Standardization vs localization: What’s the best strategy?

Marketing managers expanding globally have to figure out whether to standardize their branding or localize it.

If you maintain uniform branding, some of your messaging might not resonate with audiences in different countries. But if you modify it to fit different markets and cultures, you risk diluting your brand to the point where it’s no longer recognizable.

So should you standardize or localize? This article covers the pros and cons of each approach and looks at how you can get the best results by using both in your global marketing strategy.

Standardization vs localization: what’s the difference?

Standardization involves keeping your brand uniform across markets. Localization involves adjusting to local markets. 

Both can be part of a successful transnational strategy. So how exactly do these two concepts differ?

Let’s begin with some definitions.

What is standardization? 

Standardization is all about uniformity. Think about a company like Starbucks that’s instantly recognizable whether you’re buying an espresso in Seattle or Amsterdam.

A global standardization strategy involves creating uniform products, services, and marketing strategies that are consistent across all regions in which a company operates, including internationally. The overarching goal of this approach is to maintain a consistent brand image on a global scale.

Other driving factors behind standardization are wanting to capitalize on economies of scale and reducing the potential costs associated with adapting brands and products to local tastes and preferences.

Implementing a standardization strategy is particularly effective in industries where customer preferences don’t vary a lot across different geographic locations. 

Another reason for sticking to standardization is that a company’s brand might be so strong that it resonates globally regardless of local expectations. In this case, adjusting the brand could actually decrease revenues and erode brand trust.

So, in the case of your product or service, standardization means that your offerings essentially look, feel, and work the same across all of your markets, anywhere in the world. This consistency makes new market launches easier.

You would still translate text so people could understand it, but the branding, product, and strategy would be the same. 

What is localization? 

Localization involves aligning the brand to a specific market rather than keeping it the same. Instead of focusing on consistency, the idea is to ensure the right changes are made so a brand speaks to the local market.

In this approach, a company adapts its products, services, and marketing to cultural differences as well as the linguistic characteristics and expectations of local and regional target markets.

Localization can involve work as simple as changing your website and marketing materials to reflect cultural nuances or as complex as redesigning products to meet local tastes. Think of changes to a logo, tweaks to messaging, shifting from imperial to metric measurements, and adjusting web or app design. 

For companies breaking into new markets, localization is a way to make sure that their message resonates from the start.

This strategy can translate into more revenue. At least, it did for Fetch. When the rewards app noticed that there was an increase in Spanish-speaking users on the platform, they decided to translate their offers and start localizing from the design stage. The result? A staggering 73% increase in active users. 

The pros and cons of standardization vs localization 

The decision to go with standardization or localization as part of your globalization strategy impacts everything from brand perception in target countries to operational costs and market penetration, so you need a clear idea of what’s the best approach for your marketing.

In this section, we present a detailed list of the pros and cons of each strategy to help you with this decision-making process.

Standardization pros

Here’s a concise overview of the advantages of standardization:

1. Cost efficiency: Using the same marketing materials, products, and processes across multiple markets can significantly reduce costs. Economies of scale in production and marketing are easier to achieve.
2. Brand consistency: Maintaining a uniform brand image and messaging across all markets improves brand recognition and reinforces brand identity. This makes it easier for customers to identify and trust the brand.
3. Simplified operations: Standardization streamlines operations. It reduces complexity and minimizes the risk of inconsistencies in product quality or customer experience.
4. Global strategy alignment: Your company doesn’t have to build fresh strategies for each region it operates in. 
5. Speed to market: Because you’re reusing existing strategies and materials, companies see a quicker rollout of products and campaigns across new markets.

Standardization cons

However, a standardized approach comes with some challenging aspects as well:

1. Potential cultural disconnect: There’s a risk of failing to connect with local audiences if the standardized offering doesn’t adequately consider local tastes or cultural nuances and preferences.
2. Regulatory challenges: A too-strict standardization approach may face hurdles in markets where local regulations require products, packaging, or marketing messages to be adapted.
3. Limited market penetration: Standardization could restrict a company’s ability to fully penetrate local markets if consumers feel the brand lacks relevance or fails to meet their needs.

Localization pros

Localization has its own set of benefits and advantages:

1. Increased market relevance: Adjusting products and marketing efforts to local preferences can lead to stronger consumer engagement and loyalty.
2. Compliance and adaptation: Localization helps with meeting local regulations and cultural expectations, which can be critical in sectors like food and beverages, entertainment, and health products.
3. Competitive advantage: It provides a competitive edge over standardized foreign competitors.
4. Enhanced customer experience: By addressing local needs and preferences, localization can improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
5. Flexibility and responsiveness: A localization approach makes it easier to quickly adapt to changes in local market conditions and consumer behaviors.

Localization cons

As with standardization, localization has some drawbacks as well to be aware of:

1. Higher costs: Localization is more resource-intensive due to the need for researching local markets, customizing marketing strategies, and possibly adapting products.
2. Operational complexity: A localization process increases the complexity of operations and can potentially lead to inconsistencies in brand experience if it’s not carefully managed.
3. Risk of brand fragmentation: There’s potential for diluting the global brand identity if local adaptations stray too far from core brand values or aesthetics.
4. Scale challenges: Localization may make it harder to achieve economies of scale, since the company’s production and marketing efforts are customized for individual markets.

In short, the choice between standardization and localization largely hinges on how the company’s growth and market presence will be impacted by global uniformity versus local relevance.

A tale of two MACs 

So, which approach is best for you? It depends — on your company’s unique features and marketing strengths and weaknesses, as well as on its unique globalization strategy.

To illustrate, let’s look at how two US multinational giants, Apple and McDonald’s, took very different approaches to the question of standardization versus localization. Yet, both achieved excellent results that justify each company’s chosen strategy.

Apple Computers: emphasis on standardization

Apple Computers primarily uses a strategy of standardization in its product line, design philosophy, and marketing. 

Apple gives its core products, like the MacBook, iPhone, and iPad, a consistent design, user interface, and quality across all markets. Due to their unique design, these products are instantly recognizable, whether you walk into an Apple store in New York, Bangkok, or Rio de Janeiro. 

This uniformity strengthens the brand. 

Apple’s marketing campaigns are also largely standardized. They often showcase the same ads with minimal modifications across different regions.

However, Apple doesn’t ignore the benefits of localization. It incorporates some elements of this strategy, where necessary, to optimize its market share and compliance with local regulations.

For example:

• The App Store offers region-specific apps.
• Apple has introduced features in its products that cater to local languages and cultural nuances, such as local language support and enabling specific functions for regional preferences (like payment methods or public transport information in Apple Maps).

While Apple’s global strategy leans heavily toward standardization due to its strong brand identity and the universal appeal of its technology and design aesthetics, the company effectively integrates some localization strategies when it comes to software customization and regulatory compliance. 

This blended approach allows Apple to maintain a consistent global presence while ensuring the company achieves relevance and functionality in specific local markets.

McDonald’s: emphasis on localization

McDonald’s is a great example of a company that actively employs a localization strategy.

This is particularly evident in how it adapts its menu to align with the tastes and dietary preferences of different regions around the world. 

While McDonald’s maintains certain standardized elements — like its iconic branding, the Big Mac, and its customer service model — the company is well-known for its flexibility in adjusting its menus to local tastes, cultural norms, and dietary restrictions. 

Here are a few notable examples:

• India: Due to a large vegetarian population and religious practices that frown on beef and pork, McDonald’s India offers items like the McAloo Tikki (a potato and pea patty burger) and Veggie McSpice.
• Germany: In Germany, McDonald’s offers the McRib and has featured local favorites like beer (in some locations) and the Nürnburger, a burger with three bratwurst sausages.
• Japan: McDonald’s Japan features items that cater to local tastes, such as the Teriyaki McBurger and Shaka Shaka Chicken, which customers can season themselves with provided flavor packets.
• Middle East: In Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, McDonald’s conforms to Halal dietary laws. The menu includes items like the McArabia, a flatbread sandwich that caters to regional tastes.

In both cases, these two companies selected a predominant globalization strategy that, combined with the right mix of opposite elements, works well for them in international environments.

Tips for choosing between standardization vs localization 

As a business owner or marketing manager faced with the choice between standardization and localization, your decision-making process should be strategic and informed by a deep understanding of your target markets. 

Here’s how you can approach this:

1. Analyze your audience: Start by conducting thorough market research to understand the cultural nuances, consumer behaviors, and preferences in each locale. This will inform the extent to which you need to adapt your marketing strategies to local tastes.
2. Evaluate your brand identity: Assess how important a consistent global brand image is to your company’s identity. If brand recognition across borders is a priority, lean toward standardization for core elements like logos and key messages. Allow room for local adaptation in promotional and tactical marketing efforts.
3. Consider operational capabilities: Evaluate your company’s ability to manage complexity. If your infrastructure can handle complexity and flexibility, a localized approach may be ideal. If not, it can be better for the health of the company to take a standardization approach, so as not to jeopardize the company’s operations.
4. Balance cost with benefit: Weigh the potential cost savings of standardization against the potential revenue increase from localization. If localization would significantly boost your market share and customer loyalty in a specific region, it could justify the additional expense.
5. Opt for a blended approach: Often, a hybrid strategy works best. For instance, you might stick to standardized products and brand messaging, but adapt your marketing campaigns and perhaps offer some product variations to meet local needs and preferences. This approach allows you to achieve economies of scale while also being responsive to local market demands. But remember that the right balance varies by industry, product type, and market preferences.

How Lokalise can help you enter international markets 

Whether you opt for a full-blown standardization or localization strategy or a hybrid approach, expanding globally means that you can’t avoid one important aspect: translating your product and marketing materials into native languages. 

These translations used to be very labor-intensive and costly, but you now have access to translation management systems (TMS) like Lokalise. Lokalise can automate these tasks to improve accuracy, translate content at scale, and save you time and money. 

Lokalise uses AI-powered translations to solve the biggest localization issues that developers face. AI localization speeds up the process of getting your company ready to enter a new market, at a fraction of the cost of using human translators. 

You can even upload a style guide for every language and locale to give the AI the necessary context to tailor your content for your audience and maintain your brand voice. 

Lokalise also includes automated translation memories and translation suggestions as well as built-in spelling and grammar checks to generate a high level of content consistency.

Lokalise’s collaborative translation platform allows your team to continuously translate your digital content, all in one place. Powerful localization workflow management tools make it easy for your team to collaborate, manage, and review translations in a highly productive and efficient way.

Plus, options for branching and version control mean that you can create new localized content while your previous version stays live. You can merge the two versions when you’re ready while resting assured that translation quality is maintained.

If you want to get your materials ready quickly and accurately to conquer a new market, book a demo or start your free 14-day trial with Lokalise now.