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case in point by barbara jensen
Rapid rail project gets on track
When skepticism threatens to derail support for the multibillion-rand Gautrain, South Africa’s first
world-class rapid rail system, a comprehensive campaign seeks to improve public perception
I
n 2005, South Africa’s national cabinet
approved the development of Gautrain,
the country’s first rapid rail service, in
the Gauteng province. The multibillionrand project would link the cities of
Tshwane and Johannesburg and the O.R.
Tambo International Airport, with a total of
10 stations linked by 80 kilometers of rail,
generating economic growth in the province,
creating jobs, alleviating traffic congestion
and reducing carbon emissions. Urban commuters would be able to travel safely
between cities at rapid speed—a first for the
country. The first part of the route was to be
completed in time for the 2010 FIFA World
Cup, which South Africa is hosting.
40 Communication World • March–April 2009
The project addressed the region’s accelerated economic growth and increased need
for development and infrastructure delivery,
with emphasis on developing the small- and
medium-enterprise sector, increasing black
economic empowerment, enhancing the
skills of the local workforce, and promoting
business tourism. In addition, the project
aimed to promote urban restructuring by
revitalizing the central business districts of
the two cities that would be linked by the
rapid rail train, Johannesburg and Tshwane.
Despite these benefits, Gautrain faced
severe criticism from politicians, the media
and the public. Many felt the funds should
be allocated to existing public transportation
systems, or invested in other development
projects to alleviate poverty and provide
essential social services. The nearly 700 public meetings held during Gautrain’s environmental impact assessment in 2002 were
volatile and reflected highly negative opinions. Existing public transport in South
Africa is widely perceived as unreliable and
unsafe, and many of Gautrain’s critics were
convinced that Gautrain would be beset by
similar problems.
Still, the project was approved. In this climate, the main objective of the Gautrain
media relations team was to influence media
coverage and opinion to generate coverage
that emphasized the benefits of Gautrain.
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Media messages were aimed at changing perceptions about public transport
and educating potential consumers about the benefits of Gautrain.
Goals and objectives
The media relations team’s goals were to:
● Achieve a minimum of 50 percent positive and very positive media coverage
overall from May through July 2007.
● Achieve a minimum of 50 percent positive
and very positive media coverage on major
issues from May through July 2007. Major
issues included the development of local
engineering, science and technological
skills; the 2010 World Cup; spatial development; construction; public transport;
and the economy.
Solution and implementation
Since Gautrain is the first world-class rapid
rail project in Africa and the second-biggest
private-public partnership of its kind in the
world, the need for education about the
project was ongoing. Media messages were
aimed at changing perceptions about public
transport and educating potential consumers about the benefits of Gautrain—
building relationships with communities
affected by construction and securing future
ridership.
Relationship building with 19 print journalists (including those from dailies, specialized media such as the Financial Mail and
Engineering News, and community newspapers) started with an educational 10-day
trip to London and Paris in October 2005.
The objective was to give the journalists a
comfortable, world-class public transportation experience, and to show them the
maintenance yards and attributes of rapid
rail, safety and security presentations, and
control room workings of those cities’ public transportation systems. Journalists also
visited Derby, U.K., where Gautrain’s
Electrostar was to be manufactured, and
toured the factory to see how it is assembled.
When Carte Blanche, an influential inveswww.iabc.com/cw
tigative journalism television program in
South Africa, decided to produce a program
about Gautrain, the media relations team
invited the show’s host, Derek Watts, and his
producer to go to New York, Paris and
London to film those cities’ public transportation systems for an exclusive program
insert in October 2006. The communication and marketing director was contacted
again in September 2007 for another insert
on Carte Blanche to mark the first year of
construction progress.
Two construction site visits for journalists
have been held since construction started,
and nearly 60 journalists have attended.
Exceptionally positive media coverage followed these site tours, resulting in R12 million in coverage for that particular month
(determined by analysis that considers various elements of the publication or broadcast). Most of the articles reported positively
on Gautrain construction development,
showing that government was delivering on
its promise.
Media relations relied strongly on intimate, small-group media briefing sessions
on specific issues, scheduled as needed, such
as the tunnel boring machine, Gauteng
Transportation Infrastructure Act legislation
(including expropriation and route determination) and spatial development. These
briefing sessions included the project leader,
the marketing and communication director,
and a lawyer and member of the Gauteng
province executive committee, when relevant. Visits were open to the public twice a
month. This built strategic, one-on-one personal relationships.
Construction updates were sent electronically each month to all media. This supported an online database of high-resolution construction progress photographs and
artists’ renderings, which could be down-
loaded from the web site. Access to the web
site was secured with a username and password for each journalist.
A detailed stakeholder map was drawn up
to categorize the importance of stakeholders
based on their impact on the project.
According to that impact, communication
plans are devised to link strategic issues with
the affected stakeholders and the appropriate news media to reach them, while keeping
project objectives in mind. Media management was therefore based on a carefully
researched and planned model.
When negative media coverage was
experienced, potential responses could be
evaluated in relation to the stakeholder
map. The map was used to assess whether
a particular stakeholder group would be
affected by the news.
Measurement and evaluation
From May through July 2007, Gautrain garnered a total of 844 media impressions. Of
these, 56 percent were positive or very positive in May, 72 percent in June and 78 percent in July, reaching the project’s goal of
more than 50 percent positive coverage.
The goal of 50 percent or higher positive
coverage on specific issues was also met,
including an average of 91 percent positive
or very positive coverage on spatial development, 78 percent on the project’s effect on
the economy, and 68 percent on the 2010
World Cup. ●
about the author
Barbara Jensen is communication
and marketing director for Gautrain
in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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