As we ponder over the evolution of the global market place, global products and brands trying to tap into emerging markets had their eyes on targeted customers in a couple of selected segments. These customers were aspiring to buy global products in local markets, willing to pay the price at par with the global markets. Over the years, global players started widening their customer base by developing indigenous products in emerging markets through their captives or suppliers. This made it possible for them to have product prices that were palatable to a wide range of customers in these markets. We have also witnessed occasions where these products developed in emerging markets were targeted at customers in global locations. So from globalization and glocalization to reverse innovation, we have been witnessing organizations conduct business beyond geographical boundaries.
For any product or service to be a successful example of glocalization, while it is essential to tune it to the needs of the target market, it is also important to ensure that the core differentiator of the product captures and betters the imagination of people using it in such emerging markets.
What are some of the aspects to bear in mind while deciding whether to glocalize a product or service?
• Customer Experience: Customer experience is the key that will drive the success of glocalization of a service or a product. With today’s customers being well travelled and aware of trends in the global market, it’s all the more challenging for organizations to keep pace with customer wants and even more so in terms of creating that “wow” experience to ensure customer loyalty.
• Novelty of the Product/Service: Businesses need to analyse if the novelty of their offering allows for a change that has the potential to disrupt the market it is targeted at.
• Business Model: Perceived value of the business model that has been arrived at for the target emerging markets and the return on investment.
All these three factors must work together. For example, a foreign musical instrument such as a violin tuned the customer experience to realize a value that was capable of disrupting the Indian instruments and has withstood the test of time till today. There are several such examples in modern business models and markets.
Watch out for our next post on some insights into how to win in emerging markets.