Asia Pacific

As we are all aware, South east Asia is the region many global brands are focusing on as they expand their business with in the Asian region. However, expanding into emerging markets can be a tricky process, even businesses with a strong core brand can find it difficult to connect with a new local market. There are delicate lines to tread in terms of cultural nuances and differences in consumer tastes, which can cause irreparable damage to brands when they fail to take these into account.

The most successful brand launches in local markets have been a result of concerted efforts to understand local consumers, interact with them through the right channels, and engage them with culturally relevant content.

A Personal Touch: Localizing Your Brand

A deep understanding of the market you are launching in is the key to success. You are not just launching your brand, but rather a local version of it. Localization is often mistaken as a translated version of the product to the local language. However, true localization includes understanding factors such as the country’s infrastructure, the economy, local cultures, and laws & regulations. Being aware and open to these aspects,will help shape the way your brand is positively perceived in its new market.

In Indonesia for example, we had to come up with a very different payment model from what was used in more mature markets. Many do not own a debit or credit card in Indonesia, with that in mind, we offered various payment solutions such as payment by bank transfer or on-the-spot payments at convenience stores.

Education was another big barrier we had to over come. For us here at Spotify, piracy is frowned upon greatly. Unfortunately, in Indonesia piracy dominates the local market. We had to educate people and help them understand why streaming music legally is important before promoting all the bells and whistles of the service.

Building Moments

Once you have a clear understanding of the consumers you want to engage, you can identify moments that will build brand love and loyalty among them.

In the Philippines, there was a noon time segment called  ‘AlDub Kalyeserye’  about the love of two celebrities. Almost every one was tuned in, watching and waiting to see what was going to happen next. The series was usually accompanied by songs from much loved artists and, seeing this as a big opportunity, we created a playlist called AlDub Happily Ever After. It was a huge success because we were able to connect with people through a moment that was unique to their local market.

While, in Singapore, we found the humour in the haze season with a playlist called “Hazed and Confused”, with songs like ‘Harder to Breathe’ by Maroon 5 and ‘Breathless’ by The Corrs. It was shared countless timeson social media and garnered a lot of positive attention from local press.

Reaching out to the public through these moments,create the impression that you want the market to have; positive and lasting.

Discover More

The work doesn't stop after the launch;as a brand, you have to continue to fuel the excitement around your brand, and evolve your brand & product to suit the ever-changing tastes in a market. Be a brand with foresight.

Spotify noticed that personalization was a big deal when it came to its playlist suggestions. Understanding the opportunity before us, we launched ‘Discover Weekly’, a playlist that is refreshed with two hours of new music every Monday morning. Each playlist is built based on each individual listener’s music history and what other Spotify fans with similar tastes are tuning into. Just recently we launched Release Radar, a personalized playlist of the newest releases. Release Radar gives users up to two hours of the newest drops from the artists they follow and listen to the most, sprinkled in with some new discoveries based on their recent listening habits.

These are just instance on how Spotify innovates, while taking users on a personalized journey of rediscovery every week.

By integrating your core brand wholly with personalized touches, your brand willnot only see a greater increase of satisfaction in customers, but also drive long-term longevity and the genuine acceptance of your customers.