A five-step method
1. One country at a time, in its own language
Every market has its own press, its own forums, its own local competitors, its own words. Research should be done in the country’s language; the reading can happen in yours.
2. Areas built around the decision
Areas don’t have to be continents: they can be the markets for a launch, a group of similar countries, a distributor’s countries. You build them around what you need to decide.
3. The comparison
Competition, prices, channels, communication, consumers, compared across countries: where the brand is strong, where it’s weak, where the market is moving fastest.
4. Area-level choices
Where to play first, with what proposition, with what risks, and what to adapt country by country.
5. Content adapted, not translated
A message that works in Italy can be misunderstood elsewhere. Every piece of content should be reread through the country’s culture: references, tone, images, words.
The most common mistakes
- Reading every country from Italy. With Italian sources you only see the market from the outside.
- Mixing countries’ data. A number from Germany ends up in the plan for France.
- Translating instead of adapting.
- Areas chosen for convenience. The right area is the one that fits the decision.
