So, you’ve got a fantastic product or service offer and a terrific support network. You run a tight ship, have high productivity and should be internationally competitive, but If nobody knows about you, you will never sell. The answer is, once again, in planning but this time to plan your international branding and promotion strategies carefully.
First it’s important to get your brand right. Perrier introduced a soft drink into the French market called Pschitt. Now in French that represents the sound a fizzy drink bottle or can makes when opened, but I don’t imagine that you would be rushing out to buy a bottle of Pschitt from your local supermarket. On the theme of soft drinks, I recall on my first visit to Tokyo a long time ago, coming across on virtually every street corner drinks vending machines (some selling hot coffee in cans but that’s a story for another day) dispensing a drink called Pocari Sweat. Being curious I did of course taste it but again I doubt this would sell well in British supermarkets. The important thing is to be very careful that your brand, corporate or product, is well researched and will work internationally.
I guess you will know you have cracked it with your brand when it becomes a generic. I’m sure that the management at Hoover aren’t particularly thrilled when people refer to their “Dyson Hoover” but it says something about the power of their brand.
You will then need to consider your promotion planning. Should it be adapted or standardised? An important question requiring a close understanding of the culture, spending habits, regulatory environment and taste of your target markets. Whichever way you go, language will be important and communication in the language of your customer is vital. I don’t want to turn this into a marketing primer but you should think about your overall approach – push or pull etc but key to your strategy will be a determination of exactly where and by whom the buying decision is made and developing your promotions to communicate to them. The following is not an exhaustive list but gives an idea of some of the areas to consider:
• Trade Fairs - always a good start providing you with a great chance to do valuable marketing research as well. UKTI has an extensive Tradeshow Access Programme , helping firms to get started that is worth having a look at.
• Trade Press - When I lived in Asia, I made a point of finding out which trade press my customers generally read. Surprisingly, a large number read American magazines and I had more success reaching my customers via this route than trying to find a widely read magazine produced in Asia. Establish what is read and approach them with a good PN (press notice), preferably with a good photograph and you may be surprised at how much coverage you get. Understanding what is news helps. Dog bites man – not news. Man bites dog – news. Embassies and High Commissions can help with getting PNs placed and the prestige of the British Embassy name can make a difference.
• Advertising - quite an expensive option but if it’s targeted well and you’ve understood how best to reach your customers it can work. Again, you’ll need to know which media your customers use.
• Events and Seminars - they can be very cost effective and, well targeted, will bring results. Did you know that you can use (for a small fee) the British Embassy facilities to host events? If the invitation to the event comes from His Excellency, the British Ambassador this will add prestige to your event and boost attendance.
• Direct marketing - depending on how many customers you have and how well you know them this could be an option. Remember, however, that for typical consumer direct marketing campaigns a company’s marketing director would be doing cartwheels if he got anything like a 2% response rate.
• Personal selling - whoever is out selling your product or service in market has a hugely important role to play. All of your carefully planned corporate values, branding and targeted promotion planning can be blown apart by careless behaviour on the ground. People buy from people and relationship building is essential in all countries and cultures.
• Internet - I wonder if I left the most important until last? If you don’t have a good website, get one. If it isn’t translated into the key languages of your customers, make sure it is. If you haven’t sorted out search engine optimisation, then do so. Use social media, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs. Look at Yahoo, Ali Baba, Yell, Google, Ebay and the many others involved in internet marketing and use them to reach your customers, in many cases for free.
Of course, UKTI's local teams are always there to provide support and more information on the above or any other export related topics, and much of what I describe above is not expensive (sometimes at no cost at all) - so don’t be put off. There are no prizes at all for making your company one of the world’s best kept secrets!
3 comments
Comment by car hire Faro airport posted on
Hello Clive,
Couldn't agree more - businesses must have a multi-pronged strategy to promote their goods and services.
However,in relation to internet marketing, I can't stress enough the importance of investing in SEO - many businesses are hoodwinked by web design companies - they are told that their websites have been optimised when in fact they have not.
For a very small investment - mainly in time- business people CAN educate themselves in the basics of SEO .
You can have an all singing all dancing website, but that's pointless if you don't know what your potential customers are searching for on Google - if you don't know this basic fact, you will miss your target market.
Business people - wise up !
Comment by Clive Drinkwater posted on
Hi there.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson talked about buyilding a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door, I'm not sure he was entirely right. If the world doesn't know about your better mousetrap, how can they know which path to beat to get to your door?
I know just how much my wife and I now rely on the internet to find suppliers and to buy online (hard to have imagined only a handful of years ago) but we rarely go beyond the first page on Google. Even then, we are amazed how often it is difficult to find some suppliers even if you simply Google their name. Companies' spending time putting that right would be enormously well spent.
Clive
Comment by Clive Drinkwater posted on
Hi there.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson talked about buyilding a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door, I'm not sure he was entirely right. If the world doesn't know about your better mousetrap, how can they know which path to beat to get to your door?
I know just how much my wife and I now rely on the internet to find suppliers and to buy online (hard to have imagined only a handful of years ago) but we rarely go beyond the first page on Google. Even then, we are amazed how often it is difficult to find some suppliers even if you simply Google their name. Companies' spending time putting that right would be enormously well spent.
Clive