Most consumer goods companies budget at least something for market research, for compliance, for marketing spend in a new territory. Far fewer evaluate properly for …
Continue ReadingThe Export Sales Manager Myth – One Job Title Hides Several Different Jobs
“We just need a good export sales manager.” I must have heard some version of that sentence a hundred times over the last thirty years, …
Continue ReadingDeciding Which International Market to Enter: The Operational Reality Check
In part one of this series, we built a long list of candidate markets and scored them for attractiveness. In part two, we put a …
Continue ReadingDeciding Which International Market to Enter: Sizing the Opportunity
In part one of this series, we built a long list of candidate markets and scored each one for attractiveness against economy, culture, institutions, and …
Continue ReadingDeciding which international market to enter is a key to success
Almost every founder I talk to has a market in mind before they’ve done a scrap of research. Usually it’s the “obvious” one. Most UK …
Continue ReadingChina’s Talent Revolution: The Threat Europe Still Underestimates
For the past few years, the dominant HR narrative about China has been remarkably consistent. Foreign executives are leaving. Chinese companies are localising. Opportunities for …
Continue ReadingAn international expansion strategy framework: the R.E.A.D Method
There’s a pattern I see repeatedly in international expansion where a brand has a genuinely good product. The timing feels right, the market opportunity looks …
Continue ReadingCross Cultural Personal Branding: Building Trust Internationally
For many years, personal branding was often viewed as something that belonged to celebrities, motivational speakers and social media influencers, and the idea of cross …
Continue ReadingRaising the Lobster: Potential AI Risks in China for European Brands
On a Friday afternoon in early March, nearly a thousand people queued outside Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen to get a piece of software installed on …
Continue ReadingWhen Distributor Performance Metrics Reveal Loyalty Is a Liability
There comes a point in every export manager’s life when gut feel isn’t enough – the distributor who once fuelled your growth starts slipping on …
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