zara's promotion policies and product offerings varied less internationally than did its prices or positioning. Advertising and other promotional efforts were avoided worldwide except during the sales periods, which were typically biannual, in line with Western European norms. And while product offerings catered to physical, cultural, or climate differences (e.g., smaller sizes in Japan, special women's clothes in Arab countries, different seasonality in South America), 85%-90% of the basic designs sold in Zara stores tended to be common from country to country. This commonality was facilitated by the frequent interactions between the creative team in La Coruna and local store managers. Furthermore, the 10%-15% of products that did vary from country to country were selected from the same broad menu of offerings: Zara did not develop products to meet just one country's requirements. Management thought that the implementation of this relatively standardized strategy had become easier over time as tastes converged across national boundaries. Residual differences permitted products that did not sell well in one market to be sold in others.