While standing in the US immigration line on my way home last week, I spotted a line labelled “global entry” which inspired me to write this post.

I just came back from a product development meeting at Annette’s HQ in Cali, Colombia. I love the biannual product meetings because I get to chat with sales representatives from all over Latin America including Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela. We sit together in a conference room ready to analyze both the performance of our existing portfolio and the potential of new designs under development. Over the last two years, these meetings have become particularly dramatic as the company started exporting to other regions such as Europe and the Middle East. Everyone in attendance comes prepared to argue passionately, in true Latin fashion, for or against our product lines’ performance. Against this backdrop, it has become clear to me that the success of our products across regions depends on the diverse priorities, beliefs, tastes, and fit preferences of women across the globe. While some of our products have the ability to scale across markets, success in one region by no means dictates success globally. My personal experience in the US market illustrates this point.

Eight years ago we ventured into the United States. Commercially speaking, we did not know much about women in this market. We naively assumed that the product lines that had performed well in Latin America would do just as well abroad. After a few frustrating years struggling in the market and with management on the verge of pulling the plug, we lobbied hard to take a different approach. We teamed up with a US-based designer with a strong understanding of the American woman’s body type and taste to develop a set of products based on  two of my ideas. One of adjustable shapewear and the other one of detachable fashion solution items . The Diva Defined concept resulted from the first effort with a lofty goal to launch an innovative product that would both resonate with US women and stand out in the highly competitive shapewear industry. The second concept, called Friends with Benefits, will launch at the beginning of August.

However, we immediately ran into a roadblock with the adjustable shapewear line. The Diva concept featured classic silhouettes and modern to firm control levels, running in contrary to the taste of HQ’s Latin American clients. How can you convince management that your idea is brilliant in the absence of hard data? You just can’t. In every investment there is risk. HQ gave me the green light knowing that the collection would not work for the latin customers expecting levels of control that would be considered suffocating by US standards.

These events took place eight months ago and the results so far have been astounding. First, besides showing promising results in the US, the Diva Defined collection has gained traction in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Second, HQ has adapted for the need for extra firm control by designing a variation of the product line to appeal to those users. The problem was solved through additional investment in the portfolio which presents a challenge for scaling an industrial process.

So, what did we discuss in our latest product development meeting? I can say that our focus is on creating products that we believe will be accepted internationally. For example, we just launched Swappers, a collection of seamless reversible bandeaus which I strongly believe will prove a good fit for this strategy and gain acceptance by women across the globe. When it comes to developing products with an international focus, we must maintain a level of objectivity. Product managers carry the responsibility of understanding the cultures of our target markets and translating those needs into compelling product features. The company, in turn, must take measured risks, allocating time and resources to bring our ideas to life. As we move forward with global entry into new markets, we’ll learn even more about what makes a universally appealing product.

Although it may seem ironic,  my six sense still has the last word.