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Despite showing a sensitivity towards Indian culture that included replacing the Big Mac with the mutton Maharaja Mac, McDonald’s fledgling Indian operation faced nation‐wide protests. Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz Shampany Joint Company, a monopoly wine producer in the former Soviet Republic, was facing spiralling production costs as local grape harvests failed. It looked to exports to the neighbouring Republic of Kazakhstan to increase turnover but what could it expect from that market? These two case studies illustrate the possible dangers for practitioners seeking new markets. The final section of the article re‐investigates the marketing literature and reviews present methods of the application of marketing concepts to clarify where the stumbling blocks lie. The conclusions from this review are used to propose a new framework for the congruent mapping of marketing mix elements and variables at both strategic and tactical level.