Following media reports questioning the cost and originality of South Africa’s new country slogan ‘More than you Imagine’, government has hit back at critics stating that the integrity of the marketing campaign remained of the utmost importance.
Several media reports suggested that the proposed slogan to market South Africa as a tourism and investment destination lacked originality, and that the task of developing the slogan was part of a R140-million tender put out by the International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC).
According to the reports, the slogan was already being used by the US state of Maryland, a Scottish county and a US advertising agency campaign.
A statement from the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), said: “Government is aware there has been limited use of the ‘More than you imagine’ slogan in some promotions and presentations, but to date no country or nation has used or registered this as a global country brand positioning line in a global campaign.”
The GCIS added that the cost of developing the slogan was R470 000 and not R140 million as was being reported. “The R140 million refers to the entire brand programmes, both domestic and international, of the IMC over a two-year period 2011/2012. None of this R140 million has been used for the development of the country position statement.”
A decision has been taken to hold off use of the slogan until the matter has been resolved.