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3.2 Product, brand and adaptation

Exporting a product means deciding what you change for the market and what you leave the same. What the law requires is always adapted; the rest is decided with numbers. Your brand needs protection in every country where you sell.

Module 3: International marketing · Reviewed on 20/10/2026 · Español

Goal: Separate mandatory adaptations from voluntary ones and calculate how long a voluntary adaptation takes to pay for itself before deciding on it.

A product is more than the object. It has three layers: the core benefit (what problem it solves), the physical product (quality, design, packaging, label and brand) and the accompanying services (delivery, warranty, customer service). When you export, the customer buys all three, and each market may value them differently.

The key question is what to standardize (sell the same thing everywhere) and what to adapt (change for that market). Standardizing lowers costs. Adapting can raise sales, but it also raises costs. Mandatory adaptations are imposed by the destination's rules: label, health or technical requirements, units of measure, voltage. Voluntary ones are up to you: flavor, size, color, design. Meet the mandatory ones first and make the voluntary ones only if the market will pay for their cost.

The packaging protects the product on a long trip, informs and sells. To inform, the label must be in the destination's language and carry the data its rules require, such as ingredients, country of origin or weight. For example, the European Union has a common regulation on food information to consumers, which packaged foods must meet. Each country has its own rules: review them before printing. Technical and health requirements are covered in the Quality course.

The brand is the name and sign that distinguishes your product. Its protection is territorial: a trademark registered with INDECOPI protects only in Peru. In many countries the first to register wins, so someone else could register your brand there and block you. Register in your priority markets before exporting. In the European Union, a trademark registered with the EUIPO is valid in all its member states. Also test your name with native speakers: it may sound bad or be hard to pronounce.

Some brands are shared. An appellation of origin recognizes a product whose qualities come from its geographic area and from natural and human factors; only authorized producers in that area use it, as with pisco. Marca Perú is the country brand, and PROMPERÚ grants licenses of use to companies that meet its requirements. A collective mark belongs to a group of companies and only its members use it. These are useful options for SMEs that cannot build a strong brand on their own.

Key ideas

A product has three layers: core benefit, physical product (quality, packaging, brand) and services. The customer buys all three.
Standardizing lowers costs; adapting can raise sales and also costs. Do the mandatory first and then the voluntary, if it pays off.
The label must meet the destination's rules: language, content and required data. Review it before printing.
Brand protection is territorial: register in each priority market before exporting.
Test your brand name with native speakers before using it in another language.
Appellation of origin, Marca Perú and collective marks are shared brands that help SMEs stand out.

Element	Mandatory adaptation	Voluntary adaptation
Label	Language, ingredients, country of origin and warnings required by the rules	Sales copy and brand story
Product	Health or technical requirements, voltage, units of measure	Flavor, size, color, presentation
Packaging	Resistance to the trip and permitted materials	Design and format depending on the type of customer
Brand	Registration in the destination country	Local name or version of the logo
Service	Warranty or after-sales service required by local law	Support in the customer's language

Worked example

Aguaymanto Andino S.A.C. prepares its jam for Germany

Starting point. Aguaymanto Andino, a fictional company from Cajamarca, sells goldenberry jam in 250 g jars, with a label in Spanish. A German importer wants to buy 8,000 jars a year. The company earns US$ 0.90 per jar.
Mandatory adaptations. The label must be in German and meet the European food information rule. The brand must be registered in the European Union. Estimated costs: label design and translation, US$ 700; trademark registration, fees and attorney charges, US$ 1,500. Total: 700 + 1,500 = US$ 2,200.
Calculate how long it takes to pay off. Annual margin: 8,000 × 0.90 = US$ 7,200. Payback: 2,200 ÷ 7,200 = 0.31 years, that is, less than 4 months. Since it is also mandatory to sell, it is done without debate.
Voluntary adaptation. Two of three importers consulted prefer a 200 g jar and estimate that 25% more units would sell. The margin would fall to US$ 0.75 per jar and the change of container and labels would cost US$ 1,800 one time.
Calculate the result of the 200 g jar. Units: 8,000 × 1.25 = 10,000. Annual margin: 10,000 × 0.75 = US$ 7,500. Improvement over the current US$ 7,200: 7,500 − 7,200 = US$ 300 a year. Payback: 1,800 ÷ 300 = 6 years.
Decide. It makes the mandatory adaptations now and keeps the 250 g jar. It notes the size change as an option to reassess after the first year, with real sales data.

Result: The mandatory is always done because it opens the market: here it pays back in less than 4 months. The voluntary is decided with numbers: the 200 g jar would take 6 years to pay off and is not justified yet.

Real cases

Pisco, Peru's first appellation of origin

12/12/1990

On 12/12/1990, through Directorial Resolution No. 072087-DIPI, Peru recognized pisco as an appellation of origin. The authorized area is the coastal strip of Lima, Ica, Arequipa and Moquegua, plus the Tacna valleys of Locumba, Sama and Caplina. INDECOPI explains it in a brochure from January 2025. It matters because only producers in that area can use the name, so the origin becomes part of the product's identity.

If your product has a recognized origin, make it part of its identity and also protect the name in the destination markets.

Source: INDECOPI – Folleto «Primer sábado de febrero», 2.ª edición, enero de 2025

The European Union sets a common food labeling regulation

25/10/2011

On 25/10/2011 the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. It was published in the Official Journal on 22/11/2011 and entered into force on 12/12/2011. It matters because it is the common food labeling rule for the whole Union: a Peruvian exporter that sells packaged foods to any member country must prepare labels that comply with it.

Before printing labels for a market, download its labeling rule and turn it into a checklist.

Source: EUR-Lex – Reglamento (UE) n.º 1169/2011 sobre la información alimentaria facilitada al consumidor

Common mistakes

Translating the label with a machine translator and not checking it against the rule. Ask someone from the market to review it and use the rule as a checklist.
Registering the brand only in Peru and believing it is valid abroad. Protection is territorial: register in your priority markets before exporting.
Adapting everything out of habit. Each voluntary change costs: calculate how long it takes to pay off before doing it.
Using the same name without testing it in the destination language. It may mean something else or be hard to pronounce.

Practise with the calculators, the COMEX Simulator and the review questions on the main page.

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