Tag Archives: TIME

Brand South Africa new slogan “Inspiring New Ways” meaningless for tourism!

After many years of marketing South Africa with the senseless slogan ‘Alive with Possibility’, followed by the short-lived ‘More than you can imagine’, which had to be canned as it had been used by various other countries/cities/brands, our country has a new slogan: “South Africa: Inspiring New Ways”, which was approved by the Cabinet earlier this week.

Brand South Africa CEO Miller Matola said: “It’s a challenge to all South Africans, from business, government and civil society, to build on our reputation for inspiration and innovation”. The organisation conducted market research to test which one of five finalist slogans was most suitable, having consulted widely to create the slogan short list.

The organisation responsible for marketing South Africa, previously called the International Marketing Council, has itself been rebranded as Brand South Africa, and has a new CEO.  The company ‘lobbies and networks extensively among global opinion leaders to shift perceptions about the country and the continent’.   With TIME magazine Brand South Africa brought global business leaders to the World Economic Forum at Davos, to debate the role of Africa in global transformation.  Similarly, during the Mining Indaba held in Cape Town last month, Brand South Africa partnered with the Financial Times of London, to debate the future of mining in Africa.  International journalists are brought to South Africa, to connect with local government officials and business executives, to experience our local life and culture, and to learn about technological developments.

Although the new slogan has just been approved, Brand South Africa is patting itself on the back for its success already, in having moved up one place to 36th of 50 country names measured by Anholt-Gfk Roper Nielsen on tourism, culture, people, exports, governance, and investment/immigration, ‘confirming the steady improvement in the country’s reputation’!   Majola is quoted as saying that his organisation’s focus is ‘on positioning the country more as a business destination and an attractive emerging market on the African continent’.

One must seriously question the slogan and what impact, if any, it will have on the marketing of South Africa by SA Tourism. Our country appears to be developing a series of meaningless marketing slogans, no doubt developed by a branding agency at great cost to taxpayers!

POSTSCRIPT 9/7: Details of the new International Marketing Council TV commercial, flighted last week for the first time to launch the slogan ‘Inspiring New Ways’, have been made available by Bizcommunity.com. The TV commercial features better and lesser known South Africans that have ‘Inspired New Ways’:  ‘Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Baby Jake Matlala, Natalie du Toit, Trevor Noah, Lucas Radebe, Brian Mitchell, Greg Minaar, Trevor Rabin, John van der Ruit, Shaun Thomson, David Tlale and Khotso Mokoena and lesser known ones who have also defied the odds to become top achievers in their fields – such as Toya Delazy, Colin Thornton, Oyama Matomela, Andile Dube, Andy Higgins, Tebogo Skwambane, Nhkensani Nkosi, Emile Engel, Simon Ratcliffe, Zibusizo Mkhwanazi and Fatima Vawda’.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

The Mussel Bar: ‘musseling’ in on Camps Bay’s Platinum Mile!

My colleague Charmaine and I were invited by The Bay Hotel’s Sarah Martin to try the newly opened Mussel Bar in Camps Bay on Friday, and we did so in the interest of being able to inform our Whale Cottage Camps Bay guests about it, even though we both do not eat mussels.  While the small menu is very focused on mussels, there is enough to enjoy if one does not eat them, and more non-mussel items will be added to the menu over time.

The Mussel Bar space has been a street bar over the years, and attempts to be a ‘tourism bureau’ too, but it does not have any official accreditation.  The Bay Hotel belongs to Maree Brink, who also owns the large network of Village & Life properties in Camps Bay, the V&A Waterfront, Mouille Point, and De Waterkant, and therefore The Mussel Bar is one way of attracting new business.  In its favour counts the bus stop directly across the road for the Hop On Hop Off bus, and therefore we saw mainly tourists sitting there.  Bicycles are available for rent, and the operators of the cycle rentals sit at a table, hoping for business.

A water wall adds to the summery feel of the restaurant, and there are white tables and grey plastic chairs. Each table has an interesting magazine, including TIME, art magazines, etc.  A surprise was the disposable cutlery with a paper serviette.  The music was the only aspect of The Mussel Bar that we did not like, being very loud and heavy rock, not matching the light summery feel of the restaurant.

Despite not eating mussels anymore, I liked the focus of the menu on mussels, and the simple but fun menu with a large mussel, printed in black on thick brown board.  Quite simply, one can order snacks (biltong, nuts, olives and vegetable chips), at R15 – R18, and 500 gram (R75) or 1 kg (R150) of mussels.  The mussels are served with a beer sauce, hand cut fries, rosemary salt and aioli, on beautiful circular wood platters. Chef Laetitia Essau has been at the Bay Hotel for eleven years, and bakes the most delicious herb bread daily, and this costs R16, the idea being to dip the bread into the sauce.  Not listed on the menu is a daily cake and other sweet treats, which were Hertzoggies jam-packed with apricot jam and coconut, still warm as they came fresh out of the oven.

Cocktails cost R40 – R50, and we enjoyed a ‘virgin’ Strawberry Daiquiri, making it feel that we were on holiday.  Castle Lite, Windhoek and Heineken are sold for around R18, Darling Slow Beer costs R38, and five &Union Beers cost R32 – R38.  Sterhuis sparkling wine costs R40/R170.  White wines range from R30/R95 for Lands End Sauvignon Blanc – R 40/R170 for Teddy Hall Chenin Blanc; the red wine choice is Sgt Pepper Red Blend (R33/R100) and Hidden Valley Pinotage (R35/R120).  Coffee is by Origin, and The Mussel Bar staff have been for barista training.

It is becoming trendy for chefs to become consultants (Chef Reuben Riffel is a past master at this), and Chef Bertus Basson, a friend of Brink, was a consultant to the development of the Mussel Bar.  Chef Brian Smit, who started at Tides Restaurant a month ago and helped set up the Noisy Oyster in Paternoster five years ago, came to say hello, and brought us sample menus of the restaurant, which he changes daily. The Manager Carolyn was very efficient, coming to the tables all the time, checking that all is well.  She has worked at numerous restaurants, including the Sand Bar and La Vie.

The Mussel Bar, Bay Hotel, 69 Victoria Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town.  Tel (021) 438-4612. www.themusselbar.co.za Twitter: @MusselBar  Monday  – Sunday, 11h00 – 23h00

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Cape Town Tourism: Saving you time, saving you money, putting you first!

Thinking about the cyber-buzz about the non-renewal of our 20-year membership of Cape Town Tourism, which expired at the end of August 2011, we have come to an important decision for our Blog, and give credit to Nashua’s famous advertising payoff line from many years ago for its inspiration: “Saving you time, saving you money, putting you first”!

Given that Cape Town Tourism’s lawyers Webber Wentzel will have already run up a hefty bill in trying to silence us on our Blog, in writing two lawyer’s letters directed at ourselves, the letter written by the Chairman Ian Bartes, as well as a short reaction to it on the Cape Town Tourism website, easily already in the region of the cost of sponsoring an event like ‘100 Women 100 Wine’, we want to save Cape Town Tourism money.

We are seeing  a very nasty collection of Cape Town Tourism commenters slash, trash and bash either Cape Town Tourism and its staff, but more importantly, myself and my company too, without concern for laws of defamation, as well as disparagement and the truth, whenever we post a story about Cape Town Tourism. This collection of vitriolic commenters includes Mike, Jeremy Claasen, Jeremy du Plessis, Marco, Kurt, Rashiq, and Paul.

Cape Town tourism’s industry is in a crisis, and the R40 million annual allocation from the City of Cape Town does not go far when at least 50 % is estimated to go to salaries and other running costs, Australian Strategetic consultants, and the sponsorship of ‘frivolous’ events such as the 100 Wine ‘competition’.  This leaves less than R20 million, we estimate, for the marketing of Cape Town.

To remove the censorship role that Cape Town Tourism has taken upon itself on behalf of the tourism industry, to not influence my writing in having ‘Big Sista’ looking over my blogging shoulder, to not waste my time to reply to aggressive and abusive comments from the tiny collection of Cape Town Tourism supporters, and to protect commenters who want to make a genuine contribution from not being sued by Cape Town Tourism (and ourselves too!), we have reached the important decision to impose a ban on all comments for any blogpost we write about Cape Town Tourism from today onwards, and we will close the comment facility on past Cape Town Tourism blogposts too.  Genuine commenters are welcome to send an e-mail with their point of view, which we will feature as a Postscript to the relevant Blogpost, if it does not contain any defamatory or disparaging remarks, to whalecot@iafrica.com.

This means that Cape Town Tourism can save money on legal fees, and its staff can spend its valuable time on Tweeting more, organising lunches with fellow Tweeters, and perhaps throw some marketing into the day as well.  It means that I can get on with what I love most, which is writing blogposts.  Cape Town Tourism’s supporter band will now have to find their ‘Inspiration’ elsewhere in Cape Town, and will not be able to express it on our Blog any more!

We apologise to our regular readers for this self-imposed censorship of comments, but this ‘cyber-attack’ on Freedom of Speech by Cape Town Tourism, reflecting a paranoia that is most surprising for an organisation that has set itself up as being tech-savvy, and which has a Communications Manager who dishes out insults on Social Media platforms against Cape Town Tourism members, and even the funders of her employer (the City of Cape Town), is unprecedented in Social Media terms, to our knowledge. One is surprised that the Communications Manager still holds her position, for the damage she has already caused Cape Town Tourism through her unprofessional behaviour.

However, Cape Town Tourism will never stop us from Blogging, and writing on Facebook, Twitter, and in our WhaleTales newsletter what needs to be said about tourism, the marketing of Cape Town and the Western Cape, and about Cape Town Tourism.  Makes you think, doesn’t it!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Eat In 2011 is ‘Shopping Smart’: entertaining guests with produce from delis and food shops!

Increasingly consumers are entertaining their guests at home, by shopping at a select number of specialist food shops and delis, and preparing something last minute.  This is partly due to the recession South Africans have experienced in the past two years, as well as the general shortage of time, and this has stimulated the production of wonderfully healthy and creative food products for in-home use.   It also reflects the greater time that consumers spend on shopping for produce and ingredients than they do cooking or preparing it.   This was said by Anelde Greeff, editor of Eat In, at the announcement of the winners of the 4th Eat In Produce Awards, which was held as a Night Market at the Old Biscuit Mill on Thursday evening. 

The Best New Product winner of the 2011 SAB Eat In  Produce Awards, as judged by Anelde Greeff, Justine Drake (previous editor of Eat In), Pete Goffe-Wood (an Eat Out  Top 10 restaurant judge), Anna Trapido (an Eat Out  Top 10 restaurant judge) and Michelle Barry (principal of the Christina Martin Cookery School in Durban), is Totally Wild’s Aloe and Baobab Juice, which contains calcium, iron and vitamins.   The South African Heritage Award went to Enaleni Farm in KwaZulu-Natal, and this selection was motivated as follows: “This KZN farm is preserving our heritage by keeping a herd of Nguni cattle, endangered Zulu sheep, growing rare, local maize varietals and the traditional ibhece melon”.

The other 2011 SAB Eat In  Produce Awards winners, with the motivation for their selection, are the following:

*   “Best Organic Product: Kimilili’s Witzenberger cheese:  Made in the Swiss Appenzelltradition, using nothing but cheese cultures, microbial rennet and salt, the tangy, six-month matured Witzenberger had the judges carving off slice after slice.
 
*   Small Produce Award: Paddock – Chuck and Bobs:  Creating a small range of bacon, salamis and hams, Chuck and Bobs’ produce delighted the judges, as did the small-scale, hands-on way in which they make their charcuterie.
 
*   Small Produce Award: Earth – The Drift Farm’s range of organic fruit and veg:  Specialising in rare vegetables like black Aztec corn, fingerling aubergines and candy-striped beets, this family-run farm also goes to great lengths to be environmentally friendly. 
 
*   Small Produce Award: Bakery – The Foodbarn’s ciabatta and rye bread:  Made using locally produced stone-ground flour, natural yeast and water, the texture and freshness secured The Foodbarn’s woodfired loaves a place at the top of the bakery list.
 
*   Small Produce Award: Dairy – Swissland St Maure cheese:  The judges were blown away by the character of Fran Isaac’s fromages; most notably the soft, wood-ash-coated St Maure log, with its slightly salty, nutty taste.
 
*   Small Produce Award: Grocery – Quality Pickles’ range of chutneys, atchars and pickles:
This home-based kitchen produces 11 delicious sauces and seven stupendous pickles, including fragrant Mebos Chutney, crunchy pickle, and dhania.
 
*   Merit Award: The Kitchen Garden sprouts:   Joseph Feigelson offers the largest selection of edible sprouts in Africa, and supplies the country’s top chefs.
 
*   Best Markets and Stores: 
North – Braeside Meat Market and Pretoria Boeremark:   The judges commended Braeside for their commitment to sourcing the best, most ethically-reared meat. Owner Caroline McCann shoots her own venison, offers braai classes and is even breeding local turkeys.  Family-friendly Pretoria Boeremark meanwhile, was commended for its warmth, its unaffected charm and its amazing range of fresh farm produce. 
 
South: Get Stuffed Enterprises’ The Real Cheese and Neighbourgoods Market :  Valerie Elder’s range of South African cheeses is hard to beat and is illustrative of her dedication to our local cheesemaking talents. Running since 2006, the Neighbourgoods Market has grown into a hub of fabulous produce which has transformed Woodstock into a sought-after foodie destination.
 
East: Everfresh La Lucia and The Food Market :   With the widest range of products, from imported truffles and cheeses to indigenous beans and mfenu, Everfresh La Lucia goes to great lengths to promote fresh, indigenous produce.  Established by Emma Dunk, Nick Papadopoulos, Eric Edwards and Karen Brokensha, The Food Market showcases the most superb produce in KZN. 
 
Central: The Valley Market :  In the foothills of the Magaliesberg, The Valley Market show off both the area’s natural bounty and the pioneering artisan produce of its residents. There is even an online box scheme delivering to Joburg” .

The 2011 edition of Eat In magazine was launched at the event, the tenth issue, with 850 listings in categories such as bakeries, butcheries, cheese suppliers, delis, cooking schools, kitchen tool suppliers, ‘exotica’ (being spice and imported product suppliers), fish suppliers,  farm stalls and markets, organic food suppliers, caterers, olives and olive oils, and tea and coffee suppliers.  For the first time quick and easy recipes are provided as well.  

For the first time the Eat In Produce Awards were held with a ‘Night Market’ at the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, with many of the regular stall holders and past Eat In Produce winners selling their wonderful products.  I was pleased to meet Richard Bosman  (left), making an excellent quality and packaged range of cured meats using pasture reared pork.  I bought lovely mozzarella products from Puglia Cheese, and loved the stand for Buffalo Ridge in Wellington, buying their mozzarella too, and trying their yoghurt.   It was good to see La Motte’s Farm Shop have a stand too.

To co-incide with the Awards, S A Breweries launched two craft beers at the event – a Newlands Extra Special, and the Sunset Wheat Beer. A lovely sparkling Newlands Spring water was also available to drink at the launch.

As an invited guest to the Awards, it was disappointing that there was no name tag on arrival, despite my RSVP.  The media and “VIP” guests were herded into the back section of the market hall, but there was no one to guide one to the SAB table for the beer, and there was no wine available if one was not a beer drinker.  No food was served (ironic for a food-related event), and invited guests had to buy their food.  The whole function seemed a little amateurish in its execution, and I had to ask for the media pack on my departure, no New Media Publishing staff member proactively ensuring that all guests received such a pack.  The media pack consisted of a selection of SA Breweries beers, a lanyard and the Eat In  magazine, but none of the award-winning products!   Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly, who was attending the event as a colleague, and who was one of the writers for the magazine, was most hospitable and helpful, even though it was not her function, and not her duty to do so.  New Media Publishing’s Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards’ events have a far longer history, admittedly, but are slick and almost without hiccups, in contrast to what we experienced at the SAB Eat In  Produce Awards.  Parking anywhere reasonably close to the Old Biscuit Mill remains a challenge, even in the late afternoon.

Eat In 2011 magazine.   www.eat-in.co.za

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage