Page 36 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS178 Barend de Beer
1. Introduction
South African macroeconomic statistics is developed, produced and
disseminated by Statistics South Africa which is the national statistical agency
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as well as the South African Reserve Bank , both operating under separate
frameworks and governance. Stakeholders in the macroeconomic statistics
framework include different groups such as academics, researchers, students,
respondents, politicians, media, businesses, government and international
organisations as well as the general public. These interest groups can be
clustered as providers, producers, funders and users of information with each
group having different expectations of the statistical agencies. Strategies to
balance and respond to these expectations should account for the almost
universally accepted premise that change is constant. There has been a
notable shift in the macroeconomic statistics framework over the past two
decades due to various factors such as the emergence of an increasing number
of data sources, financial crises, and increased user demand which renders the
frameworks with which statistical agencies compile statistics for the greater
public good without too much concern for a multitude of stakeholders, dated.
In the past, the concept of building a brand by agencies compiling
macroeconomic statistics seemed foreign and not generally accepted as a
requirement. However, with the advent of the 21st century and various
concurrent changes, contemporaneous thinking now dictates that it is
important to build a brand which can be associated with a value and output
dictum. The brand should be visible, relatable, reliable and trustworthy while
conveying the value proposition of the agency to its stakeholders.

2. Building a brand
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (2017)
states that the “Excessive modesty about official statistics is dangerous. Like
other industries, we need not only to generate value but to demonstrate and
publicise that we are doing so.” One of the initiatives of the UNECE has been
the development of a set of recommendations regarding the advancement of
the value of official statistics, thus focusing on the value proposition put
forward by statistical agencies. Recommendation 6 deals with the
development of a brand for statistical agencies. According to Sammut-Bonici
(2015) a brand can be described as “a set of tangible and intangible attributes
designed to create awareness and identity, and to build the reputation of a
product, service, person, place, or organization”. The UNECE recommends that

Referred to hereafter as “The Bank”, with specific reference to the Economic Statistics Division
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of the Economic Research and Statistics Department.

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