As marketers are increasingly challenged to do more with less it can be tempting to choose the most efficient path and roll out creative that originated with head office. But, this approach could backfire. Here, VaynerMedia international president Marcus Krzastek speaks to Marketing Mag about the role of localised content in getting consumers to stop scrolling and pay attention to your message.

In today’s marketing landscape, competition is relentless – and not just within your category. Brands are battling for attention against every other form of content, entertainment and social interaction consumers encounter.  Whether it’s our TVC being ignored in favour of a phone screen, or our content being swiped past in-feed, consumers now have more control than ever over what, when and how they engage.  If a message isn’t relevant or valuable, they’ll move on in a heartbeat

However, this isn’t the only challenge marketers face. As most people reading this will be well aware, marketers are now under consistent pressure to “do more with less” while navigating an increasingly complex business and media landscape. This is especially true for global brands looking to leverage their scale against an ever-growing ecosystem of agile start-ups threatening their market share. Given this, the appeal of “core regional messages” and a one-size-fits-all creative approach is understandable – it offers efficiency, cost savings, and the big bonus: brand consistency!

But here’s the catch

Let’s assume that every marketing impression must be earned by capturing attention long enough for your message to land. With that in mind, the way you think about the creative you deliver begins to shift.

When marketers prioritise efficiency, actively limit creative iterations, skip a deep understanding and number of target audience cohorts, and/or allocate an often far larger budget to media (versus. developing organic creative), the reality is that it dramatically decreases effectiveness. 

The cost savings of producing fewer creative variations, in truth, quickly become irrelevant and fiscally irresponsible if the work fails to connect. It won’t just underperform – it will waste the often far larger budget allocated to media distribution.

And this equation becomes even less appealing when you realise that there are more paths than ever to produce localised, cost-efficient social creative at scale. 

Brands no longer need to choose between consistency and impact. The best marketing strategies strike a balance between global efficiencies and local effectiveness, ensuring content feels native and relevant in every market. 

This doesn’t mean global campaigns are completely obsolete. It just means we need to approach them differently – leveraging the advantages of global scale while ensuring content feels native and relevant in every market so it captures attention.

Here’s how:

1. Build a foundation of consumer insights

Every great marketing strategy begins with the consumer. Before rolling out a regional or global campaign, take the time to unpack the unique local insights, trends and behaviours that are shaping each market. 

By cataloguing these, you can identify the common threads that shape your overarching creative and strategic themes that will work across regions while also pinpointing key cultural nuances that need to be accounted for. The goal isn’t to force-fit a global message – it’s to develop a flexible framework that can be meaningfully localised.

2. Create with customisation in mind

As you think about global campaign executions, always have flexibility in mind. This means designing assets with built-in adaptability for different markets’ needs. Talent, platform strategies and content formats should all be tailored to local expectations from the outset – rather than retrofitting later.

3. Equip local teams to elevate the work

While the work being created at the global level can bring value in and of itself, the real magic comes when local teams take those assets and best practices and shape them with deep cultural nuance. Instead of just handing off creative assets, brands should also provide toolkits – templates, creative thought-starters and best practices – that allow teams to build on easily.  

Additionally, leveraging your global expertise and providing platform-specific best practices, ranging from content types to posting cadence, can help ensure that local markets can maximise the effectiveness of their work.  

At VaynerMedia, we emphasise three pillars for creating best-in-class work: Platforms, Algorithms and Culture. Equipping local markets with global expertise across these areas – whether through creative frameworks, platform-specific insights, or even posting cadences – helps maximise effectiveness at the regional level.  

4. Act, learn and optimise

The work doesn’t stop once content goes live. 

As local markets put the work into the creative and strategic voice their consumer requires, brands should be actively learning from both qualitative and quantitative insights to learn and adjust their approach. 

Today’s most effective digital creative is rarely perfect on the first attempt – the best ideas are often refined through multiple iterations. 

Creating a feedback loop and helping teams track trends across markets – whether across creative executions or even down to identifying creative elements (or hooks) that consistently capture attention in the first three seconds – can help inspire local teams and enhance impact.

The era of creating a single asset, distributing it globally and expecting a successful marketing strategy is likely over, but that doesn’t mean global marketing can’t drive best-in-class work. It just requires humility and a mindset shift. 

Winning brands will be those that can deliver creative and strategy in a way that blends global scale with local specificity that today’s consumer requires.

Those that master this balance won’t just keep up – they’ll lead the way.

Marcus Krzastek is the first international president of VaynerMedia, where he leads the agency’s operations across APAC and EMEA. He has been at the heart of the agency’s growth for more than 15 years, scaling its global footprint while fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.

Spanish sintered stone company Neolith recognised the importance of building a local community within the Australian architecture and design industry. Find out what they did and why.