Masterplan GloCalization with 10 Strategies – a Professional Digital Marketing Agency Recommends
Companies are now facing a real dilemma, trying to balance culturalization with globalization ambitions. So how to make an optimal balance? Here’s a guide from Rosella, a leading digital marketing agency in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, introducing to you some practical glocalization strategies, applicable for most companies, and their implementation by brands in Saudi Arabia and beyond.
There are 10 Applicable Glocalization Strategies to Go for with a Professional Digital Marketing Agency:
1. Brand Consistency with Unified Marketing Campaigns
This strategy simply means maintaining one brand identity across different markets, locally and globally, while making minor adjustments to suit each audience. Why? So customers everywhere feel this is the same company they know, love, and trust, the one that earned its credibility in their hearts, and became on the top of their preference among hundreds of products.
Take Salla, the Saudi Ecommerce Solutions Platform as an example – it offers the same seamless shopping experience across all markets, while tailoring ad campaigns to highlight electrical appliances in Saudi Arabia, and highlight groceries in Egypt, just for example.
Apple also adopts this GLOCAL marketing strategy, clearly seen when launching the new edition of iPhone simultaneously worldwide. For instance, when the iPhone 15 launched in September 2023, it became available for order in Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and China at exactly the same moment, with time adjustments for sure. Despite this timing consistency, Apple modifies some campaigns culturally – in Japan, marketing highlights camera features for landscape photography, while in the Arabian Gulf, the focus shifts to using these features in social gatherings.
A consistent glocalization strategy like this one strengthens your brand identity across all global markets while respecting each market’s uniqueness and going along with audience interests.
Queue of people waiting to buy iPhone
2. Creating a Luxury Brand Image
Another successful Apple strategy involves crafting a premium brand image through various approaches, positioning its products among the most expensive yet high-value, high-quality phones. This has made them status symbols, especially in countries without strong tech industries.
Can this strategy be adapted to give more of a joyful brand image instead?
Absolutely. Your brand image can be tailored to whatever matches your products and meets your target audience’s needs – whether luxurious, youthful, joyful, innovative, firm, or feminine. A professional digital marketing agency will accordingly adjust your graphic designs, website templates, ad campaigns, social media channels, and use appropriate dialects for each audience.
What doesn’t really work is to see every brand pushing a luxury image to the very same demographic target audience, when their products/services match with a completely different audience.
3. The Emotional Marketing Strategy
Emotional marketing is a strategic approach that uses messages that speak to the audience’s emotions, and build an emotional bond with the brand. This creates a stronger impact in customers’ hearts and ensures longer-lasting brand recall. Leading global brands employ this strategy to strengthen relationships with their target audiences and cement their position in consumers’ minds.
A prime example is Google’s Year in Search campaign. Through this initiative, Google enhances its marketing with annual emotional videos compiling the year’s top trending search moments and popular keywords searches. Launched in 2013, this campaign has become a year-end tradition.
A moment shot from Google Year in Search 2021
4. Comprehensive Cultural Adaptation & Marketing Localization Strategy
This strategy involves adapting to each target market’s cultural, legal, and social characteristics, including:
- Locally available digital payment options.
- Regional advertising and marketing regulations.
- Compliance with local tax laws.
- Utilizing the most popular digital platforms in each market.
- Content localization (language, dialect, and message adaptation).
- Avoiding culturally, historically, or religiously sensitive terminology.
- Respecting prevailing social customs and traditions.
- Being mindful of culturally significant symbols and colors.
- Acknowledging important local holidays and occasions.
- Understanding community values regarding conservatism/openness.
- Studying local consumption patterns and buying habits.
- Addressing environmental concerns of the target audience.
- Ensuring business legitimacy per WTO regulations.
5. Adjusting Product Listing – Guided by a Professional Digital Marketing Agency
A key to global brand success is the ability to adapt product/service offerings and listing; in some new markets it will be an essential requirement to meet the local tastes and preferences. This often goes beyond simply adding or removing products, it may require adjusting product specifications, materials, packing, or even designing to accommodate different using patterns.
Consider respected brands like Beko and Samsung. These Asian-origin brands have successfully entered Arabian markets with high-quality products, yet they face significant challenges in bridging the usage gap between Asian and Arab consumers.
The typical Asian physique tends to be more slender than the average Arabian person’s physique. Consequently, many products from these brands experience premature part failures – not due to misuse, but because of the physical strength differential between these populations.
Therefore, to withstand varying usage intensities across different markets, such brands may need to:
- Modify the specifications of some products.
- Consider using different raw materials.
- Or even consider redesigning some products for longer durability.
6. Culturally Customized Advertising Strategy
A professional digital marketing agency executes locally focused campaigns for occasions like Ramadan or National Day, while culturally adapting them for global markets.
For example, Almarai’s campaigns in the US, highlight premium organic products, which are significantly higher priced listing, responding to American consumers’ health concerns about cancer-causing food.
Yet, such strategies require a deep expertise in target audience interests, and a proven digital marketing agency with:
- A proven experience in this market. Or a track record in penetrating new markets professionally with proven results.
- The digital marketing agency will also be working on continuous A/B testing, with diverse campaign methodologies.
7. Multilingual and Multicultural Content Marketing Strategy
Create content, whether videos, articles, or social media posts—in two versions: one tailored for the local market and another translated and culturally adapted for global audiences. A prime example of this strategy is the Saudi Expo Blog in English and Chinese, as well as The Saudi Coffee videos.
To implement this strategy, you can use tools like ChatGPT for smart translations and platforms like Crowdin for multilingual content management. However, it’s essential to assign a cultural expert to review this content, that expert comes from the target culture, or has a deep experience in content marketing for that specific audience.
Many professional digital marketing agencies in the Arab world went for content marketing as a specialization, which is perfect for direct audience engagement (B2C) particularly. However, for professional bilingual content marketing, especially for (B2B) businesses targeting other businesses, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers, you can always rely on Rosella, a leading digital marketing agency with extensive experience working with prestigious brands in Saudi Arabia, the GCC, Africa, and some parts of Europe.
Contact Rosella’s team today for expert digital marketing services.
8. Multidialectal and Multilingual SEO Optimization
Optimize content for local Arabic keywords, like food delivery in Riyadh, while also targeting global terms that align with the cultural context and audience intent, like Halal food delivery in London, because as a Saudi company, you’re using a keyword that focuses on the core concern of the target audience (halal food) rather than just food delivery services.
That level of understanding of audience interests requires thorough market testing, targeted ad campaigns, and retargeting efforts. Often a professional digital marketing agency, or even multiple agencies, depending on your business plan and budget, would practice to help you streamline the process and maximize efficiency.
9. Local and Global Influencer Marketing Strategy
This strategy involves collaborating with Saudi influencers for the local market and influencers in each new target market. It’s worth mentioning that the scope has expanded beyond athletes, TV stars, and media personalities; it now includes popular podcasters, preachers, and religious figures who resonate with audiences in both the Arab world and in the Western Muslim communities.
At the forefront of influencer marketing are also Silicon Valley tech experts, who refer to digital influencers in technology, such as tech bloggers, inventors, or thought leaders at companies like Google and Apple. Also include successful tech entrepreneurs, investors, and digital marketing specialists for startups.
Platforms like Upfluence or AspireIQ can help manage some of these campaigns efficiently. However, partnering with a professional digital marketing agency remains crucial, as they bring expertise in selecting the right influencers for your specific marketing goals.
10. Targeting Audiences Through Global + Local Platforms
It became familiar that some countries use different social platforms than the main global ones, while others use the same platforms but with different engagement patterns. For example, while Saudis heavily use Snapchat, Twitter (X), and TikTok, global expansion may require platforms like LinkedIn for B2B targets with tailored messaging.
Similarly, Instagram appeals to younger audiences, can be used for industries like beauty, fashion, and home decoration, with a lighthearted and visually engaging tone. For China, WeChat is essential to ensure optimal reach. An ambitious business would use each platform for a different purpose.
Afterall, success in global markets doesn’t mean abandoning local identity, it’s about intelligently blending both. You can implement these ten strategies with the help of a professional digital marketing agency to build a strong, flexible brand capable of earning customer loyalty worldwide.
Start your journey today and expand globally with a deep understanding of each market’s nuances. Contact Rosella Digital Marketing Agency’s team now.
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