UWANT: Expanding in North America

Name: UWANT: Expanding in North America (English version)
SKU: W48781

June Cotte, Chengkang (Josh) Ge

Product #:W48781

Supplier:Ivey

Discipline:International Business, Marketing

Setting:United States, China, 2025

Details:Case (PDF) • 11 pages • 2026-02-26 (Rev: 2026-04-28)

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In July 2025, Faro Hsia, managing director of overseas markets at Hangzhou Jiandan Youwei Co. Ltd. (UWANT), confronted weak US traction for a Chinese digital-native cleaning-appliance brand based in Suzhou, China, that thrived in China via livestreaming and e-commerce. Amazon Inc. (Amazon) launches and ByteDance Ltd. (TikTok) campaigns lifted early sales of its vacuum cleaners but failed to build awareness or trust, while rivals such as Dyson Holdings Pte Ltd. and Tineco Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. won with omnichannel distribution and localized marketing. With young professionals and families as target customers, Hsia had to decide whether to double down on digital-only operations or invest in off-line retail and traditional media (such as TV) to reach the half of the market still shopping in stores, with the constraints of uncertain costs, capability gaps, and harder-to-measure outcomes as UWANT sought a North American breakthrough.

Learning Objectives

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:

Diagnose why a digital-first, livestream-driven marketing strategy that won in China underperformed in North America, and identify localization gaps in messaging, creatives, and expectations in brands’ global expansion.
Identify the key factors that drive a brand’s global expansion success across products, channels, consumer preferences, and local operations.
Evaluate omnichannel go-to-market options (Amazon direct-to-consumer vs. big-box retail and TV) and propose a channel strategy that balances reach, trust, cost, and capability constraints, while recognizing and addressing potential differences in target segments across channels.
Develop strategic recommendations for emerging digital-native brands to build brand awareness and equity when entering mature and competitive foreign markets.