Last week I attended an event hosted by LewisPR (@Lewisprus) with a very interesting panel discussion on Global Communications in the Digital Era. The experienced panel included:
#globalPRpanel
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- Jock Breitwieser @jbreitwieser – Director Corporate Communications at TriNet
- Talia Baruch @TaliaBaruch – International Program Manager at LinkedIn
- Kristin Wahl @k2w – PR Director at Citrix
- Lynn Fox @foxycar – Principle at Fox Communications, her own PR consulting agency
One of the most important take-aways from the night was the importance of localization in PR and marketing in everything from messaging and branding to images used. The pros of this strategy is the innate connection with locals of the targeted countries. On the flip side it is important to keep a consistent brand image and mission across all geos. This is obviously a challenging task to balance the needs of different cultures while not diminishing the brand.
Talia Baruch brought up the concept of a ‘glocal’ mindset companies should incorporate into all communication strategies. The concept is to think global and act local. A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t going to help your brand stand out or become integrated into new cultures. It’s all about tailoring the product and messaging to cultural norms. An example of product globalization is McDonald’s offering distinct menu items within different countries. This in no way diminishes their brand mission “to be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink”, in fact, it supports the mission.
All the panelists agreed any strategy begins with doing your homework. The more work you put into understanding the location the better your message will be received. A great example of this is Airbnb taking localization to a new level. Back in September at a Searchmetrics seminar, Dennis Goedegebuure, Head of Global SEO at Airbnb discussed the launch of Airbnb Neighborhoods. Airbnb is becoming hyper-localized by bringing users more than just a place to stay but also a full travel experience and value to local businesses where tourists may not have gone otherwise. Goedegebuure disclosed the first task when developing this concept was to conduct surveys on the ground in each location to discover what people are doing and create a comprehensive economic impact study. This allows Airbnb target specific interests based on location and become completely immersed and knowledgeable of the culture.
To find out more about the event check out the LewisPR blog or search for #globalPRpanel on Twitter. Also got this handy dandy Global Media Guide. Looking forward to the next LewisPR event!
Powering On 