When it comes to rolling out a campaign in multiple markets, just a few operational efficiencies can make all the difference.
You know a typical global campaign moves from planning – where you set business objectives and identify the audience segments you want to target – through to activation.
But by not taking local markets into account from the outset, you not only add a significant strain to the marketing team’s resources, but you also run the risk of asset wastage. Build a scalable global-to-local model by considering culture, context, media placement and preferred channels in every market where your brand has or wants to establish a presence.
Adopt a tried-and-tested approach to localisation, and you can create operational efficiencies. Get started by asking these simple questions.
Do you have a localisation strategy?
You have a global campaign, but how are you going to achieve the differentiation required to ensure it resonates wherever it appears? The answer lies in a localisation strategy. The often complicated and sometimes neglected sweet spot that makes things easier for marketing professionals and makes outputs work harder – both for the central and local teams. It’s all about reducing complexity, keeping production costs down and enabling concepts to be rolled out at high speed.
Do you understand what local markets need?
At Freedman, we support brands and businesses to achieve regional and local market penetration by being culturally close to the consumer and adopting a flexible response to local customer needs. You can do this too, by consulting local markets during the planning stage when that big idea is taking shape.
By discussing what local markets require from the outset, you can save time and money by only producing assets that are going to be used. This level of preparation is something we facilitate by uploading the plan to our automated platform prior to production so that all local market requirements are locked in.
Similarly, are your global assets easily localisable? You need to gather local insights and conduct cultural consultations to make sure centrally produced assets are actually going to be localisable.
Are local markets included in your media plan?
Whenever possible, a media plan that takes local markets into account should be defined well before production starts. This ensures local media placements are considered and that, when versioning starts, every asset produced is actually going to be used.
You might be able to anticipate what’s required by drawing on a media plan that was created for previous campaigns if you’re working to a tight timeframe – but wherever possible – marketers should pursue a multi-market view throughout the creative development. This is something Freedman brings to the table through our creative origination service.
Do you need creative adaptation?
Despite best intentions, you might find yourself faced with the task of extending an existing campaign platform into further markets or arranging further activations (for example, a local social media mini-campaign) that weren’t included in the original strategy or media plan.
This is when our creative adaptation service comes into play, by adapting the existing global strategy, messaging and assets to fit local market needs. This approach requires significant insights and agility, with the brand toolkit and master creative idea undergoing validation to ensure assets are in line with local needs and that tone of voice and imagery will resonate with target audiences.
And, at the end of the process, in order to follow a robust global-to-local model going forward, it’s important to create a playbook that maps the local strategy and activation guidelines.
Contact us today to find out how our localisation expertise and global-to-local adaptation model can benefit your business and brand.