Percy & Reed uses provenance word association to reinforce its brand identity.

Design Globally, Think Locally

What is the secret to successful brand building across not only countries, but cultures, too?

Written by Jonathan Ford, Pearlfisher

As today’s brands look to new markets for growth, this raises new challenges for presentation and design. Key to success is insight and an unerring hold on core iconic codes.

The need for global brands to work locally is already set. Today, where opportunity for growth lies primarily with emerging markets, local relevance is critical. This we know. From a design perspective, this throws out a particular set of challenges, which the global brands are attempting to embrace with vigor. All the while, it remains critical to a global brand’s well being that it protects its core iconic features to maintain its currency as that global brand leader. Yet appeal to a bigger yet more localized audience it must. So, how are the big players doing it? How are they exciting and inspiring new markets, while holding onto their heart? What is the secret to successful iconic brand building across not only countries, but cultures, too?

First, here’s a thing you might not know. In Korea, the number of steps in a woman’s beauty routine numbers over 20. L’Oréal puts the number at 23, clocking 45 minutes to get ready. For a global force in beauty such as L’Oréal, knowing about local beauty habits is vital. It informs the retuning of a brand from what’s inside, to how it looks; in other words, it provides insight. In addition to its 18 research and development labs, L’Oréal operates 13 evaluation centers around the world. Here, women are invited to bring along their beauty bags and in mocked-up bathroom settings, run through their routines as L’Oréal takes notes.

Knowing about local habits is vital; for instance, in Korea, there are typically more than 20 steps in a woman’s beauty routine.

That a good few minutes of the 23 are spent applying eyeshadow to open up the Korean eye shape, demonstrates the relevance of a multi-toned eyeshadow palette. Welcome insight. Insight provides those vital clues for understanding cultures. It is the foundation for powerful design that is able to appeal to these differences. It is part of the creative strategy—it excites designers, drives inspiration and leads to successful local branding solutions.And a country’s culture is the context within which a brand needs to operate.Culture is key—a brand needs to find ways to appeal to it, in order to give itself relevance and press those emotional buttons for these new markets.

Of course, good business remains central to successful brand development.Where a new market shows potential, it needs to be tapped and although in the spotlight today, this doesn’t confine itself to the emerging markets. Let’s take L’Oréal again. In 2011, in an interesting about-face, the cosmetics giant launched the first British blemish balm cream. It took an Asian cosmetic phenomenon and adapted it to suit a Western beauty ideal. The Western version illustrates a unique understanding of the British woman’s approach to beauty products, from wanting multitasking benefits to liking the idea of a skin care product that makes skin look better. That the phenomenon came from a Korea-of-many-beauty-steps, to the UK, where speed and multitasking beauty products pervade, is delightfully ironic.

Unilever’s Sunsilk plays up its global identity by using different hair experts from around the world to tap into different hair types and so, markets.

A successful global brand should never patronize. Sensitive use of cultural intelligence or insight helps prevent this. Max Factor, the P&G cosmetic powerhouse, is available from the U.S. to Russia, the UK to Japan. For Russia, all that changes on pack is a straight translation of the brand’s identity statement: The Make-Up of Make-Up Artists. That’s it. Actual product design and wording don’t change—neither does the Max Factor story: trend leading catwalk-inspired makeup. Product information is provided through written communication on the website, at point of sale and other relevant channels. Its application in Japan is a different story. Product design changes, for example, lipsticks, follow a more streamlined design, in keeping with the Japanese beauty ethic. Colors appear softer, a far cry from the color statements that form the backbone to the global brand message. Cultural insight is key to these examples. On the one hand it acknowledges Russia’s evolving cultural landscape and a westward shift (there is no pandering to its history).On the other, that Japan has a more delicate approach to beauty that is entirely different.

L’Oréal Paris’s official tagline “Because you’re worth it” resonates on a global scale.

There’s a caveat here: brand flexibility through insight is all very well. The second and integral part of the global brand building process is of course in ensuring a deep-rooted global or iconic identity. It’s vital, central to a global brand’s well being; if it goes, the brand dilutes. Max Factor succeeds because the overriding message doesn’t digress and a little flexibility in how it looks and presents, where appropriate, only adds to its global prowess. It remains an international household name in mass-market cosmetics. Question is, can a brand go too far? When does brand proliferation become too much and dilute a brand’s iconic status? Sure the marketers want and need to suit its every potential market, but at what cost? What’s the tipping point? Is there a tipping point?

The reality is, it’s about pre-empting the issue. A brand needs to nurture its iconic features so it can penetrate new markets without scuppering its unique, global appeal. Crest may have 37 different varieties, including both a tea and a salt version for its Indian market, yet it endeavors to retain a global identity by following the principles of iconic brand building. This is crucial when undertaking a brand redesign for a specific market. Without it, there is nothing to hook onto, nothing to underpin the design process.Without these iconic brand-building principles, authenticity is lost.

Iconic features are far reaching. They’re about originality, legacy, symbols or logos that cross cultures, universal meaning (L’Oréal Paris’s official tagline “Because you’re worth it” resonates on a global scale) and more. As an example, Unilever’s Sunsilk has successfully retained, perhaps even enhanced its global identity as it sells into each of its markets, through a clever marketing strategy. It has used different hair experts from around the world to tap into different hair types and so, markets. This is all that really changes—the look, the bottles the symbols remain constant (although its various brand names could be a sticking point). International experts and personalities also add a fresh new dimension to an already global brand, in particular to the visual language used on pack. Underlying iconic motifs (brand name, exclamation mark logo, consistency of color and shape) are enlivened with an expert’s signature and photograph.

Provenance is another key factor in the global branding exercise.It’s associated with a brand’s core identity. As a brand moves into a new market, it needs to hold onto whence it came. For the already established global brand, it should sit firmly within its core identities. For the newer brand, it is critical, if it is to be successful in another market (yes, distribution, realistic expansion strategy are key factors, but here we’re talking brand image and design). Think of Percy & Reed London or Jo Malone London for example.

Percy & Reed launched in the autumn of 2011. In tagging the brand name with London, the associated provenance (cool London, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Diamond Jubilee, and more) is set—it’s an easy ruse, but it works for both new and established brands. Word association, whether it’s city (of birth) or an indigenous ingredient can set and later reinforce a brand’s identity and dream. However, it must reflect the brand’s core truth, and the role of design is, of course, key.

Sometimes the smaller, challenger, local brands are best placed to slot into a new culture—those that are based around indigenous ingredients or inspired by the heart and soul of their beginnings, their core brand truth. Provenance is integral, yet they still need to have cultural relevance for that new market.This is the key, and a brand needs to know when to jump. Cosmeto Fruit Chile is a liquid dietary supplement from Chile, made from specially harvested fruits indigenous to Chile, rich in antioxidants and their associated skin-improving benefits. Beauty tinctures and elixirs are seeing a growth in popularity in the British beauty market following the recent spike in interest in skin supplements. So its recent launch into the UK will make sense to a readily primed market, albeit on a niche scale.

Sometimes, adapting to a local market is about all but the simplest design or language tweaks driven by subtle, yet ingrained local preferences. The American market, for example, is happier to have anti-acne skin care sold to them as, well, anti-acne skin care. They’re used to a clinical, dermatologist lead approach to skin care. In the UK, anti-blemish is preferred—the skin care culture is less clinical, due to a different medical heritage. And Clinique’s Acne Solutions range, say, becomes Anti-Blemish Solutions in the UK. Yes, legalities come into play with labeling, depending on how a skin condition is viewed and the law of the land. But it also illustrates cultural peculiarities, which need to be taken into account in the detail.

Detail through design is a good end point here. In the growing “glocal” market, the consumer, wherever he or she is, is going to respond to something that’s relevant, exciting and worth his or her precious earnings.And it’s those carefully thought out, intelligence backed details that are most likely to win.

About the Author
Jonathan Ford is a designer and Creative Partner of Pearlfisher – www.pearlfisher.com