International marketing in the digital economy

by Ivan Brincat

Malta must continue to capitalise on its competitive advantages as a commercial hub in the Mediterranean region.
With its strategic location, a freeport and air cargo terminal, Malta can position itself as an efficient e-commerce distribution gateway to the Euro-Mediterranean electronic neighbourhood, minister for economic services Josef Bon-nici said yesterday.
As the digital economy grows, so too will be the growth opportunity for Maltese investors. Investment opportunities will be plentiful with mounting interest in the digital economy and its wealth-creating potential.
Prof. Bonnici said Malta’s objective must continue to be that of unleashing the potential of our resources towards meeting the challenges ahead.
He was speaking at an export marketing conference organised yesterday by the Malta External Trade Corporation.
The conference looked into various aspects of e-marketing such as strategic planning, practicaly eMarketing solutions, multichannel 1 to 1 Marketing using eCRM and Competing on the Web, among others.
The minister said the government’s role must continue to be limited to the implementation of facilitative policy measures rather that interventionist initiatives.
Prof. Bonnici said many of Malta’s domestic-oriented businesses admittedly need national support as they identified and implemented the necessary structural changes.
The minister said that government has amply demonstrated its commitment to foster and attain a national environment that encourages our participation in the digital economy.
He said the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, the proposed legislative framework for information practices and, more recently, the vision and strategy for the attainments of eGovernment are cases in point.
The government intends continuing along this trend to create a climate that encourages innovative economic ventures. This is a prerequisite if Malta is to carve a sustainable niche in e-commerce.
The minister said public-private partnership is the key to the development of a prosperous e-commerce sector. With the public and private sectors working in tandem, Prof. Bonnici said he was confident that Malta will succeed in the new age just opening in the commercial history of Malta and the world.
He said the Maltese economy is obliged to continue restructuring to sustain and improve its international competitiveness. Therefore, the Maltese economy, in order to maintain the momentum of its own development needs to reform itself and further adapt itself to a more liberalised market system.
Metco chairman Anthony Diacono said yesterday that while few in Malta have seen or experienced these new marketing methods, “we must start preparing now”. He said new trading procedures are emerging, the way that trade processes and transactions are administered.
“Transport and logistics, banking, insurance and customs procedures are being reworked to embrace a new communications culture that knows no distance barriers. All these are providing easier access to international markets for SMEs, whether manufacturers, exporters, traders or services companies.”
Among the speakers at the conference were Graham O’ Keeffe, eBusiness Manager of Enterprise Ireland. He spoke on the Irish experience of electronic commerce and the importance of an e-culture from the senior management downwards. Mr O’ Keefe said it was really important to create online customers both online and offline.
Dirk-Jan Bode, sales director of Oracle Africa spoke of how Oracle has become a global brand and how it uses permission marketing. Roelof Stofberg, of PricewaterhouseCoopers spoke of Customer Relationship Management. He said traditional marketing has always been based on mass advertising, mass production and mass distribution. It was the old: “we make it, you take it” model of business.
He said that in today’s competitive and techno-savvy markets, customers have greater knowledge, broader choices and more demands to make.
They are now the key to any business irrespective of the size, industry, location or profit potential thereof. He said organisations now need to concentrate their efforts on developing a one-to-one marketing strategy to provide the best product or service, which satisfies its customers’ needs.
Mr Stofberg said that gathering information, the organisation should be in a position to customise its product or service towards the customers, based on their particular value and needs.
Each customer will indicate what he or she wants and the company will respond with tailored products and services.
John Pollacco, head business development department, Bank of Valletta plc said that there has been a shift from the manufacturing industry to the service industry. In September 1980, the manufacturing sector employed 43,000 persons while the private services sector employed 33,000 persons. In September 2000, the manufacturing industry employed 39,300 persons a decrease of 8.5 per cent while the services sector employed 51,051 an increase of 54.5 per cent over 1980.
Mr Pollacco said the major challenge facing Malta is to assist firms that operated under the protective levies regime to rethink the way they operate. It is important for these companies to start thinking of exporting, since the Maltese market is limited and domestic demand is saturated across the board.
He said the incentives published in the revised Industrial Development Act, now called the Business Promotion Act will give intrepid executives seeking to venture into exports a better chance in its start-up period.
The Bill does not distinguish between local-oriented and export-oriented activities, thus placing local investment opportunities on a level playing-field with foreign investment. The incentives are aimed at encouraging Maltese and foreign entrepreneurs to set up new projects in Malta.
Gordon Dimech, of eShore asked why Maltese companies were sometimes afraid to use the .com.mt name instead of the .com.