In November and December 2004, International Trade Canada organized three consultative roundtable sessions, in
Ottawa, to meet with Minister Jim Peterson and Parliamentary Secretary Mark Eyking, on the topic of "Emerging Markets -- Will Canada Meet the Challenge?". The report of the roundtables is now available on the
department's web site, and can be found here.
Today, in a speech to the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters at the
National Manufacturing Summit in Ottawa, International Trade Minister Jim Peterson announced that he will lead a trade mission to India in the spring. This mission, Peterson's third to an emerging market, will include
visits to Delhi and Mumbai (formerly Bombay), bringing together Canadian and Indian business people, promoting science and technology collaboration and strengthening our bilateral trade, investment and scientific
relations.
"These trade missions are a cornerstone of the new emerging markets framework under development within the new International Trade department," said Minister Peterson. "These missions
are providing invaluable insights about Canada's opportunities and challenges ahead and the programs and tools needed to support Canadian exports and investments."
In a related vein, Strategis Canada has an excellent guide on its website, which can be accessed here, designed to help companies develop a better understanding of how cross cultural differences can impact the effectiveness of marketing efforts and the relationships with clients.
As indicated in the guide "Many parts of a service are invisible and intangible. It is often a major challenge to demonstrate their value, quality and impact to a client before they have consumed the
service. In many ways, people who buy services are purchasing something abstract. The marketing of services is an exercise in building awareness, profile and credibility. It is the ultimate 'relationship marketing'
challenge, which requires excellent interpersonal and communications skills, particularly when marketing across cultures."
Culture is a way of life. It consists of the values, beliefs, customs, morals, and
laws shared by people in a particular society. Culture shapes our perceptions and responses and influences the quality of our interpersonal interactions. Because the marketing of services depends on effective
communication, cross-cultural competency can make or break your marketing efforts.
In many cultures, personal contacts are extremely important for success in business whether selling marketing services or goods.
Manufacturing firms are increasingly facing a demand for end-to-end solutions, with a variety of support services packaged with the goods to ensure marketing success.
So, as CIFFA has correctly noted, although
this guide was initially designed for services providers, for whom relationship selling is often critical to success, it can clearly be a very helpful tool for goods marketers as well.
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