As access to the internet has exploded over the past few years, some digital powerhouses have done a great job of taking their businesses global.  Facebook, for example, had such a rabid following that they were able to crowdsource the initial translation of their site – largely for free.  This allowed them to rapidly expand and capture market share across the globe before local competitors could provide a scaled alternative.

Unfortunately, most brands don’t have millions of loyal fans standing ready to translate their sites and localize their customer experiences for free.  So below are a few thoughts on going global in a hyper-competitive landscape where speed is key and copycats abound.

1.  Think through your start-up’s overall white space strategy first

While the complexity of going global for consumer web products without a clear revenue model beyond advertising has been reduced  (witness the quick global rise of Facebook & Twitter) things get trickier if your start-up is focused on enterprise software or eCommerce.  So, even if you are dying to get moving, it’s good to pause for a moment with a team of specialists and think through your international go to market plan.  You’ll want to make sure you’re clear on cost of market entry, etc. first.

2.  Look beyond the UK

Most US start-ups like to target Europe first, which is a solid approach. But once you’ve been through your white space strategy work, your team may want to consider entering larger markets first (e.g. Germany) before the copycats start winning market share in Europe’s biggest market.  You might also want to consider entering one key Asian market.  Whatever you decide, you’ll want to have a deep look at what it will take to position your brand for success in that market.  And, you’ll want to have some experts consider the global payment and tax issues your company will encounter abroad as well.

3.  Start identifying the key capabilities & partnerships required to execute in market 

It’s hard to give up control over your start-up after it has performed so well in its home market.  However, to move quickly and get into white space before competition, you may want to consider making a strategic partnership with a local team that can get you up and running quickly.  If you are thin on funding, you may even want to consider setting up a license or distribution agreement.  Additionally, if your start-up is on the enterprise side, you’ll likely need to connect with business development partners who understand how to sell to corporate clients.

4.  Build a winning plan

In the start-up product world, we’re used to operating within a lean context and iterating quickly.  We often don’t have time to think through our mid-range product road-map, much less our overall global plan & approach.  However, launching effectively into a new market involves more organizational and technical complexity, so it’s good to have a solid plan and fully understand the real cost of doing business internationally.  Developing a robust plan that captures the financial, organizational, technical challenges will help you navigate this new phase of your business.

5.  Get ready for continual software localization

Internationalization and localization is not just about making sure your software strings are “externalized” and then sent over to a local translation office for a 1-off translation make-over.  You need to consider how your localization might impact your database. Then, you need to figure out how you’re going to put a process in place for ongoing, continual updates.  In a nutshell, you are going to need to put a localization strategy in place to ensure you are ready for the onslaught of changes, updates and road bumps that come with the technical localization process.

6.  Marketing in a social world is all about content, experience and engagement–and that needs to be local

Once you’ve got your software up to speed and you are confident that your web/mobile presence is fully localized, you’ll need to ensure that you have a local marketing team capable of getting get the word out.  You’ll want to partner (or hire) local experts who can help you build relevant digital experiences to effectively engage your local customers, while maintaining brand consistency.

7. Execute, iterate (and don’t run out of cash)

Step #7 connects to the larger strategy & planning theme through steps 1-4 above.  Localization is trickier than most people think, so projects very often suffer from under-scoping in an embarrassing way.  Teams can easily wind up running out of money and taking “two-steps” back while competition moves ahead diligently to take your market share.  Don’t let this happen to you

The coolest thing for me as a consumer was the accelerometer–the sensor that enabled the iPhone to figure out if it should be in landscape or portrait mode and adjust itself accordingly.

Later, of course, GPS functionality was added along with a compass and a gyroscopic sensor, giving birth to an incredible range of Apps and devices (e.g. Nike Fuel Band/FitBit) that quantify your fitness progress.

Recently, we’ve started seeing new Apps that track your progress “in the background.”  In other words, you don’t even have to open an app or wear a device on your body.  The Moves App, for example, has replaced the other fitness apps on my phone because of its convenience.  Here is what it looks like.

Now let me say that I am the first one to get a little nervous when an App running in the background can track my every move.  So far I’ve been fine to give up a little privacy to test the App.  And, I have to say, I actually look forward to receiving a daily notification from these guys–which is more than I can say for the standard App notifications I typically receive.

Apps running continuously in the background solve the problem of having to find and launch an app. Indeed, fitness Apps and devices are often purchased with good intentions, but we forget to use them because we aren’t in the habit of wearing, carrying or opening them.

As advanced sensors are added to the next generation of mobile devices, Apps like Moves are going to become even more adept at tracking what we do.  This could have a pretty interesting impact on consumer market research as large companies seek to understand the flow of a consumer’s day.  Additionally, I’m sure large insurance companies are also going to be interested in gaining access to all of this in-depth lifestyle movement data.

So what do you think about the Moves App?  Have you downloaded it yet?

Hat tip to the team at This Week in Location Based Marketing for the heads up on Moves

Additionally, if by chance you recently Googled m-cause, you may have received a notice that my site may be “compromised.”

All is well now.  I’ve had the site cleaned, changed all my passwords and installed a new plug-in that should protect me going forward–so please don’t worry   Hopefully, Google will decide to remove the “compromised” message after the spiders crawl the site again.

You might be thinking–so what about that weird Viagra online message?  Well, it seems that I was attacked by the “Pharma hack.”  This hack exploits your highest-ranking blog pages by adding spammy links (like Viagra online) into your content so that hackers can use your site to make money on affiliate links.

White Towers & a McWhopper of a week for Hacking

Hacking has really been in the news a lot recently.  Attacks just keep getting more vigorous and intelligent.  Burger King / McDonalds were hacked on Twitter this week.  China’s Army was also implicated in attacks on the US in a 60 page report from cyber-security firm Mandiant.  A nondescript “white tower” off Datong Road in Shanghai was said to have housed potentially hundreds of 21st century cyberwarriors.

Mandiant’s CEO says that he used to see about three major incidents a month when he started his business just a few years ago; now he estimates there are between 30 and 100 incidents a month.

Needless to say, I’ve learned my lesson over the past week!  “Black hat” hacking and cyber-crime is a big problem that is only getting bigger.  Unfortunately we’ll be hearing much more about this over the next few years…and, we’ll have to get better about protecting ourselves and our data.

Some of you know that my wife & I were in Madagascar last year. There we met Andry.

Andry was abandoned on the streets of Madagascar when he was 12. His life was in danger because of a local superstitious curse. Luckily, he was rescued and brought to the Betikara orphanage where he struggled heavily at first after spending 12 years on the streets. Now, he speaks 4 languages and helps the orphanage. Sadly, his kidneys failed a few years ago and he’s been on expensive dialysis ($30,000/yr). The orphanage can no longer fund the dialysis and maintain their operation.

If anyone knows an influential person in an NGO that would consider helping Andry, we would be super grateful. If anyone is in the tech/health community & has connections to a company working on cheap/innovative dialysis technology, that could potentially help as well.

If you could donate, share the Facebook page & story with your friends, pray, etc. that would be much appreciated.

Here is the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PleaseHelpAndryNow

Here is a picture of Andry with me (Apr 2012). Donate to Andry here. http://www.madagascar-mission.org/orphanage.htm#PayPal1

More about Madagascar 

I had a surreal moment last year when I was in Madagascar visiting Betikara…we watched a Hollywood animated film about Madagascar (Madagascar part 1) with the kids. Sometimes it is hard to believe just how similar entertainment experiences around the world can be.

Madagascar is a country of about 22 million extremely poor (and increasingly desperate) people. I’ve visited some pretty tough places in the developing world before, but I wasn’t fully prepared for Antananarivo…a city that just moved ahead of Port au Prince, Haiti as the 3rd dirtiest city in the world according to Mercer’s Health and Sanitation Index.

Needless to say, the contrast between cheerful, “make-believe Madagascar” on the big screen and reality on the streets and villages of “real Madagascar” is stark.

Madagascar has long been one of the poorest countries in Africa, and the recent government coup (2009) of a democratically elected govt. has not been helpful. Yet some signs of hope do exist. The recent string of Madagascar movies (Madagascar 3 launches June 2012) have helped promote “Brand Madagascar” and tourism. And, though still underdeveloped, microfinance is starting to trickle in, helping entrepreneurs start small businesses. Side Note: Wouldn’t it be great to see Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith actually land in “real Madagascar” and use their star power to drive development interest in the country?

If you decide to visit Madagascar, there are plenty of NGOs offering volunteer opportunities. NGOs like Azafady offer short-term volunteer projects to people interested in getting more involved with Madagascar.

I started the year feeling quite positive about some of the developments in the content marketing space.  Venerable news sites like the Atlantic started using interesting sponsored content feeds (like this one from Porsche) on their site–which sure beats banner advertising in my opinion.

Just yesterday however, the Atlantic started an online firestorm when they published (very) favorable sponsored content from Scientology–touting the accomplishments of David Miscavige.

Here is the advertorial content (or native advertising) example from the Atlantic.

Now, the content (native ad) on the Atlantic seems to have been taken down after an incredible firestorm and backlash from social media (Twitter in particular).  Here is what the website says:

We have temporarily suspended this advertising campaign pending a review of our policies that govern sponsor(ed) content and subsequent comment threads.

People expect balanced journalism from the Atlantic and when they see the Atlantic publish content for an organization that so many people distrust, they are putting their brand at risk.   Apparently the Atlantic also gave Scientology control over the comments section…ouch.

And now B2B

Switching to the B2B side, some brands that rely heavily on content marketing also need to tone it down a bit in 2013 in my opinion.  As I’ve started to comb the web for professional content this year, it feels like I’m seeing more “Call-to-action forms” (especially in the B2B space) etc. attempting to pull me into a content marketing funnel at every click.

“Complete this XY form to receive our free XY eBook/webinar/video, etc.” is a typical call-to action that we are all know and love (hate?)  As a marketer, I fully appreciate the value of strong call-to-actions for opt-in reasons, but as a consumer, I’m starting to get a bit annoyed with sites that constantly poke me for info as I try to read an article.

Many in the industry believe we are hitting a bit of a tipping point for content marketing.  Indeed, the term content marketing has been getting a lot more attention lately.  If you check Google search trends for the term, you’ll see a nice uptick in interest over the past couple of years.

As we head into 2013, expect to see more and more cases of experimentation in the content marketing space.  Let’s hope we don’t see more stumbles from great brands like the Atlantic again…

Tablet adoption rates have been pretty incredible over the past three years–much faster than most analysts expected.  The iPad, for example, has ramped up much faster in its first 10 quarters after launch than the iPhone/iPod as KPCB below lays out.  Head over to their presentation on internet trends to learn more.

Surfing in a Tablet Wonderland

As we head toward XMAS 2012, tablet adoption shows no signs of slowing down.  The 2012 top Christmas pick for youngsters & pre-teens seems to be none other than the iPad (see the Nielsen chart below).   Clearly, this is going to be a very “tablety” holiday season.

2013 is going to be the year the tablet becomes ubiquitous...

It won’t be long before great-grandma is fiddling with some type of tablet device around the Christmas tree.  And, while Apple is still leading the pack, consumer’s now have more choice as prices are dropping due to Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Google’s Nexus, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, & Microsoft’s Surface. That is a good thing.  Just last year the Shanghai Daily reported that a kid sold his kidney in exchange for a tablet. I really hope we don’t more hear stories like this going forward.

In fairness to the brands–many of them have just been experimenting with APps (testing & learning) during the initial App creation boom. Mobile spending is still only a tiny component of the marketing mix, so many of the apps launched over the past few years were just side projects and not really “strategic” for businesses. We’ve seen this cycle of euphoria and disillusionment play out before during the early days of microsites & social, etc., etc.

Luckily, forward thinking brands like Nike have shown us the potential of the branded App. As Nike has looked for new growth drivers over the past few years, it has leveraged technology to transform itself from a shoe product-focused company to a product & tech services company. The pioneering Nike+ jogging App played a key role in that journey.

 ”AppCessories”

The widely successful Nike+ App has shown us that consumers are getting comfortable with using their smartphones to augment and interact with the real world. Indeed, apps will increasingly provide the interface (and glue) to a range of deliciously integrated products/services offered by brands going forward.

Just take a look at what is happening in the world of healthcare; head over to the App-Enabled accessories page on the Apple website. There, you’ll find App enabled iHealth blood pressure docks & body-tracking monitors, etc.

The next wave of innovation in the branded Apps space will be amazing…companies that find exciting ways to connect the digital/physical worlds together will capture consumer imagination and unlock business growth in this tough economic climate. And, brand apps will become more strategic and connected to larger branded ecosystems of value–not just one off side projects.

I’m pretty fired up about the possibilities…

Banners & search ads can remain unclicked, emails can go unopened, telephone sales people can get hung up on, but people can’t resist the urge to whip out their smartphone for a quick check of the latest text message.  And I’m no different.  If I get a text message, my attention immediately pivots to my iPhone.

Just a couple of months ago, the Guardian reported that texting in the UK was now more popular than face to face communication.

I understand my personal weakness for the “text fix,” so I’ve decided to stay away from juicy SMS opt-in offers-to keep myself from descending into dystopian info overload.  Let’s see how long that lasts!

For marketers, text messaging has been a staple of the mobile marketing toolkit for a long time.  And, the appetite for text remains strong as almost half of UK consumers (48%) recently said they would be quite likely or highly likely to respond to text offers if they were sent to them from a company they had purchased from. A further 49% claim that they would be quite or highly likely to opt in to join a text offer list.

Text messaging has been effective within the non-profit world as well, with text-to-donate campaigns proving highly successful for the Red Cross in Haiti, etc.  More recently politicians have discovered the power of text.  The Obama campaign, for example, narrowly beat Romney in the “donation arms race” in August.  According to the Washington Post, one of the key drivers of the recent Obama surge (he had lost the previous three months) was the introduction of text-to-donate technology.

Text messaging might seem a little old school, but it shouldn’t be underestimated…

How are you leveraging text messaging for your business/non-profit/political campaign?

Photo courtesy of Pierce Mattie PR NY

Surprisingly, my wife and I still see a lot of static, non-interactive “back of the cereal box” offers & contests–at least in Europe.  As a cereal manufacturer, why wouldn’t you want to turn a traditional cereal box offer into something a little more interactive? Back in Apr. 2011 Nestle introduced a global augmented reality cereal box campaign; it was innovative, but probably a bit early.

Cereal boxes aside, just how close are we to realizing the branded Augmented Reality (AR) future across a broad consumer base? When are brands going to make a wholesale push toward integrating online/offline experiences in unique ways?  When are we going to move toward value added AR experiences that make advertising a little more fun?

Blippar is a London start-up that seems to have made some early AR inroads into the mainstream.  After downloading the Blippar App to your smartphone or tablet device, you can “blipp” a physical item when you see a Blippar symbol (e.g. on product packaging, or on a print/outdoor ad).  I’ve found that doing a “blipp” is a bit easier than interacting with a QR code (eConsultancy agrees).

Right now, it seems that mass consumer adoption is not quite there for branded, mobile AR experiences.  Even though several corporations have made a strong effort to test and learn with Blippar, wide swaths of everyday mobile consumers aren’t aware of the technology yet.  Heck, most folks still don’t know what a QR code is…

The tipping point is not far away, though.  The AR backbone is being built as we speak.  Tech infrastructure and consumer focused companies are hyper interested in a technology that can better enable point of sale purchases and deepen interactivity with advertising.

Brace yourselves and adjust your Google Glasses--we are getting ready to enter the age of WOW mobile AR experiences.

Photo via businessinsider

Affordable mobile data access is not just an international (e.g. USA -> Europe) problem; it is a cross-border issue in Europe.  To get a sense for European frustration on this issue, just visit the “Experiences” section of FairRoaming.org.  Below is one of the many quotes from people in support of the fair roaming movement.

Martin, Germany:
In Germany, 1GB of Data costs me 5 Euros. When I’m in Austria, 1 MB would cost me – 5 Euros. So, just because I’m in another European state, it costs more than 1000 (!) times the normal price. This is crazy, this can’t be justified in any way!

Clearly, mobile telecom operators can no longer justify insane up-charges on consumers–just for roaming.  That is why 150,000 Europeans have joined the FairRoaming.org movement and why one of the first-ever citizen led initiatives at the European Commission was a request for an all-inclusive, monthly flat-rate communication tariff within the boundaries of the European Union.

Ending the roaming rip-off

Pretty soon, I predict that (finally) a mobile operator or a gutsy MVNO will step up and make a Europe-wide flat rate happen…if not, European regulators (at the request of increasingly frustrated voters) will put an even deeper squeeze on mobile operators.  In fact, the European Parliament recently voted for new price reductions.  In addition to price reductions, the new initiative enables the following:

* From 2014 on, you will be enabled to choose another, cheaper operator when abroad – without having to change your phone number
* When outside of the EU, you will be warned if your bill approaches 50€ of data usage.
* Operators will not be allowed to block traffic and apps like Skype

Mobile operators have unfortunately dropped the ball with consumers over the past few years.  Given the massive mobile data revolution and consumer demand for affordable smartphone data plans, some smart company needs to disrupt this space.

Who will it be?

Photo courtesy of Fairroaming.org.  Note:  FairRoaming.org & the EuroCommission initiative I mentioned in this post are not (yet) connected