American Eagle, Mango Share Tips to Expand Your Brand Globally

More and more brands are recognizing the value of selling direct to consumer (D-to-C) across geographical borders rather than adding products to third-party marketplaces or other channels. Two apparel brands that have done this well are American Eagle Outfitters and Mango, whose executives spoke at the 2023 National Retail Federation Big Show Monday about the best strategies for implementing brand expansion across multiple countries.

Valerie de Charette, American Eagle's vice president of international digital, and César de Vincent, global retail director at Mango, sat down with Eduardo Yamashita, operations director at Gouvêa Ecosystem, to share tips on global expansion, identifying and capitalizing on growth market opportunities.

American Eagle went international in 2001, opening its first international store in Canada. de Charette said a few of the keys to having a successful global expansion strategy include the following:

• ensuring a synchronized and unified brand voice;
• having a solid team structure so that all partners globally have functional points of contact and single points of contact for each region; and
• flexibility in product design, pricing, channel strategy, and more.

"You have to do what the customer wants," de Charette noted. "Wherever the customer is shopping, that’s where you should be considering. If in a market, department stores are really important, we have to consider it, even if it’s very different than our platform."

Barcelona-founded Mango, created in 1984, now has stores in more than 110 markets, including Europe, the U.S., Africa, South America, and Asia. de Vincent said the key to expansion for Mango has been understanding the local markets and local culture of each place it plans to open a new store. To do so, he said you need a strong local team on hand.

"We want to create a solid and strong relationship with our partners, based on trust," said de Vincent.

Furthermore, de Vincent agreed with American Eagle's de Charette, saying you have to adopt your brand's value proposition, pricing, etc., based on customer needs in that specific local area. He added that the most important thing you can do on the ground is hiring people who reflect the brand's values, then provide them with quality training to carry out the brand's values no matter where the expansion takes place.

Above all, the two executives said it was best to avoid copying and pasting a plan, playbook or strategy from one market to another. It's better to enter each new market with a constant stream of new and different ideas.

"Don't assume it's a one size fits all," de Charette said.