It’s a global market now – or so we are always being told. But when it comes to venturing into new territories what really counts are your local connections, says Andrew Woodger (pictured).
When it comes to building international business the world is your oyster. Wherever you stick your pin on the gently spinning globe, you’ll be able to find a little grain of opportunity somewhere waiting to be transformed into a beautiful and valuable pearl. But when it comes to polishing up those pearls – getting them buffed up and attractive for their new markets – there’s nothing to beat a little local knowledge and skill.
Now right away let me say that you could accuse me of a little bias. I represent a company with just those ‘local’ skills – and a fair bit of experience in pearl polishing on behalf of global firms. But as I hope to show of the next few paragraphs, there are just so many positives in partnering with an agency which has local knowledge in the markets you want to enter.
It’s not just about ‘convenience’. There is a good argument to be had that by going straight to a local marketing and communications agency, as opposed to a ‘global network’ based in your own country, you get more direct control over all aspects of the project. From the start you have one single point of contact – right there on the ground just where you need them – and directly accountable to you. Whatever issues arise (and you know they will, however well organised you may think you are) they are your ‘boots on the ground’, ready to mobilise whatever resources are required, taking away all the issues and delivering reliable and ‘market tested’ solutions. They know the local suppliers and can handle all the diverse elements required in a ‘top to bottom’ re-branding of any newly acquired business.
You want to get on with the nitty-gritty. You want issues like the translation and localisation of marketing materials to be taken off your hands – and to be confident that the hands they’ve been passed onto have all the necessary skills, contacts and experience to solve the issues that may arise and deliver you just what you need, just when you need it. You need someone with an existing and robust network of suppliers they can tap into to deliver all the specialist items you need such as signage and promotional goods. You also need an agency which has the necessary experience to be your ‘brand custodian’, making sure that everything produced conforms to a consistently applied set of corporate identity standards across all your markets.
Above all, you need an agency which can cope with whatever issues emerge. Hopefully they won’t be of ‘crisis proportions’, but even if they are, your ‘local partner’ should be able to lift them off your aching shoulders, take them away and leave you with one less problem to deal with. Being there on the ground their reaction times will be that much faster – and they will be able to call in favours and have an adaptability which an agency in a more distant location couldn’t possibly hope to match.
I know I said out the outset that I had a bias in presenting this argument – and the case study at the end of this article takes that one step further. You’re welcome, of course, to disagree with me – and I’m sure the editor of this journal will be happy to give your views equal space with mine – but with so much at stake, I would argue again and again that no business, however global their ambition, can afford to be without experienced local players. You pay your money and take your choice – but dollar for dollar (or whatever the currency in play) you’ll get a better result by choosing a local agency every time.
Andrew Woodger is data and planning director at the Purple Agency. The agency has offices in the UK, Germany, Italy and Turkey.
