Glocalization is a Must in Today’s Supplement Industry
How many times have you ordered items on Amazon that originate from another country? How many individuals do you follow online that live internationally? With our daily lives revolving more and more around digital platforms and digital marketplaces, both occurrences are common because they’re borderless. But have you ever considered how that affects your functional CPG brand…and if there was a strategy to take advantage of it?
Global + LOCAL = GLOCAL
We live in wild times! With an internet connection, credit card, and a few clicks of your mouse, you can…
create a global retail distribution point
create marketing that has global reach
TBH we take for granted just how easy it is to go from idea to a multinational functional CPG brand. We’re living in the golden era of CPG entrepreneurship because of these borderless ecommerce and social media platforms. It’s VERY important though to not misconstrue that ease for believing a one-size-fits-all commercialization strategy is acceptable.
Globalization is at a crossroads. Connecting to the global economy stimulates competition and innovation and gives access to other markets. While it has reshaped global economies, it also came at a cost to our environment and our communities.
Being a multinational functional CPG shouldn’t mean you seek parity globally. A better balance between global and local, so-called glocalization, would offer a better mix of both worlds. Global template…local adaptations.
Why Glocalization?
The functional CPG industry is facing a competitive wake-up call globally and entrepreneurs in the space know that the alarm bell have been ringing for some time as they lose ground to smaller, more local brands — but responding effectively has proven difficult. With the prideful resurgence of regional and local identities across cultures and geographies, functional CPG brands must respond to this need for different customer groups in helping them “identify” themselves. So, any functional CPG brand that wants to be successful globally must have a deep local respect towards tastes, requirements, culture and social norms, and consumer habits.
Keys to Glocalization
The concept of glocalization may seem like a big investment in terms of time, resources, and costs, but ultimately the ROI far outweighs the initial expenditure.
Embrace the Increased Complexity
accommodate a more experimental operation that tolerates more moving parts
Listen to Local Voices
get closer to local consumers and empower teams on the ground to generate new ideas
encourage a flow of new ideas internally through relevant external partnerships
get to market quickly on new ideas, so you can get real consumer feedback
Tame Your Expectations
failure rates will be higher than in domestic market
offerings will likely not capture major market share, but they can still be extremely profitable
Challenges with Glocalization
Naturally, there will always be challenges associated with the subject of glocalization and functional CPG brands trying to adopt this approach need to:
excel at leveraging local people internally and externally
customize processes to find the sweet spot between local adaptations and scale/efficiency
balance success in the home country while trying to break into new ones
adopt global technology that helps manage costs around local marketing and improves brand consistency across different languages
Glocalization can also require functional CPG brands to at times decipher corporate signs, symbols, and values within the different cultural environments they wish to operate in. This can at times include producing in-country because it spreads prosperity and creates more resilient and sustainable economies.
Case Study: MyProtein
MyProtein is the top-selling global sports nutrition brand online. While Myprotein is based in the UK, it operates in over 70 countries and more than three-fourths of its annual revenue comes from outside of its home country. This is achieved through 50+ localized websites, a diverse and dedicated team of staff, operations, and brand ambassadors.
In the broader Asian market, MyProtein has seen explosive growth with Japan now becoming the brand’s single largest territory. MyProtein has developed specific tasting products that suit local palates, a fully localized marketing strategy, physical pop-up shops locally, brand ambassadors that live locally but have global appeal, and operational assets that lower commerce friction. And while this might seem extraordinary, MyProtein has also done this in the US market with local distribution, manufacturing, marketing, influencers, and products/flavors.