How did two French and German marketers succeed when given the brief to broaden the National Pen USA brand into Europe? Arnaud Le Lann and Stephan Merz tell the story. Hear more from Merz and Le Lann – together with their client Ron Childs of National Pen – at next month’s iDi Marketers Forum in New York.

It all started In the mid-’80s: after a successful launch into Germany, the National Pen team started looking towards France as a key market for their European expansion. 

We reviewed in detail all their direct marketing tools – from mailers to list selections used in the US – and quickly realised we had to start from scratch: for example, while the US offer was a good starting point, many of the American elements had to be modified for the French market if we wanted to ensure success.   

Firstly, we even had to change the brand name in France, transforming it from ‘National Pen’ to ‘Universal Pen’. The reason? 

It would have been impossible for the US-based company to have realised it, but in that period, the National Front (French extreme right party), was hugely evident . . . and this party was headed by Mr Le Pen! So, associating those two words ‘National’ and ‘Pen’ would have been really tricky and would have only caused problems, making recipients wonder who really was the mailer!

Meanwhile, in Germany – although the US company name could be retained, the tonality of letters and brochures was not perfect. They had been translated by native speakers, but they did not really have the promotional wording needed to succeed. 

These materials had been a 1:1 translation of the US originals, but a straight translation is not as good as a local adaptation and will not take into consideration the different nuances of other nationalities. Not all terms successfully used in the US will guarantee the same positive effect in Germany or any other European market. 

They might be considered too aggressive and sales-orientated or local prospects are just not used to them and thus will not respond. 

For the French market, the promotional materials, letters, brochures and so on had all been written in French, but the language used and words chosen were not really appropriate to the direct mail habits of French recipients, in terms of used words and expressions. So, we completely reviewed the written elements. This wasn’t a simple translation but a complete adaptation to the habits and uses of the target market.

  As for lists: we studied all selections mailed successfully in the US and found that in this field, too, the US strategy couldn’t be duplicated one hundred per cent in France. 

New targets

As an example, lawyers or doctors were a successful target in the US, but French law forbids advertising around legal or medical activities; lawyers and doctors are not allowed to advertise their businesses, even with a simple promotional pen! 

So, we also proposed totally new targets, different from the US ones, starting with the basic question: ‘Which businesses in France would be interested in buying advertising pens?’ Whereas the US target market comprised lawyers, real estate agents and the like, in France it was mainly locksmiths, wine retailers or taxi companies.

After 15 years in the French market, National Pen is now the leader of its sector. 

And now, if we compare the direct marketing strategies of National Pen USA versus Universal Pen France, we might think they are from two different companies. 

Actually, this is the key to this success story: we only considered the products as common to all countries, and started from scratch regarding all other elements of the strategy. 

National Pen today looks as local as possible, and this has ensured profit throughout the past 15 years.

Moving forward

The company has been active in many major European markets since the 1980s, but adaptations and optimisations continue to be required. It has been very important to hold regular strategy meetings with local experts from the key European markets. These meetings have been very useful for an exchange of ideas across borders. 

Although there are differences between various European markets, we have had some cross-over successes. We identified lists and industry segments which have been mailed successfully in France, but had not been tested in Germany or Italy – based on local knowledge, some test groups were recommended and many worked there, too. An evaluation based on in-depth local knowledge of the target industry is needed, as not every industry will be a good target across several or all countries. 

While these meetings have been important to identify new opportunities and channels, they also showed possible restrictions with regards to legal changes in one or more of the relevant markets. The local partners could also evaluate which new products might work in a country and which would most likely not be accepted as promotional gifts.

Aside from these central strategy meetings, close collaboration and ongoing communications between the local experts have kept up the flow of information and produced good ideas. Continuing this exchange and communication across borders will remain an important element for the successful marketing activities of a client who is located outside European markets.

• Arnaud Le Lann is managing director of Euroleads, the French partner within the Lists4Europe network. Email: alelann@euroleads.fr

• Stephan Merz is founder/owner of d2m direct marketing merz – the German partner in the Lists4Europe network. Email: s.merz@d-2m.de