Client description: Free Trade Zone management company

Practice area: Market Research, Strategic Positioning

Geographic scope: Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and North America.

Industries involved: Financial Services/Insurance

Services applied: Market Opportunity Study, Competitive Intelligence

Business challenge: Free Trade Zone management company wanted to develop a marketing plan to attract foreign investors to its free zones and industrial park and promote economic growth. Client wanted to position portfolio companies as the gateway to the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and North America conveying a positive image of distinctive quality and a vibrant environment with unique spaces for its tenants and customers.

Methodologies: Secondary research and desk analysis to identify target respondents, gage competitiveness, analyze trade and investment statistics. Over 30 face to face interviews with FTZ stakeholders and tenants to gain perspective on markets, products and performance; 6 in depth interviews with competitors; and 81 quantitative surveys with FTZ tenants.

The result: A comprehensive report that included identification of customer concerns, key customers and key competitors; description and analysis of potential markets; and trade partners and investment flows. Also included were key value drivers for country and free trade zones; free trade zone unmet needs; analysis of overall country infrastructure; analysis of competitive factors by country in terms of FTZ, unmet needs, economic growth, GDP, international trades, advantages and disadvantages of doing business; and an assessment of regional trade agreements.

Findings revealed that although there are a few competitive advantages, bureaucracy, the cost of doing business and the time it takes to start a business hinder the country’s economic growth. The cost of doing business marginalizes opportunities for call centers and BPOs. Although the country’s cost factors did not support manufacturing recruitment, some value-added niche manufacturing could be pursued by writing success story case studies of their manufacturing and distribution tenants.

As part of the recommendations, client was advised to build an infrastructure to support the marketing and promotion of certain consumer goods identified as opportunities. They needed to promote country under a boutique strategy, making the free zone showroom a real trade mart with the ability to host events, business meetings, and to facilitate matchmaking.

Client needed to leverage the country’s advantages to a select target of investors; focus marketing resources on a set of specific markets; create/promote a brand and tell a “story” that differentiates the country; invest in the infrastructure and talent to make this brand and positioning possible. Client was also advised to promote opportunities; participate with tenants and other agencies on the island; become a marketing partner of existing tenants; build the marketing machine for industrial recruiting and outbound marketing; conduct product and market research; hire agents in target country markets; and focus on US, Dutch, and Chinese companies that want to access the region.