Eiken reinforces the role of internationalization as a lever for the evolution of the Basque audiovisual sector

The Meeting of the Audiovisual Cluster of Euskadi, held at the Bizkaia Science and Technology Park, highlighted the need and opportunity to promote strategic missions to foreign markets.

The recent trade missions led by Eiken to Singapore and Ireland have shown that the evolution of the audiovisual sector has to be supported by a real internationalization strategy. This is the main conclusion offered by those responsible for the Audiovisual Cluster of Euskadi on the occasion of the Open Board of Directors for member companies and collaborators held on December 13 at the Bizkaia Science and Technology Park, and in which the business opportunities and growth possibilities for the Basque audiovisual industry were presented.

The event, attended by more than 50 representatives of companies, institutions and technology centers, offered attendees the opportunity to learn some details of the work carried out by Eiken in the Irish and Singapore markets. In this sense, both the director of the Cluster Itziar Mena and the head of the international area Aiala Fernández highlighted the reception obtained in the small state in Southeast Asia and the positioning of the Basque sector as a recognized interlocutor.

Beyond the specific activities carried out in each country, those responsible for Eiken highlighted the importance of missions within the internationalization strategy. In addition to becoming an essential preliminary step to guide this strategy, missions help eliminate the barrier of “distance” and obtain a panoramic view of the markets, which generally share the same challenges at a global level. Likewise, the “Eiken format” for these actions has been highly valued, combining a “Country Agenda” and an Audiovisual Market, as a tool capable of generating synergies and real possibilities of collaboration.

Singapore Mission

In the specific case of Singapore, and despite the initial difficulties derived from cultural and business management differences, the Basque delegation obtained highly satisfactory results from the point of view of generating business opportunities and collaboration. This mission was reinforced by the presence of Basque Audiovisual at the Asia TV Forum, the main market in Southeast Asia, and in which the Basque delegation carried out intense commercial work.

Singapore is a more “western” gateway to the Southeast Asian market and in that sense, the agenda developed with contacts at the highest level with local companies has provided the cluster and its companies with a series of concrete synergies that will be worked on in the coming months. For example, a detailed view has been obtained of the work of the production company Oak 3 Films, which works on behalf of Majors such as Discovery Channel or National Geographic, of the company Infinite Studios, with offices in Singapore and Indonesia, and of associations similar to Eiken such as AIPRO (Association of Independent Producers of Singapore) or Games Solution Center (Gaming Cluster).

The Basque companies present at the mission have also highlighted the great activity that is perceived in the country, “a market in flux” with a very clear commitment in favor of Digital Media and in which leisure centers become potential clients given the intensive use of screens and mobile devices. They have also highlighted the interest in very specific aspects of Basque culture, such as gastronomy.

Regarding the presence at the Asia TV Forum, the companies participating in the mission have detected real options with local companies that are highly internationalized and that, therefore, can serve as a launching platform for the entire continent. In any case, they have highlighted the importance of being present at an event of this type to know exactly the offer that the market demands.

In this sense, the participants have valued Eiken's representation and leadership, which guarantees credibility and facilitates access to meetings and contacts with high added value. Furthermore, they especially value the fact that the representation of the value chain responds to the “triple helix” model: public sector, private sector and academic sector.

Ireland Mission

In the case of Ireland, the trip served to strengthen relations between two industries that share numerous similarities and, as has happened in previous missions to the Netherlands and Israel, can potentially give rise to new opportunities for collaboration. Specifically, real possibilities of cooperation have been identified in the format sector, especially through the Innova Basque Audiovisual initiative and a similar project developed by the association of Irish production companies and public television RTE called “Format Farm”. Contacts have also been established in the field of animation and transmedia.

Smart Culture
Likewise, during the day, the steps taken in the European project “Smart Culture” were announced, in which Eiken participates along with representatives from 8 other European regions, and which aspires to create a platform, based on new technologies, that allows universal access of the citizens of the continent to their cultural heritage.

Specifically, and after intense activity carried out by both the cluster in Euskadi and the rest of the members of the European Consortium, in the form of a Focus Group and personal interviews with representatives of the Creative and Cultural Industries, and under a common methodology, a comparative SWOT is available that is considered a key tool to address the future strategies and challenges of the Sector.

All in all, Eiken faces its next steps in this internationalization strategy as the lever for the evolution of the sector with concrete actions that include supporting companies in the definition of their own internationalization and marketing strategy, the exploitation of the network of contacts through networking sessions; reverse missions to present the potential of the sector and the celebration of new direct commercial missions combining benchmarking and business objectives.