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.
A summary of Beyo Global 2024 - A year of helping companies such as Spotify, Squarespace and Dreame with their international growth. Publishing a book (Research for Global Growth: Strategies and Guidance for Cross-Cultural Insights) and launching a YouTube Channel. From engaging talks to interesting podcast conversations to publishing articles on Fast Company. Conversations with CPOs in addressing and tackling global expansion challenges.
Read MoreCopying competitors might seem like a safe bet, but it can backfire. Features they offer may not align with what users actually want. Plus, it keeps you lagging behind. Instead, focus on understanding competitors deeply, then blend that insight with your own strategy for real market impact.
Read MoreDiscover how studying successful businesses from diverse markets, like Spotify learning from China's Ximalaya, can drive innovation and growth in your own business. By staying open to these insights, you can stay ahead in today's dynamic business environment.
Read MoreIn 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 MoreMaximise your global market reach by offering preferred local payment options. Explore diverse Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) from PIX in Brazil to PayTM in India. Tailor payments to your audience, considering factors like student demographics and evolving trends. Beware of fees and empower user control to optimise revenue potential.
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 MoreStarting your business with a global mindset offers numerous advantages. It enables the creation of adaptable tech solutions, ensuring products and services resonate across different markets. It fosters innovation from diverse perspectives and positions the business for sustainable growth. Neglecting cultural considerations early on can lead to challenges in international expansion later. Think globally from the start for smoother expansion and lasting success.
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 MoreA summary of Beyo Global 2021 - a year of helping companies such as Spotify, Netflix, SEEK/JobStreet, Arrival, Edenred and many more to define their strategies and business propositions globally, coaching and mentoring, as well as curating content to share including Global Design Guides.
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 MoreOne persuasive approach might work for one culture but less so for others, and vice versa. The art of persuasion is not universal. Understanding the underlying elements of what is important to each culture and their context means you could choose the right ‘tools’ to influence and convince your customers, for example, about your services, or even promote change of behaviours for the better.
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 MoreTo think global only when you're planning to go into a new market is an incorrect way of thinking. It is a short-sighted approach which could cost you a lot of money down the line. Thinking global should begin when you start creating a product. It should be a continuous process where it’s embedded in your business decisions process whether you are currently in only one market, two or more.
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 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.
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