Diplomat Agency

A study from the University of Sydney found that English-speaking LLMs, such as ChatGPT-3, often reflect U.S. cultural values. According to Fast Company AI can't understand cultural nuance. They suggest that an LLM trained primarily in English data might suggest marketing strategies without cultural nuance that inadvertently offend cultural sensibilities in another culture. Not to defend AI, but this can happen without an English trained LLM, this can happen, and does happen in organisations where AI was not used and humans made the errors, just like this example from KFC. Diplomat has been established to help your brand navigate cultural nuances, because we too have made the mistakes, we know the pitfalls. With or without AI.

The Drum reports that "Going global is increasingly on a CEO’s and a CMO’s to-do list. In the UK alone, 87% of businesses who trade internationally are planning on expanding their overseas operations this year, with a further 10% aiming to step outside the UK for the first time." There are many pitfalls to avoid if you are planning to go global. Diplomat has been set up to support companies on this journey, learning from mistakes WE MADE, we are here to help you manage successful global expansion. Get in touch today and see how we can help

Finding the right balance between global consistency and local relevance – without wasting budget – is a challenge many brands are looking to overcome. This new article from Marketing Week covers, the DNA of the foundations of Diplomat Agency. This is a challenge that we faced in our previous global roles and understand the pitfalls. As the Marketing Week article notes, as marketing budgets rise the pressure on marketers to prove effectiveness and closely monitor spend remains. But there is potential for huge waste in this global/local "divide". If you need expertise into closing the gap between these teams, contact us today and we can engage with you in our 3 step process, ensuring a consistent process that allows local nuance within global guidelines.

🌮 Taco Bell has built it's U.S. brand by tapping into music, sports, fashion, and art, turning “Live Más” into a lifestyle. Now it is looking to take this culturally infused approach worldwide. With over 1,000 locations in 31 countries, Taco Bell’s international expansion is key to reaching its $20 billion revenue goal. Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs sees strong growth potential abroad, despite the challenges of new markets. A recent example of Taco Bell’s global strategy is the UK launch of "Encore Hours," an initiative that extends late-night hours at select locations to cater to concertgoers. The first activation, near London’s Wembley Stadium, showcased Taco Bell’s commitment to embedding itself in local culture. Amy Ellis Durini, Taco Bell International's CMO, quoted in Restaurant Dive emphasised the importance of adapting the brand’s strategy to fit local markets “We definitely try to lean into local insights and understand what the fans are saying in each of our markets so we can take our broader brand strategy and put some local cultural context around it, with the launch of Feed The Beat [in the UK], we are starting to build our culture around music, and leverage the authentic relationship Taco Bell has had for years in the U.S. and take it outside of the border,” Durini said. 👏 Here at Diplomat we applaud the approach Taco Bell is taking to it's international marketing efforts. We have seen first hand the mistakes that come when you try to plug and play at scale - you may get lucky, but you can often come across as tone deaf. Local insights are key and something we help brands with. As the brand continues to expand globally, it remains focused on understanding and adapting to local trends, laying a strong foundation for future growth. 🚀 As Amy Ellis Durini, Taco Bell International's CMO, is quoted as saying “We’re still at the ground floor internationally. The opportunity ahead is vast, and the white space is endless.” Let us know if we can help Amy, love some Taco Bell over here at Diplomat #internationalmarketing #globalmarketing

Congratulations to Celine Joshua who has been appointed by German label giant BMG to the role of Executive Vice President, Global Marketing. In this new role, the Los Angeles-based Joshua will take on oversight of BMG’s marketing strategy and operations across the company’s 20 regional worldwide, with divisional responsibility for the Digital Marketing, Content, Consumer Insights & Analytics, and Marketing Operations teams. She will report directly to BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld. Overseeing marketing strategy for this many regions comes with many challenges, and we at Diplomat say that having gone through these challenges first hand. So if you are taking on a global role in marketing and need support from people who have the scars and know the pitfalls to avoid, get in touch today. In the meantime, congratulations again to Celine.

Spanish, employee owned, bike manufacturer ORBEA is eyeing up expansion beyond the EU borders and betting big on its Diem e-bike to break the US marketplace. Before getting into how to market the bike outside the EU Orbea had to make some product changes. In the EU, e-bikes are limited to a top pedal assist speed of about 16 mph, in the US this can go to 28 mph. International expansion is complex and as this example shows, before you get into communications, there are lots of other things to factor into the equation. If you are starting to think about International Expansion start with a 3-day ideation project with a diplomatic envoy of global and local experts to connect brand values and goals with the sharpest cultural insights.

🌍 HelloFresh is launching its biggest campaign ever, spanning 13 markets using AI practices. Which ones you ask? Well Patrick Stal SVP international marketing at HelloFresh Group, speaking to The Drum only revealed that the in-house creative team "merged this bold new creative direction with innovative AI practices to fuel a truly integrated global campaign." But did not expand on what those practices were. It would be great to hear more about them. 🎒 Targeting busy families during peak back to school time the fast-paced, 30-second ad brings you into lots of different types of homes and families and showcases them with on screen graphics of the food. 🔊The campaign also marks HelloFresh's first foray into sonic branding - which is definitely a good move for International brands (did somebody say just eat?) ? ❓ What do you think of this campaign? Does it hit the mark, will it travel well or is it too generic to connect? Share your thoughts in the comments. ⤵ https://lnkd.in/gAwZy-z5 #internationalmarketing #globalbrands doug perkul Anna Koklanakis peter nemec Katia Wik LE BERG GmbH HelloFresh

🇫🇷 Is this a genius piece of local marketing or a bit of an own goal? Heetch is a ride sharing service that operates in a number of major cities in France. 🚘 One of those cities is going to come to a bit of a standstill this summer. Yes the city of Paris will see millions of tourists arrive in the city in the coming days for the 2024 Olympic Games. And the city is expecting major travel disruption with metros overcrowded, buses delayed, and bike lanes saturated. Getting around Paris will be a challenge/nightmare! So Heetch has decided to step in and support Parisians during this time by.... promoting it's top competitor, Uber, to tourists. Yes read that again, promoting it's top competitor, Uber, to tourists. They have launched a massive integrated campaign, translated into 12 languages, encouraging visitors to "Choose Uber" for their travels in Paris. 🗣 CMO of Heetch Renaud BERTHE is quoted as saying: “ It's an opportunity worth tens of millions of euros for the ride-sharing market. But at Heetch, we've chosen to sit this one out, because serving this population would degrade the quality of service for Parisians, who are an absolute priority for us, even more so in this period when we know that transport is going to be disrupted.” Are they hoping that by doing something this disruptive it will align the Heetch brand to the global giant that is Uber and actually help them grab some of that 10Mil or is it really a longer term bet to win Paris over? As Renaud says “It's rare for a brand to agree to promote its competitor.” - it sure is and there are lots of examples of this back firing massively. As I heard someone say this week "row your own race". Using pretty much every platform imaginable to reach tourists, from airports and hotels to cafes and Olympic venues, even using creative methods like media-tables and baguette wrappers, they are betting big on this one. To be fair the film that goes with it is enjoyable https://lnkd.in/eYmeVngq 🤔 What do you think? Brilliant local marketing with wonderful insight or an own goal that will do more for Uber? #InternationalMarketing #Paris2024 #Heetch #Marketing #LocalMarketing First seen on LBBonline - Little Black Book

Many companies believe they can enter new markets by following the same playbook that brought them domestic success. While brand consistency is important, different markets will respond to different marketing approaches. Even at a tactical channel selection level, you need to understand the market. Have you ever heard of Xing? Well if Germany is a market you are thinking about, it is definitely a channel you should start to find out about. With 16 million users, it boasts a bigger user community than LinkedIn. Focusing only on the DACH markets, XING is a staple in online networking for German speakers. 47% of XING members hold various executive positions, providing a way to reach German decision-makers. Therefore, establishing your presence on this platform can really differentiate your business from others that are trying to penetrate the same markets.  #internationalmarketing

S3 Ep24: Building a Billion Dollar Global Brand with Colin Westcott-Pitt, Global Chief Brand Officer of Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN). Check it out here https://lnkd.in/eaX_tRgT In this clip Colin talks about how he thinks about the approach to global marketing something Diplomat Agency has been established to support brands with.