Branding adaptation to the international market

In a globalized world like todays, the internationalization is an opportunity to enhance companies’ competitiveness and market positioning. However, in recent years it has gone from being a strategic option to become an imperative to achieve not only competitiveness but even the survival of many industries. Branding adaptation to the international market

As a business enters a new market, it must cope with cultural and demographic differences in the way it handles marketing. Some businesses choose a standardization model, in which the business appeals to universal needs, wants or goals in its marketing. An alternative, the adaptation branding strategy, forgoes universality in favor of tailoring marketing to appeal to the cultural or demographic particulars of customers in the new market.

First of all, what is brand adaption?

Brand adaptation calls for retooling any number of the visual, typographical or messaging elements of a brand. A business may change a brand name in a foreign language-heavy new market where the name corresponds to an unflattering or brand-damaging word or idiomatic usage in the foreign language. Marketing messages for a brand that work in one market or market segment can fail spectacularly for others.

Businesses can reposition a brand in a bid to convince those in a different market or market segment of the brand’s relevance to their lives. Repositioning often includes substantive changes in what a business sells and the benefits or promises it makes to customers.

Adapting your brand to the international market.

Companies that adapt to a culture that is familiar and foreign in nature and do so through global and local branding in a process is known as glocalization. Once you have actually established your target markets you will need to think about your internationalization marketing and branding strategy. At one end of the spectrum is the aspect of global branding and at the other is the factor of local branding. For most of the organizations, a combination of the two is probably the most effective marketing and branding approach.

A strong and effective brand should retain its core values and identity but tailor its messages and communication to suit the individual markets. This process of glocalization is adopted by most international companies and organizations, although the extent to which the brand message is adapted can vary from case to case.

Full adaptation strategies often prove cost prohibitive, as they often require building new marketing campaigns from the ground. Repositioning can result in substantial short- or long-term loss of market share if the strategy drives off existing customers without replacing them with new customers. Adaptation brand strategies can also fail to overcome customer loyalty to established local brands. A business should weigh the financial costs against the probability of success before embarking on an adaptation branding strategy.