"The secret is doing your homework," Williams says. "Like any long distance relationship, it's got to be managed and needs more work than something you can see and physically touch, but it's not impossible."
The following steps may help you in building an international brand:
- Make sure you have a market. "Proven success with your current target audience doesn't automatically mean that your new target will connect in the same way with your products or services," Williams says. "Ask your new market the questions you used to build your initial business plan." First and most important, he says, you'll want to determine if a market exists for your product. If so, make sure the want or need isn't already being well met by someone else. If there are existing competitors, what (in the perspective of your potential customers) makes you remarkably different? If there is a market and there are no competitors, make sure you find out why -- are there laws against distributing your products or can consumers buy them through other means?
- Make sure you can deliver. Make sure you can get your product to, or manufactured within, the new market. "Import and manufacturing laws vary from country to country," Williams says. "Ensure you can make your products reliably and consistently available to your new target markets." Investigate the local laws. You need to make sure your products meet the local standards for construction of components, use of chemicals, disposal of goods, proper labeling of products, etc.
- Re-examine your business and/or product names. In choosing a name for your business or product, you need to be culturally sensitive if you intend to sell in foreign markets. Make sure product names make sense to customers in your new markets, both in English and in the local translation. Williams, who has done international branding work with Starbucks, recalls how a holiday favorite in the U.S., the Gingerbread Latte, didn't sell well in Germany even though gingerbread was a favorite holiday cookie in that country. Sales of the drink increased dramatically when Starbucks began using the German word for gingerbread and rebranded the drink, the Lebkuchen Latte. If you are considering translating names, don't rely on computer translation. "You don't want what you think is an effective name to mean something opposite or offend potential customers," Williams says. "Work with someone locally who can help make sure you communicate what you intend."
- Give your logo another look. Similarly, review your logo to make sure that you don't use any wording or symbols that would offend in a foreign market. "Ensure that any logos or symbols you use make sense and don't offend," Williams says. "Do an international search to make sure your logo isn't similar to that of another international company." For example, if you are selling products in some Middle Eastern markets, a logo featuring the face of a woman might not be appropriate. The best way to understand these cultural sensitivities is to consult a branding or design firm -- either a local one or an international firm that can research cultural sensitivities.
- Understand packaging requirements. If you're selling a product, you need to consider the laws and customs and packaging requirements in your new markets before deciding on packaging for your products. Your packaging may use a clear plastic shell that hangs from a rod, but your competition may package their product in a box that can go on a shelf, Williams says. This may put you at a disadvantage. "If you're selling a packaged product around the world there are incredible hurdles," Roth adds. Shipping food across borders may require you to provide more nutritional information on packaging, in more languages, and there may be laws prohibiting the use of certain products in some markets -- even New York City has a ban on trans fatty acids, for example. Learn the local standards and ensure your packaging includes any necessary regulatory information and meets transportation standards.
- Register trademarks and domain names. Follow the process in your new market to ensure you preserve patent and trademarks. Thanks to the NAFTA Treaty your marks should already be protected in Mexico and Canada, Williams says. If you're doing business in the European Union filing for a Community Trade Mark (CTM) will protect you. Another consideration is making sure the Internet domain name for your company and product are available. You still want to register a dot-com, which is the most popular domain worldwide for businesses. But you may also consider registering domains using specific country codes -- .nl for the Netherlands or .br for Brazil -- if you are targeting only one or two local markets and plan on providing up-to-date translations of your websites into the local languages.
In taking these steps to building a brand internationally, it almost always helps to find local resources to help you understand and enter new foreign markets. You might consider entering into business with a local distributor or retailer in this new market. "It is nearly impossible to understand local culture simply by visiting a country," Williams says. "Find local customers, local translators. Just because you took two years of French in high school doesn't make you qualified to understand the French market nor do French translations. Just as consumers' needs are different in Rhode Island from those in Florida and California, so are the needs of consumers in Paris different from those in Marseille."
Dig Deeper: Trademark, Copyright & Patent Protection
