When Marketing in the Global Village, One Size Doesn’t Necessarily Fit All

The Internet has done much to increase global communication and cooperation among people worldwide. It has made many of us feel more connected to each other, and in some cases we may feel more connected to people we only know through our online connection than those people we have developed “real life” relationships with. This global village may seem as if it is a marketing dream, since there is a massive number of potential customers available. The reality is something completely different, though.

Regional Differences Exist Between Consumers

Consumers are not a single, large unit in the global village. There are definite differences dictated by country, culture and specific region within a country. If you want to sell to customers on a global level, you will need to be prepared to develop more than one version of your product.

This is especially true if your business is selling products that would have a strong regional flavor – literally – such as in the food and beverage industry. Preferences can vary tremendously from country to country, and within specific regions of the same country. One version of a product could sell very well in a particular area, but fall flat in another, simply because you haven’t been able to tempt the taste buds of a particular group of customers. If your goal is to sell to buyers in different regions, much less globally, you will need to make sure that you do your homework first.

Gain Insight into Product Development and Consumer Preferences

Your product development staff and your marketing people are going to have to learn how to speak the same language if you are going to successfully sell different versions of your product in different regions. To create a new version of a product, you will need to be able to make methodical adjustments to your formulas. Multivariate data analysis tools will give people working on both sides the ability to understand the products better.

With better understanding comes more accurate wording to describe the products, which leads to more accurate wording that can be used with local customers when the time comes to put the product on store shelves or create a landing page directed at consumers in a specific area. Specific language that may appeal to consumers on one area may not hit home with buyers in another.

This theory can be tested and confirmed during consumer taste tests and surveys. Give potential customers the chance to describe the product using their own words and use specialized software to analyze the words and phrases which are used to describe the product most often when participants particularly like it and when they are saying they don’t like the sample.

Compare words between regions to find out whether the same words mean can be taken to mean different things depending on the location where they are used. This is important for your marketing team to know when preparing your campaign and something they absolutely must keep straight when dealing with different localities.