Scaling a Sustainable Business Across Borders: Lessons from ResQ Club
The Language Doctors
Translation and Interpreting for the Healthcare and Medical Industry.
Introducing Ingemar, Head of Marketing at ResQ Club
At ResQ Club, our mission is simple: reduce surplus goods by connecting people with businesses through our mobile app. We started with food waste, but our platform now extends to flowers and other product categories like home and cosmetics. My role as Head of Marketing is to ensure our message resonates across multiple markets while maintaining brand consistency and cultural relevance.
Expanding into new regions presents both opportunities and challenges. Each market has unique perspectives on sustainability, consumer behavior, and engagement. Over time, we’ve refined our localization strategies to effectively communicate our message while staying true to our brand.
Tailoring Marketing to Each Market
ResQ Club operates in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and Germany. Each country requires a different approach, both in language and messaging. We tackle this by ensuring we have native speakers in each market to handle communications. Having someone who understands the cultural nuances and local idioms makes a massive difference in engagement.
While we maintain a scalable marketing approach—ensuring that campaigns can be adapted across multiple regions—we also allow flexibility. For instance, while Finland and Sweden prioritize sustainability in their purchasing decisions, in Estonia and parts of Germany, the appeal of discounts and savings is often more effective. The core message remains the same, but how we frame it varies based on local preferences.
In Germany, we've also noticed stark differences between cities. Berlin, for example, is highly sustainability-driven, while southern regions might prioritize different factors. Understanding these micro-cultural shifts within a single country is key to successfully positioning our brand.
Maintaining Brand Consistency Across Languages
One of the biggest challenges in international marketing is ensuring brand consistency while allowing for local adaptation. We rely on a combination of tools and human expertise to achieve this balance.
For our messaging, we use platforms like Iterable for newsletters and app notifications, and Meta and Google Ads for advertising. Social media is crucial for engaging with our audience, and we maintain separate accounts for each market in the local language. While our team strives to keep a unified brand image, we also allow for cultural differences to shape our messaging.
For translations, we primarily rely on our in-house team of native speakers. However, we also use AI tools like DeepL and ChatGPT to assist with smaller tasks or when a team member is unavailable. That said, we recognize that AI-generated content can sometimes feel unnatural, so we ensure human oversight in all our translated materials.
Cultural Differences in Perceptions of Food Waste
Consumer attitudes toward sustainability differ significantly across markets. Finland and Sweden are among the most advanced in terms of environmental consciousness, making it easier to promote ResQ Club's sustainability message. In Estonia and parts of Germany, sustainability is important, but price sensitivity often plays a larger role in consumer decision-making.
We've had to adjust our messaging accordingly. In Finland and Sweden, we highlight the environmental benefits of reducing food waste, whereas in Germany and Estonia, we emphasize a bit more on the financial savings of using our platform. However, sustainability remains a core part of our brand identity, even in markets where it's not the primary selling point.
Navigating Localization Challenges
Localization goes beyond translation. It involves understanding how cultural, social, and even regional differences within a single country affect consumer behavior.
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For example, when we entered Germany, we focused first on Berlin. However, Berlin’s consumer mindset is different from other German cities, meaning we had to tailor our initial campaigns specifically to Berliners. As we expanded further, we adjusted our messaging to better align with each region’s attitudes toward sustainability and food waste.
A key learning from our expansion efforts has been that localization isn’t just about adapting to a new market—it’s also about refining strategies in existing markets. Insights gained from newer regions have even influenced how we approach our home market in Finland, leading to refinements in our lifecycle messaging and customer communication.
Engaging International Audiences
While we focus on localizing content for each market, we also recognize the need to engage international audiences within those markets. Finland and Germany, in particular, have large expatriate populations. To accommodate them, we provide newsletters and app notifications in multiple languages. In Finland, for example, we communicate in Finnish, Swedish, and English. In Estonia, we use Estonian and English.
In Germany, we’ve primarily used German so far, but as we gain a stronger foothold, we are considering expanding English-language content. Our strategy has been to first establish credibility with native speakers before broadening our reach to international audiences.
The Role of AI in Scaling Customer Support
Customer support in multiple languages is another challenge. Instead of hiring native speakers for every market, we’re developing an AI-powered tool to help with translations and automate responses. Most customer inquiries follow predictable patterns, so AI can handle the bulk of requests while human support remains available for more complex issues.
Early testing of our AI-powered support system has been promising. While it still needs refinement, we see it as a scalable solution that will help us maintain high service levels as we grow.
Lessons from Expanding into New Markets
Every company looking to scale internationally faces tough decisions about where and how to expand. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is the importance of a phased approach. Instead of entering an entire country at once, we start with a specific city, establish a presence, and then expand.
Additionally, it’s crucial to measure success accurately. The decision to enter a market isn’t the hardest part—it’s determining what success looks like and how long we’re willing to invest before expecting a return. Entering a new market always requires significant investment, and companies must be prepared to “burn money” initially before seeing growth.
Advice for Companies Looking to Expand Internationally
For businesses, especially tech startups in the growth phase, my biggest piece of advice is to keep things simple and scalable. It’s easy to get lost in an overwhelming number of tools, systems, and strategies, but overcomplicating things often leads to inefficiency.
Before expanding, ask yourself:
Start with short-term wins, learn from them, and build from there. Expanding too quickly without understanding the nuances of each market can lead to costly mistakes. Companies that scale in phases and continuously refine their approach will have a much higher chance of success.
At ResQ Club, we’re constantly evolving our localization strategies and adapting to new markets. While we can’t share specifics yet, expansion is on the horizon. Stay tuned!