At first as personal curiosity, it became a complementary activity. It did not start as basic training, but became a complementary training, when I enrolled in my Masters’ degree. My thesis was developed in the international field, under the title “The impact of Marketing-Mix Adaptation on Brand Image and Trust of International Clients”. Based on the thesis, I wrote a research paper that is published on the site of the European Journal of Applied Business and Management and it can be read in the following link (in portuguese – the English version is available on demand) here.
Internationalisation is more than selling… Excluding online sales, that transform the idea of borders, the companies face countless challenges. For example: should we work with a local importer or should we establish our own business? Associate with a local company or buy a local company? Work within the same field or work with a complementary field? How are similar products sold in that country? Should we have our own brand store or be sold in a multibrand store? Is the name of my brand just a name or can it be related to a not-so-nice word in the local language? Should I change the name in that particular market? What about my corporate image? Does it feature any symbol that may suggest a different idea from what I want to communicate?
Different cultures communicate the same product or service in different ways. Colours, shapes and numbers may be interpreted differently from a country to another. Did you know that the sound of the number four and the word “death”, in Chinese, is quite similar? Therefore, for courtesy purposes, never offer anything in a number of four (four flowers, for example) to a Chinese… Written communication must be in accordance with what the brand really wishes to communicate, but also with the culture it is willing to captivate.
