There’s a particular kind of meeting I’ve sat in many times over the last 27 years.
A client company wants to grow internationally. They have a strategy deck. It’s well-designed, data-backed, and written in confident English (or Dutch). And somewhere it does feel an bit itchy. I always hope someone in the room is wondering whether any of it will actually land in Germany. Or Sweden. Or France. It usually doesn’t. Not fully. And the reasons are never in the deck.
That gap, between what looks right and what actually works across cultures, is what this newsletter is about.
Why now
Something shifted in the last two years. AI has made it faster and cheaper than ever to produce international marketing strategies. It’s also made it easier than ever to produce strategies that are fluent, plausible, and culturally wrong.
AI does not know why German consumers distrust brands that lead with enthusiasm. It does not know why a campaign that worked in the Netherlands will feel tone-deaf in the Germany. It doesn’t know, because it cannot know, that kind of knowledge comes from being in the room, across years, across markets, across failures.
I’ve been working in international digital marketing since I started in 1999. I’d like to share what I learned there.
What you’ll find here
Each edition takes one topic in international business and marketing and looks at what’s actually underneath it, the cultural logic, the historical context, the human behaviour that data alone doesn’t explain.
Not a framework. Not a checklist. A conversation, about how the world actually works.
Some editions will challenge something your agency told you. Some will make you rethink a market you think you understood. Occasionally I’ll be wrong, and I expect you to tell me.
Who I’m writing for
You’re responsible for growth across borders, as a founder, a director, or a senior strategist. You’ve noticed that the glossy international playbooks tend to miss something. You’re not sure what, but you feel it when a campaign underperforms in a market that “should” have worked.
That feeling has a name. It’s the cultural layer.
A word about me
I’m Geddy van Elburg. I’ve spent 27 years in international digital marketing, working across multiple markets, from Europe to Asia and beyond. I’m nearly 68, which means I’ve watched four major platform shifts reshape this industry, and I’m watching the fifth unfold right now. Want my full bio? Have a look me up at LinkedIn.
I have opinions formed by experience, not by prompts. I’ll share them directly. ( yes I’m Dutch and therfor pretty direct). You won’t always agree, that’s fine. I’d rather spark a useful argument than write something you scroll past.
If this sounds like your kind of conversation, you’re in the right place.
Forward this to someone who needs it.
Written by Geddy van Elburg — international digital marketing strategist.
I’m not a native English speaker. So I choose to write in European English, to be as accessible for any other non-native speakers.