Local salespeople rewrite presentations themselves because the material from headquarters doesn’t work. Campaigns are translated but generate almost no response in the new market. Headquarters rejects local texts because they are “off-brand,” while the local team argues that the original message simply doesn’t resonate there. International websites are seeing more and more country-specific variations. The organization uses the same brand everywhere, but the way customers come to know it is beginning to differ from market to market.
When it comes to internationalization, we first identify what must remain consistently the same across all markets: the brand’s positioning, its core message, and the reasons why customers choose the organization. Then, for each market, we determine where adjustments are needed—not only in language, but also in examples, arguments, tone of voice, and the way customers are approached.
We involve people who know the local market. They know which words work, what concerns customers have, and where the story from headquarters needs further explanation. This ensures we don’t end up with a collection of disparate local brands, nor an international template that says the same thing everywhere and doesn’t quite fit anywhere.
A brand must remain recognizable internationally, but it doesn't have to sound exactly the same everywhere. Those who copy everything verbatim miss out on local nuances. Those who have everything reimagined locally end up with very little of a single brand left.
The challenge lies in determining what is set in stone and where there is room for flexibility. Which beliefs, positions, and messages apply across the entire organization? And which examples, arguments, or words should be tailored to the local market? Without making those choices, the result will be either a centralized narrative that doesn’t work locally, or a collection of countries, each building its own version of the brand.
