About DCI About DCI. 1. The Leader in Marketing Places: Served 400+ cities, states, provinces, regions and countries since 1960.

Transcription

1 About DCI About DCI 1. The Leader in Marketing Places: Served 400+ cities, states, provinces, regions and countries since In-depth Knowledge of Canadian Landscape: Recent/current clients include Calgary, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Toronto and Montreal. 3. Broad Range of Economic Development Marketing Services: Media relations, lead generation, digital/social media, talent attraction and research.

2 Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing Sixth Edition of Survey in 2011 (previous studies in 96, 99, 02, 05, 08) Survey Audience: U.S. 1. Corporate executives with site selection responsibilities 2. Location advisors

3 Methodology Online survey with 10 questions conducted in August, 2013 Sent to 621 SSCs, corporate executives in U.S. 105 responses received for response rate of 17% Even split of responses (54 executives, 51 SSCs) Respondents offered $10 Starbucks/iTunes gift card

4 Geographic Distribution of Respondents

5 Can you guess what the respondents said?* What are the first 3 words or phrases that come to mind when you think of Canada? * Whoever gets closest wins $25 gift card to Starbucks for a double-double

6 List of Top 10 Words/Phrases 1. Cold 2. Hockey 3. High quality workforce 4. Natural resources 5. Friendly 6. Socialized Medicine 7. Expensive 8. Clean 9. Diverse 10. French

7 Top 3 Words or Phrases

8 Please describe your perception of Canada's advantages (or value proposition) for U.S. companies looking to relocate or expand?

9 Sample Responses for Canada s Value Proposition for Businesses Western Canada (British Columbia) is an Asian gateway. Business-friendly, R&D tax advantages, reasonably priced real estate. Very strong base for educated technical employees. Ability to recruit overseas talent without red tape of U.S. Immigration Policy. Well educated labor force and a good business climate. Proximity to oil and gas. Canada has always maintained a neutral stance on most political and economic issues. Good access to many US major markets. Tax reform has made Canada much more competitive for North American projects. No health care cost to employer. Cost competitiveness

10 Top 5 Themes of Value Proposition 1. Stable, neutral and business-friendly government 2. Well-educated and quality workforce 3. Potential for lower business costs (labor, taxes) 4. Access to new markets 5. 15% of respondents indicated none or don t know

11 Have you considered Canada for a project in the last two years, or are you currently considering Canada for an upcoming project?

12 Executives Regularly Consider Canada for Projects Overall, a majority of decision makers (53.3%) had considered Canada for a project in the last two years or were currently considering Canada Site Selection Consultants Corporate Executives

13 Ontario Leads Overwhelmingly for Project Location Consideration

14 Types of Projects for which Canada is Most Often Considered

15 From your perspective, has Canada's business climate improved, declined or stayed the same in the past five years?

16 Decision Makers Believe Business Climate has Improved Most executives surveyed believe Canada s business climate has improved in the past five years.

17 Let's compare Canada and the United States. For each of the following factors, which country has a more favorable business environment.

18 Canada Compared to United States 100.0% 80.0% United States More Favorable Canada More Favorable 60.0% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0%

19 Please rate the business climates of the following Canadian provinces on a scale of 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent).

20 Ontario Leads Pack for Favorable Perception of Its Business Climate

21 High Number of No Opinion Responses Among Provinces

22 Toronto Edges Out Other Cities for Best Business Climate

23 High Number of No Opinion Responses Among Cities

24 What are the top three marketing tactics Canadian cities/regions should use to promote their business advantages to corporate executives?

25 Face-to-Face Reigns as Best Marketing Tactic

26 Marketing Approaches Broken Down by Subgroup Overall Site Selectors Corporate 100.0% 80.0% 60.0% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0%

27 Marketing Preferences Vary Among SSCs and Executives Top 5 Tactics for SSCs 1. Familiarization Tours 2. One-on-one Meetings 3. Special Events 4. Internet/Website 5. Media Relations/Publicity Top 5 Tactics for Executives 1. Trade Shows/Conferences 2. Media Relations/Publicity 3. Internet/Website 4. One-on-one Meetings 5. Special Events

28 In your opinion, which of these economic development organizations market their region effectively to corporate executives and location advisors?

29 Site Selection Consultants Consider the Country s Best EDOs 100.0% 80.0% 60.0% 55.8% 40.0% 32.7% 30.8% 28.8% 26.9% 25.0% 21.2% 20.0% 0.0% Invest Toronto Economic Development Winnipeg Vancouver Economic Commission Montreal International Calgary Economic Development Greater Halifax Partnership Canada's Technology Triangle (Waterloo Region)

30 5 Key Findings

31 1. Executives Associate Canada with a High Quality Workforce Among top words or phrases associated with Canada Common theme for Canada s perceived value proposition Key asset as talent increasingly drives location decisions

32 2. Canada Regularly Considered as a Project Location But Ontario overwhelmingly leads the consideration set (80.4%) Followed by British Colombia (30.4%), Quebec (28.6%) and Alberta (19.6%) All other provinces at 5% or less

33 3. Much of Canada is a Blank Slate to U.S. Executives Ontario/Toronto are well known Quebec/Montreal and British Colombia/ Vancouver have mid-level recognition For the remainder of regions/cities, a large number of executives had no opinion of individual business climates

34 4. Perceptions of Canada s Business Climate Improving 44.8% of the respondents perceive an improvement in the country s business climate vs. 6.7% that saw a decline

35 5. Different Marketing Tactics to Reach Different Audiences Best tactics for reaching corporate executives: 1) trade shows/conferences, 2) media relations/ publicity, 3) internet/website Site selection consultants are best reached via: 1) familiarization tours, 2) one-on-one meetings, 3) special events

36 Questions Comments Discussion

37 Thank You! Andy Levine, President Development Counsellors International (DCI)