Egypt
Governmental Marketing, inspirations of youth
Governmental marketing is a worldwide-identified strategy that dates back to ancient times. Historically, empires would cast the ruler’s image on the national currency with the aim of branding the ruler. Today, governmental marketing is a strong approach adopted by many countries all over the world with the purpose of attempting to reduce the perception gap between governments and citizens..
In Egypt, three talented youth thought of introducing this strategy in their country. Michael Agieb, Noura Ebeid, and Abdallah Hussam decided to take ownership of introducing a proposed governmental marketing strategy that aims to reduce this gap of perceptions.
“Governmental marketing was a dream of a group of visionary youth who were able to depict the problem. They believed that dreams can be achieved by working hard. We know it may take time, but it will pay off at the right time,” explained Michael Agieb.
The Governmental Marketing Committee was represented by Noura Ebeid in a simulation model that was held as part of the Seventh National Youth Conference in Egypt and was attended by the President of Egypt. Upon hearing their ideas and being a supporter for all efforts that aim to promote Egypt’s image internally and externally, President Abdelfattah El-Sisi endorsed the Governmental Marketing Strategy as the seventh recommendation at the end of the Conference, entrusting the Egyptian youth who organized the simulation model to collaborate with the Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers, along with all concerned authorities, to implement this strategy.
Governmental marketing does not necessarily mean marketing of tangible goods, it is more concerned with marketing of all intangible assets, including ideas, beliefs and services.
“The Governmental Marketing Committee aims to mend the gap that was created over the years between the accomplishments of the government and the people’s perception of them, especially that Egypt has accomplished several mega-projects in the recent years,” added Agieb. This strategy aims to introduce new methods for communication between the government and the people, in order to reduce this gap.
“The Governmental Marketing Strategy aims to increase the level of transparency and empathy, incorporating humanity into communications, to address the people’s minds to reach a positive mental image and ensure the sustainability of these efforts,” clarified Abdallah Hussam.
To reach the desired outcomes, the Governmental Marketing Committee strives to reach a high level of market research to have the optimal capability to plan, forecast, and confront any challenges ahead. The committee also targets the year 2030 in order to come in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030, which seeks to promote overall inclusive development over the coming ten year period.
The Governmental Marketing Committee’s first mission was to examine governmental files, adopt marketing plans, and unify the terminology of Egypt’s Vision 2030 among ministries and governmental agencies.
In the past three months, the Governmental Marketing Committee achieved steady progress. It has held over twenty meetings, with more than nine ministries, tackling the importance of the Governmental Marketing Strategy and exploring new methods of communication between the government and the people.
A team was structured with five-tier hierarchical design, where the core and distribution layers are collapsed into a single layer. They are the Reporting and Assessment team, the Account Managers team, the Media Coverage team, the Creative team, and the IT Support team. All these teams work around the clock to make governmental marketing a success.