To maximise marketing budgets, you need to minimise the risk of global campaigns being locally ineffective or unused. Here’s how to ensure creative hits the mark wherever it appears.
Having to reshoot and revise global marketing assets to make them relevant to a local market audience is a timely and costly process – but it can be avoided. By planning for local market needs from the outset, carrying out insight-driven research and striving to stand out for all the right reasons, you can make your global marketing assets work harder.
Fill the global-to-local planning gap
When we refer to a localisation strategy, we’re technically talking about a communications strategy. However, effectively turning a global strategy into a multi-market activation requires a number of specialised planning tasks that should be considered as soon as you settle on your big campaign idea.
For example, you’ll need to consider your media mix in every local market as popular marketing channels will vary from one territory to the next. In some countries, you may rely mostly on social media or online advertising. In other places, it could be local newspapers, outdoor advertising or radio. And from an operations perspective, you can also fill the global-to-local planning gap by streamlining execution. Working with local affiliates, licensees or agents can help you get established in a new market. That’s because close consultation with business partners on the ground will ensure your marketing materials and approach have local appeal.
Think relevance and resonance
Research any new markets or regions – and continually keep in mind the cultural context of any territories where your business or brand has already established a presence. The work that goes into creating a global campaign won’t go to waste if you’ve spent time assessing the market opportunity and adapting your marketing strategy. To do this effectively, consider these questions at the planning stage:
- How big is the market in other countries for the particular product or service that you’re promoting?
- How many brands or businesses already operate in the sector and how big might the potential customer base be?
- Are there any potential trade barriers or restrictions?
- Is now the right time to launch a local market campaign – have you identified growing interest or has it already peaked?
- What local values, customs, languages and currencies do you need to integrate into your marketing place?
- Are your unique selling points, branding and campaign assets right for the new markets you are targeting?
Create with localisation in mind
From social media influencer activity that’s designed to raise awareness to email journeys intended to convert potential purchasers, a marketing campaign often has several moving parts. Even if your execution stays the same in every region, your brand assets need to be tailored to local markets. This means thinking about how images and colours look and are perceived differently around the world as well as designing with flexibility in mind. For example, you can anticipate any localisation changes – such as text expansion or right-to-left languages – by translating taglines and marketing messages as early in the production process as possible.
Outperform the competition
While carrying out competitor research in a local market, you might find opportunities – or ‘white spaces’ – where your brand, product or service can thrive creatively while bringing its mission to life. This is a service Freedman offers and is aimed at brand marketers who want to future-proof their brands or identify multi-market strategic territories. It can also serve as a creative springboard, inspiring creative teams when ideating within a culturally appropriate space and ensuring global assets are adapted to resonate around the world.
Outsource multi-market planning
To free up resources, ensure global-to-local planning tasks are done with rigour and expertise, and successfully deliver marketing assets everywhere, you can engage the support of localisation experts like Freedman.
We support planning and creative teams with strategic input to help them plan and execute campaigns and optimise for multi-market activation. We also work with both global and local marketing teams to adapt and originate lower-tier or region-specific campaigns. Find out more by contacting us today.