The process of searching for, entering and establishing themselves in new markets is one of the greatest challenges facing Spanish companies in the global world in which we live. International expansion is not only a challenge, but also a necessity for all those companies that have always focused on the local market as the only source of income for their company.

The importance of branding in internationalisation processes

Internationalisation has undoubtedly emerged in recent years as an essential instrument of company growth.

The selection of markets when internationalising the business will be delimited by a series of variables, which may be macroeconomic (GDP, per capita income, etc.), demographic (population, demographic concentration, etc.), geographic or political (payment capacity, tariffs, stability, etc.), among others.

So why is branding so important in internationalisation processes?

No competition without a brand

Within this international economic context, the brand is an essential and differentiating instrument for entering and maintaining markets in order to offer the company's products and services and thus achieve differentiation with respect to our competitors.

Based on the business model that the company wants to use in its internationalisation process, it will be advisable to draw up a tailor-made strategy when selecting the brands under which we will operate. The different strategies to choose from are as follows:

• Designate the same brand for all markets.
• Acquire local brands already existing in that market (taking advantage of the degree of knowledge and diffusion they already have).
• Create local brands different from the original.

Bearing in mind the above, it seems essential for the company to create a global strategy, firstly detecting the markets it is interested in accessing and the brands under which it will operate in these markets to offer its products and services. What is important is that the process of innovation, creation and marketing of the brand go hand in hand with its legal protection.

Brand protection

Once the markets of interest have been chosen, and prior to proceeding with the sale of products or services in these markets, protection through the registration of the trademark will be a priority for the legal and economic security of the company.

By registering the trademark, we secure the possession of an exclusive right that allows us, firstly, to use the trademark in general and, secondly, to prohibit third parties from using our trademark without our consent.

For this reason, the registration of the trademark prior to the effective entry into the market of interest will serve as a preventive instrument against future problems in the same, since the greatest risk that we may face in the absence of trademark protection may be, in the worst case scenario, the impossibility of selling with our trademark due to infringement of an identical or similar earlier trademark owned by a competitor.

Even analysing this question in purely economic or cost terms, it will be infinitely cheaper to register a trademark with the corresponding administrative body than to defend it in court against an act of infringement by a competitor, in addition to the possible withdrawal and/or destruction of the goods from the market and the possible compensation for damages that may be claimed.

To do this, it is necessary to check in advance whether the brand under which you wish to sell your company's products or services is viable, given that sometimes there are identical or similar third-party brands in the markets you are trying to access that could pose an obstacle to the brands under which you are going to operate.

In short, and now that we know the importance of the brand in internationalisation processes, when we make the decision to enter a new market, the best thing to do is to put ourselves in the hands of an advisor who will recommend the most appropriate steps and strategies, both legally and economically, for entering that market; in this way we will be able to optimise our investment to the maximum, both economically and logistically.