Case 7: Fitness Brand Global Expansion
Our work helped optimize the global footprint of a leading digital health and fitness client, thus enhancing their financial performance
Situation
Client wanted to develop a global expansion strategy to optimize growth and ensure that they invested their limited resources in the right geographies.
A leading producer of digital health and fitness products had grown internationally in an organic manner. After opportunistically following sales for a few years, they wanted to develop a global expansion strategy to optimize growth and make sure they invested their limited resources in the right geographies. They also wanted to develop an international launch playbook to guide the implementation phase of the new strategy.
Challenge
Having uncoordinated current operations in some geographies created resistance to implementing a new strategy that would change “the way things have always been done”.
Since the client had already started selling internationally, they had a physical presence in a number of countries, with each local team “doing their own thing”. This made it difficult to implement a new strategy without undertaking significant change management efforts, some of which included exiting some geographies and launching in others.
Action
We developed a benchmarking methodology to identify internal best practices across geographies that can be re-applied globally with the necessary localization, and consolidated that into a global expansion “playbook”.
To optimize the company’s global footprint, we performed due diligence on a subset of eligible countries to assess market potential. In parallel, we conducted a detailed SWAT analysis for both the client’s products and their organization, to ensure that the country prioritization framework being developed was based on client fit and not just generic market strength.
After a shortlist of focus countries were selected for future investment, we worked on streamlining distribution and identifying services that could be shared across geographies.
Additionally, we developed a benchmarking methodology to identify internal best practices across geographies that could be reapplied globally with the necessary localization.
Finally, we put together a tactical, operating ‘launch playbook’ that covered the value chain from the moment a geography was selected until a product was on the shelf (virtual and/or physical). This included legal considerations, product localization, third-party partnerships, and staffing.
Results
Internal benchmarking led to a reduction in overall costs, and a two-month reduction in international launch timelines.
Recommendations were approved for implementation, and the company proceeded to expand globally. International markets are now a significant portion of the company’s revenue and bottom line. Optimization of the global footprint resulted in improving international financial performance, and the internal benchmarking exercise led to a reduction in overall costs, as well as a two-month reduction in launch timelines.