How to make a great impression
Locals are punting uMhlanga to achieve international acclaim
MAKE every day feel like a holiday. This is the tagline of the new marketing campaign for uMhlanga Rocks – set to elevate the image of the little village by the sea to an internationally-recognisable brand.
After almost a decade of specially managing the uMhlanga node, with simple fixes such as clean verges, street lights that work and stimulating of local business uMhlanga Rocks is ready for the next phase of its growth.
Cara Reilly, head of place-making at the Urban MGT group, which manages the uMhlanga centre precinct, said after almost a decade of work that brought together the public and private sector, uMhlanga was ready to set itself apart from other areas.
“The idea of place-making is very important. We had to ask ourselves how do we identify ourselves in comparison to other areas. We have Sibaya coming up next to us, the Pebble Beach area is also being developed near us, but what makes uMhlanga different? We are a village, and it’s not about the height of buildings, but about family and community. And this is what we want to retain in uMhlanga, yet still be that amazing town,” she said.
The launch of the branding of uMhlanga also went out with a call to local businesses and property owners to be involved in a marketing committee, that would strategise on marketing uMhlanga. For Brian Wright, head of the uMhlanga precinct management team, the branding of uMhlanga was a “full circle moment”.
“When we started off in uMhlanga about a decade ago, there was a lot of work to be done, we started by bringing together council and the private sector, and set about working together to make sure the services were up to date in uMhlanga. Now that we’ve accomplished that, we are taking uMhlanga to new heights.”