Hello university, hello freshman flu. Yes, I have been struck down by the daunting monster of a cold that all freshmen are prone to. However, the extreme number of tissues I have been going through got me thinking.
Due to clever product placement, in North America you generally refer to them as Kleenex, as opposed to tissues and in Germany (and the rest of German speaking Europe) they are known as Tempos, instead of Taschentuecher. Both firms have targeted and dominated their corresponding national tissue markets, creating, to a certain extent, somewhat of a monopoly. My idea? Mirroring the business structure of a brand that has successfully occupied the majority share of a distinct mrket in one country, or cluster of countries, in a different area, where there is not as much competition for that market.
Using the Kleenex/Tempos example, a firm could draw on the experience of Kleenex and Tempos and apply a similar business structure, which has evidently proved itself as successful, in, say Russia or China, assuming there is no current tissue monopoly there. And voila, you minimize the high-risk “trial and error” period at the start of such a business endeavor.
