We hear (and write) plenty about all the trends that have originated or been popular in the United States before spreading to the UK and rest of the world. There are lots of American influences in modern European culture, but the same could be said in reverse. The rational plan for companies and brands based in the UK and looking to expand is to target markets like the US, and many have been able to do just that over the years. But what does it really take to crack America?

Historically it has been quite common for British firms to fall into the trap of thinking America is very similar to the UK compared to other countries. Our languages may be (almost) the same, but cultural differences make a huge impact when it comes to marketing goods and services, and in many cases the USA differs vastly compared to other markets within Europe. It takes a clearly defined strategy for UK brands to succeed in America, but by paying attention to the right factors and tools, it can be done. Continue Reading →

Multi-level marketing is a specific style of marketing that is usually referred to as a different form of direct selling. Also known as MLM, the process has been around for decades and its origin is disputed, but it has existed since the 1920s in various forms. In modern times there are a wide range of MLM business opportunities out there in both the UK and the US thanks to the creative initiative taken by American firms nearly 100 years ago.

The California Perfume Company was one of the pioneers of the business model, although we know them better today as Avon. Originally, the famous “Avon Ladies” would only have earned their profits from the sales they made personally. Working for the company but not given a salary, instead they would have been entirely dependent on the products they bought from Avon and sold on at a higher price to buyers in their homes or elsewhere. Not a huge amount has changed about this, except that now not only would the representative of the company earn profit from their own sales, but also a cut of the sales made by anyone they recruited to join the business. Continue Reading →

America is known for being the home of many of the world’s biggest brands, and is of course a massive test market that the rest of the world can look to for ideas about what might dominate global business next. There are a few emerging trends that we expect to see more of in the UK as they grow in popularity across the Atlantic.

1) Having everything for nothing

There is certainly a growing trend for on-demand services of all kinds, something that has been seen in America for some years now but only recently begun to catch on in the United Kingdom. For example, streaming services like Netflix and the newly launched YouTube Red are redefining the rules about how people pay for their entertainment – music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal are doing the same in their market.  Amazon has also been experimenting with food and drink delivery within hours, something they may be able to roll out to their whole product range within years. Everything is about paying a set fee for something and getting an unlimited amount back for your money, and since this is based around convenience and making life easy, people are increasingly getting on board with this. The idea of paying yearly subscriptions for music venues is something we expect to see launching within the next year, for example. Continue Reading →