The top mistake we see international brands make when entering the U.S. market is a failure to establish in-market support. There is a common assumption that once basic operations are set up, the brand team will be able to manage all aspects of the U.S. business from their home country. We have seen zero instances where a brand has been successful in this endeavor. Zero. In order to achieve sales growth (or even basic brand maintenance), having someone on the ground, in the market, to manage the business is an absolute requirement. Even if the brand has entered into contracts with various supporting 3rd party firms (sales brokers, marketing agencies, logistics, etc.), it still requires an in-market brand general manager to fully maintain these partnerships and hold all parties accountable. Ideally, the person or firm hired to manage the brand will have deep industry sector and market knowledge. They should be able to clearly explain the intangibles of the U.S. market and how these differ from other global marketplaces.
There are three ways global consumer brands can ensure their U.S. market strategy is being carried out properly. One is to hire a full-time U.S. general manager or country manager. This hire must have previous deep experience managing and growing consumer products brands in the U.S. However, the annual compensation of a country manager may be more than what many brands are willing to pay. Also, in many cases, full-time support is not necessarily required in the very early stages of launching products in the U.S.
The second option is for the international brand to allocate a team member (or multiple team members) to routinely travel from their home market to visit and conduct business in America. This requires multiple trips (typically at least 2 per quarter) and relatively long durations of stay (at least 10-14 days each trip). This option requires careful planning in advance to get the most return from the costs of international travel. Each visit will be a jam-packed calendar full of meetings with partners, suppliers, grocery buyers, and distributors. If selling to grocery retailers, ad hoc trips may be required to accommodate category review schedules and new item presentations.
The final option is to hire a U.S. based professional or firm to act as an interim, and/or fractional, general manager of the business. This firm should have deep experience in the FMCG sector and possess a vast network of partners to assist in all aspects of building a brand in the U.S. This option is ideal in the early stages of market penetration and ensures proper setup, launch, and initial sales traction in the market. In most cases, this is the least expensive of the three options. As U.S. sales volumes and brand popularity grow, this firm can attract and hire full-time talent to replace themselves at a future date. At OmniShore Advisory, we recommend and offer this service to client partners.