Three Reasons Why Expansion is a Strategic Marketing Decision

One way to check all these boxes and expand your market reach is a strategic expansion.

“Any Chief Marketing Officer knows that marketing plays a core role in driving business development,” says Lucinda Wallace, Senior Vice President at Waterloo EDC, and a former consumer packaged goods marketing and sales executive. “When you’re pulling together your shortlist of expansion locations, consider how each one’s market dynamics and reputation can support your brand. It won’t just strengthen your marketing strategy; it’ll accelerate your business growth.”

If you’re a Chief Marketing Officer, here are three ways expansion could support your brand goals.

1. More market opportunities

Bigger markets bring bigger opportunities for demand and profit. Expanding strategically can open the doors to market opportunities; to find them, you need to ask some key questions.

In what area, or market, are there unmet needs that your company can uniquely meet? Does this location have a substantial market size? Can you serve it better than your competitors? These questions can help you decide whether your potential expansion location will contribute to your marketing strategy and boost your brand.

“In a location with more market opportunities, you can expand your audience, connect with more people and develop long-term, supportive corporate partnerships,” says Wallace. “As a result, you can diversify your markets and increase revenue.”

What Waterloo offers:

• The Waterloo region is the 3rd fastest-growing community in Canada
• The Toronto-Waterloo Corridor is the 3^rd largest tech cluster in North America, with market access to 9.45M people
• Waterloo is located within a day’s drive of 194M+ consumers
• Waterloo’s business community is home to a wide range of industries excelling in what they do best, from quantum and AI to robotics and ZEV manufacturing

2. Increased customer access

After determining that a location has promising market opportunities, you need to evaluate its market access. How easily can you get your product or service in front of your customers and deliver it to them?

Expanding to a new location gives you more direct access to the local market, empowering your company to adapt its messaging and tactics to maximize results. It even supports the development of market-specific products, giving your company an advantage over companies that aren’t in-market.

You just need to ensure your expansion location streamlines your entry and access to the market, based on factors such as distribution, trade laws, hiring programs, local partners and business culture. You want to make sure your new expansion location is stable, supportive and business-friendly.

“Strong supply chains, foreign policy, trade networks and immigration programs … expanding to a location with these attributes increases the ease of doing business, which helps increase customer access and strengthen customer relationships,” says Wallace.

What Waterloo offers:

• Canada has 15 active free trade agreements, providing access to 51 partner countries
• Canada is #1 in trade connections with G7 countries
• The Global Talent Stream, our national business immigration program, accepts applications year-round, costs way less than the United States’ H1-B system and often secures visas within a matter of weeks
• Waterloo’s business ecosystem houses Communitech (Canada’s top innovation hub), Velocity (Canada’s most productive early-stage incubator) and the Accelerator Centre (Canada’s #1 private business accelerator)

3. Better brand visibility

Next, you want to ensure your brand is as visible as possible within those markets.

Brand visibility is key to creating strong and enduring relationships with consumers. In a location with a reputation for innovation, you can make your brand not only more visible but also more trustworthy.

“For example, let’s say you’re a software company. If you expand to a region known for cutting-edge developments in automation, AI and quantum computing, you can boost your brand’s visibility and credibility,” Wallace shares. “Your company becomes associated with the areas reputation for R&D and technological advancement.”

What Waterloo offers:

• The University of Waterloo is Canada’s top tech school and has been named “Canada’s Most Innovative University” 30 times
• Waterloo Region has world-renowned commercialization and research hubs in quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, AI and cybersecurity
• Waterloo’s reputation for innovation strengthens brand visibility in tech, manufacturing and other advanced industries

What Waterloo offered: Success stories

Several brands grew stronger by expanding in the Waterloo area. Here are two examples of companies that experienced marketing success by locating their businesses in Waterloo’s innovative and collaborative ecosystem.

• Unitron: From a local hearing aid manufacturer to a global player, Unitron has strengthened its reputation and brand by growing in Waterloo. The company became part of Sonova Group, an international leader in the hearing care industry, in 2000. The availability of top-tier talent, easy market access and highly collaborative ecosystem in Waterloo was key to their brand’s growth.
• OVHcloud: A leading European cloud provider, OVHcloud selected Waterloo for its second Canadian data centre in 2024. A large part of the decision was attributed to Canada’s stability and security. Guillaume Gilbert, Senior Communications Manager – Americas at OVHcloud, said, “Choosing Canada for our expansion was about giving our customers peace of mind and control over their digital journey. Our European DNA and Canada’s strong privacy laws assure them their data stays private and immune from any extraterritorial laws.”