There is a new class of company – the micro-multinational – that will be increasingly prevalent and increasingly important in Ireland.
These are companies that have their headquarters in Ireland, and that use the cloud to deliver information and knowledge based services to their clients in the world’s most important markets supported by small local teams present in those markets.
But which markets – in the past it was the UK, Europe and the US - more and more it will be the developing and emerging markets.
Specifically, the key developing and emerging markets in Latin America – Brazil and Mexico. In Europe-Africa – Russia, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. And in Asia; India, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Why – because that where most people live and that’s where the vast majority of wealth is being created. Approximately half the world’s population or 3.5 billion people live in these markets, and their combined spending power will increase by approximately $10 trillion dollars to $25 trillion between now and the end of the decade.
So, when we were considering what markets to enter when building Brandtone, we decided to focus exclusively on these markets, and on unmet of the leading global consumer goods companies to connect to next to one billion consumers in these markets.
Our initial offering involved placing a unique code on the inside of each consumer good pack, and a call-to-action on the outside that promised an airtime reward if the consumer purchased and created a permissioned profile.
The consumer opens the pack, messages the code to a free number and closes the loop-to-purchase. The consumer then receives an automated voice call, is typically asked three questions and for their permission to use the information provided. Following the call consumer is rewarded and receives a message informing them that their phone has been credited.
Every time that a consumer makes another purchase and redeems a code we recognize them and ask additional questions, over time building up a detailed profile.
Analysing the above profiles our local teams optimize and amplify every campaign in real-time; creating a personalized programmatic re-engagement plan for key consumer segments and, over time, a sustainable values-driven relationship with a proven consumer.
Our clients have identified the developing and emerging markets as the most important growth opportunity available to them at the present time - but that exploiting this opportunity is predicated on developing sustainable one-to-one relationships with new consumers.
Today, we are headquartered in Dublin (70 people), with operations in Colombia, Brazil, Russia, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and soon Myanmar (50 people).
Looking back over the past five years there have undoubtedly been some very challenging days but overall it has been less difficult than we imagined to do business in the developing and emerging markets.
One reason this has been the case is the support we have received from the state and its agencies – especially the Department of Foreign Affairs and Enterprise Ireland (often working together) – which has been both been practical and based on real-world learnings from the markets.
If this is the route that is right for your business, you will also find that it is an great way to experience the world we live in, and to gain insights into the people and cultures that will have a huge influence over all our futures on this planet.
Brandtone uses the power of mobile and big data to help some of the world’s largest brands, including MondelÄ“z, PepsiCo and Unilever, build sustainable one-to-one relationships at scale with consumers in emerging markets.
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards take place on Thursday evening Newstalk will have have extensive coverage on air and online.
