The Global Marketing Show, hosted by Wendy Pease at Rapport International, helps growth-minded marketers expand into international markets and boost multilingual lead generation and revenue. Each episode features experts from industries like medical devices, industrial manufacturing, consumer brands, government, and education sharing real-world lessons on how to go global the right way. Discover actionable strategies for translation, localization, transcreation, and cultural adaptation, plus insights on the technologies, workflows, and quality standards that drive global marketing success. Whether you manage global campaigns, oversee multilingual content, or lead international sales, this podcast is your guide to building a brand that connects across languages and cultures.
Episodes
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Wednesday Sep 21, 2022
Ryan Blaney of Bolimini International Law Group has no doubt that cryptocurrency will become an international currency. When I asked on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being full of doubt, to 10 being non doubt, he said he’s a 10 on the future. He equates it to a conversation with an intelligent little old lady who recalled that when credit cards first came out 1958 people laughed and wondered who would accept a piece of plastic for payment.
Ryan continues to explain that in his role as an attorney, his clients’ biggest challenges right now are following the regulations. He talked about the brain drain he’s seeing as the creative crypto, NFT, and metaverse entrepreneurs relocated to places with more friendly regulations.
One client moved to Mexico to launch their BTM’s - an alternative to an ATM. A BTM is a Bitcoin teller machine for withdrawing and depositing bitcoin. With little luck launching in the US, they moved to Mexico and already have 7-8 BTM’s open.
Cities such as Miami, Atlanta, and Detroit already have laws allowing rent and tax payments with cryptocurrency. Countries such as Mexico, Singapore, El Salvador, Dubai, Spain, St. Kitts, Nevis, and certain countries in Africa and SE Asia allow more crypto usage.
There doesn’t seem to be similarities in the cities and countries that are early adopters. Ryan sees a commonality in that in LATAM and Africa, there is no infrastructure for traditional banking, so this solves an immediate need. Plus, it’s a multitrillion dollar industry so the potential is huge. The mayor of Miami recognizes this – thus contributing to the usage there. Plus, Miami is the gateway to LATAM where there is early acceptance.
One big piece of advice he gives his clients – KYC which stands for Know Your Client. Since transferring cryptocurrency is done electronically, there is no name or verifiable ID to check. He makes sure all his clients watch for money laundering. Money laundering is not condoned by the early adopters. Their aim is to build a better society. Many support the environment and the Blue Economy which the World Bank defines as the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem."
He continues to say that many non-profit organizations accept donations of cryptocurrency for three reasons:
- It’s easier to accept – it transfers in 2 seconds as opposed to days for a wire transfer.
- There are no fees.
- They have global access to translation.
Ryan’s advice to Global Leaders about cryptocurrency?
- Educate yourself – MIT has free videos to watch and learn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH6vE97qIP4)
- Understand that there are big variances in each cryptocurrency – they specialize in purchases, gaming, non-profits, education, and more.
Listen to learn more.
Links:
www.bolimini.us
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Ryan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanblaney/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Sep 07, 2022
Wednesday Sep 07, 2022
Tiffanie Archie worked for UPS in global logistics and now she’s the Strategic Partner Manager for Zonos. If you want to know about shipping or international payments, she’s the person to talk to. This is a very informative episode of the Global Marketing Show podcast with several key take-aways.
First off, if you are an ecommerce company of any size, you can export. Zonos works with companies of all sizes and simplifies the payments, duties, and tax maze.
Second, you need to figure out where you want to sell. Stephanie suggests you do the following for logistics and payments:
- Figure out where your products are in demand
- Consider shipping lanes – the more frequent the shipping lanes, the cheaper the costs
- Do your tax, duty, and VAT research
- Determine what payment methods the local market prefers
Figuring out your tax, duty, and VAT on your own can be complex - You can work with your logistics provider to give you “shipping costs” yet be careful, since that may not include taxes and duties.
You can either use the Harmonized Codes from the “black box” provided by the government or get the massive hard copy book to find your 10-digit product number to calculate the tax costs.
Or you can find and ask partners such as a logistics company, an export advisor, your state trade representation, export broker, or you can use Zonos who continually updates and calculates the full “Landed Cost Calculation” price for your customers at check out.
Third, be aware of miscoding your products. Mistakes do happen, yet if you give a detailed code and you include documentation to answer the following questions, the officials are more likely to believe your company is legitimate.
- What is the product?
- What is it made of?
- What is it used for?
If you get flagged, you may have trouble forever more since you’ve been labeled as non-compliant.
Fourth, watch the currency exchange. This can be complicated so Tiffanie simplified it. To keep it simple for a busy business owner, she suggested that you do the following:
- Watch the news. Keep abreast of current events that could affect your target markets.
- Offer your customers a way to pay that is convenient for them. With Zonos’s partnership with Opti, users can test different payment options in different markets.
- Watch foreign exchange rates. She suggested checking it once a month to see if you need to adjust your pricing to be competitive or profitable.
And, finally, she recommended that you watch out for DDU and DDP. DDU refers to products delivered to consumers when the duties are unpaid. Abandonment and refusals are much more common when duties are unpaid which leave the seller responsible for the duties and return costs. Versus DDP which means the duties are paid.
If you are in marketing and responsible for the 4 P’s, this is a good episode to learn about Price and Place for global marketing. As for the other 2 P’s – the types of Products that can be exported and how to create and translate Promotion materials – listen to other episodes of the Global Marketing Show.
Links:
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Tiffanie - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffaniearchie/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Ken Wasylik, founder and owner of E.M. Wasylik Associates, has over 25 years of experience in helping companies expand across borders. The biggest challenge they have is deciding what market to enter. He says that after entering 2-3 markets it becomes a “process rather than an adventure”. Which market to enter first takes a little research and insight.
He helps companies look at variables such as:
- Strategic plan – how to make the expansion meet the goals
- Internal resources – the ability to serve time zones, connect across languages, and understand cultures
- Logistics – how heavy are the products to ship
- Opportunities – where are the greatest options
- Competition – where is the least competition
- Returns – how to get the biggest return on export investment
When they work with a company, the look at 50 countries across 20-30 variables to make sure the choice makes sense. Once the countries are prioritized, they begin the work of developing a market entry plan. Over time, the process is replicated across each country as they become a priority. He is clear in that it’s too much to try to enter multiple countries at the same time, especially when the company is new to exporting.
With all the opportunity in the US, I asked Ken why he’s such a fan of exporting. He explains that successful business is about mitigating risks and optimizing profits. Global companies are naturally diversified so when one economy drops, others are rising. Back in 2008-2009 when the US economy faltered, he saw that companies that exported grew. And, companies that export have higher profitability since US goods are in demand.
In the podcast, he gives examples of companies and their process for deciding what countries to enter. It’s fascinating to hear how the coolant cleaning company went to Canada, while the medical device company went to the Middle East.
Of course, I always like to hear about language translation and international expansion. He said that even though many senior executives are bi or tri-lingual, all the other managers, especially the local ones may not have English proficiency so it’s important to have language skills to support your expansion efforts. He told the story about an US businessperson responding to a question that meeting their needs would be a “piece of cake”. Shortly thereafter the in-country CEO offered lunch. Since it was still morning, the team was surprised. Luckily, they figured out that he thought they wanted cake to eat and were able to explain the idiom of “piece of cake” meant easy to do. This is another good reminder to use clear language when speaking to people who don’t share your native language.
As for why a company would hire him instead of accessing the Department of Commerce or State Export Center resources? Ken explains that the government resources offer introductions, grants, and general country research. E.M. Wasylik Associates offers implementation, boots on the ground, and specialty research.
His advice – travel the world for great life experiences.
His favorite foreign phrase – No problem. It’s hysterical to listen to all the languages he knows that phrase in and the various meanings it holds!
Links:
E.M. Wasylik Associates LLP - www.emwasylik.com
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Ken:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenwasylik/
Ken’s Email - ken.wasylik@emwasylik.com
Ken’s Phone Number - 608-850-5643
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Martha Cristina Garza has helped luxury brands like Cartier, Moleskine, Dr. Smood, and Maison Kayser launch in multiple countries. As a marketing expert for high end brands, she especially knows the importance of understanding your brand differentiators and the cultures of your target markets. It’s interesting to hear from her about the perspectives of consumers about brands in different countries, for instance Cartier is the number one luxury brand in Mexico, yet in Italy, it’s only a luxury brand for Grandmas! She sees that brands are getting better at story telling and understanding that they need to connect with the cultures, yet they struggle with exact messages when they don’t know the culture.
For example; a high-end backpack manufacturer from Italy positions itself as innovative and best in class in making leather backpacks that are “powered by performance”. When entering the US, the creative team came up with a campaign to connect with the market. The developed a picture of the nice leather backpack on a sofa and the tagline of “Netflix and Chill”. Now, as a native US English speaker, I understood that Netflix and chill would not talk to their target audience of businesspeople in their 40’s and 50’s. In addition to “speaking” to the wrong market of younger consumers, they also didn’t understand that the message “come on over for Netflix and Chill” includes a hidden invitation of intimacy.
She strongly recommends that marketers who aren’t native speakers and don’t fully understand the culture are well served in working with a company like Rapport International to make sure your messages are accurate and culturally appropriate.
Her final recommendations:
- Understand the local culture
- Hire experts to assist you
- Consider all touchpoints – including the human interactions with your employees.
As with every episode, I ask guests what their favorite word is. Martha’s is “la pozzanghera”, an Italian word that means puddle. She thinks it’s just a fun word. Go ahead, say it!
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/marthacristina/?hl=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthacristina/
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Martha - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthacristina/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Jon Kirkegaarde, Owner of DCRA Inc. has over 40 years in global supply chain management, consulting, and servicing. Through his experience, he breaks down the issues in supply chain – starting with how the term is used and ending with how it can be fixed.
He explains that the real problem is sales/operations planning and when companies implement plans that are slightly better than the competitors, they have a competitive advantage.
He likes to give a quiz – what’s the best model for supply chain:
- Selling for $10 with costs of $5 and holding inventory to immediately fill customer demand.
- Selling for $8 with costs of $6 and holding components to build to demand which allows for flexibility as demand changes with deliver times of 3-6 weeks.
- Selling for $7 with costs of $5 with no inventory holding costs so the consumer saves money but must wait 3-6 months for delivery.
There are advantages to each option – and many companies take higher risks to fulfill customers’ orders right away. And, as Jon says, “no one gets fired for having inventory, they get fired for not having inventory.”
But that $5 margin sinks quickly with warehousing costs or having to dispose of goods no longer needed.
Other companies minimized their risks to fill on demand, yet outsourced their full operations to the international manufactures and lost control of sales/operations planning and ran into trouble with the current shipping issues.
He does have an answer that you can listen to on the full podcast episode.
Links:
https://soptime.wordpress.com/2020/06/07/the-silver-lining-of-covid-19-a-call-for-u-s-manufacturing/
https://soptime.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/think-of-sop-as-your-supply-chain-golf-swing-golf-coach/
https://soptime.wordpress.com/2021/12/07/webinar-sop-diagnostic-launch-focus-with-throughput-ai/
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Jon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonkirkegaard/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Host Wendy Pease announces changes coming to The Global Marketing Show podcast – a shorter format with more take-aways about global marketing and LIVE episodes coming later this year.
Additional announcements and ways to stay engaged are included in this special episode, listen to learn more.
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Richard Blank, CEO of the Costa Rica’s Call Center regales stories about pinball machines, jukeboxes, and how empathy all contribute to building a successful culture for his business.
Yet, as the conversation continues, he explains how learning to read micro expressions and body language can help you understand what’s going on even if you don’t speak the language.
We also discuss criteria to look at when thinking about off-shoring or near-shoring for employees.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessprocessoutsourcingcallcenter/
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/costa-ricas-call-center-2/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/costaricascallcenter/
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Richard - https://www.linkedin.com/in/costaricascallcenter/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Paul Bresenden, CMO of Bromic Heaters and President of 454 Creative, started his career with zero experience in global marketing.
He’s led a brilliant build of a “headless CMS” and “PIM” to optimize SEO for Bromic Heaters with a single domain and unique websites for their in-country marketing and distribution around the world.
Paul is brilliant and shares a massive amount of information about all that he’s learned and implemented.
Links:
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Paul - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbresenden/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Stephen Shortt, Managing Director at ETC Consult, was prior owner of Alpha College of English a school in Ireland where professionals could go to learn English.
Currently he’s an investor, leadership and career coach, keynote speaker, succession planner, and self-proclaimed Geek.
He explains his rational for using Global English and where translation was necessary, and deep dives into his experiences in Global Marketing.
His insights, experience, and go to market strategies clearly show that he thinks strategically.
Listen to this episode to learn from a true entrepreneur.
Links:
https://successfulsuccession.com
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Stephen - http://shortt.me/li
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Walter Brooks, President and CEO of Brooksmade Gourmet Foods, found it easier to expand internationally with his specialty BBQ Sauces than to sell more in the competitive domestic US market.
With grants and supports from the US government available for all small and mid-sized businesses, he was able to secure $10 million in business with an investment of about $100k. Calculate the ROI on that!
Listen to this episode to hear how he did it!
Links:
https://brooksmadegourmetfoods.com/
Access to supports for exporters - https://www.rapporttranslations.com/blog/exporter-resources-information
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Walter –
https://www.linkedin.com/company/brooksmade-gourmet-foods/
@brooksmadegourmetfood
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com