fdi leaders

Everyone who works in an investment promotion agency needs to have good media and pr skills. After all, that is what the job is all about - effective story telling.

We are great believers in self-empowerment, and as we now operate in the age of the app, our good friends John and Roland have developed the killer app for business people who want to be super story tellers.

It is the world’s first comprehensive online media training course, and it is called Option 33.  If this is of interest to you, get in contact and we will get you a good deal!

Well done Vilnius putting out the story of the Mayor and his zero tolerance approach (with a tank) to illegal car parking.  Viewed by over three million on You Tube and picked up by the media across the world.  Great story - leadership in action!

We have been encouraged by various people in the know to get a facebook page.  After all, it is a network with more than 800 million active users…

So, we have finally overcome our reticence and gone for it.  We now proudly present our facebook page to the world.  We are keen to be liked, and hope that we can get our “like this” total in to double figures!  So do visit our page and press that button.  Many thanks!

Brazil is coming to London soon for an FDI event. This continental country is the fifth largest in the world with a population of over 192 million.  It is the world’s 8th largest economy and is growing fast.  Exports are booming and it has lots of high tech as well as the high life.

It has also produced the coolest place marketing video

Brazil is definitely on Location Connections’ radar!

The tech geeks that we work with are thrilled by gamification.  This latest buzzword in the ICT world relates to the concept of game-like activities being applied to a non-game context.

Using game tactics such as giving prizes for participation and encouraging achievement is being used by companies such as Foursquare, Topshop, and various mobile phone operators.  Case studies show that rewarding customer behaviour can deepen the engagement process, helping to increase loyalty and improve the profiling and understanding of the customers.

Is gamification something that can be incorporated in the place marketing mix?  We have seen some locations use this tactic (for example Scotland - see the Slainte post below), and believe it can be effective, as long as the reward on offer has a good fit with the specific promotional message being put forward, and that it is relevant and useful to the target audience.  So let us play - get your best game on!

We are big fans of cities as centres of innovation.  London is one of the world’s top business and FDI locations, and an interesting report on London’s Innovators assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the city in supporting innovation.

Just back from an industry event where it was wave upon wave of people droning on using powerpoint slides.  Surely the art of good storytelling is not dead?

Can we make the FDI industry a more interesting place by banning powerpoint slide presentations?  With the amazing tech now available, there are many great ways of presenting your story.  Let’s get creative!

FDI lead generation is an exciting mix of art and science.  Although we have been doing it for a very long time, we still aren’t bored with it.

One of our methods which keeps things interesting, is our study of business body language.  All businesses have characteristics and if you look at the signals, you can see if they are ready for/thinking about/would benefit from cross-border investment.  Especially now that they are using social media, there is a whole range of things to look out for to find out if they are the one for you.

If you want to learn more about our approach to lead generation, do get in contact.

Technology startups in Europe have never had it so good in terms of showcasing their wares and connecting with potential funders and supporters.  Startup accelerators and tech roadshow events such as Seedcamp, Springboard, Startup Week, and the European Tech Tour are helping the geeks sharpen their business models and score some celebrity.

Interestingly, the Tech City Investment Organisation is hosting an Entrepreneurs Festival in November, which aims to attract more than 300 tech entrepreneurs from across Europe.  As well as gathering together this top talent, the tech media will also be present.  A great opportunity to showcase what a wonderful place East London is for growing technology companies!

Talent events also seem to be dominating our television screens these days too.  Perhaps we will see them become a popular marketing tool for fdi attraction?

It was good to see the Czechs in Cambridge recently, promoting cooperation in the life sciences at a One Nucleus Life Science Leadership Series networking event.  Czech Invest were there in style, and the Czech International Cooperation story is nicely profiled in a recent nature.com blog.