egypt country marketing strategy 2012

Strategic Management

1 | P a g e E G Y P T S t r a t e g i c P l a n

Egypt Brand Equity & Positioning

Introduction

Where are Egypt now? and Where we would like Egypt to go?

Before we start anything we need to set a strategic plan; Evaluate the current

situation, Unify country vision, Setting objectives with solid directional strategies,

then to control and evaluate constantly.

Without strategic planing and clear directions; Egypt will continue to wander

aimlessly through the long night of stagnation, won't succeed and will keep going

nowhere (Standing is no longer a viable strategy)

Situation Analysis

Egypt's economy was highly centralized during the rule of former President Gamal

Abdel NASSER but opened up considerably under former Presidents SADAT &

Moubarak.

Egypt from 2004 to 2008 aggressively pursued economic reforms to attract foreign

investment and facilitate GDP growth. Despite the relatively high levels of

economic growth in recent years, living conditions for the average Egyptian

remained poor and contributed to public discontent.

After unrest erupted in Jan11, the Egyptian Government drastically increased

social spending to address public dissatisfaction, but political uncertainty at the

same time caused economic growth to slow significantly, reducing the

government's revenues. Tourism, manufacturing, and construction are among the

hardest hit sectors of the Egyptian economy, and economic growth is likely to

remain slow at least through 2012. The government is utilizing foreign exchange

reserves to support the Egyptian pound and Egypt may seek a loan from the

International Monetary Fund.



New Vision

All Egyptians will understand their vital role-play in a democracy, and their own

personal stake in the National improvement. Our resources and treasures will be

available to more people than ever before through modern technology, dynamic

partnerships and fairness. We want to be inspired to MENA region strategies

New Mission

Change our mindset to treat all citizens as a number one stockholder who deserve

the optimum welfare and enhance their satisfaction level beyond their expectations

(Citizen is the King)

New Objective

Overstepping the current bottleneck stage through enhancing our inferior

economic status

Strategy Formulation & Alternatives

As per my briefly SWOT analaysis (Exhibit1) I think it will be impossible to address

all strategies, tactics and sloutions required to get out the bottleneck, however, we

want to be more focused on prioritizing our strategies through two main factors;

first is our capabilities, competencies and second is rapid tangible enhancement

for citizens welfare.

From my point of view the most important objective that we need to focus on is the

citizen walfare, if we succeed to enrich and enhance the citizens walfare and

satsfuction that will avoid us too many internal and external crises.

The only way to achive this objective is to enhance our ecenomic performance

which really suffaring long time then now its shifting to be in the sarviving stage

(after 25th. Jan revolution) “find the ecenomice performance trend (Exhibit 2)”



Strategy Selection (Egypt Branding)

In recent years there has been a spectacular rise in the prominence of nation

branding. Almost every country in the world is now engaging in nation branding or

is considering how to approach the challenge of developing an effective nation

branding strategy. In some respects, there is little that is new about nation

branding, given that nations have historically always branded themselves through

national icons such as flags, military uniforms, currencies, anthems, and so on.

However, what is new is the borrowing of branding techniques from the

commercial sector and the application of these techniques to whole countries

rather than merely to product or corporate brands. The key objectives that nation

branding usually aspires to achieve include export promotion, the attraction of

inward investment, tourism promotion, and an increase in international influence

on the global stage.

Diefiantly if we adapted this strategy and implement it efficiently with high nation

synchronize involvment and dynamically we will pass the bottleneck.

It’s using a combination of all our strengths (Natural Recourses (S1), Human

Resources (S2), Geographical Wealth (S3), Traditions & Culture (S4), Brand

Heritage (S5)) to overcome most of our weaknesses (All) because it will generate

the required fund for the government required to enhance all weaknesses and

avoid any threats.

The relevance between our “Vision, Mission, Objective” & Strategy

The challenge of national economic development has gone beyond the limits of

public policy. The new economic order has transformed economic development

into a market challenge as well. Nations compete with other nations and strive to

devise sources of competitive advantage. Thus today there are more reasons why

nations must manage and control their branding. The need to attract tourists,

factories, companies, and talented people and to find markets for their exports

requires that countries adopt strategic marketing management tools and conscious

branding.



Managing Egypt Brand Image

Country images are likely to influence people’s decisions related to purchasing,

investing, changing residence and traveling. Country image can be understood as

‘the sum of beliefs and impressions people hold about places. Images

represent a simplification of a large number of associations and pieces of

information connected with a place. They are a product of the mid trying

to process and pick out essential information from huge amounts of data

about a place.’

Enhancing Egypt Brand Image & Equity will lead to:

1. Foreigner Investment Enhancement.

2. Export Performance Enhancement

3. Tourism Performance Enhancement

4. Political Position Enhancement

Bedrock of Egypt Brand Image

A country’s image results from its geography, history, proclamations, art and

music, famous citizens and other features. The entertainment industry and the

media ply a particularly important role in shaping people’s perceptions of places,

especially those viewed negatively. Not only are product categories such as

perfumes, electronics, precision instruments, wines, cars and software strongly

identified with certain places, but also are societal ills such as AIDS epidemics,

political riots, civil rights violations, attacks on the environment, racial conflict,

economic turmoil, poverty and violent crime

So the Egyptian government should associate it's brand name with any tangible

objects, events, experiences, products, service and so on BUT it should has a

superior competetive advantage in, same like other successful cases such "Greek

mythology to French panache and Russian roulette, from German engineering and

Japanese technology to British rock and Brazilian soccer, and from Brussels lace

to Hollywood movies". The countries and places references are everywhere

around us in our daily life, social interaction and work



1- Foreigner Investment Enhancement

One of the most interesting facets of place marketing deals with countries’ efforts

to attract new factories and business investments. These are expected to create

new jobs and economic growth, with an overall benefit on the country’s economy.

Because of the dramatic improvements in telecommunication and transportation

services worldwide, global companies are now searching for new locations that

might bring down their costs. This has transformed supply chain management,

logistics and site selection in core competencies within global companies. Egypt

government must understand how companies make their site selection.

So we need to identify the selection attributes that may affect the investors final

decision, those attributes could be countries' labor, information availability,

location, taxes, climate, regulation, energy, communication, business volume and

so on.

Egypt should understand it's location characteristics versus investors seeking to

create it's own sustainable competetive advantage.

Let’s BRAND EGYPT AS AN ATTRACTIVE BUSINESS DESTINATION, that will reduce

our high unempolyment rate (W6), train our menpower to comeup Illiteracy (W1)

and more production will reduce the high inflation Rate (W5)

2- Export Performance Enhancement

Country names amount to brands and help consumers evaluate products and

make purchasing decisions. They are responsible for associations that may add to

or subtract from the perceived value of a product. Research ahs supported the

idea that consumers are more willing to buy products from industrialized nations as

a result of country equity. Products bearing a ‘made in Germany,’ ‘made in

Switzerland’ or ‘made in Japan’ label are commonly regarded as high quality, due

to the reputation of these countries as top world manufacturers and exporters. At

the same time, ‘made in Surinam’ or ‘made in Myanmar’ labels may raise doubts

about the quality of the products due to the low country brand equity.

Increasing export value will overcome Trade deficit (W9), High unemployment

Rate (W5) through motive for more production, Weak infrastructure (W10) through

more governmental fund



3- Tourism Performance Enhancement

Egypt government should understand that different places attract different tourists.

tourism market can be segmented by the attractions tourists seek, such as natural

beauty, sun, adventure, gaming, events/sports or culture/history. The market can

also be segmented by areas, regions or locations, by seasons, by customers’

characteristics, or by benefits.

Egypt has several unique opportunities for different type of tourism compiled under

the category of alternative tourism, which include coastal tourism, health and

thermal tourism, winter sports, adventure trips, plateau tourism and ecotourism,

conference and expo tourism, cruise ship and yacht tourism, golf tourism and

religious tourism and etc.

To be successful in the tourism industry Egypt must be very specific about what it

wants to market and to whom.

Government has to allocate budget to be spent to build an adequate infrastructure,

safety and services.

The tourist minister should undertake researchs to understand the values tourists

seek as users (performance, social and emotional values), as buyers

(convenience and personalization) and payers (price and credits), The competitive

environment must also be meticulously analyzed. Consumers have literally

thousands of destination choices. They will be drawn to destinations that they

perceive to offer the best value either because they offer the most benefits or

because they are inexpensive or more accessible.



4- Political Position Enhancement

Throughout history, countries have managed their brand as a means to influence

perception. Often, the objective was to support an internal view that unified

citizens and supported nation-building, as well as to create strong differentiation

amongst neighbors and competitors. Country brands consisted of a historical

narrative that incorporated social and cultural values wedded to political or

religious ideologies. In this way, nations were created and positioned in terms that

transcended geography or tribalism. This was particularly the case in 19th. century

Europe, where national identities, flags, anthems, monuments and holidays were

consciously constructed in the wake of political revolutions and emerging national

independence. This is true for the United States as well, which constructed its

own identity and along with it one of the most significant country brands in the

world. One that started by rejecting the parliamentary authority of the United

Kingdom, unifying a federal system of democracy and developing a powerful

narrative of free agency inspired by classical Greece and republican Rome. The

«stars and stripes» became synonymous with an American dream of freedom,

citizenship and a pioneering spirit values that still drive many to live and work in

the United States today

Branding is a modern coinage, born from advertising and marketing in the

twentieth century, a country’s brand is closely tied to the full spectrum of its

political, cultural and commercial history

Egypt primary goal should be to succinctly capture its narrative and assets for

internal and external audiences to identify and support Egyptian government

objectives.

Presented To, Presented By,

Dr. Heba Dahshan Ahmed Hamdy Ali



(Exhibit 1) SWOT Analysis

Strengths

S1 Natural Recourses Egypt may not be an oil country but still it's not a poor country either; its Suez Canal & a thriving agricultural export (ever pay a premium for Egyptian cotton?)

S2 Human Resources We exceed 80 million However it could be considered as a weakness with the population natural (illiteracy and poverty)

S3 Geographical Wealth Long Coast, Nile river and Pharaonic monuments which discovered and more didn't yet

S4 Traditions & Culture

The resolve and the character of Egyptian people, a fun-loving, hospitable and intelligent bunch who bring high-level skills (like medicine, engineering, technology and arts) to the free world

S5 Brand Heritage Has a good positioning inside the Arab countries relying on historical political positions

Weaknesses

W1 Illiteracy The education level is below the level which introduce educated Illiteracy

W2 Poverty Increasing dramatically because of loosing government control on income and welfare distribution

W3 Mismanagement Lack of visionaries & inspirer volunteers to lead this country

W4 Corruption Unfair opportunities distribution & lack of basic personal values in top management-leaders

W5 High inflation Rate Lower focus on productivity and production lead to reduce offering while demand is increasing

W6 High unemployment Rate Non-qualified calibers, focusing on services industries and depending on new technologies

W7 Constant Annual Budget deficit Government is always incapable of increasing national income while government expenditure is increasing which lead to constant gap

W8 Population successive increase The illiteracy drive people to increase offspring seeking more safety

W9 Trade deficit Dependence on Importing more than doubles Exporting value

W10 Weak infrastructure Overall weak infrastructure and the governmental services

Opportunities

O1 Financial Capabilities Many organizations & countries is willing to support financially

O2 Developing Country Egypt have a perfect potential to attract the developed countries to invest in

Threats

T1 Internal political fighting Too many factions could compete together in favor of their own favors, that will

defiantly will be against Egypt interest

T2 External political fighting Too many countries are willing to acquire more involvement in the Egyptian internal

issues seeking to increase their control then interest

T3 Worldwide economic recession This will be a challenge to compete and enhance our economy in this world crises

T4 Unstable world political plan Too many countries have their own hidden agendas to expand their interest

however it would harm other countries

T5 New revolution If citizens didn't touch a serious steps from the government toward citizen welfare

that will defiantly will lead to another revolution and unstable period



Financial Indicators are sourced from

http://www.tradingeconomics.com

CountryGDP Billion

USDGDP QoQ GDP YoY

Interest

rate

Inflation

rate

Jobless

rate

Gov.

Budget

Debt to

GDP

Current

Account

Exchange

ratePopulation

Egypt 230 3.30% 3.30% 9.25% 6.20% 12.60% -7.9 76.4 -1.2 6.1 82.54

Qatar 173 2.50% 5.00% 4.50% 2.60% 0.60% 5 31.5 30 3.64 1.87

Algeria 189 2.60% 2.60% 4.00% 7.20% 10.00% -4 9.9 10.3 79.44 35.98

Saudi Arabia 577 6.80% 6.80% 2.00% 3.80% 10.50% 9.1 7.5 27.5 3.75 28.08

United Arab Emirates 360 3.30% 3.30% 1.00% 0.95% 4.60% -0.6 16.9 8.5 3.67 4.57

Kuwait 177 5.70% 2.00% 2.80% 2.10% 31.04 7.35 41.81 0.28 2.82

Morocco 100 2.30% 2.30% 3.00% 1.00% 8.10% -5.6 54.4 -7.3 8.57 32.27

Oman 72 5.00% 1.00% 2.87% 15.00% 6.3 5.06 13.22 0.38 2.85

Tunisia 46 3.20% 4.80% 3.75% 5.70% 18.10% -4.5 42.4 -7.4 1.57 10.67

United States 15094 1.30% 2.10% 0.25% 2.00% 7.80% -8.7 103 -3.1 119.89 311.59

Euro Area 13076 -0.20% -0.40% 0.75% 2.60% 11.40% -4.1 87.2 -0.6 1.3 332.99

China 7298 1.80% 7.60% 6.00% 1.90% 4.10% -1.1 25.8 4 6.27 1344.13

Japan 5867 0.20% 3.20% 0.00% -0.40% 4.20% -9.7 211.7 2 78.57 127.82

Germany 3571 0.30% 0.50% 0.75% 2.00% 6.80% -1 81.2 5.7 1.3 81.73

France 2773 0.00% 0.25% 0.75% 1.90% 10.20% -5.2 85.8 -2.2 1.3 65.44

Brazil 2477 0.40% 0.50% 7.25% 5.28% 5.30% 2.6 66.2 -2.11 2.04 196.65

United Kingdom 2432 -0.40% -0.50% 0.50% 2.20% 7.90% -8.3 85.7 -1.9 1.61 62.64

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/

egypt country marketing strategy 2012

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