Cracking the code of global marketing

Unlocking opportunities while overcoming local challenges 

Key points: 

• One of the major benefits of a centralised marketing team are the economies of scale, which allow for the standardisation of operational marketing and communication. 

• With company headquarters being further removed from local markets, centralised marketing teams may be more insensitive to changes in the local market environment, potentially leading to slower responses to local dynamics. 

• Within asset management, investment audiences and the media landscape differ significantly per local market, as does the appetite for different asset classes and the factors influencing fund selection. On top of that, the investment audience’s familiarity with an asset manager’s brand will vary in each country. 

In the 20 years since Fundamental Group was founded, a lot has changed in the media and marketing industries. One of these changes is the increased geographical scope that many asset management marketers are responsible for. 

In 2004, most marketers would be in charge of the marketing for one market, possibly two. Nowadays, asset management marketing has become regional, focused on for example several markets in Europe or Asia, or even EMEA or APAC as a whole.  

This globalisation of marketing has provided ample opportunities but also comes with significant challenges.  

One of the major perceived benefits of a centralised marketing team are the economies of scale, which allow for the standardisation of operational marketing and communication. But being able to centrally plan and organise a brand or product marketing strategy often also hinders speed to market. 

And centralisation can have other significant negative effects as well, mainly due to company headquarters being further removed from local markets. In countries where they do not have boots on the ground, marketing teams may be more insensitive to changes in the local market environment, leading to slower responses to, for example, their audience’s problems or competitors’ actions. 

Each investment audience and market is unique 

Within asset management, investment audiences and the media landscape differ significantly across the globe. Fundamental Media has decades of global experience in the media planning and buying industry, which has provided us with ample insights into the intricacies of each country’s investment landscape, media dynamics and local audiences’ attitudes to various channels. While some countries’ media landscapes are crowded and sophisticated, others are less sophisticated but costly. Furthermore, demand for different asset classes varies across markets, with investors in some countries more interested in fixed income while others focus a lot more on equities and multi-asset. Our research has also revealed that investors use different criteria for selecting asset managers, which varies among countries and investor type.  

The one overarching observation is that investment media landscapes differ per country, as does the appetite for different asset classes and the factors influencing fund selection. On top of this, the investment audience’s familiarity with an asset manager’s brand will vary in each country. 

All this variation has made it increasingly difficult for global marketers to deliver on the requirement of the right message, to the right audience at the right time. For many, it is easier said than done.  

Delivering appropriate messaging 

Most asset managers will be strong in their home market and (at best) a few other markets where they might have been an early entrant. In these markets they might understand the regulatory environment, have built relationships with key institutional and intermediary investors, have a local sales and marketing team, registered funds tailored to the specifics of the market and the skill to service institutional mandates in the local language. However, most asset managers struggle to keep up with the local dynamics. This makes international investment marketing tricky, requiring a dedicated local approach for each individual market. 

Apart from the disparity within the media landscape and investment audiences, marketers should also keep cultural differences in mind when it comes to their content. Asset managers operate in heavily regulated environments, so naturally marketing content needs to be compliant with local laws, but the content also needs to be culturally appropriate. Simply translating content into the desired language is insufficient; the content needs to meet the concerns and cultural framework of the audience in that country. Content that is not culturally aligned could result in a negative experience and potentially damage the brand in that market. 

When adapting content to local cultures, marketers need to keep in mind cultural differences and local language nuances, but also the target audience’s perception of asset management brands and their preference for certain brand values. Fundamental Media regularly surveys investment audiences in key financial markets about their views on investment topics, their media consumption and their perception of asset management brands. This reveals many interesting differences between audiences in different markets. 

In conclusion, while the globalisation of marketing has provided asset managers with many benefits, it has also made the marketing role in global asset management more demanding and complicated. Cracking the code of global marketing is not an easy task. However, marketers understand that modern-day asset management marketing requires deep insights into each market’s unique demand characteristics and preferences to ensure that communications deliver on the requirement of the right message to the right audience at the right time.