In previous articles, we’ve focused on localizing your OMS and embracing hyper-local marketing. In a related topic, we’re going to discuss how to craft experiences for a global audience that both remain true to your brand and also connect with people in diverse cultures.
Why is this important? And what do QSR leaders need to accomplish it? Let’s examine these points.
How to Create Authentic Online Experiences for Every Audience
First up, why is creating authentic experiences important? Have a look at these stats complied by Zippia:
86% of consumers prefer an authentic brand image.
82% of customers shop from brands that share their values.
83% of shoppers prefer to buy from brands they trust.
Clearly, authenticity matters to today’s consumer. But what do people mean when they talk about an authentic brand experience? Imaginovation co-founder Michael Georgiou describes it this way:
“An authentic brand is one that decides to be transparent and consistent in its messaging and branding initiatives. It has business values it remains true to, and most essentially, it is honest.”
These are all excellent goals, but they’re not the entirety of the brand experience—especially when your brand starts expanding across geographies and cultures. Then you have to find a way to localize your messaging and approach while still maintaining your QSR’s consistency, honesty, and integrity. Here are several methods you can use to achieve that balance.
1. Understand and Embrace Localization
The journey to authentic online experiences for a global QSR brand starts with understanding what localization really is—and accepting that it’s a lot of work. Restaurant insiders know that successful localization isn’t simply translating words from one language to another; it’s about delving into the culture and attitudes of the new location. Remember, we use words to ultimately create a connection with our customers. And you can’t do that effectively if you don’t understand their milieu, attitudes, behaviors, expectations, and cultural norms.
On the other hand, you can’t go so far into a local identity that you lose your brand identity or sacrifice your values. Although some of the menu items may vary, customers in Budapest, Baltimore, and Beijing will all expect a generally cohesive brand experience. That’s what makes localization an art as well as a science; you have to adapt without losing your business’ core.
2. Map the Cultural Terrain
Let’s dig into the idea of understanding a new culture. This calls for empathy and curiosity as well as intelligence; you have to be willing to put in the effort and learn about traditions, attitudes, and even the preferred language, visuals, and humor of the new culture. And this means a lot of open-minded research; some QSRs team with local companies to ensure that they adjust their branding in a way that will vibe with their target audience.
It’s also worth mentioning that design elements can be perceived very differently from one culture to the next. In some areas, certain numbers are considered unlucky and are omitted from buildings and the like. And colors that are hard-coded into our American consciousness as meaning safe or positive can be read very differently in other cultures:
“Warning signs are coded differently, as a danger is symbolized by green in Malaysia and red in the US and Mexico. [...] Whereas in most of the world green or blue is used to denote an upward trend and red is used to denote a downward trend, in mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, the reverse is true. This confusion often leads to Western media outlets using incorrect or reversed headline images to accompany reports of a major economic upturn or downturn in an Asian market.” [Source: Wikipedia]
The same holds true for shapes, images, and other visual elements. It’s worthwhile to really research these items—possibly with a local advisor—when you’re localizing to a new culture.
3. Recognize Digital Experience Challenges
How users—particularly users from a different culture than your own—move through a website or app might be different than you’d expect. As we mentioned above, the symbols that you rely on to communicate one meaning may not have that meaning in the target culture. So, it’s important to conduct user studies and find out how people in that area expect interfaces to work. This conforms to the UX concept of aligning with users’ mental models (i.e., their mental image of how they commonly move through their physical and digital environments).
One particular area we’d like to call out is navigation and information architecture. It’s important to structure your app and/or website in a way that presents information in a logical way. And this is for the target culture’s expectations, not your own! Once again, research and user testing is your best bet here. Once you understand the new environment, you can choose the right layouts and add maps, payment options, and other location-specific features.
Once again, the key is to thoroughly understand regional habits, preferences, and usage patterns before you start building a new online presence in that market. You may choose to partner with a local firm that specializes in user research or do it in-house; either way, it’s vital to do your research before launching your digital experience.
4. Use the Right Technology
As you think about what the user sees and interacts with on the front end of your site, remember to address how you’ll support this on the back end. You’ll need a system that can support multiple languages and currencies to support a design that offers users the choice between languages and currencies. Your app or website should allow guests to save their preferences; this can greatly improve their experience.
Another thing to consider is the technology your customers will use. To address variation in screen size and operating power, most restaurant brands use responsive design. This is a type of web and app development that automatically adjusts the screen size, fonts, and elements to fit the user’s screen size and language preference.
5. Respect Your Brand Identity
Amidst all these changes and tweaks, it’s important to stay true to your brand identity. Remember, this involves your core values. How you express them might change, but the values themselves should not change. For example, most international brands use their logos and color schemes across geographies; think of McDonald’s iconic golden arches. These are part of the brand identity, even when they’re blended with colors associated with K-pop bands.
Momofoku—which has multiple full-service restaurants, takeaways, and baked goods stores throughout the globe— offers some insight in how to keep your brand consistent. In an interview with MOO, Momofuku’s VP of Brand & Design Marguerite Mariscal explains, “Regardless of what we’re offering, we attempt to offer the best version that you’ve ever had. People who like the Noodle Bar are probably going to like the Ssäm Bar. It’s the same attitude and approach, but in a different form. Whether it’s through social media or collateral, we always want to express our brand consistency. There are just variations between each restaurant.” Brand values are central to everything, and they are even featured in the company’s training program.
Tips for Measuring Digital Experience Success
Finally, let’s end with a reminder on measuring and improving your customers’ online experience. Often, we tend to look at quantitative metrics, which are focused on measurable, concrete outcomes: the number of web visitors over a month, revenue, orders placed, and so on. But in crafting a user experience, it’s important to include qualitative metrics. These tell you more about how your audience connects with the experience you’re offering. In addition to user testing and user feedback, you can also use sentiment analysis, social media listening, and engagement statistics to understand if your digital experience is where it needs to be.
And in the digital world, iteration is a fact of life. If you want to produce a great experience, you need to keep testing and building on it. Using data-based insights as well as the qualitative metrics mentioned above will help you develop a mindset of continuous adjustment and improvement.
Embracing Digital Multilingualism Is Key to Authentic Online Experiences
If you want to successfully globalize your QSR brand, providing an authentic experience to users across locations is a must. Doing that requires staying true to your brand’s core values while still adapting to various languages, cultures, and expectations. If you want to connect with your audience, you need to be fluent in the language of their hearts.
In upcoming articles, we’ll explore QSR technologies further. Stay tuned to this blog! And if you’d like to discuss your globalization needs with an experienced tech partner, contact Tillster today!
