England's regional inward investment teams are going through a period of significant organisational change. LEP functions are transferring to growth hubs and local authorities, which are transitioning to combined authorities, which are still in their formative stages.
When it comes to effective inward investment promotion, all this disruption presents opportunities but also potential risks. Here are some to consider:
1) Inward investment promotion: potential opportunities arising from organisational change
a) Larger, more diverse regional geographies - and more compelling investment propositions
With the move to combined authorities in mind, new, larger regional geographies can potentially mean more to offer to prospective inward investors.
As we discussed in a recent Clarity article, investment propositions combining the benefits of cities and their surrounding hinterlands (e.g. local authority districts) often promise more value for investors than either of these types of locations on their own. (Think university knowledge + large, affordable sites with motorway connectivity).
All of which supports the city-regional partnerships that underpin many of the new combined authorities.
b) Integrating the expertise of local area inward investment teams
Inward investment teams in local areas (e.g. districts or boroughs) benefit from deep local knowledge - of sites and properties, business networks, supply chains, planning processes and so on. When these teams work together to promote larger, regional geographies, the resulting network of local experts represents real added value for investing businesses.
What's more, local area teams are likely to offer different, complementary, sector specialisations. Think of the different types of businesses that typically locate in urban and non-urban locations - digital tech and advanced manufacturing, for example.
Increased collaboration between regional local authority inward investment teams is, therefore, likely to create additional value - both for regions seeking to attract investment, and investing businesses searching for the best possible locations.
c) Opportunities for more effective inward investment marketing
Organisational change creates opportunities to reconsider inward investment marketing strategies and assets - from location brand identities and investment value propositions to marketing platforms (e.g. websites), channels (e.g. business social media) and content (e.g. videos and brochures). And this process can benefit from the breadth of expertise contained in new, regional teams.
Reorganisation can, therefore, create opportunities to review and improve regional inward investment marketing strategies.
2) Inward investment promotion: the potential risks of organisational change
So, organisational change can create opportunities for more effective inward investment promotion. But there are also downsides because, whenever it happens, valuable inward investment assets seem to get discarded in the process. Here, therefore, are a few risks to be aware of (with a focus on marketing rather than wider organisational considerations):
a) Losing inward investment marketing continuity
In inward investment promotion, and marketing more generally, continuity tends to be a good thing. Strong location brands build recognition, credibility and trust over time. High-quality value proposition messages make an impact through repetition.
As we've said above, change is sometimes essential - and it can create exciting new opportunities. But all too often we see wholesale changes to location brands and marketing strategies without good reason, perhaps simply because there's a new management team or a new source of funding. Starting all over again interrupts marketing activities and creates lots of work. It's therefore best not to do it without good reason.
As a general rule, where regional inward investment promotion has been effective, look for ways to achieve continuity through incremental change and building on past successes.
b) Losing valuable inward investment marketing assets
Even when there's a solid case for starting afresh - an entirely new regional geography and identity, for example - it rarely makes sense to discard everything from the past.
LEPs, for example, are likely to have accumulated large (and expensive) bodies of inward investment marketing assets over several years, potentially including written content, professional photography, video footage, and investor case studies (which are hard to obtain but also usually have long marketing 'shelf lives'). Much of this materials is still likely to be relevant and valuable, with significant potential for reuse.
Especially in a time of funding constraints, it pays to make sure these valuable assets aren't lost in the process of organisational change. Consider how they can be retained, refreshed and repurposed - with new branding, for example - to promote new organisations and regional identities cost-effectively.
c) Losing inward investment marketing contacts and networks
Inward investment contact databases and LinkedIn follower networks (including prospective investors, high-value intermediaries, and regional partners) can take years to build up and number in the thousands. And they're vital when it comes to communicating your inward investment propositions to targeted audiences. But still they're sometimes lost when organisations change, representing a massive loss of value that should be avoided wherever possible.
In the case of LinkedIn company pages, look into the possibility of changing the name and branding of your existing page, or of migrating your followers to a new page for your new organisation.
Conclusions in summary
- New regional geographies can create opportunities for new, more powerful inward investment value propositions
- Increased collaboration between local inward investment teams is likely to mean added value for your region, and investing businesses
- Organisational change can create opportunities to develop better inward investment marketing strategies
But also consider:
- Continuity is a good thing in inward investment marketing - so avoid wholesale change when it isn't necessary
- Accumulated inward investment marketing assets were expensive to produce and can often still deliver value - consider opportunities to retain, refresh, repurpose and reuse them
- Your contacts and online networks are among your most valuable assets. Do everything possible not to lose them
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