Setting an entry order for five new countries

The question

The brand had five candidate countries, and could not enter them all at once.

It wanted its plan to have an order, a reason for that order, and a clear view of what it would be up against in each place.

Our approach

We surveyed people in the brand’s audience in each of the five countries.

The sizing of each market’s audience was calibrated to independent market data, so the survey could be read against the real size of each opportunity.

Each country was then rated on a broad set of measures. Some described the market and its audience. Others described how people use software of this kind. The last group covered the brand itself, measured alongside the competing tools people use.

The measures rolled up into a single grade per market. Every grade came with the measures that made it up, so the team could see the basis for each position, challenge it, and weigh scale against readiness in the open.

What the team came away with

Brand leadership had a sizing and an opportunity grade for each country, brought together in an entry order, with the reasoning for each position written down beside it.

The competitive picture in each country was set out alongside, so the team could plan each market knowing what it would be up against there.