Don’t waste money on ineffective global creative: here’s how to make it work

Creating a global campaign that resonates across multiple markets is not an easy task. The differences in culture, language, and values in each market will have a huge impact on how well it is received and its overall effectiveness.

Working closely with local teams and in-market specialists to garner the necessary insights is crucial to ensure your global campaign maintains cultural relevance. Follow our four-step guide and discover the best practices for achieving highly effective multi-market campaigns:

1. Adapt your global creative brief with the help of in-market experts 

Relying on central assumptions can be a recipe for disaster because differences in culture, language, history and values can dramatically impact the effectiveness of a brand’s message. However, working closely with local teams to carry out market-specific research ensures creative ideas are adapted successfully and enables brands to maintain cultural relevance wherever their campaigns appear in the world.

Regular status updates avoid unexpected feedback when it’s too late in the campaign or too expensive to make changes. These checks also ensure greater buy-in from the markets, who will have more time to plan their local campaign and media buys.

At the end of each campaign, encourage all involved to review, validate and share feedback. Remember: the overall aim is to develop a campaign concept that meets the global business objectives and can be adapted to local market needs.

2. Consider every single detail

A deep understanding of local market needs should inform every single word of a campaign. Most important is the tagline, which sits in a prime position for most assets. It is the memorable signature of the brand or campaign but sometimes, when it comes to localisation, time pressures reduce this vitally important copy to just another piece of translation. Beyond translating a global tagline for a local market, you need to be sensitive to things like:

• Humour
• Metaphors
• Traditions

3. Look beyond the words to the images

Do the campaign’s visuals work for all markets or should they be replaced for local adaptation purposes?

Consider the following elements:

• Landscape
• Animals
• Colours

 4. Prioritise communication and collaboration every step of the way

Global marketers should make the most of their local teams’ expertise and consult them throughout the creative process by sharing initial ideas, wireframes, storyboards, scripts and CMS designs. In fact, local teams can add value every step of the way – for example, they can help inform a distribution plan by advising which social media platforms resonate the most in their market.

Having the right people on board from the beginning can make or break campaigns.

There isn’t a return on investment until a campaign is successfully launched. Think about local relevance from start to finish, enabling you to take the brand further, wider and faster than ever before.

Get in touch today to find out more about how we can bring that expertise to the table, resulting in more effective campaigns and an efficient use of your marketing budget.