Marketing and Branding

Companies wanting to reach international markets face numerous business challenges. They often lack market information, have insufficient knowledge of trends and buyer expectations, and encounter intense competition from international players. Many exporters adopt an approach that is sales-driven and product-focused: produce something you can make, get an order, fulfill and close the sale. This can work in the short-term. But in a globalized economy, this approach too often leaves the exporter at the mercy of price competition, with little room for differentiation and long-term development.

The Export Marketing and Branding team offer an innovative portfolio of advisory services to assist exporters from developing countries to upgrade their marketing, sales and branding skills. The goal is to enable exporters to move beyond supply-side exporting, and towards market-driven approaches for sustainable, long-term business success.

Information

Expand this section to access links to information resources related to export Marketing and Branding.

The Export Marketing Planning Process
Example Overview of a Training Workshop: Foundations in Export Marketing Planning

Advisory Services

An international network of marketing experts provide advisory services to small and medium enterprise clusters in high potential growth sectors.

It is critical for companies that want to evolve to understand end-market dynamics, create competitive marketing strategies and respond with differentiated offers. It is the goal of ITC to enable small businesses to make a long-term difference in the international markets they choose to compete in.

The Export Marketing and Branding practice uses the market chain framework as the conceptual roadmap for its advisory services. This structured approach starts from an end-market perspective to identify export market opportunities and supply chain constraints. Working back into the chain, allows a distinction to be made between interventions to build market support services (with institutions and export advisors) or programmes to promote exports (with small businesses).

Technical assistance is customized based on the identified sector development needs. Advisory services leverage the internal strengths of ITC in market information systems and sector specializations with the practical knowledge of international marketing experts. Together with end-beneficiaries and donors, programmes are then designed for special sectors and target export markets.

Advisory services include end-market analyses, packaging and brand design, pricing strategies, brand communications, e-commerce and mobile business solutions. Customized programmes for place branding are also available. These cover the steps all the way from mobilizing stakeholders through strategy development, to communications and long-term brand activation for successful export development.

Please contact us to obtain more information on ITC’s export marketing advisory services.

Training

Development of export knowledge and the transfer of quality business skills are integral to ITC’s Export Competitiveness activities. Whether exporters have a basic, intermediate or advanced understanding of marketing and branding, there is a corresponding training programme to enable them to enhance their skills.

Training for Exporters

ITC’s Export Marketing and Branding training programmes are designed for small business owners and managers in developing countries, specifically those who have little or no experience exporting.

A comprehensive programme covers the conceptual foundations, analytical frameworks, planning processes and operational techniques of the export marketing process. Workshops and training materials are designed to transmit practical approaches across the range of marketing activities. Programmes can be tailored to different audiences, export experiences and sectors.

The programme consists of six core modules for entry level exporters. They are shown below in the Export Marketing Planning process diagram. These modules provide a fundamental knowledge of marketing and branding.

For intermediate and advanced exporters, supplementary modules include niche market strategies, channel management, pricing strategies and strategic portfolio management.

In addition, a special series of E-Marketing modules are available.

Internet Marketing
E-Commerce Strategies
E-Marketplaces
Marketing Music Online

New modules are being developed regularly in response to audience and sector needs.

For more information about ITC’s Export Marketing & Branding trainings, please contact us.

Networks

ITC’s network of training and consulting partners from around the world develop and deliver Export Marketing and Branding programmes as well as offer advisory services.

Networks of local business support institutions are critical to achieving sustainable export development. Partners in these networks include various types of organizations and business development service providers, including private consultancies, trade support institutions, training centers, technical institutes, universities and NGOs. These can be sector-specific or cross-cutting and they must be actively managed in order to provide the highest quality services.

For its training services in export marketing, ITC cooperates with partners to actively disseminate its professional skill-building programmes.

There are three different levels of partnerships arrangements with ITC:

Associate Partners
Partners work with ITC to deliver training programmes on a per-project basis.

License Partners
Partner institutions license specific products and services from ITC’s export marketing portfolio and commit to wide-scale dissemination in their national or regional markets.

Strategic Partners
These are licensed partner institutions that run a range of ITC products and services and have the capacity to offer augmented services. These include (1) updating and upgrading programme contents and (2) providing training and qualification of advisors on ITC’s behalf. Strategic partners can act as regional hubs to replicate ITC’s export development programmes, in close coordination with ITC professionals and international experts.

Please contact us for information on how to join ITC’s growing network of export marketing partners.

Projects

To find out more about what ITC’s ongoing projects in the area of Marketing and Branding, please expand this section.

The Export Marketing and Branding practice is currently providing technical assistance and support on the following projects

Place Branding Discovery Roundtable – Jordan
Export Marketing and Planning Workshop – Egypt

For more information please contact us.

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