Localizing Your Brand: Key to Global Marketing Success
To expand your company globally, you need to adapt your brand image and identity for these new markets through brand localization. This is an incredibly essential part of extending the reach and appeal of your brand to new audiences. Read on to find out more about what brand localization means, and why it’s so important for an effective global marketing strategy.
What Does Brand Localization Mean?
Brand localization is all about adapting your brand and the services or products you offer for the purpose of entering a specific market. This strategy takes into consideration the cultural customs, differences, and sensitivities of specific regions within the global market.
For instance, one example of brand localization is to make sure your company website is available in different languages. Even if your target audience speaks English, they may prefer to browse the web in their native language. Those preferences also apply to local currency and measurements.
Brand localization is more than literal translation, however. This holistic, careful, and thoughtful approach also includes adjusting for legal concerns and researching and understanding cultural nuances. After all, without adapting so that your brand is more accessible, how are you going to draw in new customers?
Why is Brand Localization So Important?
Brand localization is key for building relationships with your target audience in this new market. Consumer relationships are immeasurably important for brand success, no matter where you are. It’s how you form a solid base of returning consumers, who also help your base grow through positive word of mouth.
Understanding the nuances of a particular culture projects respect. It also demonstrates the quality of your company’s customer service and support. This makes it easier to build trust, another important aspect of any relationship.
Taking a thoughtful and well-researched approach also minimizes your risk in this new market. That, in turn, means your company is more likely to get a higher ROI (return on investment). Plus, if your competitors haven’t localized their brands, that puts you ahead of them in the global market.
How Do Companies Develop Effective Brand Localization Strategies for Global Marketing Success?
Implementing a successful brand localization strategy involves the following steps:
- Start your process with a strong understanding of the most significant aspects of your brand so you can successfully localize for this new market while maintaining the essence of your brand identity. Ask yourself what values and beliefs of your brand are universal. Know your brand mission statement, what promises your brand makes, and what measures you take to keep them. Understand your brand voice—that is, how you communicate with consumers.
- Lay out your goals. With any major business move, especially expanding into an unknown area, you’ll need a solid set of goals before creating your strategy or plan. This is also the stage where you should be thinking about your global marketing budget and an estimated timeline.
- Thoroughly research your new target audience and the region as a whole. For successful brand localization, you must know as much as you can about consumer habits. What are their wants, needs, and preferences? How can your company help fulfill those? How does your brand voice need to be adjusted for this local market? Will consumers already be familiar with your product or services? If not, what’s the most effective way to educate them?
- The most effective brand localization strategies go beyond just understanding the population in consumer terms. Learn about values, interpersonal relationships, communication, character, and so on. Try to see the world from the perspective of the local people.
- On a less philosophical note, make sure you have the logistics down. Know the rules, regulations, and requirements you’ll need to follow in the country, province, city, and so on that you are expanding to.
Localization of your brand identity should be consistent with the original but appeal to the new audience.
What Are Some Brand Localization Missteps to Avoid?
Do not overlook potential cultural sensitivities. This can’t be emphasized enough. Certain colors, gestures, symbols, phrases, and such can have completely different, and even offensive, connotations in foreign markets and can drive potential customers away. And while it should go without saying, avoid stereotypes at all costs.
Recognize that the data you collect will likely not be the same as your domestic analytics. Likewise, don’t expect domestic data to be a perfect indicator of how much your brand localization efforts will succeed. When it comes to analytics in general, make sure the information you have is as accurate as possible for the market you’re working in.
Don’t overcorrect and remove anything that makes your brand recognizable. This is why it’s so important to have a core brand identity before you expand globally. For instance, Starbucks Coffee is able to successfully expand to other countries, incorporating the different elements from local cultures while also keeping its signature elements and remaining instantly recognizable by coffee drinkers everywhere.
How Do You Know If Your Brand Localization Efforts Are Successful?
Don’t rush things. When you first start to implement brand localization strategies, you’ll want to start small to minimize risks. This also gives you time to look at what works and what doesn’t. Some methods include polling and holding focus groups that are made of the local population. That way, you can adjust your strategies accordingly before making the biggest moves.
Even once you think you’ve established a local presence, you should regularly check up on things. If your strategies need changing or updating, you’ll want to be aware of it before it’s too late and you get left behind. Look at what are the most successful aspects of your brand localization efforts and determine how to keep that going.
For the best results, ask the experts for their help and advice. At InnoVision Marketing Group, our team members have the experience and expertise to guide your company through global marketing and brand localization. Because we know that no two companies are alike, we work to create customized strategies that will lead to your greatest success. Learn more about InnoVision Global Marketing.
