Culture Snippets A collection of snippets which provide cultural insights into a country.
Some of the writings below previously published in: Fast Company, GamesIndustry.biz, et al.
In Kenya, M-Pesa's success stemmed from addressing key needs: most households lacked bank access, mobile phone usage was high, and societal support was crucial. M-Pesa bridged these gaps, enabling easy payments and reducing corruption. With favourable regulations and Safaricom's dominance, it flourished. Its lesson? Understand a market's nuances for real success.
Read MoreSuper apps thrive in Asia due to unique factors like fragmented markets, high mobile usage, and cultural norms. However, the adoption of super apps has been limited in other markets due to competitive digital ecosystems, regulatory challenges, and differing user behaviours. Despite this, there is potential for expansion as the digital landscape evolves.
Read MoreSeveral factors contribute to the business growth success of a market. Offering relevant Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) to your local users or customers is one of them. Inflexible payment systems can hinder growth potential while implementing the right payment strategies can accelerate growth. Stay ahead of the curve by embracing the evolving payment landscape and tailoring your approach to meet the needs of your target market. Unfortunately, this aspect is often overlooked by companies.
Read MoreA summary of Beyo Global 2023 - A year of helping companies such as Spotify, The Washington Post and Bumble with their international growth. Taking on new ventures like advising Admiral Pioneer on launching innovative businesses and delving into the world of cross-cultural research, writing a book to share my global expertise. From engaging talks and guest lectures to charity partnerships. Advisory roles extended to a trustee role and non-executive positions. it was a year of change and growth.
Read MoreA summary of Beyo Global 2022 - a year of helping companies such as Spotify, SEEK/JobStreet Asia and Storytel with their international growth, advising start-ups on their business model, value proposition, customer/client experience and overall growth strategies, and supporting management teams of various-sized companies on their international expansion or international strategies or both.
Read More“By walking through a city, you meet the people who live there, and engage with them and their culture, on their terms in their environment. It allows you a small window into how they live. How they think about and experience the world.” Apart from interviewing carefully selected target user groups, by walking through local streets, via walks in local streets, you could expand your view of how things actually work in the local context or why your local users behave and feel in certain ways. Only then, you can choose the ‘right’ strategy and proposition for your local users, offer a better product or service and grow your business for that market.
Read MoreThe mantra: What works in one market does not always work in other markets. This applies to all aspects of strategy.
Without knowing much about your audiences & their context in a market you're not familiar with, you've nothing concrete to base on when putting the party together. It'd just like firing as many arrows as you can in the dark not knowing where the target is, hoping that 1 or 2 might hit close to the target. How much do you think you’ve to spend to have at least one land in the centre of the target board? Something worth challenging and pondering on.
Read MoreAs you progressively learn more about your users in different markets and their context, you will want to adapt your business and products accordingly in a more refined and accurate way for global growth. If your products and back-ends are built based on a language-based framework, you will soon realise how challenging and restricted it is for you to do any tailoring for individual market needs. A good way to manage this is to have a core experience that is shared universally. Content, functionalities, look and feel, portfolios, propositions and so on can then be adapted based on regions or locale.
Read MoreRounding up 2020 - a year of helping companies such as Spotify, Fiverr, Zynga and start-ups to define their strategies and business propositions globally, coaching and mentoring, as well as curating content to share. Most importantly, the launch of Global Design Guides.
Read MoreLike any species, humans adapt based on their environment and context to survive or thrive. Businesses need to understand and consider the evolution and adaptation which shape the similarities and differences between their customers in different countries.
Read MoreUsing Darwin’s variational evolution through natural selection (Individuals best adapted to their environments are more likely to survive and reproduce) to demonstrate how mobile phones are used in different countries and what businesses should do to provide good mobile experiences for their global users.
Read MoreCultural insights snippet into Rwanda. We look into how the environment, context and history influence and motivate locals unique behaviours, attitudes and expectations.
Read MoreWhat is a holistic approach to culturalisation and international UX? What does it comprise of? Why is it important for companies to have a holistic view and understanding of their markets and the customers (and their context), as well as to have a holistic strategy to your global growth across different teams?
Read MoreDon't try to predict what the behaviours change would be for different countries and then try to figure out what you can do to keep up with those changes. Instead, focus on what won’t change or are unlikely to change.
Read MoreCultural insights snippet into Japan. We look into how the environment, context and history influence and motivate locals unique behaviours, attitudes and expectations.
Read MoreCultural insights snippet into Russia. We look into how the environment, context and history influence and motivate locals unique behaviours, attitudes and expectations.
Read MoreCultural insights snippet into Poland. We look into how the environment, context and history influence and motivate locals unique behaviours, attitudes and expectations.
Read MoreCultural insights snippet into Mexico. We look into how the environment, context and history influence and motivate locals unique behaviours, attitudes and expectations.
Read MoreWhen travel is not possible to conduct face-to-face research with your international customers, here are other ways you can understand your customers and markets, and to ensure your products and services are fit-to-market and what you have planned for your markets are still relevant now and going forward.
Read MoreCultural insights snippet into Thailand. We look into how the environment, context and history influence and motivate locals unique behaviours, attitudes and expectations.
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