[Video Interview] Creating a Marketing Strategy for a Global Product

Creating a successful marketing strategy for a global product takes a lot of work and strategic planning. There are however interesting similarities between the Fortune 500 companies and even the leanest of startups. 

In this Let's Talk About episode, we chat to Paula Kennedy Garcia, VP at Concentrix about bringing a product to a global market and the things that need to be thought about around that. 

 👇🏼 Check out the full interview below 👇🏼

What are the best practices for introducing a new product to the global market?

There are a couple of things that are really important for introducing new products. The first is research. It seems like the obvious but get the research right. Make sure you have tested all of your assumptions that what you actually want to take to market, the market actually needs or even wants. The other thing is start with the customer, whoever is going to use your product or service. That is the place to start. You can have the best idea and have the greatest technology but if nobody wants this at the end point it is all for nothing. So start with the customer and work backwards with your technology with the idea.

Is there a parallel between a personal brand and launching/ marketing a product? 

There is a connection. Unless you are the Apples of this world you can’t go out their with the brand behind you and launch all in one go. Despite all of the technology and digitisation in our world today, we are still a human industry and it is about people. People buy from people. In my world, my clients want to come to me for advice, best practice and sharing for direction and where they go with their strategy so they want to feel like I am a level of expertise that they can bounce ideas off and find out what is happening and what is the baselines for them to have their idea from. So personal brand and the brand of your product are absolutely connected for launch. We live in a social time. It is the place and the time for you to be that voice of expertise and have your moment, whether that is written or spoken or video. We have a platform now to create that brand and it is really important to use that. 

Relevant Content: [Guide] The Naked Truth to Personalisation

What drives new product development - is there a difference between larger companies and smaller companies? 

I don’t think there is. In a large company, driving new development you have potentially got more resources available to you. Smaller organisations need to find more funding and other means for doing that. But actually in today’s world, the larger organisations need to really need to turn the lens back on themselves. We have to reinvent ourselves to stay relevant. So both larger and smaller companies are on a power. We all need to look  ahead for the next few years and see what is needed. What do I have to do in the world of Outsourcing to rethink what that means and put myself first place in that market doing something differently and that is difficult. So I am not sure there is a huge difference, we just tackle it in a different way.

Any other key advice for marketers launching into a global marketplace? 

Launching globally is a big thing. Going back to the Apple scenario, unless you have done that, been there and bought the t-shirt, made the mistakes and launched the big things, you have got to go step by step. The lean startup model is really good. You do a little, see what works, try something bigger, see what works and move over time. So first of all, know your market, and if you are going global, that market is different in every country and every city that you go into. So you have to redo your research, rethink all of your assumptions. It is not one size fits all.

How do you stay relevant? 

So that is fundamentally the most important thing time after time in every business, especially within corporates. We spoke about reinventing yourself, we spoke about how you bring new products and disrupt your industry. You need to have the foresights, so working with the analysts, your own marketing departments, predicting the new trends that are coming forward in technology and think about what that means to me and acting fast. Creating these new areas for work and concepts that allow you to maybe disrupt, maybe even a little cannibalisation of your own industry but if you don’t move, someone else will move ahead of you. So if you want to have that competitive streak and you want to stay be in the number on position you need to stay clued in to how those trends are changing.

To learn more about the various other techniques to personalise your marketing for a global audience check out The S.M.A.R.T Guide to Market Segmentation 💌 Don't hesitate to get in touch directly via stevie-rose@hurree.com with any of your questions or comments you may have!