Launching a product internationally isn’t just a matter of flipping a switch. It’s a subtle balance between global coordination and local adaptation. Success requires more than just a Go-to-Market plan—it demands resources, clear decisions, and strong on-the-ground support. But where should efforts be focused? What tactics work best for each market? Elettra Doglio, Product Marketing Manager at Thiga, shares the keys to a structured and truly impactful rollout.
Launching a product in an international group is a race with no finish line. Markets come one after another, rollouts pick up speed. You produce, you share, you support. But the more launches stack up, the more the effort gets diluted. Where is value actually being created? Where should support be focused? To succeed with a global Go-to-Market, you have to aim precisely—and invest where the impact will be real.
A subtle balance
In international organizations, products are generally developed centrally, then rolled out by local Business Units responsible for Go-to-Market execution and activation. This setup requires smooth collaboration between central and local teams in order to maximize adoption in each market.
Central teams play a key role in defining a coherent global strategy and building synergies across markets. Meanwhile, local Business Units—directly in touch with their market—understand customer expectations, competitive dynamics, and specific constraints (regulations, behaviors, market maturity). They need enough autonomy to effectively adapt to their local reality, while also having a clear understanding of the product, its purpose, and the strategic direction shared by central teams.
Faced with diverse market contexts, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The challenge lies in finding the right balance between local support and a global strategic framework—while managing resources and time effectively to drive product adoption.
The winning trio for a flawless Go-To-Market
Each market has its own characteristics, and local teams vary in their levels of maturity. To deliver a successful Go-to-Market, central teams must tailor their support based on these differences.
Three key factors help shape the right approach:
- Business potential helps assess the potential impact of a product or feature in a given market and determine whether the investment is worthwhile. By analyzing criteria such as market size, number of potential customers, expected growth, and competitive intensity, it becomes easier to prioritize markets with the best ROI.
- Local maturity measures how capable local teams are of rolling out a product or feature effectively. A mature team can operate autonomously with access to the right resources, while a less experienced team will require more strategic and operational support. To evaluate this, look at three elements: whether there are dedicated local contacts, the experience level of the local teams, and the resources available to them (budget, tools, etc.).
- The nature of the features helps distinguish between “core” features—common to all markets—and features specific to a given market. A core feature can be rolled out more uniformly, whereas a local feature will require a customized approach.
These criteria have been refined through our experiences and sharpened as we’ve observed the dynamics of various markets. For example, in France, although the business potential is strong, local teams are still evolving, particularly when it comes to Go-to-Market practices. This requires closer support to maximize the impact of the rollout. Conversely, in expansion markets like Eastern Europe, teams—though more recently formed—tend to be more digitally mature. They’re highly engaged, but those markets often show more limited business potential.
Tactics for tailored support
Adapting support to local realities isn’t about ticking boxes on a checklist. It requires true strategic thinking to prioritize efforts and address the specific needs of each market. Central teams must adjust their level of involvement depending on the field: sometimes very present, other times more hands-off if local teams are autonomous. The goal is to strike the right balance between a global framework and local adaptation.
Here are the main strategies for structuring that support:
1. Co-create scalable strategies
When the business potential is high and local teams are mature, it makes sense to fully involve them in defining Go-to-Market strategies. Their on-the-ground experience becomes a valuable asset for building effective, reality-based approaches—approaches that may even be transferable to other, less advanced markets.
For this collaboration to work, it needs to be structured: workshops, alignment rituals, KPI tracking, sharing best practices… These touchpoints reinforce overall coherence while also highlighting local expertise.
2. Build on what already exists
When multiple markets share the same need, central teams can improve efficiency by leveraging resources created with more advanced local teams.
Playbooks, case studies, best practices—these shared assets help other teams get up to speed with Go-to-Market processes. In this context, close monitoring of implementation is essential to ensure consistency and continuously enrich resources with feedback from the field.
3. Engage motivated local teams for low-risk tests
Highly motivated local teams can play a key role in shaping approaches: by tapping into their enthusiasm, it’s possible to test rollout models in lower-risk markets.
It can be smart to rely on experienced Business Units with limited business potential, involving them as pilot sites or for running POCs. This helps test ideas, collect tangible feedback, and fine-tune initiatives before a broader rollout.
In an international rollout, there’s no universal strategy. What makes the difference is the ability to adapt
4. Connect markets to foster inter-market synergies
When the feature to be rolled out is common, but the market’s business potential is low and the local Business Unit has limited maturity, central teams can redirect them toward more mature markets instead of offering direct support. This minimizes central effort while ensuring effective dissemination of best practices and proven strategies.
This can take the form of a community of practice, where teams share experiences, insights, and learnings to become more efficient together.
5. Delegate Go-To-Market to local teams
Local teams with high maturity and adequate resources are often well positioned to lead their Go-to-Market independently. With deep market knowledge and specific needs, they’re best equipped to refine positioning, tailor messaging, and execute the most relevant tactics.
In this case, the central team's role is limited to strategic oversight—for example, by joining Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs). These sessions provide an opportunity to analyze performance, gather feedback, and identify areas for improvement. They also offer a structured space to discuss wins and lessons learned, helping to spread best practices across the organization.
6. Actively manage strategic markets
When a market shows strong business potential but local teams lack maturity, structured support becomes essential. Without the necessary skills or resources, they can’t run an effective Go-to-Market on their own. In this case, central teams must take the lead: framing the strategy, coordinating the action plan, closely monitoring execution. It’s a key investment to ensure a successful launch—and to help grow local capabilities.
Close supervision is necessary to structure this support, notably through clear RACI alignment, hands-on management of execution, and regular coaching sessions to strengthen local expertise.
7. Know when to say no to non-strategic initatives
When both local maturity and business potential are low, investing time or resources often isn’t justified. In these cases, central teams choose not to actively support these markets, focusing instead where the impact will be real. That doesn’t mean ignoring them: regular touchpoints, such as quarterly reviews, help keep lines of communication open and detect early signals of change. At the same time, transparent communication around priorities and centralized request management help align expectations—and lay the groundwork for deeper engagement if the context evolves.
In an international rollout, there’s no universal strategy. What makes the difference is the ability to adapt—to read each local context, calibrate involvement, and deploy the right resources in the right place. It’s not about replicating a fixed method or leaving local teams to fend for themselves. Success comes from targeted support, adjusted to maturity, business potential, and local challenges.
By structuring these different levels of involvement—co-creation, knowledge transfer, community building, centralized steering or delegation—central teams create a real lever for impact. The result: smoother launches, better operational efficiency… and most importantly, more autonomous local teams, ready to grow the product, market by market.
Want to learn more about product launches? Check out our article to discover how to build your Go-to-Market strategy!
