Market-Oriented Economic Development is Consumer-driven Economic Development.
Ours is a new and DISRUPTIVE APPROACH to Economic Development.
We believe in ENTERPRISE and the entrepreneur – whether producer, SME or businessman – as the only reliable drivers of growth, prosperity and social welfare. This is market-based, consumer-driven, economic development.
Our vision is pragmatic. It is simple.
We adopt the effective – and proven – techniques of successful global corporations and adapt them to national economic development. So there is nothing new or risky about the ingredients of our methodology.It is based on adopting the effective – and proven – techniques of successful global corporations and adapting them to national economic development. So there is nothing new or risky about the ingredients of our methodology.
What is totally new is how we combine and modify those ingredients into a new development methodology – that we then adapt again to the always very specific needs of a particular nation or a region/state or even a city.
We call this methodology IEMED™ (Integrated Export Marketing for Economic and social Development).
Our approach has been validated. See below.
There are SEVEN key features that distinguish our programme.
1. Long-Established, Proven Techniques
Using the proven techniques of successful global corporations for marketing and product development. And adapting them to the specific objectives of a nation or state or sector.
2. Market-determined Development
Each sector, each cluster, each brand and each sub-brand assesses the market opportunity in its area and works towards matching what it can produce (not just today but also in the future) with what the consumer – at home or abroad – is willing to pay a price-premium for.
3. Cooperative Development
Several brands within a corporation are in effect competing with each other. But they each succeed because:
The corporation sets one single overall objective. Then each brand is developed with an eye to both its own commercial success AND to the overall success and reputation of the corporation.
The sectors and clusters therefore work in cooperation with each other for the greater success of each other; the brands and sub-brands and product brands similarly.
4. Linked Brand Development
Building the ‘brand architecture’ of the nation or province as any global corporation would, to accommodate all the industries, brands, clusters and products involved – today and into the future.
5. National Pride
We believe that effective nation branding is directly linked to a country’s ability to produce internationally accepted brands. We work to create value-added national brands based on the intrinsic natural strengths of the nation or region.
6. The Nation’s Gain
A Corporation’s success is measured in its reputation – a good measure of that reputation is share price, which permits it to raise funds for investment as/when necessary. Another measure is the background power and extra leverage it provides to each of its divisions/sectors and the brands therein. For a nation, the OUTCOMES will be:
6.1 Economic:
a) Sustainable Linked Export Brands:
that command a price premium;
and send a common message about the nation to the various target audiences;
that will permit the nation to move away from dependence on third parties for its export success towards building its own international brands based on specific qualities and values (i.e. a ‘competitive advantage’) for which consumers will be prepared to pay a higher price.
In that way, it will improve the negotiating power of producers and manufacturers and move towards a market-led economy.
It will improve the profitability of business – because profits are generated and remain at home.
b) Balance of payments
c) Escape the middle income trap
Definition: “a country in the middle-income trap has lost its competitive edge in the export of manufactured goods because of rising wages. However, it is unable to keep up with more developed economies in the high-value-added market.” Source: Wikipedia
We have two answers to this. More…
d) The “Dutch Disease” - resilient development through national and sectoral branding mitigates the effects.
Exports of minerals – oil, diamonds, copper, whatever – strengthens the currency which makes imports cheaper and exports expensive. Link to Stephen’s article….
Properly branded, premium priced exports that benefit from consumer loyalty are not so sensitive to rising prices. Economists call it moving from a price-elastic export strategy to a price-inelastic export strategy. More…
e) Fairer income distribution from national branding improves economic growth.
When a country builds the standards its target consumers want into its brand, the products supported by the brand grow faster and make bigger profits. More…
6.2 Political:
Sustainable jobs, right across the town and country, with decreasing dependence on the whims of foreign buyers and investors; from the unskilled right up to graduates with MBAs.
Sustainable and resilient livelihoods among producers and SMEs.
Positive nationalism – i.e. pride in the nation’s growing reputation abroad for its culture, history and way of life – all of which form part of the central promotion we advocate for the products and brands that the country sells under the nation brand Sustainable jobs, across the rural economies, because of decreasing dependence on the whims of third party investors; among the unskilled population right up through to graduates.
7. Systematic Measurement
We incorporate the systematic measurement of the results (the K.P.I.s) of each sector brand and each product brand to check that each one is meeting its set objectives. Measurement will include the numbers of lives and livelihoods benefiting, and also the quality of those lives.
We are discussing the concept of how to audit and measure performance against ethical standards with one of the big five accountancy firms. Such an audit will have to measure both tangible and intangible factors in standards of environmental sustainability, transparency, equitable conduct, fairness of income distribution through the value chain, female empowerment, achievement of SDGs, etc.
Validation of Concept.
The concept has been tested.
UNDP tested the concept among ethically minded, middle-income European consumers and travellers, aged 20 to 40, for us – and for Laos PDR, a country with one of the lowest GDPs per head in the countryside. (This consumer type is not confined to advanced economies. It is growing everywhere, from Beijing through Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur.)
The results were clear: a relevant and carefully developed ethical National Brand proposition is extremely seductive. It is attractive to large numbers of middle-class, ethically concerned, people. They are ready to convert that attraction into buying the products it covers at much higher prices, and they want to visit the country to experience its culture – and even to meet the producers.
Our concept has the power to justify and sustain a price premium, to build consumer loyalty (i.e. repeat purchase), and to build a relationship between brand and consumer and between citizens of the country and foreign consumers.
For further details, please send an email to planning@thenationconsultancy.com.
The UNDP – a major supporter of the Laos project – concluded that their support was 100% validated by the study. [The research was carried out by an independent market research agency under British Market Research Society rules, subject to the UNDP’s normal bidding practices.]