Why localization is not translation — and never was.
Over the past few years, the Middle East — especially the GCC — has turned into a magnet for attention from global companies. FinTech’s, crypto platforms, and traditional financial players are all looking at MENA as the next big growth market.
And yet, when I look at the companies trying to enter this region, I can’t help but notice the same problem that many of them end up repeating: the ambition is there, but the level of preparation is often insufficient. Expansion decisions are made in haste, while the underlying strategy is rarely thought through in enough depth. Most importantly, these companies tend to arrive with no real message to carry into their new environment of choice.
Notably, this is not something that is unique only to the Middle East. I have seen the same pattern repeat itself for many companies that try to enter markets significantly different from their core ones — whether that be MENA, Latin America, or Asia.
Far too often, businesses rush to establish a presence because in their eyes, “moving fast” is often simply one of those things that a company needs to do in order to scale. But they underestimate a simple reality: these new markets are not waiting for them with bated breath.
Without a clear value proposition or understanding of local needs and expectations, expansion efforts quickly fall flat because they are met with confusion from the populace. And that confusion, in turn, leads to resistance or outright indifference instead of acceptance.
Expansion Campaign Requires Changing Your Operational Model
If you’re a Western company, entering a region as different as MENA is not merely about “extending” your existing operations. What’s truly necessary here is to rebuild parts of your business so they make sense in an entirely new context and among an entirely new audience.
It starts with the basics: your product, your website, your onboarding flows, and your support. All of these things need to be adjusted to fit the mindset and expectations that are already established in the target market. Keeping to the same logic that you use in Europe or the U.S. is not going to cut it, because regulation and cultural cues are both completely different.
To become accepted, you need to build trust. And trust begins with understanding what drives your audience, what they want and need, and how your business can respond to those needs.
It’s about what value you can bring to them, not what revenue they can bring to you.
Why Are You Going Here?
Asking yourself this question is the very first thing you must do when considering expansion. As we covered in the beginning, a market doesn’t owe you its attention by default — it has to be earned.
The simple fact of your moving into a new region doesn’t mean much one way or another unless you can articulate clearly why you’re doing it. What changes are you trying to bring to the local ecosystem? What value, or expertise, or industry knowledge do you bring?
These are the most important things to ask of yourself, because the market certainly will ask it for you.
- Why do you matter?
- What is missing in the market without you?
- What can you contribute that is genuinely useful — not for your balance sheet, but for the ecosystem itself?
- Why should the people here choose you?
Only once you have determined answers to these questions, does it make sense to start dedicating time and investment into the actual expansion campaign.
It’s not enough to just send out a press release that says: “We are expanding to MENA.” The market needs more context and relevance than that.
Establishing a foothold in a new region means communication and contribution. You need to give people a reason to pay attention to you; to choose you among all the competitors. Your contribution could take any number of forms: local partnerships, educational initiatives, community programs, knowledge sharing among industry peers. But above all, it should be about bringing value to the table.
The audience needs to know that you are there for them, not for yourself. That your intention is to support the ecosystem in which they live, not just extract value from it one-sidedly. If you can’t clearly explain what the region gains from your presence, your message will never land right.
The Formula of Success is Not Universal
One of the hardest lessons I’ve seen global teams learn is that past successes in different markets don’t automatically translate to new ones. And that’s normal. Communication channels are different, media consumption is different, language is different, and people’s mindset is also different.
Once again, this dynamic is not unique to MENA. The same thing happens any time you enter a new region that is structurally different from your home market. Assuming that earning local trust will just work the same way as “before” is the shortest path to making yourself irrelevant and ignored.
Here’s a simple analogy: you can’t enter China with a Google-focused strategy, because Google isn’t the center of digital life there — Baidu is. You can’t reach out through Facebook, because the social media of choice there is WeChat.
The same principle applies to MENA. Do some research ahead of time: Where does your intended audience already spend time? Where do they get their content? How do they prefer to engage with financial services? And then you work from there.
Adapt to local platforms, local behavior, and rules of engagement that are familiar and make sense to local people. Your media logic, content formats, and narrative choices have to be adjusted accordingly. The key purpose of an expansion strategy is not to replicate what succeeded before — it’s to figure out what will work here and now.
Presence Matters When You’re Building Trust
In the MENA region, conversations often happen through a mix of regional media, closed professional networks, offline events, and personal introductions. Mass digital outreach does not automatically guarantee trust. Which is why it’s important to have a local presence — you can only build a credible image when you’re there. When users and partners can look at you directly and in person.
Of no small importance is the matter of time zones. If your journalists are in Dubai, Riyadh, or Abu Dhabi, while you’re in London, that’s about 4 hours of difference. Double that, if you are operating out of the U.S. Naturally, arranging meetings, even via long-distance digital platforms, becomes a major challenge. And if conversations don’t flow, relationships don’t form. Just like that, logistical issues end up ruining opportunities for you.
That’s why a locally-placed office and a devoted team aren’t just “desirable” — they are absolutely crucial to establishing your long-term resilience in the region.
Local spokespeople are also not optional, because strong regional communication requires faces that people can relate to. Markets respond to live representatives of companies, not just abstract logos.
In MENA, in particular, a lot is built on interpersonal relationships, so you need to hire and develop team members who are fluent in the language and culture so they can speak on your company’s behalf.
That’s how you move from being a foreign brand just “operating here” to being a truly local business in the eyes of the populace.
Patience and Clarity Will Yield Rewards
Above all else, remember that visibility and trust take time to build. A single entry campaign is not enough, and you will have to put in the work continuously for as long as you’re there. Recognition and acceptance from people will come when you are consistently there and when you continue to send the message that has value to them.
Don’t think expanding in MENA is going to be an easy process or a quick win. But if you approach this matter with the respect and preparation it deserves, your chances are going to be much better.
