Brand Adaptation
Brand adaptation calls for retooling any number of the visual, typographical or messaging elements of a brand. A business may change a brand name in a foreign language-heavy new market where the name corresponds to an unflattering or brand-damaging word or idiomatic usage in the foreign language. Marketing messages for a brand that work in one market or market segment can fail spectacularly for others. Businesses can reposition a brand in a bid to convince those in a different market or market segment of the brand’s relevance to their lives. Repositioning often includes substantive changes in what a business sells and the benefits or promises it makes to customers.
Product Adaptation
A new market may respond favorably to a business’ brand messaging, but not its products. In these cases, a business can opt to alter or even develop products to incorporate specific needs or cultural practices. For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken includes regional ingredients and dishes in foreign markets to appeal to local sensibilities. A business that caters to a particular immigrant group might provide packaging that features that population’s native language or develop a product that closely mimics a difficult to import item in common use in that group’s home country.
Related Reading: Difference Between Differentiated Marketing Strategy and Concentrated Marketing Strategy
New or Acquired Brands
In some cases, a business can find it more productive to create a new brand or acquire an existing brand instead of revamping the existing marketing. Acquiring an existing brand allows the business to capture an existing customer base, while extending its influence into a new area. Acquiring a brand also gives a business the chance to leverage the experience of that brand’s management staff. The creation of a new brand gives the business a chance to let go of any commitment to the original brand’s marketing messages and structure its marketing address the particulars of the new market.
Considerations
Full adaptation strategies often prove cost prohibitive, as they often require building new marketing campaigns from the ground. Repositioning can result in substantial short- or long-term loss of market share if the strategy drives off existing customers without replacing them with new customers. Adaptation marketing strategies can also fail to overcome customer loyalty to established local brands. A business should weigh the financial costs against the probability of success before embarking on an adaptation marketing strategy.