Why Brands Should Invest in Cross-Cultural Marketing
Learn how cultural differences can impact your marketing strategy.
Jay Suefuji, CEO of Septeni Global, discusses why understanding cultural differences is crucial in cross-border marketing because of its significant impact on consumer psychology and behavior. The correct advertising strategy can help Western brands connect with consumers from diverse cultures.
Today, more brands want to tap into the global marketplace and promote their products and services overseas. But internationalization isn’t always easy. It requires brands to understand cultural norms and differences. Given its significant impact on consumer psychology and behavior, this is a necessary element in cross-border marketing.
Digital marketing, among all marketing solutions, is the key to cross-border success and a driver to building a brand’s presence with a niche audience.
Western brands can enhance consumer engagement in foreign markets by employing culturally appropriate content to build meaningful connections with their targeted demographic. The Japanese culture and mobile gaming market are two interconnecting areas that will be used as an example in this article to showcase how Western companies can advertise and market their products in a localized market.
Global Mobile Gaming Market Growth
Mobile gaming is a lucrative business that has penetrated the mainstream era due to technological advancements. One of the main aspects driving the industry’s growth is rising online consumption on a global scale. But no one accounted for the massive impact the worldwide pandemic and ensuing lockdowns would have on personal entertainment – it propelled the app economy and mobile gaming industry to the next level. As a result, mobile gaming rose in popularity with more than a 45% increase in game installations from 2019-2020, booming into a $120 billion industry.
While many industries struggled to adapt and maintain consumer demand, online platforms thrived and generated new users. And this fueled brands to pursue more digital advertising, growing the mobile gaming market altogether.
In-game advertising is integrated into smartphone mobile gaming apps as a monetization strategy. These ads can be displayed on-screen or as pop-up messages and can be interactive. In-game ad revenue is projected to flourish into a $56 billion industry by 2024. Once advertisers acquire users, in-app purchases are a way to keep them invested in playing a specific mobile game. Big players often aim to target four major countries: the United States, Japan, China and Korea as the revenue market share of these countries’ alone accounts for nearly 75% of the global market.
Knowing Your Audience Is Key to Brand Success
Mobile gaming in-app advertising is not a one-size-fits-all global mechanism. Mobile gaming app developers face fierce competition for consumer attention – despite a decrease in consumer spending in 2022, global downloads increased to nearly 90 billion. While companies worldwide have been deep-diving into key creative trends for mobile gaming apps to drive better-performing mobile ad campaigns, what’s successful in the United States may be lost in translation in other countries.
For example, advertising is presented fairly differently to consumers in the U.S. than in Japan. Western consumers are interested in straightforward adverts based on facts, whereas Japanese marketers aim to indirectly appeal to the audience’s emotions.
See More: How Will Mobile Marketing Lead to Better Branding?
Japanese Culture Is an Enigma for Western Marketers
Japan is one of the largest advertising markets worldwide, with tremendous potential for domestic and international businesses. The market accounts for more than 1% of the country’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Although the Japanese market continues to attract Western brands, it is labeled as an enigma due to a limited understanding of its sociocultural environment.
The Japanese market ranks second globally after the U.S. in terms of in-app purchase volume and fierce competition among advertisers – the cost per install (CPI) is increasing yearly because Japan’s mobile game app user base is saturated, and the pie is limited.
Western developers must adopt a global marketing strategy that resonates with their audience. Western brands, in this case, can dip into the Japanese market and connect with consumers by localizing their marketing campaigns.
Cultural Influences on Consumer Behavior
Culturally aware brands recognize that different cultures have unique values that impact consumer buying habits. A brand’s marketing strategy should support the customs and beliefs of its targeted culture.
Subcultures are a significant influence in advertising and consumer behavior. Marketers analyze subcultures to influence and attract targeted subcultural groups’ specific needs, cognition and attitudes.
The Japanese, for example, have a unique culture and are attracted more toward people or services with strong beliefs and world views.
Japan has different subcultures that make mobile gaming strategies more relatable and impactful to its consumers. Western brands should find the right subculture corresponding to their game genre, which can draw Japanese consumers to their products.
For instance, Japan is known for having some of the unique fashion trends in the world so that a successful advertising campaign might combine a fashion influencer from this fantasy fashion world with a mobile game with the same aesthetic or tone.
Visual-Kei is an example of how subcultures can help brands connect with Japanese consumers meaningfully.
In contrast to Western glam rock and heavy metal, Visual-Kei is not only a music genre but is also fashion, makeup and lifestyle synonymous. It has surprising visuals, extravagant stage performances, decorative attire and showy hairstyles. These androgynous music stars are immensely influential on their large fan base. Western developers can tap into loyal followership and grow their mobile game’s performance if the creative advertisement is implemented correctly.
A unique fact about the Japanese subculture is a group of people called the “fake subculture,” or “followers.” This group lacks self-confidence or has a difficult time with their identity. But they express themselves by following the “real subculture.” Subcultures begin with people who have a strong value proposition. The fake subculture does not share this belief; they simply mimic the real subculture to express that they have found themselves. This is why the Japanese people find this subculture appealing.
Using the elements of different subcultures will give you access to both real- and fake subcultures.
If brands want to reach their targeted audience successfully, they must show the value of their products through creative marketing strategies that resonate with their audiences’ cultural roots.
Western companies that want to advertise and market their products successfully should start by building deep connections with their targeted audience.
Building Brand Success Across Cultures
A successful marketing approach can help brands build trust, consumer engagement and brand loyalty with their targeted markets. Businesses interested in localizing should consider adapting their products or services for regional preference to create a more personal and authentic connection with consumers.
Cultural awareness can help companies better communicate with consumers across different markets and regions in more respectable and profitable ways.
Brands can significantly grow their businesses by being more culturally sensitive and communicating with compelling and relatable messaging. Societal factors significantly affect a person’s buying decision. Western brands that want to localize in specific international markets should work with an experienced digital marketing agency that understands the culture they are looking to target. This way, they can find success and increase customer engagement with their products.
Have you invested in cross-cultural marketing strategy? If yes, do share your experience with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn . We’d love to hear from you!
Image Source: Shutterstock
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