Use Global Expansion Research to Introduce Products into International Markets

Cultural awareness is vital when introducing a new product or service to a foreign market. That's why doing Global Expansion Research is so important. It highlights cultural sensitivities, barriers to entry and local needs that may be critical to a customer's adoption and use of a new product.

At Sylver, we approach international research a little differently than other firms do. We create an in-field team with local researchers who have the region's culture imprinted onto who they are, what they value and how they think and behave. We also staff a "foreigner" of the region to the team, someone who is largely unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the local culture. This dual perspective of the "in-the-know" combined with "fresh eyes" enables us to reveal your customers' true needs. With this approach, you can confidently move into new markets knowing that key customer insights haven't been overlooked.

Our Global Expansion Research is best utilized to:

• Determine which product(s) to extend to a new market, as well as how to position them there
• Understand which product features need to be adapted for the new market
• Discover new ventures for your company based on local traditions and cultural values within the new market

Sylver Consulting has a physical presence in the U.S. and Brazil and partners all over the globe. We can assist you with any international research needs that you may have.

Case Study

Client: NASA

Assignment
Investigate the meaning and role of collaboration among the International Space Station (ISS) planning groups, in order to propose improvements to their planning and collaboration-based tools.

Approach
Using ethnographic research, we studied ISS planning groups, both on and off console and within the U.S. and cross borders, to understand how each of the groups work together in order to fly the space station daily. We leveraged techniques of one-on-one interviews, observational research and participant observation to understand the current state of collaboration amongst the ISS planners. The ISS planning process was mapped, with collaboration points highlighted throughout it. This map, along with the knowledge of how existing tools and products of the group supported their efforts as a team, became inputs for the Translating Insights into Opportunities Workshop.

It was in this workshop where planners from Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space and Flight Center, NASA Ames Research Center, European Space Agency, Russian Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ideated ways to improve their productivity and streamline their communications across groups, and then assessed how their planning tools must evolve to support these new activities and/or policies.

Outcomes
Recommendations regarding how the ISS planners should focus their future resources on tool development were defined. These recommendations were adopted and have served as a continual reference for the ISS planners and their development partners.

“We cannot say enough good things about Sylver Consulting. They grasped the NASA landscape quickly, built rapport and gained respect by speaking the flight controllers' language, worked with us at every step of the project, visualized the planning process, created a process map the ISS Planners still use today and made actionable recommendations the User-Centered Technologies team and the ISS Planners could use in the short-term and long-term.”

- J.T., Principal Investigator, NASA Ames Research