Batswana have a role to play in BRANDING Botswana. Batswana can live and should live the Botswana Brand through various activations and initiatives that uphold and promote Botswana, its distinct attributes as well as its values.
Batswana are encouraged to live the Botswana BRAND through amongst others the following;
Brand Ambassadorship Programme
The Brand Ambassadorship Programme identifies influential Batswana in different spheres and jurisdictions to lead initiatives to promote Botswana and its values, both locally and internationally.
This programme seeks to rally Batswana in the Diaspora around a unified message to promote Botswana internationally, in the different jurisdictions. Batswana around the world are engaged to play a role in promoting Botswana.
The campaign urges Batswana to ‘Live’ the Botswana Brand. It highlights the contributions that Batswana make in making Botswana a destination of choice to Live, Work and Invest.
Buy Botswana is a national initiative that is aimed at encouraging Batswana to actively grow the local economy by buying locally made products, supporting local initiatives and using local services.
The Brand Ambassadorship Programme identifies influential Batswana in different spheres and jurisdictions to lead initiatives to promote Botswana and its values, both locally and internationally.
In promoting a country; Nation Brand programs garner the support of key individuals to assist in communicating brand messages to defined audiences/target groups. This is realised through implementing country promotional initiatives in collaboration with influential individuals and/or groups (opinion leaders) who can act as catalysts to promote and encourage talk ability about Botswana.
The brand ambassadors personify the BRAND in appearance, standards, morals and ethics. They demonstrate passion to promote the Botswana image, values and vision. They should ideally also contribute to the promotion of culture, heritage, investment climate and showed values of compassion and nation-building.
The Role of A Brand Ambassador
Carry the message of the brand to the public and symbolize the brand in a positive manner
Assist with country promotional/marketing campaigns activations and activities
Increase pride mark awareness, uptake and understanding
Invoke a sense of pride about Nation Brand locally and internationally
Promote Botswana’s offer through interacting with prospective and current investors, tourists, local and international audiences
Provide the Nation Brand with a defined competitive boundary
Influence positive perceptions of the attractiveness of the brand to the local and international public
Active Global Citizens
This programme seeks to rally Batswana in the Diaspora around a unified message to promote Botswana internationally, in the different jurisdictions. Batswana around the world are engaged to play a role in promoting Botswana.
Despite the positive standing of Botswana, research has found out that Botswana is relatively unknown around the world. Botswana competes with other countries for investment, tourism etc and country awareness is critical. In addition to continued concerted efforts to promote Botswana internationally, there is need to engage Batswana around the world to play an active role in promoting their country in countries where they are based.
The Active Global Citizens campaign seeks to rally Batswana in the Diaspora around a unified message to promote Botswana internationally, in their different jurisdictions. Batswana living in the Diaspora have a role to play in promoting Botswana, and as Global citizens each Motswana has a role to play in creating awareness about Botswana.
So, wherever you are, you can make a difference by making noise about BOTSWANA, and what Botswana has to offer. You can also register for the campaign to get regular updates and engagement by sending your name/contact details/email address/country where stationed/profession to brandbotswana@bitc.co.bw
ForMeForBW Campaign
The campaign urges Batswana to ‘Live’ the Botswana Brand. It highlights the contributions that Batswana make in making Botswana a destination of choice to Live, Work and Invest.
For Me, For Botswana, also dubbed For Me For BW, is one of Brand Botswana’s initiatives aimed at driving the Brand Botswana mandate of bringing Batswana around a shared set of values and instilling a strong sense of national pride among Batswana.
Through the campaign, Brand Botswana aims to recognise the everyday men, women and youth who in their own unique way, are playing a role in taking Botswana to new national heights and establishing a deeper sense of national pride. The national campaign aims to highlight the fact that all roles add value. It also serves to reflect the key industries/Sectors which we need to bring into focus such as the Hospitality, Education, Mining Beneficiation, Transport etc.
A rally call for all Batswana, For Me For BW encourages each and every Motswana to introspect and evaluate their roles in order to see if they are fulfilling their individual roles and how well they are doing so. It is a call to action for all Batswana to stand up and drive their country forward towards the growth and prosperity of Botswana.
Buy Botswana is a national initiative that is aimed at encouraging Batswana to actively grow the local economy by buying locally made products, supporting local initiatives and using local services.
The importance of buying local:
When looking at our statistics, it is very clear that Botswana has a very high import bill. In 2016, our national import bill was sitting at BWP 64billion and in 2017 it reduced to BWP 54.42 billion. This reduction is very welcome but it also shows that as Batswana there is room to not only produce more products but to also buy the products being made locally.
There is a direct correlation between consumer purchasing behavior and key areas such as employment creation, local economic development and prosperity. This basically means, when you buy products made and grown in Botswana, you can be sure that you are keeping your family members and friends employed, creating future employment and most importantly growing our economy so that it can sustain all of us.
When we are doing great, we will see the import bill go down as Batswana become more self-reliant, we will see unemployment go down and national prosperity increase.
Top 10 Reasons To Buy Local:
There are numerous and poignant reasons to Buy Botswana but below are the most profound:
Create employment: Buying locally made products plays a significant role in creating sustainable jobs. As local companies grow from the increased demand of their products, they are able to absorb more labour, reducing the unemployment rate in the country.
Grow Government revenue for social services: When you buy Botswana made products all taxes attached to that product stay in the country and provide the government with much needed funds to carry out projects such as development of infrastructure, provide free education and health care, government subsidies and grants, to name but a few that go towards a better life for all of us.
Grow Local industries: Buying local leads to an increase in demand, which will result in more and more companies being developed to meet the demand. As these companies develop and grow, industries are created and these local industries are essential for the long term economic growth of Botswana. Buying Botswana also helps grow them and create even more industries that service the existing industries. When we support our fashion industry through our local fashion designers, it can lead to the growth of other industries such as textiles which will provide fabrics for the designers to use.
Improved quality of life: Buying Botswana creates wealth for the local producers and business people, in addition it also creates employment. These factors coming together leads to a better quality of life for Batswana.
Empower Communities: Buying Botswana can help empower local communities. Products such as our traditional baskets are usually woven by women in local communities and as they sell their crafts, as a collective, their communities improve.
Enjoy quality products: As Batswana engage more with local products and give feedback on them in various ways, it will lead to better quality products and reduce their reliance on foreign products. This will be because manufacturers will get to better understand the quality that Batswana expect of their products and better serve the market.
Help diversify the economy: Buying Botswana helps diverse the economy away from the mineral wealth that Botswana has relied on. A diversified economy is cushioned against challenges that could impact different sectors of the economy. Should one sector have challenges, the other sectors will still sustain the economy.
Build strong local brands: Buying Botswana helps local brands establish themselves and eventually grow to greater recognition. Local Brands such as St Louis Lager are now known and appreciated across the country and outside the country.
Promote Self-sufficiency: Buying Botswana helps promote national self-sufficiency. Buying locally produced goods helps create a supply of local goods that can sustain Batswana and protect the country in the event that international suppliers have challenges supplying enough to meet the needs of Batswana.
Create Export capacity: Buy Botswana to create export capacity for locally produced goods. In order for a company to export successfully and meet the demands of the local market, it needs to have built a strong local base. By buying local, you create that local base that will allow local products to be exported and sell Botswana to the international market.
#PushaBW
#PushaBW is the rallying call for all Batswana to play their part in buying Botswana. Colloquially, when we say Pusha we mean, support, encourage, drive forward, to name but a few. So #PushaBW is asking Batswana to support local, it is reminder to encourage local production and confirms that we are all driving the country forward.
All Batswana are encouraged to use #PushaBW whenever showcasing anything local, in our discussions and initiatives if its local, it deserves #PushaBW.
In the end, it comes down to all of us as consumers; people, businesses and government entities that buy things every day, to consciously purchase products made and grown in Botswana to grow our country. It’s time to #PushaBW
