What does it mean to be a global brand, but have local relevance? How do you ensure that the brand message stays consistently through the world, but is still able to capture the hearts of the local audience? Can it be done?
My answer is yes it can be done, and that it is not as difficult as it seems. The key is to have all the stakeholders agree on the final business objectives and to adhere to 3 very fundamental principles.
1. Stay true to the brand
What ever brand you are, you will have a beginning, a history, a culture, a philosophy, a vision that represents who you are and where you are headed. This cannot and should never change as you expand into new markets and target new audiences. The values of the brand are fundamental to everything a brand should do. It should guide your marketing, your communications, your product strategy, etc.
Global brands are also usually well respected by consumers, especially if these brands have already had a proven track record overseas. When launching such a brand into China, there would already be a pent up enthusiasm that builds up that comes from having the brand feel so near (you can read about it online) but yet so far (because it is not physically in stores yet). Leveraging this energy well to create awareness for your brand.
Another reason to stay true to your brand is that consumers can “smell a rat” from far away. If a brand drifts away from the true brand values, consumers are usually the first to sniff it out and they will be up in arms over the issue. Think how consumers became upset over the new Gap logo.
2. Speak with a local voice
There are 2 ways to ensure that you are local enough. 1st make sure that you know where your consumers are and you can speak to them on their terms and playing field. This could mean getting your brand into the various social media platforms that are available. For example in China, go onto Renren to talk to undergraduates, go onto Kaixin001 to talk to white collar executives (mostly females), go onto Sina Weibo to talk to young and trendy crowd, go onto QQ to talk to tier 2 & 3 consumers. There is a whole myriad of partner choices in China to partner with, so it is really important to identify who your TAs are and where their digital “homes” are and speak to them there.
2nd, you should also consider leveraging local influencer (online editors, opinion leaders, celebrities, etc) to tell your brand story. A caveat to this is to ensure that your influencer must be someone with actual influence (whether digital or in the real world). No one pays attention to “plain jane”, but everyone will be interested in what “celebrity xxx” has done.
Now that you have selected who will be your voice, prepare the what you are going to say and make sure that it’s told in the most compelling and authentic manner, to ensure that both the brand values and the local authenticity comes across.
3. Live up to your brand promise
All that talk is good but eventually it is about fulfilling something that the consumers need. Ensure that your brand lives up to it’s promise and deliver against the users expectations.
Basically, these are the 3 key areas I believe would make a brand successfully relevant in a local market. Do share your thoughts.
