Page 37 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS178 Barend de Beer
brand recognition should be seen as an explicit objective, which is based on
the usefulness and quality of what statistical agencies does and this
foundation should be augmented by specific tangible examples of the value
of official statistics. Thus, in brand building, statistical agencies should: 1) Be
more assertive about adherence to the Fundamental Principles of Official
Statistics and the value that this generates; 2) Promote and publicize how
official statistics around the world have added value; 3) Formulate and
implement explicit brand recognition and promotion strategies; and 4) Take
steps to cater for a wider and probably less informed range of users.
Brand building by various statistical agencies worldwide has increased,
examples are Statistics Canada promoting their work with the slogan “Serving
Canada with high-quality statistical information that matters!”, and Statistics
New Zealand with “Unleash the power of data to change lives!”. The Bank of
Portugal (2017) contributes to branding awareness through publications such
as “Making sense of central bank data – The Banco de Portugal’s experience
in communicating statistics”. The central hypothesis of the authors is that
“numbers alone do not tell a story – to mean something, their inner value must
be brought to life”. Branding should enhance the awareness of the various
stakeholders as to the inherent value of the statistics. However, building
valuable statistics is a dynamic process and to understand the value
proposition requires an assessment of the statistical value chain (SVC).

3. Stakeholder engagement through the statistical value chain
The macroeconomic statistical process is value chain driven with the
ultimate goal of generating statistics that add value for the end user. Of
paramount importance is the value proposition offered to users which requires
an understanding of how value is added as the production process progresses.
This poses the question: for whom do central bank statistical outfits build
the value which is communicated through their value proposition? The
conventional view would be that this is done to serve the end users of
statistics. However, this is short-sighted as it only directs attention to one of
the numerous stakeholders throughout the macroeconomic SVC. To correctly
appropriate resources it should be acknowledged that end users only
represent one of the stakeholder groups. While the previous statement is
necessary, it is not sufficient in itself. Before engaging in the topic of what
might serve as a sufficient stakeholder engagement framework (SEF), it is
necessary to acknowledge that as a first order priority it is no longer the sole
discretion of the Bank to decide whether it wants to engage with stakeholders
or not. Given changing socio-dynamics in the first 19 years of the 21st century,
active stakeholder engagement has become a prerequisite and a necessary
condition. Once acknowledged, it requires decisions as to when and how to
successfully engage stakeholders, an activity which is premised on the notion

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