Thesis (DTech (Marketing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013. / During the past few decades, nation branding has emerged as one of the key strategies for national
economic development. Many nations across the world, both developed and developing, have
embraced the concept as they compete against each other for export markets, foreign direct
investment, tourists, scarce human resources and international leverage and influence. Nation
branding has now become one of the critical drivers for country differentiation and the creation of
sustainable competitive advantages for nations.
This thesis explores the concept of nation branding and investigates its applicability to Zimbabwe, a
country which has been riddled with various socio-economic and political challenges during the past
two decades. The main purpose of the thesis was to develop a model that can be used to re-brand
Zimbabwe. This research study adopted a mixed-methods approach through the amalgamation of
both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. A survey questionnaire was administered to
respondents who included Zimbabweans as well as people who are not Zimbabwean citizens. The
qualitative phase of the research study consisted of depth interviews with various branding
practitioners, managers in both the private and public sectors and academics inside and outside of
Zimbabwe. Four summarised case studies were also carried out in order to draw lessons from cases of
successful and unsuccessful nation branding programmes in different parts of the world. According to the research findings, Zimbabwe has a negative image on the global map. The country
needs to be re-branded and the majority of Zimbabweans are willing to be part of this process.
However, for the re-branding initiative to be successful there should be a comprehensive
transformation of the country's socio-political, economic and legal systems in order to create an
enabling environment that is conducive for the effective application of nation branding strategies. The
findings further reinforce the notion that re-branding should be part of a broader national economic
development strategy for the country. The thesis concludes with the propagation of two models viz,
the transformative process model for the re-branding of Zimbabwe and the re-branding as a
transformative learning process model.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/2091 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Mugobo, Virimai |
| Contributors | Wakeham, Myles, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Faculty of Business and Management. Dept. of Marketing. |
| Publisher | Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/ |
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