Franschhoek Valley Month - November 2009 Editorial
Brand Franschhoek Revisited
I've realised that, for fear of offending the readership, I must tread very carefully when I opine about ‘Brand Franschhoek’ but in interviewing Derk Blaisse in '5 minutes with' on page 3, and hearing that not only was he not required to play at the Bastille festival in July, his services and that of his band, the Cape Dutch Connection, are not required for the Champagne Festival in December either, my ears were pricked. I can understand that the organisers may want to showcase different types of music and it is not my job to champion the interests of private enterprise here in the valley, but it does stimulate me to question what exactly Brand Franschhoek is, if it's not the likes of the Jazz band.
For a while now we’ve been told that Brand Franschhoek is being repositioned - away from the traditional Eat, Sleep, Drink to something else. As yet, I have no information on what the ‘something else’ is, but for us here at the Month, we very much agree that the branding of the valley needs to be what sets us apart, not what makes us similar to the rest of the world. Our brand needs to be unique. For what it’s worth, in my 14 years here I have observed what makes us different; for some reason people have come here and tried to do things differently and to a great extent they have done it successfully. To my way of thinking that’s what sets us apart from other beautiful wine valleys.
Whether it’s making wine, olive oil, innovative food, creative retail or exceptional accommodation, what has put us on the map is that the people behind these ventures have succeeded and succeeded at a high standard. We have world-ranked guest houses, the finest restauranteurs and chefs, wine and olive oil makers that win coveted awards, retailers that are breaking new ground in originality, artists, not just any golf course but the best golf course, a world-class motor museum and chocolate-and- cheese factories to boot. That is the brand because that is what makes us unique and that is what we must covet.
I am reminded that the valley is bigger than individuals and I agree, that people ‘don’t come here for individual shops or restaurants’ they come here for the total experience and our efforts should be behind bringing people here and, in recognition that that’s the marketing job of the FWVTA, we must all stand behind that effort. Yet people do travel from Cape Town every Friday night in the summer to La Brasserie for the Jazz. And then stay. And eat. And drink. And browse and buy. There’s no denying it's part of the brand. Would they have come anyway? We should encourage individuals that come here and do things differently. Some of the valley’s best wines are not made by winemakers. They are made by retired industrialists, journalists, retailers and doctors.
I understand that in order to operate successfully and effectively the FWVTA needs money and the greater the subscriber base the more effective a marketing job it will do. But it is plainly not true to say that everyone is part of Brand Franschhoek even though everyone benefits from the trickle-down of the visitor spend. Identifiable, defined brands work where others don’t. So perhaps there should be two tiers of membership: brand membership and associate membership and with that an honest understanding that the brand must be defined and promoted and that associates will benefit from the success of the brand.
I expected feedback from the Waterfront 'Question of the Month' in October because I thought it would be interpreted as criticism of the valley’s marketing efforts. But it wasn’t intended that way (and I didn’t get much) but I did receive this from Amanda:
"It was interesting to read the comments of people in your 'Question of the Month.' I am not surprised though... When I worked in Galerie Ezakwantu - where the tourist information office is now situated - tourists had asked me what town they were in! This had not happened once but quite a number of times. I have met people that had lived in Paarl their entire life but never visited Franschhoek!"
The appeal we ran last month alongside the story about the Franschhoek Valley creating its own 2010 Soccer Championship is going very well. The much-needed repairs to the pitch at Matyotyombeni are being looked at by a number of local experts, Solms-Delta have kindly offered us goalposts, Umbro will sponsor the balls and corner flags, and the fifteen team outfits have been ordered. To date we’ve had eleven takers for kit sponsorship at R2000 each and just need four more (including the ref’s kit). The draw will take place on the 4th December and the first game will kick off the following day and run right through into the actual finals. As we reported last month towards the end of May, a Valley XI (chosen by the players) will play an Umbro celebrity XI on the Matyotyombeni pitch shortly before the kick off to the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. For further information and sponsorship contact Michelle on michelle@trickytconcepts.co.za.
This Month breaks new ground in this edition with its eight-page Property and Lifestyle pull-out and expanded Food and Wine section and will be the first month we distribute 10,000 copies.