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Localization

Page history last edited by Brian D Butler 14 years, 5 months ago

 


 

 

Localization

 

   see also:  international marketing , globalization

 

How much localization of your product should you make?  If you are marketing a truely global brand, then maybe you dont want to change very much.  But, maybe local requirements mean that you could sell more if you would modify your product.  Each time you make modifications, you loose efficiency (which raises costs), but you might gain a local feel, and become more attractive to different markets.  How much tradeoff should you make in efficiency loss for market share gain?  This is the real trick of international marketing!

 

 

Localization leads to more sales, but globalization leads to more effeciency:    Will you need to adapt to the local needs?  Or, can you go with a more global-strategy, and market the product the same to every customer?  The more you adapt the product / marketing mix, the higher your costs will be (and so the profits will be less), but you might find that you need to localize in order to boost sales volumes.  Its a trade off, and one that needs careful consideration.   The product adaptation issue is one of the most important decisions that an international marketer must make.  Think about which elements of the marketing mix must be changed in order to enter this new market. 

 

 

Example:

 

A Brazilian cachaca producer that considers selling in Spain might ask themselves:  "How are we going to (and how much are we going to)  localise the marketing of the brand in Spain?  Rather than marketing the liquor the same to Spanish customers, we need to find out a way to make the branding appealing to the Spanish....how much customization will we offer?"

 
 

Localization & Media Companies:

 

Why do you say that the media mogul gospel — and the conventional wisdom — that growth and globalization are always good needs debunking?

Local communities have local cultures and they have local information needs that must be fulfilled. As the Internet has enabled people to do more customized stuff they have provided for it locally. If you don’t understand that and you start to pursue global platforms you’re just asking for trouble.

 

source:  Bruce Greenwald, Columbia Business School: http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/ideasatwork/feature/726135

 

 

How much "localization" is necessary?

 

Luxury goods are one of the few truly "global" brands that are able to gain from global efficiency in marketing and producing the product exactly the same in any market that they enter.  Without needing to tailorize (Localization) the products to meet local tastes, the companies are able to significantly save money on local costs.  But, very few products are truly able to do so.  Think Rolex.

 

note that even Mercedez Benz is forced to localize. 

 

 

 

see also:  Marketingstrategy , Exports , Import Export business modelsexport subsidy , Competitive Advantage,   strategy  , barriers to innovationmarket entry ,   Spain market entry for cachaca , barriers to entry  , 5 forces analysis

 

 

 

 

More:

 

this is a counter trend in retailing, in which consumers are resisting globalization by going to the other extreme: localization, in which products are just sourced locally, grown locally, produced locally...and consumers are drawn to the appeal of local industry (and are willing to pay more, and have slightly less choice for the privilege of supporting home-grown artists, farmers, and producers). 

 

 

Examples

 

 

Two days ago, we covered a Brighton grocer who only sells products produced within 50 miles of his store. Opening today on the other side of the Atlantic, is a Brooklyn establishment that operates on a similar premise.

 

Urban Rustic, located in Williamsburg, is a grocery store and café that aims to connect local urbanites with local farmers and producers, much like farmers' markets do. The store will primarily sell food and dry goods produced less than 100 miles from Brooklyn. Anything from farther afield will be sourced from sustainable sources.

 

One of the shop's founders is Aaron Woolf, who produced and directed King Corn, a documentary about America's most productive and most subsidized grain. It's no surprise, then, that Urban Rustic is well-stocked with stories: from details about its upstate New York apple and arugula farmers, to the provenance of the store's timber, sustainably milled from Woolf's own property in the Adirondacks. More uber-local grocers to follow soon, no doubt!

Website: www.urbanrusticnyc.com

 

Contact: 236 N. 12th Street, Williamsburg

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