How to market your exports
CASE STUDY: Di Marca
When Ron Van Prooyen, managing director of strategic branding company Di Marca, visited the Vladivostok Austrade office, little did he know what their small business would become in Russia’s Far East.
Earmarked for the 2012 APEC Conference, Vladivostok is an emerging economy that has recently become a destination for global brands, introducing sophisticated competition for local companies. That’s where Melbourne-based Di Marca stepped in.
“Our client Primorskiy Konditer is a very traditional confectioner, but with new competition taking their market share, the brand started to dissolve into the supermarket shelves,” explains Steve Alley, Di Marca’s joint managing director.
Di Marca examined the brand and compared it to the competition, then developed the essence of the brand through workshops with management. “We created the slogan ‘The choice of generations’: we were emphasising the history of Russia, playing on the fact this was an established Russian brand that has been loved for generations as opposed to a Cadbury.”
Di Marca’s brand strategy for Primorskiy Konditer included a complete visual brand identity for its packaging, business stationery, signage and delivery trucks, plus fashioning the confectioner’s head office and factory into a landmark.
To establish relationships in Vladivostok meant travelling there every six weeks to meet with companies and discuss opportunities. “Business takes time: they want to get to know you, but once they do, off you go,” says Alley. “Most of them had a need to do something once they saw other brands come into the market.”
In Di Marca’s favour was a portfolio including famous beer brand Foster’s, and the fact they were Australian. “We are closer to the Russian Far East than their capital city,” says Alley. “Dealing with design agencies in Europe is more expensive for them, and we’re working in the same time zone, so we’re able to communicate with ease whether it’s through email or telephone.”
Another aspect that endeared Di Marca to the region was their dedication to the market, demonstrated through their willingness to educate businesses about how branding works. “If you go in and are genuinely committed to helping their businesses grow and flourish, they’re going to pick up the integrity of that,” explains Alley.
As for marketing advice for exporters, Alley believes that while there might be differences in the market, the rules of branding remain. “You have to undertake local research that’s relevant to the project to get a feel for the landscape, and understand the essence of your brand,” he says. “We’re using the same principles, but applying it to a different market and different consumers and different companies. There are fundamental differences, but the principles of working through them are the same.”
Got something to say? Join the export forum here at DynamicExport.com.au.
