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Strengthening Marketing Services for the Growth of SMEs
Marketing Service especially Design and Advertising Service is considered as a critical element for the progress and growth of enterprises. It plays an important role in the process by which an economic system guided by responsive to the common good contributes to human and economic development.
 

It is a necessary part of the functioning of modern market economies, which today either exist or are emerging in many parts of the world and which — provided they conform to standards based upon integral human development and the common good — currently seem to be "the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs" of a society and economy. Design service/advertising does this, among other ways, by informing people about the availability of desirable new products and services and improvements in existing ones, helping them to make informed, prudent consumer decisions, contributing to efficiency and the lowering of prices, and stimulating economic progress through the expansion of business and trade. All of this can contribute to the creation of new jobs, higher incomes and a more decent and humane way of life for all. After a detail assessment of the various subsectors in the North Bangladesh, it was identified that the SMEs in the Northern Bangladesh is severely suffering from “Inadequate Market Expansion” and “Not Enough Customers”. This is resulting from lack of availability of appropriate quality marketing and advertisement services in the region. ChangeMaker has designed a high-impact intervention strategy and is currently implementing the same in Bogra.

Key Highlights of Bogra Intervention   • Formation of Bogra Media Forum with active    participation of 300 service providers   • Development of “Marketing and Advertisement    Service Provider’s Directory” to facilitate SME    interaction   • Capacity building program by linking the resource    persons from Dhaka   • Organizing an AdFair for promotion of availability   of quality advertisement service provision in Bogra   • Linkage with machinery and other inputs    suppliers   • Strong network with local business associations   and enterprises   • Strategic alliances with BMOs, Resource persons   and Service Providers in Dhaka.

ChangeMaker has developed a forum of key service providers engaged in marketing and advertisement susbsector for improved backward and forward linkage, capacity building and promotion of services in the region.

A similar study was also undertaken in Chittagong for designing potential interventions to strengthening the service providers for effective growth of SMEs in the Southeastern region of Bangladesh.