I just found this post lurking in my drafts folder from way back and thought it might be a reasonable opportunity to pop a pic I took on the Nokia N95 a few weeks back to add some spice.
I'm all for localization. I don't know anyone else who believes as much as I do that the tired old mantra of "think global act local" is more often both an oxymoron and an excuse for marketing economies of scale. OK, so as I said in this post, everything is contextual but for those who argue in favour of brand message uniformity at all costs, why doesn't that apply to the product itself. You may for example wish to try the McDonalds coffee I talked about over here, which in China is like amphetamine treacle and tastes most awesome; way superior to the coffee chain from Seattle that I can't bear to mention.
There's a whiff of intellectual brand bankruptcy hanging in the air for those who endorse brand identity uniformity as more important than product conformity. And no I'm not talking about adapting the product to local tastes because the coffee at McDonalds in China compared to say McDonalds UK is the equivalent of the difference between that Turkey you roasted over Chrimbo and the Turkey Twizzlers y'all rebelled over a while back.
I've been talking about brand adaptation a fair bit recently and for the life of me I can't see why a country as large as China can 'adapt' itself to working with say Microsoft Windows ("oh no" they cry. "Its not Chinese enough" - erm excuse me? Even I can operate Windows in Chinese because the layout is so familiar) or an iPod. I do believe that if the iPod was presented as a concept first, the local ahem marketing and agency 'talent' would be all over it with design changes and modifications to 'localise' it.
OK, there is a time and a place when sensitivity towards local culture and taste makes great business sense but the knee jerk reaction to adaptation is killing too many good ideas and its not as if the alternatives are standing out much better is it?
I'll say it one more time only. The brand idea that sticks out gets noticed. Just like that bloke in the picture above who is mesmerised by the flares they use to show off to the clubbing crowd that somebody has ordered Champagne. It's not rocket science is it?
