Chronicle Editor
Phineas Chauke
IN marketing if you are not talking to the right people you might as well be just talking to the wind.
What brands need is to court the right people, charm them and ride on their charisma and influence to charm multitudes of others on their behalf. Influencer marketing is a promotional tool that brings business into the social context.
It is soft and subtle but it penetrates hard and deep. As markets evolve, they get tired or even annoyed at being treated as markets.
Advertising is viewed as capitalist witchcraft or a clever way of exploiting them and driving consumerism. In other words, when people see or hear adverts, the thinking is that “the reason this person is saying all these nice things about this product/service is not necessarily because it is good but it is so that I buy and he/she gets money.”
With that kind of mentality in the market, there is a need to shift dimension and incorporate a voice that will be believed better. Influencers do not advertise on behalf of brands, they merely share their experience. This may sound disruptive or even crazy but it is true, what independent people say about products, services or brands is received and believed more in the market than messages originating from the brand itself.
This is because narratives conveyed by brand executives and advertisers tend to be one-sided or at least are viewed as such.
Voices are not equal in the market, some have more weight and authority, and have a wider reach than others. It is now time for prudent marketers to invest more in getting other people to talk positively and talk much about their brands. This is probably what is needed to boost the tourism performance of destination Zimbabwe.
While influencer marketing ordinarily refers to a marketing practice that leverages the influence of online personalities to promote brands, what would work best for destination Zimbabwe would be to target personalities who have both online and off-line influence.
The tourism industry captains and the ministry could put their heads and resources together, identify and invite influential people to Zimbabwe where for the whole duration of their sojourn they are given top-drawer hospitality and taken on “Around Zimbabwe” tours.
Zimbabwe has such an amazing cocktail of natural attractions, cultural and historic sites with mind-blowing narratives that it is not only the visitor’s perception of the destination that will change but even their heart and soul will be touched.
They will experience so much beauty that even when they talk about it, there will be no need to exaggerate.
Possible targets for such an initiative could probably be internationally acclaimed sports personalities, music stars, film actors, television talk show hosts, media moguls and Nobel Prize winners among others.
Such personalities in most cases have access to mainstream media in addition to vibrant social media presence and commanding huge followings.
The moment they share their experience whether on television, radio, magazines, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, the content goes viral and other people will want to visit and experience Zimbabwe because their icon has done so.
This, therefore, becomes an effective way of creating awareness and also generating affection.
This can work if we have all hands on deck and every stakeholder is fully committed to the cause such that at every place covered in the itinerary, there are industry players who will offer service for free just for a day or so. This can also boost the exposure of their brands. While the plan is to have the visitor create content and publicise our destination, it would help to have a fully equipped local media team covering every bit of the visitor’s experience and capturing comments for use in our own marketing.
This kind of marketing is costly but it can change the fortunes of destinations like ours which have been victims of unfair negative publicity.
Remember negative publicity is what other people have said about us and whatever we say to the contrary may easily be viewed as desperate attempts to defend ourselves but if we manage to get other people, influential people to get first-hand experience of how awesome we are and carry the message to the world, we are generating positive publicity that can undo the negative.
It has become old-fashioned marketing to passively hope for positive word of mouth to go around about one’s brand. It is marketing prudence to be pro-active and take the initiative in triggering a ripple effect of positive feelings about your brand in the market.
Making international celebrities and icons tourism brand ambassadors for the destination can have magical effects in the market. These personalities can influence brand perceptions and this can culminate in exponential business growth.
Phineas Chauke is a Bulawayo-based Tourism Consultant, Marketer and Tour Guide. Contact him on +263776058523, [email protected]
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