BRANDING AND CULTURE
BRANDING AND CULTURE
Monday, 11 June 2007 10:23
Join Lee Njoroge and see what role you can play in making sure that your brand does not fall prey to its own arrogance in this look at branding and culture.
By Lee Njoroge “One of the biggest implications of globalization for companies seeking to expand to foreign shores is the task of balancing standardization with customization.” Martin Roll When a brand expands across its borders, the temptation to repeat formulae that worked in their home markets is strong. They assume that customers in the new markets would be more than enthusiastic about consuming ‘great brands’ because of their history and heritage. Unfortunately for many of these companies, this results in a huge, painful, costly failure. Exporting a brand without first giving consideration to the culture of the market that you are penetrating could lead to embarrassing results and often a rapid retreat from whence you first came.
Many companies have realised this truth, through the greatest and harshest teacher of them all: experience. Many companies fail to accept that the greatness of a brand in its home market may be greatly diminished by cultural perceptions, differences and expectations. The giant of one location becomes the mouse in another. A lot can be said for the value that market research plays in the penetration of a new market even with a ‘great’ brand that is a ‘sure win’; or rather, especially with such a brand.
Arrogance is a sure-fire killer of even the best strategies out there and we must be careful to make sure that we do not fall into traps like these in pursuit of the ever more elusive loyal consumer.
