Showing the variation in the decision process within different international markets

Luxury brands are on an upwards trajectory, with a recent McKinsey report showing that online sales are expected to double in the next 5 years – from the 6% to 12% in 2020, before tripling in 2025 to 18%. It's easy to see that the world of digital is currently, and will continue to impact the luxury goods market. McKinsey discussed the impact of Digital on the Luxury goods market and unearthed some interesting data about how the buying process differs between different countries. When intending to make a luxury purchase, we automatically default to thinking about pre-selected brands, of which 75% of the purchases will come from. Once deciding upon the brands, customers will have multiple touchpoints, or interactions, with brands before making the final decision to purchase. On…

Marketing Lessons from How Apple became the Dad’s brand and the kid’s choice 

Ah the good old days. Aged in my twenties, I must have looked like a prat lugging my arm-breaking Apple computer – simply to demonstrate I was so out (from the conventional crowd) that I was ‘in’. Everything about Apple was different. Especially its marketing. In 1984 the brand ‘disrupted’ the American Superbowl showcasing an ad predicting armies of former independent thinkers who had turned into insipid automatons, eyes fixed and living in a dystopian ‘ Big Brother society. In terms of futurology, the Cupertino brand got it right about people’s heads down to their their chests and thoughts high in data clouds and the surveillance observation via ‘Big Data’. However rather than feeling under duress to submit every private thought, thanks in part to Apple’s lifestyle…

Kellogg’s initial foray into the Indian market is generally agreed to have been a failure, although it’s now doing well in terms of both market share and sales growth in the subcontinent.

As part of our series of in-depth case studies with TranslateMedia looking at major brands tackling major new markets we look at Kellogg's attempts to crack the tricky Indian market.

But are Indian consumers ready to accept breakfast cereals?

Kellogg’s initial foray into the Indian market is generally agreed to have been a failure, although it’s now doing well in terms of both market share and sales growth in the subcontinent. In this article, we’ll examine what went wrong, and discover how Kelloggs recovered from its initial problems in this challenging market.

An unsuccessful first foray into India

The world’s leading producer of cereals and a major snack foods manufacturer, Kellogg’s entered the Indian market way back in 1994. Kellogg’s is no stranger to…

Will 2016 be the year of the authentic brand?

The ten-day search for something worth watching on TV during the Holidays is at last over. Time to join what has become an annual crystal ball gazing love fest… So what’s in store leading up to next year’s channel hopping search for an alternative to The Sound of Music? Firstly as brand strategies continue to reflect global concerns and attitudes, the importance of brand psychology will become increasingly important in planning and strategy. (In fact, brand psychology affects every aspect of my following predictions).

1. Brand authenticity

Virtually all surveys concur that public opinion regarding the legitimacy of commercial, social, cultural, religious and political leadership, is at an all-time low. This lack of faith can be directly linked to a list of issues affecting societal norms and shifts. It includes a clear contradiction between what leaders idealistically ‘promise’ and what can actually be realised. This incongruence, comes…

Understanding what local customers really expect when purchasing from an ecommerce site is an essential factor for success when it comes to international ecommerce expansion.

Failing to properly localise a website to be in line with local conventions will not only impact how users perceive a brand and feel about using a website, but ultimately effect how likely they are to buy from it at all. Did you know that German customers expect a wide range of payment options to be available including bank transfer, direct debit and invoice for payment after they receive an order? Did you also know that Japanese customers require input fields for two different scripts when entering their name? Or that French users expect SEPA (single euro payments area) compliant payment options when inputting bank details? Oban Digital has reviewed a number of sites over several ecommerce marketplaces, including Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Australia and the UK to assess…

One measure of how well you’ve infiltrated your brand into a local culture is how successfully you can align it with local holidays

Seasonal holidays are emotive times, whether it’s a country’s national independence day, saints’ day carnivals, New Year or the mid-autumn festival celebrations in parts of Asia. Getting the seasonal celebrations right is a big part of aligning your brand with local cultural values and engaging with your audience during a significant time in their calendar. Gift exchange and shared meals are often a big part of festivities and for many brands that represents a big opportunity for sales. Get the holidays right and you have a chance to really bring your brand into every household.

Big brand holiday case studies

KFC is a brand that has managed to transcreate itself with particular success into Japan. The fried…

Making purpose core to your marketing strategy

As a futurist,  I always remind my clients that the future isn’t just somewhere we go but something we actively create. Simply because our actions today directly influence and shape our business of tomorrow. In this article I introduce some of the key trends I discussed in my Smart Insights webinar on December 18th 2014- The Marketing Trends Management Toolkit - free registration to view here: If you attend the webinar you will have a chance to win a free copy of my new book the Trends Management Toolkit with a prize draw…

When Shanghai Disney Resort opens towards the beginning of 2016, it will represent just the latest move by western companies determined to entertain and profit from China’s new middle classes.

Chinese household spending on entertainment and leisure activities rose 56% in just one year between 2010 and 2011 and the rise in entertainment spend is predicted to continue for some time. Chinese consumers, or more specifically their newfound disposable spending power, are a serious target for the film and entertainment industry now scrambling to meet their desires. Cinemas are being hurriedly constructed and theme parks are booming as both local and foreign enterprises battle for a share of the market. Theme parks are increasingly popular in Asia and in the last decade two of China’s theme attractions have entered the world’s top ten in terms of visitor numbers. About a third of the world’s…

Only a very small, highly targeted portion of your customer base is powerful enough to be influential: Here is how to find them

For decades, advertisers and marketers have clearly understood that word of mouth is one of the highest returning forms of exposure you can invest in. However, that doesn’t make the challenge of identifying and leveraging brand influencers any easier.

The hardest aspect of maximizing word of mouth in the age of social media is discovering who they are and how to best utilize them in a way that’s fair to all parties involved.

Top Characteristics of Brand Influencers 

Not every customer is a brand influencer. Even some of those customers who share your content wouldn’t be considered brand influencers. Only a very small, highly targeted portion of your customer…

UK Fashion brands see opportunity in expanding into the US Market

US businesses have long eyed up opportunities in the buoyant UK retail market with brands typically establishing a presence in the UK as a launchpad into Europe. Now a large number of British retail brands are heading back in the opposite direction. In many cases, these ventures have met with considerable success. The upscale retailer Boden, for instance, expects US sales to overtake those of its home market within a few years. It’s very clear, however, when it comes to relocating a brand across the Atlantic, American and British audiences shouldn’t be approached as a homogenous group even though the language is shared. Consumers on both sides of the Atlantic will respond best to localised and personalised content strategies. Buzzfeed, for example, one of the web’s biggest and most influential content hubs, has editorial teams in both regions. They find that their…