How walks could help you in your international markets growth

I recently came across this article by Chris Arnade called “Why I Walk: Walking as learning” 🚶. 

“While [walking] is certainly not the most efficient way to see a city, it is the most pleasant, insightful, and human. I don’t think you can know a place unless you walk it, because it isn’t about distance, but about content…. Because walking forces you to see a city at its most granular. You can’t zoom past anything. You can’t fast forward to the “interesting parts.” It is being forced to watch the whole movie, and more often than not, realizing the best parts are largely unseen by tourists”.

I couldn’t agree more 🙋🏻‍♀️. 

In the past two pandemic years, businesses continue to run and grow. When travels were not possible, remote interviews became the primary way companies used to understand and connect their users and customers before setting out their business strategies and propositions for each market.

It’s all well and good. 

Since the travel restriction in April 2020 until recently, I’ve worked with my clients on at least a total of 30 markets as part of their growth and launch strategies (Yes, 30 countries, I worked hard 💪). We learned a great deal about their customers and the relevant markets. We validated the hypotheses the businesses have. The unknowns, therefore, became clear. Decisions, therefore, can be made. Strategies, therefore, can be defined. 

Despite that, in most cases, I often ask myself if there is more we could have added to the picture if we are to immerse ourselves in their customers’ context by being there in person.

Photos from my walks: Teenagers hanging out in the centre of the local stalls in Guadalajara (Mexico); Food stall selling soup noodles on the side of Bangkok street and it was where I had my lunch on that day (Thailand); The elderlies selling plants, greens and flowers on the side of the street in St Petersburg (Russia).

Before the pandemic, I travelled a lot (more than 50% of my time each year was somewhere outside the UK) and there weren’t for holidays but to work with my clients, helping them to get into the world of their customers.

Photos from my walks: A night market stall selling cold drinks in Taipei (Taiwan); Local day market outskirt of Nairobi city; An elderly lady selling Korean cookies in one of the small streets in the centre of Seoul (South Korea)

For each city we go to, I’d often cater time (one or more days, if I can, before or after the main research activities) to walk and explore the city, a lot of time by myself. I don’t always go to tourist destinations and even if I do, I’d always opt for walking, taking different routes to get there. I might get lost along the way (which frequently happens due to my lack of sense of direction) but that’s OK. That’s part of the fun: Embrace the surprises that you might encounter; welcome any new discoveries you might make; be open to locals you might meet. So much to be excited about!

Photos from my walks: Walking alongside the locals in the centre of Kigali (Rwanda); Local butcher in the one of the residential areas in Kigali (Rwanda); A farmer walking their cow, a main source of their life, on the local street in outskirt of Cairo (Egypt)

I walk, I observe and where I can, I’ll try to communicate with the locals even if we don’t speak each other’s languages. By doing so, you can see through your own eyes or even experience the stories you might hear from your users. You can then relate to them more. You can observe and discover something that you might not hear from those carefully recruited research participants. You can connect the dots. 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.

Subsequently, you can be more connected with them, create a better strategy and proposition for them, and offer a better product or service for them.

Photos from my walks: Walking down one of the side streets in Riyadh on my own (Saudi Arabia); An elderly collects ‘unwanted’ things that left on the street to sell in one of the busy areas in Hong Kong; Walking along a local street in outskirts of Cairo (Egypt) with locals selling food and snacks on the street

I don’t go to places where I feel unsafe, although there were several occasions where I surprised others, especially local friends or clients, when I told them about my solo explorations in places that they would have advised not to go. Too dangerous, they said. 

Photos from my walks: A local daily street market in the centre of Nairobi (Kenya); Local shops in Nairobi (Kenya); One of the commonly found stalls selling EXTRAÇÃO ONLINE (online draws) on the street of Recife (Mexico).

But I love it. As Chris said:

“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. Consequently, it can change how you see the world.”