Maintaining consistent branding and messaging in new markets
- Mar 30
- 3 min read
Stephen Hawking once said: “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
When you're expanding into new markets, the ability to adapt and evolve can be the difference between success and failure. But while adapting your business is essential, so too is maintaining effective branding and messaging, ensuring not to dilute your brand voice as you evolve.
The challenges of maintaining brand consistency and the importance of a solid identity are key considerations that should not be overlooked. This guide explores these challenges and how to successfully adapt to new cultural contexts as you scale your business.
Translate, localize, customize
When it comes to honing your branding and messaging for a new market, good translation can be pivotal.
A survey by CSA Research found that 65 percent of consumers prefer content in their own language, while 40 percent simply won’t buy from a brand whose content is in another language.
Still, when entering new markets, it's crucial to understand that translation and localization are not synonymous. While translation involves converting text from one language to another, localization adapts and refines the content to fit the cultural context of your target market.
Get it wrong, and it can be a disaster.
Just take Mitsubishi’s ill-advised naming of their new model in the 90s. In Spanish-speaking countries, the car was launched as the Mitsubishi ‘Pajero’, soon changed to Mitsubishi ‘Montero’, as pajero is a rather rude term in Spanish.
Then there was the flatulence-based failure of IKEA, who introduced the “Fartfull workbench” to widespread derision – ‘fartfull’ being the Swedish word for 'full speed’.
In Barcelona, local entrepreneurs wanted to appeal to the expat audience by opening a new Irish pub. Unfortunately, they decided on the name “The Red Lion Irish Bar” – the red lion being a key British symbol and a reminder of Ireland's historic subjugation under the British.
Good practice
To avoid embarrassing blunders and potential pitfalls, consider the following:
Choose translators carefully
Cultural understanding is as important as linguistic expertise. Invest in the services of a professional translator who understands the nuances of language within the countries you’re looking to break out into.
Local experts
Invest in the services of consultants who are familiar with marketing to that locality and who understand the cultural context of your brand’s new target market.
Market testing
Testing your campaigns in local markets helps understand cultural sensitivities, define consumer preferences and ensure brand consistency while avoiding a potential identity crisis.
Ongoing cultural training
Culture is ever-evolving. Make sure your marketing teams are aware of the changing, subtle nuances that shape your market’s worldview.
Stay agile
Adapting quickly with your branding and messaging and staying agile when entering new markets will help your brand overcome unanticipated events that could impact your reputation.
Consistency confusion
So, you’ve worked hard to develop brand consistency and now you’re supposed to change your approach… it’s confusing, right?
It may seem that consistency and changing your branding and messaging for different markets are contradictory ideas. Yet, these two concepts are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are complementary elements that are crucial to a successful brand strategy.
The idea is not to completely reinvent your brand for a new market. It’s all about a carefully considered adaptation that enables your messaging to resonate with local audiences while maintaining central principles and the essence of your brand. It’s a delicate balance but one that is crucial when scaling your business.
Cultural adaptation guide
It’s important to create a cultural adaptation guide to help you stay agile.
This should provide a general blueprint for how to adapt your branding materials for new markets, but also precise guidelines for specific localities as you expand. Elements of your branding and messaging that need to be adapted include:
Tone and style
Is the culture more formal or informal? Direct or indirect? Hone your messaging to align your brand with the local culture.
Language and idioms
Consider not just direct translation, but also idioms, slang, and humor that may resonate with the local audience.
Cultural sensitivities
What values are important to the local market you are expanding into? Understand that wording and symbols can vary across different
cultures.
Localized imagery
Colors, designs and general imagery can have completely different meanings depending on the country you’re marketing to.
Keep brand consistency across new markets with Semiya
Building a great local brand is one thing. But to scale your business and expand into other markets, you've got to have a plan. With careful consideration for cultural nuances and a genuine understanding of how to resonate with specific audiences, you can avoid a global identity crisis and maintain the essence of your brand.
At Semiya, our international team has years of experience in writing cultural adaptation guides as part of branding services. We have the expertise to adapt your messaging to resonate with markets all over the world.
