Have you ever wondered why TJ Maxx is called TK Maxx in the UK, or why most people across the globe call those delicious salty snacks Lays while only the British know them as Walkers?
Many children in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East watched an animated feature called Zootropolis in 2016, while American kids watched Zootopia. A certain zany 90s caveman flick was called California Man in most locales outside the US – because California is globally recognized, while most film-goers wouldn’t have realized that Encino is a local neighborhood in California.
The answer lies in localization; all the above examples highlight that success in different markets entails adapting products and services for diverse customer segments across the globe.
However, localization is demanding for many businesses. A survey of 2,000 business leaders globally conducted by Censuswide highlights: almost two-thirds of business leaders (61%) reported that adapting products and services for different markets was challenging.
Furthermore, over half of European business leaders (54%) struggle with product adaptation, compared with 75% of Americans.
Why is localization and product adaptation important?
Adapting different products and services for foreign markets requires a holistic, integrated strategy and is about more than translating marketing copy or changing branding; success depends on a nuanced understanding of the local culture, customer behavior, preferences, and the precise dynamics of the new market.
Get it right, and the benefits are bountiful – increased sales, a boost in market share, improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, enhanced brand reputation, and sustainable competitive advantage.
Nevertheless, just as there are examples of leading brands that have flourished, others have misfired, as without strategic alignment, even top brands can get it wrong.
In this post, we’ll take a look at automobile brands, and discover how some have paved the way for success, while others tried, retried, and tried again but still fell by the wayside.
Ford fails to entice Indian automotive consumers
Ford was one of the first multinational car manufacturers to enter the Indian market but struggled to attract customers due to a lack of understanding of local culture, customer behavior, and regional preferences.
When Ford launched the Ford Escort, they introduced the same model from other regions without specific adaptations for Indian consumers.
An old engine, no power steering, and no power windows left Indian consumers unimpressed. The market turned out to be far more discerning than Ford had anticipated, with the average car buyer looking for specific features and value for money.
Segmentation is paramount; the failure to make a dent in the market was partly down to a lack of understanding of the behavior of middle-class Indian consumers.
Attempting to learn from its mistakes, Ford launched a mid-priced car and reduced the price to $15k by stripping the Escort of its features.
However, the company missed that Indian consumers buying cars in this price bracket were considered rich and would be likely to hire a chauffeur rather than drive themselves. Car buyers were also happy to pay more for additional features.
In contrast, when Ford launched the Ikon, the company undertook customer behavior research and assimilated insights into local content and personalized marketing. In its first year of launch, the Ikon was the best-selling car in the Indian mid-size market.
Despite this initial win, Ford should have considered the high repair and maintenance costs. Subsequently, the Ikon gained a reputation for being expensive to maintain.
Thus, sales of the Ikon waned as consumers became increasingly savvy and cottoned on to the price of long-term ownership.
Long-term customer loyalty and retention in a new market necessitates thinking beyond the initial product launch. To reap the benefits of sustainable, long-term customer relationships, companies must be agile and adapt to changing market conditions to be top-of-mind at every stage of the customer lifecycle.
Maruti Suzuki prioritize localization to win the Indian car market
If you visited the streets of Mumbai in the mid-90s, almost every car you would have seen would have been a Maruti Suzuki. The Maruti Suzuki was the car of choice for middle-class Indian families, and it would have been impossible not to notice how ubiquitous the car brand was.
Part of Suzuki’s success stemmed from an intense focus on product adaptation, which led to Maruti Suzuki becoming the most trusted automobile brand across South Asia.
While Ford had sought to replicate the success of Maruti Suzuki, no auto manufacturer could quite get the formula right like Suzuki, as the car company understood that consumers were looking for an affordable price point and low maintenance cost.
Suzuki relearned this lesson after unsuccessfully launching the high-end models Suzuki Grand Vitara and Suzuki Kizashi.
Poor sales meant that Suzuki swiftly removed these luxury cars from the Indian market.
Instead, the company introduced a separate premium brand so that Maruki Suzuki would forever be associated with value for money and low maintenance costs.
Moreover, Suzuki fundamentally understands the importance of language, especially in the Indian market, which is home to 122 languages and 1,599 dialects, as Sanjeev Handa, Vice President and Head of PR and Communications, emphasizes:
“With this diverse diaspora across the country, unquestionably regional aspirations became very important to us. We ensure that all our assessments or customer insights are multilingual. For example, if there is a national press release, my normal language translations are in about 46 to 50 languages, depending upon the brand that I’m communicating.”
AI technology, personalized marketing, and culturally relevant dynamic content are also critical to Maruti Suzuki’s success in India, as Handa explained:
“In personalized marketing, for example, we use AI very effectively to use dynamic content creation…it is adaptive to the audience at that particular time and moment of emotions.“
It is about hyper-local marketing, which we have been doing and delivering content across the country in a hyper-local way. We are also using predictive modeling for customer behavior. We’re using sentiment analysis. We’re using the voice of customer analysis. And we top it up with all market research and customer segmentation reports, which further embellish these findings.”
– Sanjeev Handa, Vice President and Head of PR and Communications – Suzuki
Maruti Suzuki is one of the few car brands that got the formula right amid much competition from many other brands seeking to entice the Indian consumer, including Ford, as well as locally popular car brands such as Premier Automobile Ltd and Hindustan Motors Ltd.
Its relentless customer-centric focus meant that it far outpaced its competitors and captured the attention of millions of car-buyers across the continent.
Moreover, Maruti Suzuki replicated this success all over the world. Today, the car brand exports to over 100 countries across the globe, as its core strategy has historically focused on identifying and expanding to new markets. More than half of vehicles sold in India are Maruti Suzukis, and as of 2018, Maruti Suzuki had a market share of 53%.
Technology and AI can help speed up the product localization process
There is a clear business case for product adaptation, and companies should make localization a key focus in their customer experience strategy.
Critically, robust product adaptation empowers businesses to launch a successful go-to-market strategy that, in turn, will enable the successful delivery of the right core messaging to specific market segments.
The case studies above illustrate the business case for localization; the next step is implementation, where generative AI technology can help speed up and manage the process.
Nimdzi’s research shows a vast emerging landscape of language translation tools, with more than 700 language technology providers.
Selecting the right tool for your business can be time-consuming and laborious. To help, we’ve assembled a list of features and benefits to look for to ease the decision-making process.
AI tools speed up localization by minimizing manual input, allowing businesses to scale up the process and launch in multiple markets or tailor their messaging for different audiences in a shorter timeframe. As companies navigate expansion, their needs evolve, necessitating additional features. Therefore, it is critical to acquire a scalable technology solution that grows with the needs of the business.
Maruki Suzuki used their Indian success story to expand into other regions. Getting localization right is a win-win; businesses gain access to untapped markets, and customers receive an enriched customer experience.
In the long term, global corporations flourish by reaping a significant competitive advantage through increasing customer acquisition, enhancing long-term loyalty, and boosting customer retention.
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