the move to become an apex body does not suggest that the organisation will shed off its previous roles, but that rather it is an effort to further broaden the mandate of BOCCIM so that it represents the entire private sector and offer better services to its members. He also noted that the development of the restructuring framework has been a long journey, noting that they started in April 2014 with the assistance of the Belgian and Paris Chambers of Commerce. Through that process, Mosienyane said various stakeholders and private sector associations were consulted.
“The feedback from them was very clear that an apex organisation was not only necessary to consolidate the voice of business in Botswana, but that it was long overdue,” he said. According to Mosienyane, the leadership of BOCCIM then took the initiative to set in motion the various processes that will facilitate the restructuring process.
He stated that members and the various business groupings also made it clear that BOCCIM would need to change its name to usher in a fresh and renewed approach to delivering the mandate of the various private sector groupings in Botswana.
Meanwhile, Machailo-Ellis said a competition will be launched in designing and drawing of the new logo, adding that an advert will be flighted through print media and social networks to launch a competition for logo design.
“The competition will run for three weeks, and there will P10, 000 to be won. BOCCIM will identify an advertising agency that will look into the design creations and extend them into all areas of application,” she said. Machailo-Ellis also indicated that the agency would convert the strategic branding and positioning requirement into visual element and applications on a selection of items.