Ian West

Get your export branding up to speed with an International Brand Review

Feb 162012

Make the most of export markets. There’s a big world out there and it’s time your business had its share. There can be a lot of detail to deal with, but the rewards can be huge.

One thing that it’s critical to get right is your branding. We’ve all seen some major brands make awful gaffs in export markets, simply by not giving enough thought and assuming their brand will just transfer to a new market with no adaptation.

Avoid brand pitfalls.

Here’s a great tool to help ensure that your brand succeeds in your chosen, international market – the International Brand Review. The review is carried out by an experienced, export brand specialist, who will look at all the key aspects of your brand in terms of your target market.

What the review covers.

It begins with a half day assessing and evaluating your brand, discussing the markets you are looking at and identifying the issues you may need to address. We look at all the key factors including:

Brand structure
Brand values and assets
Competitive positioning
Target markets
Cultural and language issues
Intellectual property protection
Brand Communications

Following the review, we then produce a detailed report including a list of practical recommendations and action points. You wil also be pointed at additional sources of help and information if required. The review does not stop there, as your consultant will be available to discuss any points or queries in greater depth, and advise on future actions.

The review normally takes around two weeks (though some more complex markets make take a little longer), from briefing to report delivery. The cost is just £495 plus VAT.

Find out more today. Just fill out the form below or call us on +44(0)845 9011439

Why do you want to get involved in exporting and international business?

International No Responses »

Jan 032012

There are many reasons why businesses get involved in doing business in export markets but often they don’t step back and take a look at these reasons. If we don’t assess and understand the drivers involved at these very early stages we may get involved in incorrect or wasteful strategies further down the line. The little matrix, below, may be useful when considering reasons for exporting. Two dimensions are important: sometimes it is external factors that urge or force us into international business. Perhaps the drivers are internal: some businesses have very pro-active cultures where others are more reactive to what is happening in their business.

Box 1.

Probably the best scenario with the best motives. The management is pro-active in its decision making and the reasons for exporting are based upon internal stimuli such as profit growth, or exploiting competitive advantages. They may be looking to economies of scale in bigger global markets. Businesses operating with these motives are likely to make more sound choices on which markets to approach rather than just be reactive to enquiries.

Box 2.

Businesses operating in this box are still pro-active, but the driver may come from outside. By that we mean something outside the company provides the impetus – maybe an opportunity appears or an advisor may make a suggestion. Although this may be the stimulus, the decision is still a pro-active one based upon similar considerations to those in Box 1.

Box 3.

Here the company is reacting to things that may be happening within the business. We may have excess capacity, our home market may be static, or a major home customer may have been lost. This box represents a more defensive position.

Box 4.

This is the box of the reactive exporter. It is very common for many businesses to find themselves exporting ‘by accident’. Particularly with the growth of the Internet, enquiries or orders may come from overseas - out of the blue. However, there is no understanding of the ‘ how’ or ‘why’, and no guarantee that the market is the best one to be doing business with.

The Delta Plan - Organize and simplify your export promotion plan.

International No Responses »

Nov 252011

A strategic plan, for whatever purpose, should not be a fat document capable of passing the ‘caliper-test’, but ideally just one or two sheets of paper at most. Of course a lot of work, research and planning goes behind it, but the plan should be a distillation of all these data into a set of action objectives.

In your home market this is important, but in international markets there are some issues and potential pitfalls that need to be considered in addition to those you may be familiar with.

The Delta Plan is a simple framework around which a strategy can be built. It takes its name from an inverted triangle or filter, bringing all the considerations into one simple document.

This free download is both a guide book and a form that helps focus your plan on that vital document, an outline strategy for international, marketing communications.

Free ebook - Branding for SMEs

Brand Development No Responses »

Nov 052011

Branding is just as important an issue for small and medium enterprises as it is for the big boys. However, sometimes it comes far down the list with all the issues entrepreneurs have on their plates.

The brand can become a far more valuable asset than tangible assets such as plant and machinery. It is easier to damage, more difficult to repair and you can’t insure it.

This free download by Brandmaster (aka Ian West), covers some brand basics, building and maintaining a brand, brand communications and identities and the importance of brand leadership. There are some useful checklists to help you get on the right track from the start.

Download the free ebook (PDF format) now.

Free creativity and innovation taster workshops.

Uncategorized No Responses »

Sep 022011

Coming soon – free workshops to allow you to experience the possibilities for unleashing the creative and innovation potential within your business or organisation. Next workshops in the South East and Midlands.
Register your interest now and we will email you with the next dates as soon as they are finalized. Places are limited so register now.

Six guaranteed ways to kill great ideas at birth.

Creativity 1 Response »

Aug 222011

Innovation = creativity + application: after generating new ideas or concepts, the next stage is evaluating ideas and identifying opportunities. This is the point where good ideas can be buried without trace.
It’s about creative leadership – recognising and nurturing opportunities for development and commercialization. It’s important to build sustainably creative environments where new ideas are fostered and encouraged – not one where these classic idea killers can thrive:

Jump-start the creative energy in your business. Workshops for creativity and innovation

Uncategorized No Responses »

Aug 022011

No business stands still – if it’s not growing it’s dying. We need to be innovating – products, services, processes or customer relationships. Innovation is not an option – it’s critical for a healthy, growing business.

The good news is, you have all the creative energy in your business already. All you need is to unleash it and direct it.

We have three great solutions to help you not only generate new ideas, but to build an innovative business able to sustainably create new and profitable products and processes time after time.

The Innovation Leader.

Aimed at owners, entrepreneurs and senior managers. This is a tailored solution for innovation leadership. It will help you understand the innovation process as it applies to your business so you can create the environment to stimulate a constant stream of new ideas.
The programme covers:

Understanding creativity and innovation
The innovation review
Techniques and approaches for idea generation
Managing creativity, design and concepts
Building a sustainable innovation culture

Programmes from only £400 + VAT.

The Innovator

Aimed at individuals and teams who want to move their innovation activity up to a new level.
The one-day workshop covers:

Understanding the innovation process
Idea generation techniques
Running innovation workshops
Secrets of the master innovators

Only £400 + VAT per course (up to 12 delegates).

The Generator

Aimed at individuals and teams who have specific projects for which they require innovative solutions. Tailored creative workshops to generate ideas and results for your business.
Each one-day workshop will help:

Identify objectives, issues and opportunities
Understand processes
Generate ideas
Analyse concepts generated
Turn ideas into solutions through, selection, development and commercialisation

Only £400 + VAT per workshop.

Check out our FREE creativity and innovation taster workshops – Learn more.

Carry your business offer in your pocket - mobile is a powerful tool for exporters

International No Responses »

Jul 162011

For an exporter in a new Market, being able to succinctly communicate the company’s offer and make the case for buying their product or service is fundamental.

We all understand the importance of a good ‘elevator pitch’, but crystallising the offer into a few sentences is not easy – and making sure it is understood in an export market may be even more of a challenge.

In workshops, exporters often say, ‘If I can just show my product or demonstrate my service, half the job is done.’ Many businesses have already started using smart phones to show images of their products, but there are even more possibilities. There was an old saying in advertising that, ‘Nothing sells like the television!’ The reason is simple, TV allows you to demonstrate – don’t tell, show. For an exporter the opportunity to carry around a TV commercial communicating their product offer and benefits in their pocket is very attractive.

Smart phones and tablets open up all those possibilities to show video presentations or slide shows. These can be run from your device or accessed from YouTube or similar. If you have any doubts about your language abilities, you can have voice-overs created in each of your target languages or to suit a specific trip. The same can be done for on-screen text. This is only using the medium at a very simple level which can be extremely powerful, however, working with a skilled app developer the possibilities are limitless.

Top tips.

Keep it short – no more than 60 seconds ideally. If you think that is not long, remember that most TV commercials are only 30 or 60 seconds and they have no difficulty getting complex messages over. You don’t want the viewer turning off before you finish your story.
Keep it simple. Be clear in your mind what you want to say and concentrate in getting that one, simple message over.
Don’t tell – show. Don’t fall into the ‘death by PowerPoint’ trap of repeating everything in terms of words. Showing product in a range of colours, for example, is far better than saying, ‘Available in a wide range of colours.’ The words are unnecessary. It saves time and doesn’t need translation.
Claim and evidence – if you are making quality claims about your product or service, make the evidence to support those claims explicit or implicit. For example application pictures in prestigious locations, client logos, accreditation symbols, images of your team etc. can all be used to help justify your claims.
Remember your audience – be very clear who you are taking to. Often it helps to visualise an archetypical customer and imagine you are speaking directly to them. Don’t forget cultural issues in terms of visual images and messages.
Be human. People buy from people so present a human message – don’t let technology get in the way.
Use professional translators and voiceovers. You are only talking about 60 second clips so there is no need to scimp on production values and it will make such a difference. Remember, you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.
Watch TV. Commercial directors are masters at communicating memorable, persuasive messages in less than a minute. Watch ads that work for you and see what tips you can pick up.
Share. Give copies of your material to your colleagues, staff and partners – make sure everybody is delivering a consistent message. Copy presentations onto your website and circulate them to customers.

Who needs an export department?

International No Responses »

Jun 272011

When I first started in business, the export department was something quite exotic. Its defining characteristic was that it was usually empty. Export sales managers spent their time living out of suitcases, occasionally returning to the office, tired and brown to dispense duty-free cigarettes. Nobody else in the organisation really understood what they did and there was no formal career path to move from UK to export sales. It seemed the main qualification required was a language skill and there was no real way to measure sales effectiveness as they set their own benchmarks. It was a case of knowledge management, and the specialized knowledge remained within the export department.

Over the years, the export department has become more and more integrated into the whole sales function. Of course international knowledge is still important but it is not necessarily the preserve of a specialist department. We see this in the case of SMEs. Partly thanks to the global nature of the internet, many businesses find themselves becoming reactive exporters. They get enquiries from overseas and, with a little guidance, find it relatively straightforward to do business. They view their business as a whole, and make little distinction between home and export business.

The specialist knowledge and skills required to do export business can be easily acquired just like the knowledge needed to work in any of the business’s sectors. Vertical channels become more important than the horizontal distinction of overseas business.

What is happening is that whole companies are looking upon themselves as international businesses. Once an export mindset has been acquired, with an enthusiastic champion at the highest level, separating out the export function becomes redundant.

Read ‘Why global marketing?’

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Ian West

Get your export branding up to speed with an International Brand Review

Avoid brand pitfalls.

What the review covers.