Sales-Product Alignment

Research shows that around 70% of companies struggle to find effective strategies for expanding their products internationally. Not because their products are bad. Not because the markets aren’t ready. But because they underestimate culture.

They assume what works at home will work everywhere. They copy-paste campaigns, recycle brand messaging, and launch products based on their own logic—not the local one. And then they’re surprised when growth stalls, or worse, never starts.

The problem isn’t scale. It’s mindset. Most companies are still using mass-market thinking in a segmented world. They ignore cultural context, miss behavioural cues, and launch products that don’t fit the lives they’re trying to be part of.

I’ve worked in a few startups and scale-ups, and I’ve seen this firsthand—teams making market entry decisions based on how things worked in their native country. From integrating payment and social media apps that local users didn’t even use, to PR campaigns that landed flat because the tone didn’t fit, the gap was clear. It wasn’t about effort; it was about missing the cultural layer entirely.

Global expansion doesn’t fail because of bad ideas—it fails because of bad translations. Not of language, but of relevance.

Culture Isn’t a Side Note—It’s the Strategy

You can't shortcut cultural adaptation. It starts long before launch, in the research phase. And no, not just market research—cultural research. The kind that tells you how people make decisions, what values drive them, what they fear, what they celebrate, and how they communicate.

Product-market fit doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A product built for one market can be irrelevant—or even offensive—in another. Payment habits, brand loyalty, authority dynamics, even color associations vary wildly across regions. If you don’t know the terrain, don’t be surprised when your strategy crashes on arrival.

Stop Guessing. Start Localizing.

Localization isn’t about swapping languages and converting prices. It’s about rebuilding trust from the ground up. That means:

Hiring local minds. Not just translators—strategists who get the nuance.

Customising messaging. Emotion beats logic. Speak to how people feel, not just what they need.

Redesigning products if needed. Yes, really. A tweak in design or functionality could be the difference between adoption and abandonment.

Adapting your go-to-market plan. Channels, partnerships, timing—it’s all fluid. What worked in the U.S. might flop in India or Spain.

Culture Can’t Be an Afterthought

Too many companies treat culture as a checkbox. Something to “consider” after the product is built and the marketing plan is set. By then, it’s already too late. The result? Wasted resources, missed signals, failed launches.

You don’t need more budget. You need better context. That starts with asking: Are we building for this market, or just trying to sell to it?

The Companies That Win Understand This

The brands that thrive globally are obsessed with cultural context. They listen before they act. They adapt without losing identity. They know that real growth doesn’t come from pushing harder—it comes from fitting better.

Global business isn't just about being present. It’s about being relevant. And relevance is always local.