The scope and challenges of government marketing strategies are being conveyed to a team of enthusiastic media and marketing professionals as well as aspirants primarily from various UAE entities by former United Nations official and public administration expert Dr. Guido Bertucci at the 13th edition of the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF 2024) taking place on September 4-5, 2024 at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Titled ‘Government Marketing and Nation Branding Program’ and organised by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the programme gave valuable insights into the strategic marketing of nations and how government channels can successfully navigate the public communication platforms. Bertucci, who is the Executive Director of the US-based think tank Governance Solutions International, gave a comprehensive round-up of the various factors that rule the domain in his presentation titled “What is Government Marketing”.

The interactive workshop saw media and marketing personnel from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fujairah as well as Sharjah government departments take part in group exercises and question and answer sessions. The Whispering Exercise, for instance, had Bertucci whisper a sentence to one person in each group and they were to whisper it to the person seated next to them and the last member of each group had to repeat it aloud to the class. Through this exercise, he was able to point out the errors that can happen in oral communication.

Bertucci dwelt on the success factors, marketing channels, challenges, and key components of government marketing to give an all-round picture of government communication strategies. He pointed out how bureaucratic red tape, lack of financial resources or political sensitivity can hold back effective communication and suggested the need for SMART – specific, memorable, attainable, relevant and time-bound – characteristics for communication tools.

He identified 8 reasons for the success of government marketing, including culture, organization, planning, management, knowledge and skills, marketing information and measurement, resources, and outputs and results.

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), IGCF 2024, themed ‘Agile Governments.. Innovative Communication’, has brought together senior officials, industry leaders, decision-makers, researchers, and communication experts from government and private sectors, as well as media professionals from around the globe to envision and shape the future of government communication. The two-day event will see 14 training sessions in collaboration with UNITAR to enhance ‘nation-branding’ and government marketing strategies.