Nation Branding, South Africa and the World Cup

Authors B. Knott, A. Fyall and I. Jones—from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa; the University of Central Florida in the United States; and Bournemouth University in England, respectively—have published a new research paper in the Journal of Destination Marketing and Management. Their paper, The Nation Branding Opportunities Provided by a Sport Mega-Event: South Africa and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, appeared in the March 2015 issue of the journal. This paper is the result of a qualitative study the authors conducted two years after the 2010 FIFA World Cup in order to assess the impact of a major sporting event upon both the host country and the global spectators. As the authors reported, in successfully hosting the World Cup, South Africa was able to bolster global brand awareness of the country’s tourism and sports capabilities, as well as to demonstrate that the country has “'the capacity and the infrastructure' to host events and that 'we can host events safely.'” In turn, the authors observed that two key components helped augment South Africa's brand campaign: extensive media coverage and the support of South African citizens, remarking upon the latter that South Africa's brand identity was profoundly shaped by "creating shared positive experiences among citizens, national pride and a communal sense of achievement and capability."

The full article is available here.