By Elizabeth R. Auma K, Trade Policy Leader/Bridging Policy, People & Purpose/ Founder, Hearts& Trade

I once observed a business woman trying to sell her products to a group of beautiful smartly dressed women. Prior to her trying to convince them to buy her products she was singing harmoniously, “Ebiyenje n’ emmese” meaning cockroaches and rats. She passionately spoke about how effective her products were in killing cockroaches, bedbugs, flies, and other household pests. The women all listened attentively admiring her confidence and marketing energy for a time being until they clearly let her know they were not going to buy given they didn’t need it .

Silent buyers

The truth is that, some of them needed it. In fact, some of the women silently battled the very problems she described. But no one wanted others to assume that their beautiful homes were full of cockroaches or bedbugs. No one wanted to publicly identify with the problem being announced.

A few days later, however, I noticed some of the same women quietly asking where they could find such products. Hearing the same woman secretly ask for what she outrightly rejected taught me not only a business lesson but a policy lesson. Marketing of a product or country is not just about the product or service. It is about the customer or trade partner. The way a product or service is positioned matters just as much as the quality of the product itself.

Trade Policy; the national marketing tool

Trade policy, in many ways, functions similarly. One of its roles is to position and market a country’s goods and services to the world. How a country presents itself determines whether potential trade partners simply notice its products or actually choose to purchase them.

A product may be excellent, but where and how it is marketed determines its acceptance. For example, no matter how strong Uganda’s pork industry may be, there are markets where promoting pork products aggressively would not be culturally or religiously appropriate. Likewise, certain health or personal products may solve real problems, but the language used in marketing them may discourage buyers rather than attract them.

Wrong marketing is the death of a good product

The issue is not always the product. Sometimes it is the tone, the messaging, or the emotional effect of the marketing approach. I often think that if the lady had used a more aspirational message, she might have sold far more products immediately. Imagine if instead of loudly asking, “Are cockroaches disturbing you?” she had said: “Keep your home fresh, protected, and free from unwanted insects.” The message would still communicate the solution in a way that protects the dignity and emotions of the customer.

Lessons for businesses and nations

For businesses it is important to understand this principle; Effective marketing is not only about speaking loudly about what you sell. It is about understanding the people you are speaking to, how they think, what they fear, and how they want to be perceived.

For a nation, trade policy is about positioning its products and services in a way that gives trade partners reason to purchase, invest, and build lasting business relationships with enterprises within that country.