BEE Partner, South Africa Economy Watch

In each of the customer segments mentioned above, the ‘product’ has to be right so that the customer has a great experience of the country relative to the experience that can be gained elsewhere. For example, tourists not only want to enjoy the natural beauty and amenities of our country, but want to know that they will not be mugged on Durban’s beachfront, or attacked in their hotels in Johannesburg. They will also expect to be treated properly by customs officials at the various points of entry and exit. Should they embark on a tour of the country, they should feel confident that their lives would not be at risk owing to unscrupulous tour companies who put unroadworthy vehicles driven by inexperienced drivers on the road. Read the rest of this entry »

A well-known marketing adage states that a bad product will not last very long in the marketplace. No amount of sales, advertising or promotional effort will do it any good if people simply do not want to buy it. As any first-year marketing student knows, and in the words of famed marketing guru Philip Kotler, the marketing concept states that ‘the key to achieving organisational goals consists in determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors’: In today’s bitterly contested global marketplace, countries have customers and competitors too. South Africa is no exception. Read the rest of this entry »