Five Global Considerations Every Marketer Needs to Think About
Each year we ask, Will this be the year of truly global marketing? In 2006 we saw many companies, large and small, wake to the opportunities abroad. This year we are seeing many more marketing executives highlight the international experience on their résumés as they increase revenue, share, and brand awareness in other countries. They will target the right populations, the right mix of channels to reach them, and the right products to offer them.
As these marketers write their business plans for the coming years, many will cite an evergreen litany of reasons for targeting global markets. Among them will be the need to
1. prepare for continued growth beyond the North Atlantic. Not every international market matters, but some matter a lot. I’m actually writing this column from Shanghai, a booming city in the People’s Republic of China. Ignore China — now the world’s fourth largest economy — at your peril. Its middle class today totals 130 million consumers and is expect to grow to some 650 million by 2010. Within 20 years, one of every three consumers in the world will speak Chinese from birth. Meanwhile, India’s middle class already equals in size the entire population of the United States. And aging populations in Europe and Japan will join the retiring baby boomers in the U.S. with demands for new products, services, and leisure options.
2. reinforce brand in international markets. Higher prices and customer demand come from the goodwill associated with a brand, a hard-won value resulting from the trust that a strong name engenders among buyers and partners. As they begin to saturate the demand in their domestic markets, companies spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to manage and refine their brand will want to extend beyond the small patch of their headquarters’ country.
3. balance your business. When buyers in one region are slow to reach for their wallets, buyers in other geographies might take up the slack. Global firms with diversified regional portfolios can always focus their energy on the markets that are doing well. Closely monitoring economic indicators will let you redeploy assets as worldwide market conditions dictate.
4. improve corporate information flow. Many multinational companies conduct business exclusively in English, but this works best at the executive-management and director levels. In the operational trenches and the factories, local languages and customs dominate. To optimize the output of staff and enable collaborative efforts across a global enterprise, companies have to make critical communication systems such as e-mail, human resources, data portals, and decision support available in the language that their employees are most comfortable with.
5. satisfy the customer — wherever that customer might be. People buy from you today, from your competitors tomorrow. Whether they’re buying iPods or I-beams, international customers begin their buying cycle online, where they can get answers to their frequently asked questions, product information, and transactions — all in their local languages. Prospects can review product offerings, safety advisories, technical data, and competitive descriptions. Tailoring services to local languages and customs is a natural extension to personalized marketing, creating a personally and culturally relevant experience that will strengthen the customer relationship and improve customer satisfaction. After all, people won’t buy what they can’t understand.
Don DePalma is the founder/chief research officer of the research and consulting firm Common Sense Advisory, based in Lowell, MA, and author of “Business Without Borders: A Strategic Guide to Global Marketing.”
Other articles by Donald A. DePalma:
When Machine Translation Comes Knocking
Global Naming “Gotchas” Trip Up Microsoft and General Motors
Can’t Read, Won’t Buy: Why Language Matters to Global Marketing
What Happens When Going Global Goes Bust?
Knowing When It’s Time to Take Your Brand Abroad
Global Marketing: Money + Web + Local Experience = Success
Global Marketing: Triage and Nuance
Global Marketing: Toe Dippers, Stubbed Toes, and Second Bouncers
Global Marketing: Where Does Your Company Fit In?
