(1888PressRelease)
September 27, 2006 - "The organisation for the World Cup in South Africa is beset by big problems," Beckenbauer was quoted by news agencies as saying. "But these are not South African problems, these are African problems. People are working against rather than with each other."
Beckenbauer said Fifa president Sepp Blatter would soon be travelling to South Africa. "According to him, there is money. The plans are there, but what counts is that they are also executed," Beckenbauer said.
Blatter was reported as saying said he would meet President Thabo Mbeki and "explain the value of the World Cup" to parliament.
According to branding guru Dr Nikolaus Eberl, author of The IziCwe Code, these comments are indicative of a lack of cohesion within the South African 2010 Team. Says Dr Nikolaus: "What Beckenbauer really was trying to say, is that the internal branding programme executed by the German LOC has not met its equivalent yet in South Africa. The various stakeholders involved in the planning and execution of the 2010 World Cup are seen to be working in different directions, not pulling together. Internal Branding has now become a critical success factor for the 2010 World Cup and the credibility of Brand Africa is at stake. As President Mbeki has been calling for Internal Branding of all Government Departments in his recent Letter from the President, this programme should be extended to all 2010 stakeholders."
Meanwhile South African soccer legend Jomo Sono, who played for New York's Cosmos with Beckenbauer, has been quoted as warning the 2010 team to take his former teammate's comments seriously. "The problem is that we hate criticism," Sono said. "I would not know why he (Beckenbauer) said that, but he should be taken seriously. They should talk to him."
Dr Nikolaus recently introduced a revolutionary brand leadership model, called The IziCwe Code, at the Global Leaders Africa Summit in Johannesburg, sharing the stage with world renowned leadership gurus Tom Peters, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Porter. Based upon the branding strategies of the legendary Zulu King Shaka, The IziCwe Code is about aligning employee commitment to delivering the orgnaisation's brand promise. In anticipation of the FIFA World Cup in 2010, large South African organisations are calling upon The IziCwe Code to engage their employees in aligning employee commitment and delivering world class service.
Dr Nikolaus and co-author Herman Schoonbee published “The IziCwe Code: Internal Branding” in 2005 (Academy Press, foreword by Reuel Khoza), which was recently critically reviewed by President Thabo Mbeki in his Letter from the President; using “the analytical tools contained in The IziCwe Code”, the President issued the challenge to government leaders to “generate the kind of commitment that will ensure that …our government at all levels … can be trusted to honour the brand promise!”
Dr Nikolaus' forthcoming book is called "BrandOvation™ – How Germany won the World Cup" (co-authored by Timothy Maurice Webster; scheduled for release in November 2006). An in-depth analysis of how Juergen Klinsmann built a winning team from scratch within less than two years and how Germany re-invented the world’s biggest sporting event into a nationbuilding success story, by activating BrandOvation™ and turning spectators into brand ambassadors.
