Jeremy Sampson redux: more on how to fix Brand SA

South Africa Inc's brand is once again under scrutiny with branding guru Jeremy Sampson on CNBC Africa's Power Lunch. Any entity or country's brand is often far more (or less) than the sum of the parts and can play an immeasurable role in determining its relative success or failure. As brands go, South Africa's is sadly left with a lot of room to grow, given the burning issues that detract from its significant potential. The big question he returns to here, is how do we fix Brand SA, and bring in that crucial foreign direct investment despite immense global competition? – LF

GUGULETHU MFUPHI:  Well, we're also joined now in the studio by branding guru, Jeremy Sampson, the founder of Interbrand Sampson, for a master class on branding and his views on how we can fix brand SA.  After the analysis, we just got from Matt…  Jeremy, it doesn't look too positive at the moment, does it?

JEREMY SAMPSON:  No, it doesn't but guess what?  The Government is in denial.  That's what we get, the message and the decisions made some years ago, coming to bight us all at the moment.  Branding, like anything, is all about the touch-points, all about your audiences.  I was speaking at a conference 14 months ago in Dubai about inward investment, into South Africa.  It was an Asian company.  Had about ten of us speaking during the course of the day, and at the end of the day the DTI guys spoke.  At the end of their presentation the first question from the floor was 'what about strikes'.  Their response was 'don't worry'.  That was 14 months ago, and here we are.  We still have the same problems.  People overseas, when they look to invest here or to expand their investment, are saying, "Is South Africa a good place?"

In many ways, it is fantastic but when it comes to the uncertainly of labour, and there's great uncertainty and that's not going away, they have choices.  Those choices might mean that they go somewhere else.  Now, we need all the inward investment we can get.  As we've just said, we need the growth rate up.  I believe the growth rate has got to get up to about five percent, just to start eroding that pool of horrible numbers, eight-and-a-half million unemployed, and all the youngsters coming into the job market this year, looking around for jobs, looking around for extra education.  Meanwhile, as you said, the National Growth Plan is sitting there, gathering dust, and that is very sad.

ALEC HOGG:  We had a lovely interview that we published on BizNews yesterday with Jack Mitchell.  You'll remember Jack Mitchell, the man who built Allan Gray, and he was…he referred to a quote that was doing the rounds.  That living in South Africa today is like having a luxury suite on the Titanic.  I got a bit of a fright when I saw that because if that's who manage money are thinking, surely there's a huge job to be done to rebuild confidence, to get together as a nation, to start nation building again.  How do we do that?

JEREMY SAMPSON:  Well, it's one of the problems when you have such an influential person, with such an incredible track record, saying things like that.  I think all of us here try and give a balanced picture.  We know that often, overseas, the picture is not balanced and there are the 'doomsayers', looking at all the negativity but this is where we need a dose of reality.  It's like throwing a glass of cold water in the face of Government or whoever, to say 'guys, get real here.  You're ignoring what is going on'.  That is very dangerous if he is saying that – 'look at the numbers' – and you know them better than me, about the inward investment.  This amount of money that moves around the world between the BRICS or whatever, and we all know that South Africa is a grave risk, because it's one of the weaker of the emerging countries.

ALEC HOGG:  Well, you remember we had Rob Davis on the program last year, round about the third quarter of last year, and I put this to him, the Minister of Trade and Industry, he said 'What companies leaving South Africa?  We've got stockpiles.  We've got a pipeline of hundreds of billions that's coming in.'  We haven't heard any announcements of the hundreds.  I know there's guys that have put up 30 houses or 300 houses in Modderfontein, for the new Manhattan.  It's quite a long way from 30 houses or 300 houses, rather to creating Manhattan.  There's that disconnect, is almost like you have to break through some, not glass ceilings but concrete ceilings to get to it.

JEREMY SAMPSON:  But this is where, Alec, people have to be held accountable.  Things that have been said, looking for votes, going into areas where there are difficulties, where people say things and I say people – mainly politicians, but they're never held accountable – have forgotten what they said.

ALEC HOGG:  "Five million jobs."  Do you remember that quote?

GUGULETHU MFUPHI:  Yes, but just on that…

JEREMY SAMPSON:  Well, yes, I think we could spend the rest of the week talking about those quotes that haven't come home to roost.

GUGULETHU MFUPHI:  Exactly, but how much of it lies with the public sector versus the influence and communication that can be shared by the private sector?

JEREMY SAMPSON:  Well, when you come back to the brand, the brand South Africa is judged by everything, all the touch points, so it's our exports, our brands.  The red tape here, when you try and open a business or when you try and come into South Africa, which is public sector, and this is where I think we all know that anywhere in the world, not just in South Africa, the private sector usually, is much more efficient and much more accountable.  South Africa's public sector, and I'm no economist, has been growing exponentially, I believe for the last five, ten, 15 years.  It's one of the biggest in the world, as a percentage and we know that for any country to be successful you've got to have Government, and labour and private sector, pulling in the same direction and talking to each other.  This is where sometimes here; I think people are trying to knock each other about rather than have a meaningful conversation.

ALEC HOGG:  Let me just give you a little bit of good news on that.  We're going to Davos next week and one of the touch points, to use your language, in Davos, is the breakdown in trust globally, between Government and business.  It isn't a sickness that we suffer from just in South Africa, but if we can identify that sickness in our country, we can do something about it.

JEREMY SAMPSON:  Well again, you are absolutely right and this is where South Africa is not unique.  A lot of the problems we have are common in other areas.  We all travel quite a lot and I think we're sometimes surprised.  'Oh, you've got the same problem as us', but the big thing is this problem solving.  As someone said 'it isn't about solving problems, it's finding the real problem, the nub of the problem and solving that'.  One of the problems we have here, it appears to be that the private sector and Government are not working together, and that is an issue for any country, irrespective of where you are.

ALEC HOGG:  Not just here, very true indeed.  Jeremy Sampson, the founder of Interbrand Sampson.  Well, I tried to put a smile on his face.  You've got to give me ten out of ten for effort.

GUGULETHU MFUPHI:  Nine-and-a-half.