Brand Botswana education campaign kick starts

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday November 29, 2010 00:00

The new brand that goes by the tagline 'Botswana our pride your destination,' replaces the initial one that was - 'Opportunity and Tranquility beckons'. The revised brand logo and tagline were officially launched in April this year and registered as a trademark in August.

The brand, officially launched in 2007 had to be re-made following heavy criticism from the public for being too complicated and unrealistic to sell the country. The brand falls under the auspices of the Botswana Export Development and Innovative Authority (BEDIA) headed by former cabinet Minister Jacob Nkate as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

In launching the campaign, President Khama said BEDIA now faces the challenging task of educating the public about the need to have a brand and pride themselves with it. Khama said it was important to galvanize Batswana around a single identity to stimulate stronger communities, culture and heritage, and instil a greater sense of pride and community in the country.

'We must all work to own the national identity programme as it belongs to all of us and has been developed to - amongst other things bring us together as a nation through creating a unified brand,' he said.

He went on to emphasise that countries around the world have proven that success of national identity programmes lies in citizen participation. He said the brand could serve a very critical role to position Botswana to international audiences as an attractive place to visit, work and invest by highlighting the country's national assets including the people. Khama continued to urge the public to take it upon themselves as individuals to be part of the movement to bring the brand to life.For her part, Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcas Makgato-Malesu took some time to explain the changes incurred to the initial brand and how they came about it. Malesu, who was at the helm of BEDIA when the first brand was launched in 2007 acknowledged that it will take some time for some people to understand the benefits of the brand education since it is the first time the country has experienced this.

She said cooperation and active participation by the public in all Brand Botswana activities was important, to collectively represent the country and what it is all about. Malesu also appreciated the efforts of some Batswana who have been outstanding brand ambassadors. Some of them present at the launch include recently crowned Miss World Second Princess, Emma Wareus, Commonwealth Games 400 meters record holder, Amantle Montsho and Tirelo Ramasedi who represented the country at the Miss Universe Pageant earlier this year. She however said this does not mean that anyone cannot be a brand ambassador as it belongs to all Batswana.

The public education campaign will run in over 90 villages and towns countrywide and is expected to end in 2011.

Throughout the campaign a roving truck, drama and song will be used to convey key messages about the brand to the public. Popular Kwaito-kwasa artist Vee and Millennium House Productions (MHP) drama have been engaged to convey the brand message through their performances during the campaign.