Local market expertise embraces the global village

At the beginning of May, industry publication New Media Age (NMA) ran an editorial leader and case study supporting the notion that UK digital agencies tend to be “domestic and tactically focused”. Ian James, head of digital for Bacardi took the opportunity to raise the concern that: “clients’ needs are outrunning their agencies capabilities”.

As I wrote in a letter to NMA editor Justin Pearse, while this might be true of the majority of traditional design and build agencies, it is certainly not a failing that can be attributed to digital customer experience agencies.

In many cases, due to both time benefits and local market expertise, major brands choose to use local agencies for design and build. At Foviance we work closely with these companies to help to ensure they have the hard facts at hand needed to create a consistent brand experience across multiple markets. We are frequently the only constant in a global project beyond the brand employees. As such, we link with our own ‘Foviance alliance partners’ to bring in these large, international engagements.

Foviance carried out its first international project back in 2001 working with grocery retailer Otto through its partner, major fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand owner Procter & Gamble. Since then we have worked with a variety of major brands (including Microsoft, Sony, Nokia and Dell) as well as some less well known ones (such as Victor Chandler) on international consultancy engagements from Madrid to Macau. Our engagements have covered areas from global customer research to international websites, prototypes, mobile technology and even the tablet PC.

Neither is Foviance alone in being a customer experience agency that works internationally. Many of our competitors also operate globally, either through formal partnerships or relationships built on practical experience.

There are fundamental differences with the ways users interact between countries and continents. Variations can be caused by cultural, social, economic and less obvious language differences (such as there being no word for ‘Lucky Dip’ in Asia). It might be ideal for clients to have a single international digital agency, but without the support of traditional advertising or media networks there is no way that UK agencies could develop this expertise without taking a client through a process of trial and error.

International growth is dependent on expertise and experience. This is yet another reason why independent, expert research and consultancy partners will have a major role to play in the continued growth and future expansion of the UK’s digital industry.