Marketing strategy assists Irish company to gain a competitive advantage in the South African market.

Marketing Strategy | Strategic International Branding

The Client

Remote monitoring fuel solution provider.

Industry

Software & ICT

The Brief

Our client was an established developer of remote monitoring software for fuel management clients across various industry sectors. When market research identified an opportunity in the South African market, they came to IMS to help them plan and execute their marketing strategy

The Challenge

The key challenge in this project was understanding the nature of the market in South Africa and adapting the marketing strategy to that region of the world.

The Idea

The opportunity for our client arose from the systemic problem of power outages in South Africa. The unreliable grid network poses large risks to critical services in areas such as financial services, transportation, healthcare and telecommunications and is addressed through the widespread use of back-up power generators. The problem and value proposition was completely different to that of our client’s business in the UK and Ireland and therefore required the development of a local branding and messaging strategy by IMS Marketing. We also needed to adapt the sales support materials and tools available for distributors and installers in the South African market so we developed a local portal where partners could easily locate technical information quickly and clearly. Along with these key channel marketing initiatives, this project involved a lot of local marketing activities such as Events, PR and Online Marketing campaigns.

The Results

Adapting your message and marketing approach to suit export markets is a key principle of international marketing and is evident in this case study. Over a 12 month period, our client was successful in winning some significant contracts with companies in the banking and telecommunications sector and in signing up 5 channel partners locally. From a technology perspective, they now have a highly differentiated and unique offering in this market.

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