SOWETO needs a new brand to encapsulate its history, current form and developmental path.
This emerged in an interview with Toby Chance, managing director of Adele Lucas Promotions, the organisers of the Soweto Festival Expo.
Chance said the community of Soweto was changing for the better and people's lives were improving.
"I am drawing a distinction between popular perceptions about Soweto that are connected to the past, the struggle heroes, and comparing them with the way Soweto is moving into the future."
Chance said Soweto needed a single brand that would encapsulate all the country's biggest township embodied.
"Look at Johannesburg, for example. It underwent a major rebranding 10 years ago. You see the City of Joburg logo - a very distinctive brand with the Hillbrow Tower as an emblem.
"Soweto's emblematic image is probably the Orlando Towers.
"We have to think how to create a distinctive brand for Soweto.
"A brand that does not only reflect the past of Soweto, but also its new growth path.
"There needs to be a public discussion, a debate as to what we can do to expand Soweto's brand image into a modern perception."
He said the new brand identity would enable promoters to advertise the township under one roof as a brand.
Chance said he had already engaged various stakeholders in the township and the city informally, and now intended starting formal discussions on the concept.
"Soweto has always been a thought leader in politics, now it needs to be a leader in business and economic development."
Chance said the brand would also encourage businesses in Soweto to focus on manufacturing, which would see malls in the township selling goods produced with its emblem.
Lebo Gunguluza, president of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum, which enjoys 1000 members from Soweto, welcomed the idea.
"It's brilliant. No one has ever built the brand Soweto. It just grew because of the township's political history."
The Soweto Festival Expo starts on Friday and ends on Sunday with amazing features such as five-a-side corporate soccer matches, braai areas, a beer garden, SA table soccer competition and the Miss Teen Soweto finals.
Soweto needs new brand
SOWETO needs a new brand to encapsulate its history, current form and developmental path.
This emerged in an interview with Toby Chance, managing director of Adele Lucas Promotions, the organisers of the Soweto Festival Expo.
Chance said the community of Soweto was changing for the better and people's lives were improving.
"I am drawing a distinction between popular perceptions about Soweto that are connected to the past, the struggle heroes, and comparing them with the way Soweto is moving into the future."
Chance said Soweto needed a single brand that would encapsulate all the country's biggest township embodied.
"Look at Johannesburg, for example. It underwent a major rebranding 10 years ago. You see the City of Joburg logo - a very distinctive brand with the Hillbrow Tower as an emblem.
"Soweto's emblematic image is probably the Orlando Towers.
"We have to think how to create a distinctive brand for Soweto.
"A brand that does not only reflect the past of Soweto, but also its new growth path.
"There needs to be a public discussion, a debate as to what we can do to expand Soweto's brand image into a modern perception."
He said the new brand identity would enable promoters to advertise the township under one roof as a brand.
Chance said he had already engaged various stakeholders in the township and the city informally, and now intended starting formal discussions on the concept.
"Soweto has always been a thought leader in politics, now it needs to be a leader in business and economic development."
Chance said the brand would also encourage businesses in Soweto to focus on manufacturing, which would see malls in the township selling goods produced with its emblem.
Lebo Gunguluza, president of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum, which enjoys 1000 members from Soweto, welcomed the idea.
"It's brilliant. No one has ever built the brand Soweto. It just grew because of the township's political history."
The Soweto Festival Expo starts on Friday and ends on Sunday with amazing features such as five-a-side corporate soccer matches, braai areas, a beer garden, SA table soccer competition and the Miss Teen Soweto finals.
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