Going global? 5 key considerations for launching in new markets

The challenge

Launching a brand into any new market always presents a wide range of challenges, from standing out in established competitor sets to understanding nuances with local audiences, it’s challenging – but by no means impossible. Of course, logistics, legal operations, and market entry strategy are key focus areas for many businesses. In this article, we concentrate on considering whether your brand is ready and right for the market and can impact audiences overseas.

Use the following key considerations to help you and your marketing team navigate this new territory and ensure you have a global-ready brand.

Key consideration 1

Understand your target market

Before proceeding, it’s crucial to understand your existing UK persona types and whether they translate into the target market’s culture and consumer behaviour. It’s worth conducting the Target Persona exercises again within the local market. If you haven’t previously identified personas, prioritise this and you can use our helpful guide to establish them.

Through the persona work, consider including:

• Recognising regional nuances (for large countries like the US these can be polarising)
• Cultural elements (colour perceptions, name translations)
• Local customs
• Are your audience’s needs already being met by a local/incumbent international competitor?

Key consideration 2

Retain brand equity or not?

Once you understand your audience’s needs, what gaps exist in the market, and how your product or service can meet those needs, you need to decide whether your current visual identity and verbal brand should be retained, refreshed, or reinvented. This is sensitive, and if a new name is chosen, testing locally is strongly recommended.

For example, Tesco has successfully entered many markets, the Czech Republic and Slovakia being two of the larger ones. The interesting point here is that these have retained the Tesco name and brand. However, when Tesco entered the US (in 2007), they launched under the name Fresh & Easy. This did not resonate with the target market.

When the store opened, one woman said, “It sounds like a deodorant.” Another said it made her think of a sanitary product. Although the business failed for multiple reasons, the name was a contributing factor. If you decide a name change is needed, then proceed with caution and test this with your target personas.

Key consideration 3

Design for local people: Localisation over translation

If you are considering translating some of your marketing comms over to the new market, remember that localisation is far more effective than simple translation. It’s well worth testing the waters with some local audience members first to ensure your visual & verbal identities are going to resonate well. Adapting content to fit the cultural and contextual nuances of the target market is key here. This includes everything from small details such as adjusting date and time formats, through to the more nuanced transcreation (creative translation).

Let’s take a common English phrase, if its raining hard you might hear someone say: “It’s raining cats and dogs”:

A direct translation into French makes little sense locally as in France, they say “Il pleut des cordes” (It’s raining ropes)

You’d find the same challenge in Spain as they say, “Está lloviendo a cántaros” (It’s raining pitchers)

An example of a well-known brand doing this with a tagline is KFC’s “Finger-Lickin’ Good”:

Spanish KFC uses this instead: “Para chuparse los dedos” (To suck your fingers)

And French: “Bon à s’en lécher les doigts” (Good enough to lick your fingers)

Even films are careful of the nuance. In the Japanese version of Disney’s “Inside Out” the character Disgust’s dislike for broccoli was changed to green peppers, as broccoli is not commonly disliked by children in Japan. Quite often we can use turns of phrase or local vernacular without even realising, which won’t translate/resonate with global audiences.

Key consideration 4

Understanding if you should leverage your UK roots

Once you fully understand the local customer – their likes, needs and preferences, you can determine if hailing from the UK is an asset that’s of benefit to the brand to promote. In some markets this can be considered a desirable feature. However, it’s not going to be beneficial in every market for every type of product so be sure to sense-check this first.

Burberry’s marketing strategy draws heavily on its British heritage. Making it an excellent example of a brand that has successfully leveraged its British heritage in overseas markets. The luxury fashion house has effectively promoted its “Britishness” as a key selling point, particularly in emerging markets like China.

However, brands face a delicate balancing act. British sentiment can change depending on geopolitical influences. Ultimately, people seek trustworthy brands to purchase from, so companies need to ensure their brand stands for something genuine that they can trust – that could be heritage and provenance or something entirely different.

Key consideration 5

Consistency

Consistency adds value to businesses. Much like compound interest, your brand gathers momentum and value over time.

It’s crucial to maintain consistency in brand messaging and identity across different languages and regions, even when you have to add a little local flavour to resonate better with each audience.

Big global brands such as McDonalds, Coca Cola and Nike succeed in so many markets because the experience of the brand is immediately recognisable wherever you go in the world. The products may vary based on the local market, but the brand values and visual style are universally consistent.