International Positioning Process Versus Branding

In a recent conversation with a very professional marketing executive there was a moment of confusion between international business positioning and branding.

I thought it would be a good idea to go into this a little here.

The fact is that most business executives work in companies that have long established their basic market positioning.  This knowledge and skill has long been filed into the the unconscious expertise sections of their brains.

In many cases, this basic business positioning skill has often been filed away for so long that the skill is almost forgotten.

Positioning Is Key

When you expand into international markets you must review the positioning of your business in this new market.  This is one of the first things you need to do.

Your international communication, marketing and sales depends on how you need to position your business in a new foreign market.  In fact, how you need to position your business in new foreign markets may end up influencing all aspects of your international business as a whole.

If this is your first time you are taking a business into an international market, you will probably find it hard to get rid of all of your most basic business assumptions.

The assumptions came from positioning your business in your primary market.   And the problem is that these assumptions may or may not be wrong.

In fact, some of the biggest international business blunders happen because these assumptions are never questioned.

A Process Gives You The Information

This is why it is important to first create a process to verify how

• your business,
• your product,
• your offer,

…needs to be positioned inside your new foreign market.

You will probably not be able to do this accurately sitting in your office, miles and miles away from your foreign market.

In fact, you will often need information directly from your foreign markets.

And many times, you will only get answers after you start communicating and selling your products to your new foreign clients.

Now, some large companies have marketers who work on product positioning. That is an advanced aspect of… well… product positioning.

What I am talking about here is positioning your business at its core.

This is why you need a process.  A process where you look for, stimulate and analyze information specifically about your positioning.

This Is Not Branding

Now, when I spoke to the marketing executive I mentioned earlier and described this positioning process, she thought it was about branding.

She had grasped it was a process.

A good thing.  Many people think it is a one off piece of preliminary research… which can get you into trouble.

But she was putting this process at a higher level and was associating the process with branding.

No.

Positioning is not about branding your company’s image in a foreign country.

To make it easy, let’s use an image…

On Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs Pyramid…

• Branding would be close to the peak of the pyramid - it is what you do once you can sustain survival.
• International positioning would be close to the bottom of the pyramid - it is one of your first concerns for survival.  .

How you position your business, your products, your offers, is linked directly to your company’s survival. Get this wrong and you will never make it to international branding.

I have to add a side note here…

The word “branding” takes on different cultural tones in different markets.

• American branding takes on their strong “individualism” cultural behavioral traits.
• French branding has an intellectual and “cultural”… or dare I say “snobish”…  undertone.
• British branding is also very interesting… hmm, I can’t quickly find a generalization to describe it, probably because I understand it too well, but it is worth looking at with a critical eye.

If you are working on branding your business in different cultures, beware of different meanings for the word “branding” in different cultures… even when you think you are on the same page, you may not be.

Your Process To Define Your Positioning

So, we have already established how critical it is to get the right positioning for your international business.

And, you understand that you need feedback from your foreign markets to verify your positioning.

Have a look at a previous article about how MTV had to review its positioning in its Indian market.  They were only able to do this because they had a process in place to verify their positioning.

Read The Whole Story

This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 2 - Plan Your International Sales Road Map This is where you can read more on how to connect with your international markets.

Integrate Your Positioning Into Your Marketing

Guide 4 - Build Your International Marketing Strategy • Once you know how to position your business you can integrate this into your marketing Find out more about international marketing here.

Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer and International Sales Specialist, with over 25 years field experience in international business development. Learn how you can get more international sales