This is the presentation behind a talk I gave on September 2nd 2014 at the International Jewellery London conference on the topic of internationalisation of online businesses.

1. Expanding Online:
Translating your Brand for Overseas Markets
September 2014
Kiyan Foroughi – CEO & Co-Founder

2. Background: Boticca
• Boticca is the world’s online destination for
jewellery, bags and fashion accessories made
by carefully sourced independent designers
and small & medium brands from across the
world
• Some facts & figures:
– 300 brands from 40+ different countries
– Over 10,000 different pieces for sale on
the website
– Nearly 700,000 email subscribers
– Curated marketplace business model
– Customers in 60 different countries on a
monthly basis
– Websites in UK, US, France and
Australia
– Launch in September 2010 and venture-backed
#boticca

3. Background: Who am I?
• Kiyan Foroughi: CEO and Founder of Boticca
• 3rd generation in the jewellery industry (4th generation in luxury)
• Early career in investment banking (Jefferies) and private equity (TA
Associates)
• Active angel investor and advisor in such companies as Ometria, Boppl,
PayPlug, Watsi, Fotolia and AVG Technologies
• Tufts University Graduate – (BA) Economics & Entrepreneurial Leadership
• Have lived in Boston, New York and London & grew up between Paris and
Dubai
• Speak fluent French, Italian, Farsi and English – learning Japanese
#boticca

4. Why Expand Overseas?
• Some of the reasons are obvious:
– Ambition
– Growth
– Product / market fit
• And some are less obvious:
– Skilled personnel
– Taking advantage of technology
#boticca

5. When Is The Right Time?
• When you’ve achieved critical mass in one market and are looking for
growth in the next
• When you’ve demonstrated some traction and potential in a market
and you’re looking to capitalise on it
• When you have the internal resources and bandwidth
• When you have the budget to do it properly
Beware if you don’t satisfy the last two points, you can seriously waste
time, resources and funds on an unsuccessful expansion
#boticca

6. Doing the Research: How to Pick the Right Market
• Product + market fit
• Competitive analysis
• Attractive market size and potential
• Similar buying patterns and philosophy
• Clear formulaic marketing channels that can be scaled and will be
profitable in the long-run
• Legal check: trademarks etc.
• Name / branding?
• Logistics
• Payment methods
#boticca

7. Doing the Research: Run a Little Test
• Why not?
• Launch a landing page with a
few products translated and that
you think will work with a
specific market
• Make sure the purchase funnel
is also translated and offers the
right payment methods
• Test and analyze data
• Solicit customer feedback
#boticca

8. Tailoring your Offer
• No two markets and its customers are the same
• You need to tailor your offer accordingly:
– Product mix
– Onsite merchandising
– Look and feel of the website
– Marketing channels
– Communications and tone of voice
– Customer service
– Browsers and devices supported
#boticca

9. Tailoring your Offer: Example
• For example, if you’re thinking of expanding to Japan, you’ll have to
re-think your website layout as they like things denser
#boticca

10. Tailoring your Offer: Example (Cont’d)
• Before: MakeLeaps’ EN site
#boticca

11. Tailoring your Offer: Example (Cont’d)
• After: MakeLeaps’ JP site
#boticca

12. Preparing Your Launch: Performance Marketing
• Set aside a decent budget
• Performance marketing plan by channel:
– SEM
– SEO, Content Marketing & Social
– Email Marketing
– Affiliate Marketing
– Retargeting
#boticca

13. Preparing Your Launch: Brand Marketing
• Set aside a decent budget here as well
• Works hand-in-hand with performance marketing and cannot be
underestimated
• Brand Marketing
– PR & Bloggers campaign
– For better results and if budgets permit, couple the performance
marketing with brand equity investments (outdoor, print, broadcast
advertising)
• Beware: It is costly and does take a little bit of time to get going
#boticca

14. You’ve launched: now what?
• Give yourself 3 months (minimum) to 6 months (ideal) to test your
international expansion
– It takes several months to start seeing the return on your marketing (and
brand) investment
• Keep an eye on the data and let it guide your changes and
optimisations on-site and product-wise
• On performance marketing, let the numbers be your guide again and
optimise the channels that seem the most promising, profitable and
scalable
– Test some other channels you haven’t thought about
• Incorporate customer feedback when possible
#boticca

15. Mistakes Made / Lessons Learnt
• Too much time and resources put into expanding overseas that is not
supported by enough marketing and brand investment
• Not enough prior research into the market
• No adequate tailoring of the offering
• The wrong tone of voice
• Some basic legal and logistical checks… oops.
#boticca

16. Conclusion
• In an increasingly global and connected world with so many tools at
our disposal, international expansion may seem easy…
• … but its not.
• It is easy to do it the wrong way but it’s hard to do it the right way.
• You need to:
– Pick your market(s) carefully
– Do your research
– Run some early tests
– Adjust your offering accordingly
– Have the right marketing plan to back up the launch
– Do some brand investment alongside it (ideally)
#boticca

17. Any questions?
kiyan@boticca.com
Thank you!