The Proudly South African Campaign is encouraging the nation at large to support the Buy Local drive, with messages such as:

• We support local products, to help create jobs for our children.

Buy Local for 2010 and beyond!

• I wear local – so that I can help create jobs.

Buy Local for 2010 and beyond!

• I choose to help create employment. I wear local.

Buy Local for 2010 and beyond!

• Supporting local grows industries. Start today!

Buy Local for 2010 and beyond!

• Local support helps industries grow. Start today!

Buy Local for 2010 and beyond!

• Invest in our future. Buy Local for 2010 and beyond!

• Creating jobs in South Africa starts with you! Buy

Local for 2010 and beyond!

• Create employment – Buy Local for 2010 and

beyond!

• Give poverty the boot. Buy Local for 2010 and

beyond!

 

We believe Buy Local is a sustainable, empowering tool for social and economic growth, especially given the global economic crisis.

Proudly SA focus week is from 21 to 26 September 2009, but we believe that every day should be Buy Local day to support local businesses, and especially sectors in distress, such as the clothing and textiles sector.

What do you think about Buy Local? Can it benefit our country, and its people?

We’d love to hear your opinion on the value of Buy Local, and hope that you, too, will choose to Buy Local and be an ambassador for the Buy Local initiative.

BUY LOCAL – A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

Conceptually, socially and economically Buy Local represents a process to build a sustainable future for the next generation. The Proudly South African Campaign, which champions Buy Local focuses on three strategies tailored specifically to address current social and economic challenges:

• Strategy to change consumer purchase behaviour – Buy Local activism
• Strategy to promote global competitiveness in the context of the global economic meltdown – i.t.o. the Campaign criteria
• Strategy to contribute to promotion of social cohesion and national pride

Together, all the elements of Buy Local represent a virtuous circle, which may be defined as a -

“Self-propagating advantageous situation in which a successful solutions leads to more of a desired result or another success which generates still more desired results or successes…” (http://www.businessdictionary.com)

How this self-sustaining mechanism works:

• At the core we find the uplifting and empowering criteria and values that good corporate citizens (including Campaign members) commit to – basically it represents a “promise” of compliance with ethical practices that are essential for any business to become sustainable and grow – the Proudly South African logo is the signifier which makes it easy for consumers to identify those products/services/companies that meet the “promise”.


• By strengthening the core (through continuous improvement and stimulating increased consumer demand, especially through local support) local businesses become more competitive and sustainable. They are better able to penetrate domestic and global markets and when they grow this increases their capacity to employ more people, generate FDI or contribute to our country’s GDP growth. The Campaign assists in this process through optimising linkages with its strategic stakeholders and the four constituencies (organised labour, organised business, community organisations, all spheres of government, together with their development/specialist agencies).


• The elements in the blue-shaded area indicate the broader societal and economic spin-offs


• The elements in the outermost, yellow circle are the external factors that are critical to the success of the virtuous circle – Buy Local, Procure Local – the desired consumer purchase behaviour, with the Campaign fulfilling its Buy Local activism role.