5 PR Expansion Strategy Moves Most Global Brands Overlook

TL;DR

• Launching in APAC requires more than a global press release. It demands cultural nuance, local proof points, and coordinated storytelling.

• This checklist is built for marketing and comms leads driving multi-market growth across Southeast Asia, Australia, and beyond.

• Our approach blends earned-first PR, deep local insight, and storytelling that builds belief—not noise.

Expanding into Asia Pacific is exciting. It’s dynamic, fast-growing, and full of opportunity. But it’s also nuanced and success is by no means a sure bet. What worked in the US or Europe might not land the same way here.

At Bud, we’ve helped dozens of global brands establish their voice across APAC markets including Singapore, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Malaysia. We’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and what too many brands miss when they launch.

This isn’t about splashy campaigns or big-bang announcements. It’s about building long-term awareness and believability through smart communications, rooted in a unique point of view, credible thought leadership and an understanding of how your target market ticks.

What’s Different About Launching in APAC?

A single “APAC press release” rarely works. Media behaviours, journalist expectations, and audience norms vary widely across the region. Launching in Singapore is not the same as launching in Japan or Australia. Cultural nuance, timing, and proof points matter.

That’s why we created this local-first checklist. It's designed to avoid generic comms and help you land with relevance.

1. Localise Your Narrative. Don’t Just Translate It

Expanding into Asia Pacific means adapting your message to regional context. What resonates in your home market might not land in Southeast Asia, where cultural values, business challenges, and buyer expectations differ. For instance, when supporting GumGum’s expansion, we repositioned their US narrative to focus on contextual advertising as a solution tailored to privacy-conscious APAC markets. This made the messaging more relatable to local media and customers.

Action step: Audit your global narrative and adjust it to reflect market-specific challenges and priorities in the countries you are targeting.

2. Tell Your Story Before You Land

To build traction in a new market, you need to start telling your story before the official launch. Journalists, partners, and potential customers should already have some familiarity with your brand by the time your announcement goes live. With Tiger Brokers, we began storytelling efforts three months prior to their Singapore launch. By engaging media with data-driven insights and future-facing angles early, we helped them earn trust and recognition ahead of time.

Action step: Create a pre-launch communications plan that seeds your story with key journalists and partners well before the official launch date.

3. Build Believability with Local Proof

Credibility is crucial when entering a new market. Without local validation, even the most impressive global success stories may fall flat. Local proof points such as partnerships, customer testimonials, or the presence of regional leadership give your brand relevance. These signals show you are serious about the market and not just testing the waters.

Action step: Appoint a local spokesperson who understands the market and can represent your business credibly to media and stakeholders.

4. Land Your Moment with Earned-First Campaigns

A generic press release rarely achieves cut-through in APAC. Instead, media respond better to stories with relevance, clarity, and a strong point of view. We believe in earned-first campaigns that combine tailored media relations with original thought leadership. For APAC markets, this approach helps you stand out in a crowded media landscape and build meaningful relationships with journalists.

Action step: Develop a launch story that prioritises media value, ensuring you offer original commentary, data, or access that journalists cannot find elsewhere.

5. Keep PR and Sales Aligned Post-Launch

A strong launch should continue delivering value long after the initial coverage fades. When sales, partnerships, and customer success teams are armed with press results and proof points, they are better equipped to build trust and close deals. PR should be seen not as a one-off event but as a strategic tool to drive business outcomes over time.

Action step: Turn media wins into sales enablement assets by repurposing coverage in decks, social content, and outreach campaigns.