New SA slogan launched

South Africa is no longer "alive with possibilities”, she is now "inspiring new ways".

At age 18, democratic South Africa is getting ready to shed her teenage ways, take matters into her own hands and determine her own fate.

The new country slogan, "South Africa - Inspiring new ways", launched via a television advert, was previewed at a gala dinner at Theatre on the Track in Kyalami, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, 4 July.

The 60-second advert will flight for the first time tonight at 8.30pm on etv and will thereafter be broadcast on SABC, M-Net and international platforms.

The Brand SA-commissioned advert signals the country’s new positioning.

“Since our hugely successful hosting of the Fifa World Cup in 2010, our inclusion in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of nations and the G20, South Africa has matured and come of age. We are no longer an adolescent nation and this progression has to be reflected in our brand identity and positioning,” said Miller Matola, CEO of Brand SA.

Matola said the advert features extraordinary South Africans doing extraordinary things. Comedian Trevor Noah, world boxing champion Baby Jake Matlala, fashion icon Nkhensani Nkosi, scientist Emile Engel, former Leeds United captain Lucas Radebe and the first female pilot to be produced through the Eastern Cape department of transport bursary scheme, Oyama Matomela are just some of the 26 exceptional South Africans who make an appearance in the commercial.

Creative Director Matthew Barnes of MMS said the intention behind the commercial was to capture what was unique about South Africa.

“It’s a spirit. When faced with an obstacle South Africans don’t give up. We find a way around or over the obstacle,” Barnes said.

He said the campaign would also unfold in print and online mediums and each of the individual featured stories would flight online. The advert would also have a social media component, Brand SA’s Strategic Marketing and Communications Director Nomsa Chabeli Mazibuko added.

The commercial was aimed at both the domestic and international investing community and would flight during the World Economic Forum in Davos, at the Summer Davos and in some BRICS countries.

A domestic programme aimed at encouraging active citizenship, getting ordinary South Africans to find new and better ways of doing things for themselves and their communities would be rolled out, Chabeli Mazibuko said.

The final 60-second advert was edited from 40 hours of footage. Chabeli Mazibuko said the clips that culminated in the final commercial were unscripted. There was a script to start but then Barnes asked all the participants to re-do the links in their own words, and those are the links the team at Brand SA chose to go with.

Barnes said although the pay-off line was theoretical at conception, “It became practical and was proven right when we met the people in the advert.”

Poet Lebo Mashile was programme director at the gala dinner. Yvonne Chaka Chaka – who also features in the commercial – performed a song dedicated to Madiba from her upcoming 22nd album. Minister and Deputy in the Presidency Collins Chabane and Obed Bapela addressed the audience.