Cape Town Tourism (CTT) will launch a new online campaign soon aimed at homesick ex-pats around the world, says CEO, Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold. Speaking at the E Tourism Africa Summit conference in Cape Town this week, she said the idea stemmed from the realisation that there were many homesick ex-Capetonians interacting on CTT’s Facebook page.  Du Toit-Helmbold said CTT’s e-marketing strategy for the 2010 FIFA World Cup had proved to be very successful and the most effective and cost-effective way to tell the world about the city. A new website was launched in January 2009 and promoted everywhere; and a dedicated 2010 website followed in June 2009. However, the CTT Facebook Fan Page became the most powerful tool and turned into a virtual fan park for proud citizens, homesick expats and first-time visitors looking for advice through word-of-mouth. Some 20 000 people (1 000 a day) became fans over the World Cup period, now totalling 150 000 fans, making it one of the largest Facebook Fan Pages in the country and one of the largest city Facebook Fan Pages in the world. It also created a valuable database for future destination marketing and research. In addition, CTT launched a mobisite, which allowed it to connect with a growing mobile audience. Since the World Cup, CTT has been using Facebook to keep in touch with its fans and to keep the memories alive. Some 60% of its online community is female, 40% is male, more than 60% are South Africans, with the rest hailing from Cape Town’s key overseas markets: the UK, USA, The Netherlands and USA. Du Toit-Helmbold said CTT had been a huge success on Facebook because:
• Cape Town had huge emotional pull
• The Fan Page had grown organically, unaided by advertising
• CTT invested the time in adding content and had appointed a champion who got to rave about the city online. To optimise its Facebook presence, du Toit-Helmbold said CTT integrated its Fan Page with its website to drive conversion, using applications such as Fan Box, Links and Competitions. It has also activated its fans to become brand ambassadors, for example through a recent “Adopt a Penguin” campaign to highlight biodiversity on World Tourism Day, asking fans to name the penguin. This resulted in 5 000 names being suggested. The penguin was eventually named Jinga and CTT will continue to use it to generate content and stimulate online conversation. Other online activities include promoting big events that appeal to a mass audience; reminding fans why Cape Town is great by posting scenic photos on Facebook; segmenting its fans and creating a more specific “My Cape Town” platform for people already in the destination who need more information. Du Toit-Helmbold said cities that relied on the same tried and tested marketing techniques would lose out to their rivals. To maintain the competitive edge, a city brand needs to be authentic, must appeal to locals first, have emotional pull and have stories to tell. “Storytelling is changing,” she said. “Facebook has replaced the holiday album and Flickr is the new slide show. Research shows people spend the most time in the planning and memory phase (of their holiday) when they share their experiences and a lot of this now takes place on Facebook and Twitter.”