Literature indicates that events like a wine festival have many role players involved that need each other for them to be successful. The more role players there are, the more complex the event becomes, as in the case of the Wacky Wine Festival which is spread over 48 wine farms. The most important role players are the visitors and wine farmers that represent the demand and supply side of the festival. Local enterprises, wine farmers and the festival organisers put a lot of effort into the event, such as their time, money and skills. It is essential for these role players to know that they will get a return on their investment and for the host community to know that the festival will make a contribution to their local economy. Furthermore, literature indicates that the festival can improve the economic position of the role players by targeting the high spending market through intensive marketing that focuses on this particular segment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of the Wacky Wine Festival to the local economy and to compile a profile of the heavy spender. To achieve the latter, a quantitative study was carried out by means of two surveys via questionnaires that were handed out to both the visitor and wine farmer. The data was then captured in Microsoft© Excel©. In Article 1 (Chapter 2) the sales multiplier effect and an analytical framework were used to determine the contribution of the festival to the host community. In Article 2 (Chapter 3) different tests and analyses were used to compile a profile of the heavy spender such as the K–means clustering, Chi–Squared, the Mann–Whitney non–parametric test and an ANOVA analysis. The results from Article 1 (Chapter 2) showed that the Wacky Wine Festival had an positive economic contribution of an estimated R29.9 million to the host community`s economy. From a demand and supply point of view, the visitors contributed R15.4 million and the wine farmers R6 million. From the results, it could be derived that the festival had low leakages in comparison with other festivals. iii The results from Article 2 (Chapter 3) indicated that the heavy and low spenders differ in terms of gender, language, age, occupation, number of people paying for in travelling group, residence and number of days spent at the festival. It was clear from the results that if the festival organisers and wine farmers focus marketing strategies on the high spending segment, this can lead to a R10 million increase in the Wacky Wine Festival’s revenue, thus improving the economic contribution of the event to the local economy of Robertson. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Literature indicates that events like a wine festival have many role players involved that need each other for them to be successful. The more role players there are, the more complex the event becomes, as in the case of the Wacky Wine Festival which is spread over 48 wine farms. The most important role players are the visitors and wine farmers that represent the demand and supply side of the festival. Local enterprises, wine farmers and the festival organisers put a lot of effort into the event, such as their time, money and skills. It is essential for these role players to know that they will get a return on their investment and for the host community to know that the festival will make a contribution to their local economy. Furthermore, literature indicates that the festival can improve the economic position of the role players by targeting the high spending market through intensive marketing that focuses on this particular segment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of the Wacky Wine Festival to the local economy and to compile a profile of the heavy spender. To achieve the latter, a quantitative study was carried out by means of two surveys via questionnaires that were handed out to both the visitor and wine farmer. The data was then captured in Microsoft© Excel©. In Article 1 (Chapter 2) the sales multiplier effect and an analytical framework were used to determine the contribution of the festival to the host community. In Article 2 (Chapter 3) different tests and analyses were used to compile a profile of the heavy spender such as the K–means clustering, Chi–Squared, the Mann–Whitney non–parametric test and an ANOVA analysis. The results from Article 1 (Chapter 2) showed that the Wacky Wine Festival had an positive economic contribution of an estimated R29.9 million to the host community`s economy. From a demand and supply point of view, the visitors contributed R15.4 million and the wine farmers R6 million. From the results, it could be derived that the festival had low leakages in comparison with other festivals. iii The results from Article 2 (Chapter 3) indicated that the heavy and low spenders differ in terms of gender, language, age, occupation, number of people paying for in travelling group, residence and number of days spent at the festival. It was clear from the results that if the festival organisers and wine farmers focus marketing strategies on the high spending segment, this can lead to a R10 million increase in the Wacky Wine Festival’s revenue, thus improving the economic contribution of the event to the local economy of Robertson. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

After facing the economic recession, the South–African and global business sectors started revaluating their human capital and the positions they represent within an organisation. Each individual now had to prove that they contributed towards the organisation’s bottom line, as each and every cent had to be counted and accounted for. Some functions within organisations could easily prove their contribution towards the bottom line by providing production or sales outputs. The public relations practitioners and the corporate communication efforts they offered, however, faced a bleak future, as their contribution towards the tangible assets was very rarely recognised (Kim, 2000:276). The financial services sector however, in which an advisor’s contribution towards the organisational bottom line is easily quantified, started to acknowledge the need for this sector to improve upon its ‘softer’ intangible assets such as client communication and client relationships. The sector believes that communication establishes relationships, and sound client relationships is the only way to sell financial products and services, as people seldom entrust their life earnings or financial dreams to strangers (Christiansen & DeVaney, 1998:7). Public relations practitioners know how to use communication optimally in the quest for building client relationships, and financial services need those skills in order to sell their products and contribute towards the bottom line. These two functions could thus work together towards the achievement of their goals - public relations to prove their bottom line contribution, and the financial services sector towards improving client relationships. These statements led to the general Research Question of this study: “What is the nature of the relationship between (i) corporate communication efforts, (ii) client communication satisfaction and (iii) client relationship satisfaction, and these concepts’ relationship to (iv) client economic contribution, within a financial services organisation?” This Research Question is answered from the systems theory as meta–theory with the support of the strategic communication, excellence and relationship management theories, and Futurum Financial Group (FFG) services as the financial services organisation for this study. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was followed to establish the constructs, and the relationships between the constructs. The Financial Advisors and public relations practitioner in FFG have a good understanding of the need for strategic communication efforts, and a relationship between their efforts and the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction could therefore be indicated. A further relationship between the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction and the client economic contribution was also established. Recommendations to improve the situation within FFG included a better focus on database administration, corporate communication consistency, Financial Advisor diligence, and providing clients with more frequent updates regarding their financial situation. The greatest strengths were client–advisor trust and corporate communication professionalism. This study thus contributes to the argument that communication efforts add tangibly, by means of client economic contribution, to the organisation’s bottom line, within the financial services industry. The study furthermore provides some recommendations for the financial services industry to improve their communication skills in order to build client relationships. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

After facing the economic recession, the South–African and global business sectors started revaluating their human capital and the positions they represent within an organisation. Each individual now had to prove that they contributed towards the organisation’s bottom line, as each and every cent had to be counted and accounted for. Some functions within organisations could easily prove their contribution towards the bottom line by providing production or sales outputs. The public relations practitioners and the corporate communication efforts they offered, however, faced a bleak future, as their contribution towards the tangible assets was very rarely recognised (Kim, 2000:276). The financial services sector however, in which an advisor’s contribution towards the organisational bottom line is easily quantified, started to acknowledge the need for this sector to improve upon its ‘softer’ intangible assets such as client communication and client relationships. The sector believes that communication establishes relationships, and sound client relationships is the only way to sell financial products and services, as people seldom entrust their life earnings or financial dreams to strangers (Christiansen & DeVaney, 1998:7). Public relations practitioners know how to use communication optimally in the quest for building client relationships, and financial services need those skills in order to sell their products and contribute towards the bottom line. These two functions could thus work together towards the achievement of their goals - public relations to prove their bottom line contribution, and the financial services sector towards improving client relationships. These statements led to the general Research Question of this study: “What is the nature of the relationship between (i) corporate communication efforts, (ii) client communication satisfaction and (iii) client relationship satisfaction, and these concepts’ relationship to (iv) client economic contribution, within a financial services organisation?” This Research Question is answered from the systems theory as meta–theory with the support of the strategic communication, excellence and relationship management theories, and Futurum Financial Group (FFG) services as the financial services organisation for this study. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was followed to establish the constructs, and the relationships between the constructs. The Financial Advisors and public relations practitioner in FFG have a good understanding of the need for strategic communication efforts, and a relationship between their efforts and the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction could therefore be indicated. A further relationship between the client communication satisfaction and client relationship satisfaction and the client economic contribution was also established. Recommendations to improve the situation within FFG included a better focus on database administration, corporate communication consistency, Financial Advisor diligence, and providing clients with more frequent updates regarding their financial situation. The greatest strengths were client–advisor trust and corporate communication professionalism. This study thus contributes to the argument that communication efforts add tangibly, by means of client economic contribution, to the organisation’s bottom line, within the financial services industry. The study furthermore provides some recommendations for the financial services industry to improve their communication skills in order to build client relationships. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.