The Do’s and Don’ts of International Marketing | By Brennan Hom
The world nowadays is a much more unconventional place than it was just a decade ago. In the past, many people would chuckle at the idea that most of the world’s population depends on the internet so much. To them, the world of today would resemble a dystopian vision. This society reached many science fiction perplexities, imitating content written by many famous science novel writers, such as George Orwell, Arthur C. Clarke, Jules Verne, and Isaac Asimov.
Nevertheless, this is the society we do live in now. There is no avoiding that unless a person is amenable to leave everything behind and go back to the roots of being hunters and gatherers. To remain a part of the society we live in today, we have to readjust and continuously learn, as new skills show up regularly.
This same doctrine does not only apply to the individual and corporations, businesses, brands, or any firm that seeks to flourish, adapt, grasp, and withstand today’s world. Particularly now that we are living in the age of the “new normal.”
Many brands now concentrate mainly on SEO techniques that promote getting the most traffic, having the best PBN Backlinks, and optimizing Youtube ads to have the most reach. It could even splurge on the most professional and beautiful website but still flop on a new market. “New normal” has transformed the digital space over the past years so that these things are no longer enough.
At Dataduck, we fully recognize this, and not just from reading. We have personally came up with innumerable solutions to shake things up, especially in areas where others couldn’t.
Many brands fail not because of the product but because they don’t globalize their campaign. After all, new markets require more than translation to be fully localized. And even if the company manages to become popular without understanding that, it remains vulnerable.
Many elements could ruin the brand reputation overnight. We’ve already seen a few examples of brands being “canceled” because of some mistakes. They generated outrage on the local market and repelled local consumers.
Dataduck understands how vital an efficient localization can be to a brand. We always thrived on solving issues arising from it promptly. Our teams reflect that, with many specialists having more than five years of experience in that field.
It might be hard for different companies to adapt to new markets. That’s why our international team often becomes a huge asset for them. Once we’ve got what you need, we will handle everything your brand needs.
So, how do you begin with localization? The first thing in order would be to create a plan on how you adapt your advertising campaigns as well as assigning the right people to it. Dataduck removes most of the stress that comes with it, as we already have the team for just that.
But how do you find out if your product is even needed in this new market? There are a few ways to do so:
- You need to make a market assessment. With it, you’ll know if your brand is in demand and if your campaign can connect to the local consumer.
- Sound out the competition. Who are the key players here? How do they do their campaigns?
- Check the trends, both online and offline. See how your audience behaves and its preferences.
- Find out about the local culture. Some common phrases and symbols might be offensive here. Conduct your research on the local taboos.
- Contact some local specialists. They can easily spot something that your team will miss even after the research.
This is a short list of actions that can make it easier for you to enter a foreign market. Once you’ve rooted yourself, the rest will become easier, as you will be more familiar with the local market.
Once your brand has an in-depth understanding of the local market, you can start thinking about expanding. In that case, finding a partner that can handle the market will be a good step, though you’ll need to choose one carefully.
An excellent example of a local market’s poor handling will be the infamous case of “Dolce & Gabbana” in China. After many efforts of extending the brand to China, it took a massive hit in 2018.
This happened after a set of promo videos by the leisure brand on social media. They showed an Asian model trying to eat pizza with chopsticks (see below).
Many Chinese social media users were outraged by what they felt was a dig at their culture. Not only that, but they’ve also found out even more controversial promo posts from the brand, adding more fuel to the fire.
Said controversy led to “D&G” putting numerous planned events on hold, suffering reputational and financial losses. All of that could be avoided if they had a good marketing team familiar with the Chinese culture and potential sore spots.
With this article, we wanted to show you that brands can’t just rely on a trial and error method, as some mistakes can set you back significantly. That’s where an experienced team comes into play, to prevent such errors without cutting too much into your balance.
By Brennan Hom
