Today the world is a much smaller place. A few decades ago, travelling overseas on business or communicating with people who spoke a different language was not part of everyday life. Today’s world, though, is unmistakably and increasingly interconnected. Growing internet access, travel and trade has accelerated integration of global markets and the worldwide exchange of ideas, information and products. Travel is more affordable and accessible, culturally we’re more cosmopolitan and businesses are increasingly operating on a global scale, irrespective of size.
Technology and new transport options have contributed to the accessibility of different trading markets. Overseas customers are now only a few hours away on a plane, or a few time zones away via email or Zoom. This has resulted in significant opportunities for brands to move into new markets and attract worldwide consumers.
We’ve often heard that the world is shrinking. In many ways, social media has made it grow smaller at an unprecedented rate. Everyday lives are practically on-demand within formation on products and brands filling our small screens wherever we go. Small companies and conglomerates find themselves on a level playing field with equal opportunity to conduct business anywhere in the world.
Whilst the world is their oyster, and trade is becoming more accessible, brands still have to meticulously plan their foray into other markets, however. The implications of trading in different currencies, different languages with different consumer buying habits, as well as a far more challenging supply chain all need to be considered. A whole host of cultural, buying and legislative differences also come into play meaning brands will almost certainly need to adapt their packaging to suit the target market.
Let’s be clear, it’s not just case of translating packaging into another language to suit a different market. Brands also need to look at the aesthetics, design and ethos of their pack – the materials used, colour schemes and imagery. All of these things will help connect their brand to potential new consumers. Brand owners also have to decide between developing global or local products, global or local communication strategies as well as the development of global or local packaging designs. The route they choose will dictate the costs and complexity involved and ultimately determine the success of their launch.
Packaging isn’t just about aesthetics and branding though. Local regulations also need to be considered and will govern everything from the information your labelling to the size of fonts used. As well as looking great, your packaging must also meet language requirements and ensure consumers can easily locate important information in a format and style they can understand.
Global packaging regulations are difficult to navigate at the best of times. The number of environmental requirements for packaging continues to expand, as do their variety, making it increasingly challenging for brand owners to sell products with the same packaging design worldwide. Countries, states and regions in which products are manufactured, packaged, transported, sold, imported or exported all have their own laws and regulations to consider. These can relate to anything from product labelling - including product claims, ingredients, nutritional information, text sizing, recycling information, bar codes – to functionality, material compliance and consumer safety.
One thing’s for sure, if your packaging is not compliant with local regulations, it won’t be going anywhere. Instead your products will be stuck in a warehouse, going out of date or out of fashion while you try and resolve the situation with local authorities. Meticulous planning and due diligence is key.
By gaining insight into your target market’s cultural values, you're more likely to understand how design elements will be perceived (e.g. colours, images and symbols). There are many cultural dimensions that can influence these perceptions, which will in turn influence consumer buying behaviour. There are cultural vagaries for practically every market across the world, the biggest being between emerging and developed markets with cross cultural divides.
For example, in India, a large number of consumers live in rural areas and are paid a relatively low daily wage. The opportunity for brands here would be to launch cheaper and smaller packs that consumers could more easily afford; larger sized packs would not work. In Britain and many other countries, consumers are accustomed to buying toothpaste in a tube. However, in rural India, where incomes are particularly low, toothpaste is generally sold in small sachets.
Language is also something that needs careful consideration, particularly when it comes to brand names. It’s possible to run basic translations through something like Google Translate - which is a great tool for day-to-day business requirements - but we wouldn’t recommend relying on this when developing packaging. Auto translation can have some hilarious outcomes and many big corporations have fallen short in this respect. One of the most famous instances involved KFC translating their marketing catchphrase into "we’ll eat your fingers off" which failed to inspire local audiences in China.
Coca-Cola is another example where an ‘easy translation' into Chinese can potentially be fraught with problems. The name Coca-Cola in China was first marketed as "Ke-kou-ke-la". Unfortunately, the brand didn’t realise until well into their campaign that the phrase actually meant "female horse stuffed with wax" or "bite the wax tadpole" depending on the local dialect. Coke subsequently conducted research into 40,000 Chinese characters to find a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can loosely be translated as "happiness in the mouth."
Translation from one language to another can also have design implications – changing from English to Russian, for example, increases the space required on a line of text by some 15%. This could have major implications if you need to list ingredients or a set of instructions for your product and have limited space on your packaging.
Packaging nowadays carries significant symbolic weight. Colours have been proven to trigger different emotions in different cultures, so brands may want to avoid triggering negative emotions by developing market-specific packaging. One thing's for sure, there is significant risk for brands failing to research their target market thoroughly and adapting packaging to suit specific cultural needs.
British chocolate maker, Cadbury preempted this by conducting extensive market research to establish how their iconic purple packaging would be perceived globally. This revealed that although British consumers viewed purple packaging as luxurious, the Taiwanese perceived this as being low quality. This insight prompted them to develop bespoke packaging for the Taiwan market.
Other watch outs include the use of black which is often seen as a colour of mourning in the West. In places like Africa, red is associated with mourning. In China, bright, vibrant colours are the colour of choice for food items. More muted colours are generally used for personal care and home cleaning packaging. In Iran, the colour green symbolises success, whereas in China it denotes disgrace, and in Egypt, it is prohibited from being used on packaging at all, given it’s the colour worn by certain religious leaders.
When launching a product globally, consumer preference will make or break your launch; brands could create an extravagant unboxing experience, using premium packaging materials only to fail miserably if the pack doesn't resonate with local consumers.
Differences in local climate also need to be considered. Dependant on a product type, temperature control could be crucial. High humidity climates may require completely different packaging materials, formats or features. A tropical climate, for example, would require packaging with different barrier properties than a country with a dry climate. Differences in altitude is also a key consideration; a confectionary bag from the European lowlands could potentially burst when shipped to a market 2000 metres (6000 feet) above sea level, due to the difference in air pressure. So many things to consider!
When entering new markets, brands gain access to new consumers and revenue streams. They also come up against a whole new set of competitors. In most circumstances, local brands will have extensive insight into their market and consumers. Brands will therefore need to quickly understand the nuances of the local environment and apply those learnings to their new global operation. Your product and packaging will find itself on retailer shelves alongside locally trusted brands and products. If you’re simply entering the market as a new brand without knowing what you’re up against, your chance of success will look bleak; if local consumers are not used to your pack format, branding or product chances are your launch will fail.
Brand owners should forget at peril – regardless of the market – first and foremost, they need to know their consumers inside and out. Behaviours and motivation to purchase differs across the globe and cultures and context vary greatly, even in the age of globalisation. Consumers in some markets, for example, may place great emphasis on packaging that’s eco-friendly and sustainable whilst others are not so concerned and will not pay a premium for such materials. In markets such as US and UK, packaging is mostly functional and perhaps a little clinical. In countries like Korea, consumers are attracted to packaging that’s more basic and on the edge of being childlike with splashes of colour and bold fonts.
A nation’s culture informs how consumers perceive products, when and where they shop and which packaging materials and formats they purchase. Deeply ingrained cultural viewpoints and customs also influence individuals’ inclination to embrace new products and trust foreign brands. The “Four P’s” of marketing — product, placement, price and promotion — all come into play as a product moves through the different phases to become relevant in consumers' eyes.
Clearly, when it comes to developing packaging for a global market, one size doesn’t fit all. Consumers across the globe have different viewpoints on what’s important to them and which colours, imagery and information drive purchase.
From understanding new markets, overcoming language barriers, fine-tuning approaches to suit local consumers, and understanding new competitors – brand owners have a number of challenges to overcome when launching products on a global scale.
Packaging, imagery, messaging and colours that appeal in London may land very differently in Shanghai so it’s important they do their homework.
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