New Age ANC Meets Social Media

The  African National Congress has entrenched its self with the new age, after embarking on the #AmandlaChallenge, that saw a Social Media phenomenon which appealed to people from all walks of life.Furthermore, I honestly believe this Social Media campaign changed my perceptions regarding the way political parties communicate with citizens for the first time I felt part of something meaningful and I am in charge of a campaign run by a political party which then made me realize how the African National Congress has moved away from the traditional norms of doing things.                                                                                         
However,this campaign was also ignited by the fact that the ANC hosted its 103 year birthday celebrations in Cape Town.Meanwhile,it kept us as the public on our toes and ended up taking selfies/pictures showing my admiration for the party.    

                                Record label owner/ musician Arthur Mafokate who already accepted the                                                                           #AmandlaChallenge during the ANC's birthday celebrations in Cape Town.
   
  Billed as the biggest Social Media campaign by a political party in South Africa which swept across Twitter,Facebook as well as Instagram an example can be given by the following link.I can further attribute this to the trends  on Twitter I observed #AmandlaChallenge again since various media personalities accepted the challenge it went viral instantly since I myself hoped I contributed immensely on the whole campaign.           
                                                              

Terry Pheto with a fellow ANC supporter during their birthday celebrations in Cape Town source: Sowetan Images.

THE DIGITAL TRENDS THE AMANDLA CHALLENGE SHOWCASED.

 Given my observations the #AmandlaChallenge followed five digital trends namely:''Future demands Smart PersonlisationSmart Personlisation,tailoring,4ts techniques,tools,technologies,terminologies,building multi- dimensional profiles'' again this can be used to rank key influencers for example, using celebrities as part of your campaigns as highlighted above.Another one is value evidence strategic planning this can be given by using all social media networks effectively hence it became the most successful social media campaign on the South of the equator.Lastly securing a reputation for content leadership I can safely say it then ignited people's hopes regarding the African National Congress.
                                                                                                                                   

                  OVERALL IMPRESSIONS ON THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN.                                    

   I can safely admit now that Social Media is effective when handled correctly more especially by a political organization which then must also accommodate the youth, this proves that the New Age ANC does not bore people  and I take it this maintains relationships with me the consumer of their product.
                                                                                                            

I further realized that even though during last year when the ANC was going through an image reputation crisis with the Nkandla saga which I personally think was one of the worst PR nightmares I have ever witnessed in my entire life.Again this brought back support and ignited the party's followers and it was evident during their birthday celebrations in Cape Town last month.

DJ Sbu shwoing his support towards the Amandla Challenge /goo.gl/olMwTw source:Sowetan

Ordinary citizens like this father and son showcased the success of this campaign. source: Twitter

                                CONCLUSION

I conclude this by making this personal statement:without Social Media the audience can never be fully satisfied,I trust that Social Media influencers such as Era Baloyi,Khaya Dlanga,Justice Malala, Fikile Mbalula, and Berry Bateman all have an impact with regards to the sucess of this kind of Social Media campaign.