Economic BRIC Heavyweights

The BRIC countries, which represent the world’s major emerging markets, find themselves emerging as world economic heavyweights. They have benefitted from a combination of a talented low-cost workforce, good global economic conditions and favorable currency exchange rates to produce great products and services which are relatively inexpensive. The resulting economic growth has added wealth to these countries which make them attractive markets to sell products into. Brazil, in particular, has maintained a practical economic policy and tight controls over inflation and increasing foreign reserves to become an important global monetary player.

Today, the United States is in a very different fiscal position. Due to huge budget and trade deficits, it finds itself relying on uneasy foreign creditors who are starting to question an investment strategy of accumulating even more dollar assets. The resulting downfall of the dollar may be only a matter of time. So is it goodbye U.S. Dollar (USD), hello International Monetary Fund (IMF)?

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Wednesday Latin America's largest country will offer $10 billion in financing to the IMF to help support credit availability for emerging market countries. The $10 Billion is less than 5% of Brazil’s foreign exchange reserves which is a relatively small amount of outstanding U.S. Treasuries. On the other hand, Russian foreign currency reserves, which represent the third largest reserves in the world, are up over $8 Billon to a total of $410 Billion. As much as a third, or $140 Billion, is held in U.S. bonds. The Russian central bank has announced some of that money may be moved to IMF bonds. Who would have thought 20 years ago that monetary decisions in Brazil of whether to invest in U.S. Treasuries would move the needle in the value of the USD? It is truly a brave new world.

What all of this indicates, I contend, is the growing importance of short and long term sales strategies that includes emerging markets. To win in emerging markets companies need to fundamentally rethink how they communicate. I recently met Don DePalma in Berlin and the back of his business card provides some pretty clear guidance. He has a quote from Willy Brandt, the former German Chancellor, which reads, “If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying from you, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen” (then you have to speak German).

Now, I don’t need to establish how smart Don is as he is the author of Business Without Borders: A Strategic Guide to Global Marketing and the Chief Research Officer for Common Sense Advisory. But this quote, on this card, handed out at a Localization Conference in Germany is the perfect example of what global marketing tries to achieve. Don has hit the trifecta here, found a message that is relevant to the subject, is personal to the country and is even multi-lingual. A quote from a German Chancellor speaking to the need for multi-lingual communications in order to conduct business in global markets; Brilliant!

A company who’s Marketing Communications successfully sells into global markets will face different challenges as they move to Operations Communications. These address service relationships and contractual obligations. I participated in a discussion last year focused on Brazil, who again in particular, has some of the most complicated regulatory and compliance requirements when it comes to conducting business in their country. So the strategy moves from a process able to deliver targeted, unique multi-cultural messages to a one that places a priority on consistent authoring practices, translation management and content reuse. Technology can help with all of these concerns.

These BRIC countries find themselves dealing with the realities of the new global economy and we can all learn from their experience. To take advantage of their new opportunities they are thinking differently than ever before. As global communication strategists we need to help our clients do the same. We need to think differently about how we develop growth strategies to take advantage of opportunities in emerging markets.