Fichag: "The piece that always works" when it comes to digital marketing

A reality that anyone who is going to start a business must take into account is that, in order to achieve greater positioning, he or she must invest in the image of that product or service.

“It is not a luxury to invest in a community manager to manage your social networks or in a designer to create from scratch or improve the logo that captures the essence of your product,” Yarima García notes.

She is the “mother” of Fichag, a digital marketing and communications venture that was born in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, as “the idea of a group of young people who came together with great aspirations and projects to undertake in Cuba,” she tells Nego.

“We wanted the name to have a very Cuban touch and it is very common in our country to give board game pieces the name FICHA and that is where the first part of the name comes from. We added the letter G at the end for my last name and we realized that it was a very catchy name, and also served to reinforce our intention to create the best marketing strategies to position our clients’ businesses.”

Currently, Fichag has two CEOs who operate and manage two parallel lines of work: Yarima (leader and founder of the project) who is in charge of everything related to marketing, communications, the commercial part of the project; and Rolando Cotilla Díaz, who takes care of the entire area of digital infrastructure (web design, APK implementation, page landing, SEO).

With the increase in businesses and enterprises in Cuba in recent months, there has also been a boom in the emergence of agencies specializing in digital communication and the market positioning of new ventures. “For this reason, the competition demanded a business model different from the rest; and it is an everday challenge to make our product more attractive to the customer,” Yarima stresses.

“The current conditions are very propitious for the flourishing and development of these business models related to marketing. There are still many obstacles, bureaucracy, fear and ignorance about the advantages of a good use of marketing, design and communications. As new projects and new economic actors enter this world of entrepreneurship with their ideas and experiences, more advantages and spaces will be created for this type of activity.”

It is a reality that these services are expensive due to their development process, but Fichag works under the premise that it is possible, based on the circular economy, to achieve viable marketing and positioning strategies for its clients, which allow them to save costs and reuse resources.

“We are a socially and environmentally responsible agency and we transmit this to our clients from the first interview, promoting the use of recycled materials and contributing to making them socially responsible businesses or projects with their community and environment.”

According to its founder, Fichag is also venturing into the concept of coworking and “we have hidden surprises to come” that the team does not yet dare to share.

“Right now we are focused, among other things, on achieving the implementation of our coworking space, which is currently our flagship product, and to which we are devoting all our efforts. We want to create a more collaborative space for entrepreneurs, to forge partnerships, create links and be more in tune with the world of entrepreneurship in Cuba.”

While they continue to “cook up” this project, the team is also focused on remaining a stable business, something that is “quite a challenge” at the present time, and on achieving their initial objectives as well as a better positioning in the country.

For the time being, the venture has secured two very important contracts with foreign companies on a full-time basis, which allows the team to gain experience and “above all they are an open door for our professional growth.”

“I think that beyond the economic gratification our greatest success has been creative independence, empowerment, getting to know other spaces and projects that emerge every day as part of the world of entrepreneurship in Cuba. Although it is an undervalued activity and is in the process of acceptance by both the new economic actors and the state sector, it is a very interesting and rewarding business model.”