Global Branding1

Global Branding – A Competitive Tool
A RESEARCH REPORT
ON
GLOBAL BRANDING - A COMPETITIVE TOOL
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for

The Award of degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
of
Mahamaya Technical University, Noida
SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
MR. KRISHNA SARASWAT KUNWAR JEESHAN SRIVASTAVA
Faculty Guide Roll No. 1015070048
MBA-4th Sem
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

IILM – ACADEMY OF HIGHER LEARNING
18, KNOWLEDGE PARK-II, GREATER NOIDA-201306
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that KUNWAR JEESHAN SRIVASTAVA has successfully completed his
research project on “Global Branding” with CET-IILM-AHL, GR. NOIDA and
submitted the project report on the same in a satisfactory manner under the
guidance of “Mr. Krishna Saraswat”.
This project is an authentic work done by the student in the fulfillment for the
award of the degree of Master of Business Administration of CET-IILM-AHL, GR.
Noida.
DATE : Mr. KRISHNA SARASWAT

(FACULTY)
CET-IILM-AHL, GR.NOIDA
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DECLARATION CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the work presented in the project entitled “Global Branding” in
the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of Master of
Business Administration (MBA), CET-IILM-AHL, Greater Noida is an authentic work
carried out under my supervision and guidance.
To the best knowledge, the content of this project does not form a basis for the
award of my previous degree to anyone else.
Date:
KUNWAR JEESHAN SRIVASTAVA
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thank my institute CET-IILM-AHL, Greater Noida, for providing the foundation for
this study. Institute provided the structure, the focus and the direction for the
successful completion of this project, and had it not been for the clarity that it
provided, this dissertation report would not have been possible.
I also thank my faculty guide Mr. Krishna Saraswat. The sincerity, dedication and
interest that he showed in my study was very encouraging and of extreme value. I
am very grateful to him for the pains he took to support this study by giving me
valuable insights and reference material.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the faculty and staff members who
have been associated with this study in many small and big ways.
KUNWAR JEESHAN SRIVASTAVA
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INDEX
Topics Page
1. Executive Summary 6
2. Introduction 8
3. The Lure of Global Brands 10
4. Common Approaches to Global Branding 16
5. Designing of Global Brands 20
6. The Branding Cs’ 25
7. Top 15 Global Brands 27
8. Issues in Developing Global Brands 30
9. How Global Brands Compete: The Branding War 32
10. Going Global Strategy 35
11. The Brand Environment 40
12. Brand Globally, Market Locally 47
13. Global Brand Proposition Model 49
14. How Global are Global Brands? 52
15. Advantages/ Disadvantages of Global Branding 55
16. Customer Bonds: Critical to Global Brand Success 56
17. The Brand Challenge 59
18. Overcoming Challenges (Barriers & Drivers) 60
19. Factors Important for Global Branding 66
20. Future of Branding 68
21.Objectives & Methodology 71
22. Recommendations 72
23. Synthesis & Conclusion 73
24. Annexure (Print Ads of Global Products) 75
25. References 82
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A "brand" is defined as "a name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them

intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competition." Each and every company establishes it
recognizable boundaries with the successfully establishment of its brand in first local
geographical areas and then further expanding them to foreign markets.
The major objective of all organizations is profit maximization and to earn goodwill in
the market. With the expansion of all national boundaries and the world becoming one
small “GLOBAL VILLAGE”, the need of the hour is “Global Branding”
A global brand is defined by Jacques Chevron as "one which is perceived to reflect the
same set of values around the world" (from Chevron's article "Global Branding: Married
to the World").
Successful global branding requires clear vision, single-minded strategy, a robust process
to formulate a solid brand platform and creative concepts that can applied and
implemented successfully across all markets. The global brand should be balanced with
local realities. As brand equity becomes more important to corporate valuation,
regulatory changes make global branding a more viable marketing approach. Global
brands are emerging as increasingly significant elements in asset valuation. Branding
then becomes a matter of ongoing corporate financial relevance, not just a marketing
activity. Global branding presents an added layer of complexity to the branding
challenge. To ensure that a brand is effective (irrespective of whether the brand is
employed globally or locally) different key issues need to be considered and evaluated.
Varied measures are adopted to make a brand GLOBAL. The importance of global
branding comes forth when proper management of the brand is done, addressing the key
issues, following a proper structured approach, adopting the market sensitive strategies
and above all the overcoming all the obstacles. Once all these parameters are addressed to
and appropriate solutions are sought for, the companies are then ready to board the
Multinational Ship. Also, the considerations of how a global product can be successful
across nations incorporating the concepts of “Glocalization” have to be considered to
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deliver the message across all societies, thus, the bottom line of global products being
Brand Globally but Market Locally.
All companies follow varied strategies to come on international grounds and compete
with international products born from various nations. These strategies could help them
step up the competition ladder, to gain market leadership, to transform an organization’s
image. This also helps to deliver one common message across various channels to all
nations thus making a borderless world for their brand.
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INTRODUCTION
“In a fiercely competitive, dynamic global marketplace, brands are facing new
challenges and threats to their expansion, and in some cases even survival. As markets
become commoditized, marketers struggle to create a differentiated value for their
customers and ultimately, their shareholders. The penalty for failing to create this
differentiated value has always been harsh; however the speed with which it is now
imposed is faster than ever before. What is interesting in the development of the new
world economies though, is that the trusted premise on which branding is based remains
truer than ever.”
Geoffrey Genovese, President and CEO of Envoy Communications
The traditional perception of branding has been shortsighted and has cast brands as being
cynically manipulative. This is due to an overly skewed attention to one group of
stakeholders, namely shareholders. It is time for brands to prove their worth to
consumers, their guidance to employees and business partners and, as a result of these
activities, their value to shareholders and this is achieved by thus, going GLOBAL.
Globalization is at crossroads and businesses are entering into a major war. Globalization
extension is being built into the Brand concept. On it depends the brand’s growth, and its
ability to explore fresh avenues and to sustain its competitive edge in terms of economies
of scale and productivity. As such, marketing directors are no longer questioning the
principle of international expansion, but are preoccupied with the means by which this
can be accomplished. Thus the question arises:
How and why to make a brand global?
A sound understanding of a brands’ functioning leads to a permanent search for new

openings. A brand can only survive if the product is kept permanently on its toes. Far
from representing a source of guaranteed income, the brand is an obligation for perpetual
endeavor. Customers quickly grow accustomed to the latest in technique and performance
to the extent of considering them normal. In order to survive, competing brands must
strive constantly to match this level of performance and if possible go beyond it. One way
to achieve this is to catch up with the global standards and compete in the global arena.
Globalization of brands offers a complete new platform for companies to undergo
“Continuous Improvement”, thus entailing themselves in a virtuous spiral of upgradation,
innovation and implementation.
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When creating and maintaining a brand, it’s important to remember that three of the
primary characteristics of a strong brand are:
• Brands adhere to a set of powerful principles.

• These principles are founded on a single defining idea.
• This idea is based not on what the company sells (e.g., widgets), but on what the
customer buys (e.g., hope)
Perhaps most important, strong brands are characterized by an unfailing consistency in

their communications. Globalization has created untold opportunity, yet its impact on
company decision-making is clear. With so many messaging mediums available,
companies must be vigilant in ensuring there is no dilution of their message. Global
brand strategies must be clear and consistent, yet must also be respectful of local needs.
This alignment of messaging is one of the biggest opportunities in value creation, and can
only be achieved by ensuring that customers perceive a consistency in the actions,
expressions and experiences of the brand.
A global brand is one, which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the
world. If, in a particular market, a communication device does not work as well as in
other markets, it can (and should) be replaced with one that communicates the intended
set of values or "brand character" which form the backbone of a global brand strategy.
Global brand building means more than attaching an attractive logo to every piece of
marketing and advertising material. Brand builders must make their names resonate with
the same sense of trust and security that their customers find at the local mom-and-pop
shop on the corner. The best brands are global symbols that evoke visceral, emotional
responses from consumers.
Branding, be it global or domestic, can be explained with the following metaphor:

“Long term brand loyalty is akin to getting the consumer to marry a brand and requires
that the marketer provide the same set of information one needs to decide upon marrying
a person, i.e. information about the physical attributes, the style and the character of the
brand.”
Physical attributes (e.g. how well does the product perform, how competitive is its
price, etc.) may require some adaptation to local market conditions and culture: A US
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laundry detergent (which does not contain perborate) may not satisfy a European
housewife, used to washing her laundry at near-boiling temperatures; Green monochrome
computer monitors may not satisfy the German hacker, who prefers an amber screen.
Physical attraction is in great part determined by culture.
Style (i.e., how the physical-attributes message is delivered) is even more rooted in
culture. Germans, whose ad culture grew from magazines, want hard facts. Latin cultures
are inclined to imagery and may resist hard sell. Asians are sensitive to symbolism,
Britons to humor, etc. There is some truth to these generalities, even though the rules are
often successfully broken.
Character communication is the key element of branding and the backbone of a global
branding strategy. It requires an absolute consistency of purpose, which one can only
achieve by having, at the onset of the communication planning, a very clear idea of the
set of values to be linked to the brand. A McDonald's commercial from the US,
Germany, Brazil or Japan is readily recognized as a McDonald's commercial, even
though it may have been produced locally, and by a different ad agency. It will
consistently convey some or all of the values (service, friendliness, understanding of
family life etc.), which are attached to the company.
THE LURE OF GLOBAL BRANDS
Developing a global brand largely depends on the brand's ability to explore fresh avenues
and sustain its competitive advantages in terms of economies of scale and productivity. A
global brand is one that is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world
and removes national barriers and linguistic blocks while being marketed internationally.
The basics of brand building apply to global branding strategy also. For a brand to
become successful, a genuine demand or a psychological need must exist in the target
market.
Global brands are those whose positioning, advertising strategies, personality, look and
feel are in most respects the same in different countries. The problem in global branding
is often that the goal is unrealistic. Managers who stampede blindly toward creating a
global brand without considering whether such a move fits well with their company or
their markets risk falling over cliff. There are many reasons for that:
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1) Economies of scale may prove elusive. Cultural differences may make it hard to pull
off global campaign.
2) Forming a successful global brand team can prove difficult. Developing a superior
brand strategy for one country is challenging enough.
3) Global brands can’t just be imposed on all markets. For example, a brand’s image
can’t be the same around the world.
For those reasons developing global brands shouldn’t be the priority until you have your
own a strong brand name. Companies should work on creating strong brands in all
markets first and then implementing global brand leadership should follow. It means
using organizational structures, processes and cultures to allocate brand-building
resources globally, to create global synergies, and to develop a global brand strategy that
coordinates and leverages country brand strategies.
There are four common ideas about effective brand leadership and so the companies
must:
1) Stimulate the sharing of insights and best practices across countries

A company-wide communication system is the most basic element of global brand
leadership. Managers in different countries need to be able to find out about programs
that have worked or failed elsewhere. They also need a way to give and receive
knowledge about customers. Creating such a system is hard and information overload is
also a problem. Companies must nurture and support a culture where best practices are
freely communicated. One way to do this is regular meetings. Formal meetings are
useful, but true learning takes place during informal conversations. Nowadays companies
are using lot intranets to communicate. The key is to have a team create a knowledge
bank on an intranet that is valuable and accessible to those who need it. Field visits are
also a good way to learn about best practices. Also one way that companies can
communicate information about their brands is by sharing research.
2) Support a common global brand-planning process

Companies that practice global brand management use a planning process that is
consistent across markets and products. A brand presentation looks and sounds the same
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no matter where in the world it is presented. It shares the same well-defined vocabulary
and strategy model etc. There is no one accepted process model, but they all have to have
two starting points:
· It must be clear which person or group is responsible for the brand and the brand
strategy;
· A process template must exist.
There are some suggestions how to make an effective process model:
1. It should include an analysis of customers, competitors and the brand
2. It should avoid a fixation on product attributes. (A narrow focus on attributes leads to

short lived, easily copied advantages).
3. It must include programs to communicate the brand’s identity (what the brand should
stand for) to employees and company partners.
4. It must include brand equity measurement and goals. (Without measurement brand
building is often just talk).
In the top-down approach the country brand team has the burden of justifying any
departments from the global brand strategy. In the bottom- up approach the global brand
strategy is built from the country brand strategies. Country strategies are grouped by
similarities.
3) Assign managerial responsibility for brands in order to create cross-country

synergies to fight local bias
Local managers often believe that their situation is unique and therefore insights and best
practices from other countries can’t be applied to their markets. People are comfortable
with strategies that have already proven effective. Responsibility for global brand
leadership can follow four possible configurations.
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1. Business Management Team

This approach is most suitable when the company’s top managers are marketing or
branding people who regard brands as the key asset to their business. They encourage
local markets to test and adopt brand-building programs that have been successful
elsewhere.
2. Brand Champion
This is usually a senior executive or CEO who serves as the brand’s primary advocate
and nurturer. This approach suite very well companies whose top executives have a
passion and talent for brand strategy. A brand champion approves all brand-stretching
decisions and monitors the presentation of the brand worldwide. He has credibility and
respect not only because of organizational power but also because of experience,
knowledge and insights.
3. Global Brand Manager

In many companies top management lacks a branding or even a marketing background.
Effective global brand managers are necessary in these cases to combat local bias and
spur unified efforts across countries. Usually global brand managers have little authority.
There are 5 keys to success in these situations without the ability to mandate.
· Companies must have believers at the top
· A global brand manager needs to create a planning process or manage an existing one
· A global brand manager should become a key part of the development, management
and operation of international brand communication system
· Global brand managers must have global experience, product background, energy, and
credibility and people skills
· Companies can signal the importance of the role through the title they give the manager
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4. Global Brand Team

With a team working on the issue it becomes easier to convince country brand managers
of the value of global brand management. Typically these teams consist of brand
representatives from different parts of the world, from different stages of brand
development and from different competitive context. One problem with a global brand
team is that no one person owns the brand globally. When local management is relatively
autonomous it may be necessary to give the global brand manager or team a significant
degree of authority. Companies must also make clear what authority resides with the
country team.
Who Runs the Brand Globally?

Middle Management Level Top Executive Level
Team
Global brand team Business management team
Global brand Manager Brand Champion Person
4) Execute brilliant brand building strategies.

Global brand leadership requires real brilliance in brand-building efforts. First consider
what brand building paths to follow (advertising, promotions…). The path you choose
will/ may be more important than the way you follow it. Second, put pressure on the
agency to have the best and most motivated people working on the brand. Third, develop
options: the more chances at brilliance, the higher the probability that it will be reached.
Fourth, measure the results.
Another way to stimulate brilliant brand building is to use more than one advertising
agency. Adapting global programs to the local level can improve the effectiveness of a
campaign. Managers won’t be able to tell how well they are building brands unless they
develop a global brand measurement system. When these measures are available, a
company has the basis to create programs that will build a strong brand in all markets and
to avoid programs that could destroy the brand.
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Global brand Assigned

planning responsibility for
process creating cross-
country synergy
Effective Global
Brand
Management
Sharing of System to
insights & best create brand-
practices across building
countries brilliance
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COMMON APPROACHES TO GLOBAL BRANDING
Today, when we look at the global market, we need to realize that at the most basic level
all human beings share common physiological and safety needs as explained by Abraham
Maslow in his `hierarchy of needs'. What separates one customer in one part of the world
from another somewhere else are the complex social, cultural and esteem needs each of
them has, depending upon the stage at which the civilization/ nation is in the process of
development. And despite centuries of technological development, these needs have
remained as crucial as ever. At best they have undergone changes or modifications due to
cultural and social processes.
Maslow’s Need Self-

Hierarchy Pyramid
Actualization
Self- Esteem
Social Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
The real challenges for a brand manager come when he has to make the consumer aware
about the product/service offered using a distinctive pattern, perhaps with a name, logo or
color, so that the strategy enables the customer to correctly identify and choose the brand
from a cluttered basket. The brand's strength is not confined to the degree of recognition
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and the quality of the product offering. Strong global brands cater to strong emotional
needs.
A brand such as Nike talks about believing in one's limitlessness, while one such as Rin
speaks about destroying dirt, which is presented as a threat that disrupts the neat orderly
world that we live in.
A strong global brand while addressing a fundamental human motivation caters to this
motivation in a distinctive way. It is driven by a distinctive brand idea, with the product
being seen in the marketplace merely as an expression of the brand idea. The product
merely translates the brand idea into a tangible form, with features and styles, which is
delivered to the consumer.
For example, the brand idea associated with Dettol is the complete protection it provides
users from dirt and infection. The company has adopted this idea across the globe
irrespective of the cultural domain it targets.
Consumers across the globe experience the brand idea only through the strategic actions
of the brand in the marketplace. These brands send market signals consistent with the
idea they stand for. Starting from the tangible attribution of the brand through the product
to the integrated marketing communication, the brand consistently sends the same signal
in every market. The more consistent this marketing signal, the clearer the brand image
across the country for global brands. Research suggests that strong brands are built over
time. Trust in a brand gets built over a large number of interactions across a range of
situations. So a strong global brand is like a network of complex psychological and
market structural issues that include situations, associations, behaviors, feelings and
symbols held together by a strong and powerful central idea.
A successful marketing strategy has two options in creating a market presence. It can kill
competition by constant communication and advertising or use communication to make
customers experience the brand and discriminate in its favor. A strong global brand
creates associations in the consumers' mind to make them see differently by guiding
consumers to attach distinct functional and emotional benefits and appropriate meanings
and beliefs to the brand. As a response to this effort, the consumer is willing to pay a
premium for these brands only if they represent added value whether as superior quality
or a clear emotional benefit.
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The development of standardized marketing strategies can vary dramatically. For

example, should the strategy be based on the common features of a transnational mass
market or upon the identification of common clusters in different countries? The problem
for a multinational organization is that it operates in a number of countries and adjusts its
products and practices in each at substantial cost. So, by standardizing elements of the
marketing mix through an international strategy, the argument is that efficiency can be
greatly improved.
But question marks hover over the extent to which a uniform marketing strategy can be
implemented. A great deal of diversity exists in geographical markets in terms of physical
conditions and marketing infrastructure, not to mention political and cultural issues which
have an impact at the brand and advertising level. Cultural disparities can be a major
stumbling block for the generation of transnational brand names. Initiatives such as the
World Trade Organization are obvious attempts to combat some of these problems by the
removal of national differences and the creation of a borderless world. The idea is that
this will enable the rationalization of product mixes to eliminate brands geared towards
particular local requirements.
Technology - a catalyst to product standardization
The development of the Internet and satellite television has paved the way for cross-
boundary advertising and promotion. But management experts have also recognized that
a basic similarity in tastes between countries is an important factor. Significant
commonalities exist in Japanese, American and European lifestyle patterns and consumer
demands. It is often argued that increasing travel and electronic communications will lead
to the harmonization of such tastes and preferences. Various factors affect the extent to
which companies adopt a uniform global branding approach.
There are several types of transnational approaches that can be adopted. The `geocentric'
approach is of interest here as it may be viewed as being synonymous with the term
`global branding' — whereby a company attempts to identify similarities among markets
and implement strategies with standard components. However, standardization and
globalization are not necessarily synonymous, as companies may adopt global branding
strategies that can contain within them varying degrees of adaptation to local conditions.
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The standardization of global branding will take account of two broad dimensions — the
marketing process and the marketing mix. In terms of the marketing mix, the manner in
which a brand is positioned can affect cross-border transferability. Price is also a key
issue as it can reinforce the position and perception of a brand. Price can vary
dramatically in different countries due to the competitive structure of the market and
taxation. Therefore, substantial pricing differences can lead to different brand strategies
being pursued. But brand identity and a clear, consistent message across countries can be
asserted through standardized packaging.
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DESIGNING GLOBAL BRANDS
Branding is important because it communicates a brand’s business proposition and,

hopefully, a reason why a consumer should desire the product represented by the brand.
The most successful visual expressions of a brand embrace its core attributes and seek to
establish a positive emotional relationship between the brand and its audiences, both
internal and external (figure 1). Building a local, regional, or national brand with a clearly
defined and understood target audience is difficult enough, but the challenges increase
geometrically when a global brand is at stake.
Before a solid foundation can be established, companies must determine the brand’s core
attributes, personality, and positioning by appraising its market category, target
consumers, and competitors, as well as the attitudes and beliefs of their own employees.
In addition, governmental legislation and taxation, political issues, social and
environmental pressures, cultural differences, local customs, religious restrictions,
consumer tastes, and different languages will need to be considered. Accounting for all
these details in one worldwide brand is no small feat and, while it is often attempted, it is
truly achieved by only a few consumer brands.
Lesson 1: Creation of a captivating name and word mark, or symbol
The first and foremost element that needs to be taken into consideration when creating a
global brand is the name and the related word mark, or symbol, that will be used to
represent the company, product, or service throughout the world. The name must be
pronounceable in all languages and dialects, free of negative connotations, and not
confusingly similar to existing names. This is not so difficult for most corporate brand
names, such as McDonald’s, Ford, or Visa, but finding a multi-lingual product or service
brand name that stands out from the crowd and works with equal success in all countries
and cultures is a much trickier proposition. Sometimes, it is a case of linguistic
embarrassment, such as the translation of Pepsi’s Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation,
which in Chinese translated into Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Dead.
Other times, it is a matter of cultural context, such as the use of the word diet in the Diet
Coke brand name, which has either no relevance or an undesirable connotation in several
countries and so necessitated the use of Coca-Cola Light as an alternate name. The
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challenge was to create a compelling branding system that would be consistently

recognizable in 146 world markets, whether named Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Light.
Thus, trade dress has to remain as consistent as possible in order to create a strong brand
expression across all markets, particularly with the emergence of satellite television, the
Internet, and an ever-increasing amount of air travel. Ultimately, if consumers cannot
recognize “their” brands in advertising or on the shelf, they may decide to switch to
competitive brands. In principle, Brand identity and distinct positioning messages are
best communicated across all countries through packaging graphics that are as
standardized as reasonably possible.
Lesson 2: The quandary of country association
Some global brands are strongly associated with their country of origin. Indeed, in certain
categories this is part of the essence of the brand. Automobiles are the most obvious
example. The German cultural psyche is embodied in Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and
BMW—and what is more Italian than a Ferrari? Other categories are actually defined by
their region of origin.
It is up to companies either to emphasize these associations to their advantage or to

recognize that their path to brand success is to be found by trying to embody the world’s
cultural differences into their brand. This has proved successful for companies like
Yahoo, whose Web sites, derived from the American model, are country-specific. While
always maintaining it’s slightly “on the edge” brand personality and never taking itself
too seriously, Yahoo subtly modifies both content and communications for each of its 23
country-specific sites.
A global brand must retain its autonomy while also adhering to local sensitivities.
Lesson 3: Taking into regard cultural tastes and differences
Beyond the product or service itself, the visual identity of the brand also faces problems
of acceptance. A color or a design that achieves a positive result in one country may not
have the same effect in another. Although the package or logo must portray the products
or company’s values, attributes, personality, and positioning, it must also ensure that
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cultural tastes and differences are taken into account. In other words, a global brand must
retain its autonomy while also adhering to local sensitivities.
Lesson 4: Physical packaging
An often-overlooked, or at least underestimated, component of a brand’s personality is

the physical packaging itself. The distinctive shape of a package can become so
recognizable that it often becomes the cornerstone of a brand’s advertising, as
exemplified by the long-running Absolute campaign that has successfully positioned its
unique bottle profile as a central theme in print ads around the world. Shape equity is one
of the more difficult assets to acquire, especially on a global basis, but once established it
can be a powerful visual mnemonic. The trademark contour bottle created for Coca-Cola
in 1915 to fend off copycat products has become so ubiquitous that a simple outline
drawing of the bottle would be instantly recognized anywhere in the world.
Lesson 5: Effects of environmental and social pressures
Public pressure can heavily influence the types of products that are marketed and how
they are made and packaged. Greenpeace is a particularly powerful social and political
force internationally, influencing companies to actively pursue more environmentally
friendly processes and procedures. More and more companies are designing and
producing packaging and labels with nontoxic, soy-based inks; nonpolluting solvents;
recycled and recyclable materials; redeemable glass, aluminum, and plastic containers;
less material waste; and so on. This can present a challenge to the execution of a unified
global brand strategy, since production and printing capabilities, as well as environmental
consciousness, can vary considerably in different parts of the world. Environmental
issues do not just stop at packaging. Consumers are also becoming more aware of how
their products are obtained, grown, and produced. Many of these issues will be responded
to differently, often quite vehemently, in different regions around the globe. Indeed,
many consumers now consider the brand behind the brand; it is no longer the product that
has to consider environmental issues but also the entity as a whole.
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Social pressure can also have a serious impact on the graphic design or trade dress of a
product. Even a best-selling brand with many years of built-up brand equity can now be
deemed offensive.
Lesson 6: Different government legislation of consumer packaging from country to

country
Marketers will also find that governmental control in matters of package labeling can
differ greatly from country to country. In the United States, for instance, much of the
copy on package labels—in particular, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tightly
regulate product descriptions, net weight statements, and health or nutritional claims. The
exact wording, and even the size and formatting of the type to be used for much of this
information, is spelled out by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act 1994 (NLEA).
To complicate this situation further, if the product contains meat, it has to adhere to
additional on-pack requirements. Although some degree of multinational uniformity is
achieved because of commerce within the European Union or as a result of the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), language differences are still very much a
factor. Tax legislation can open a Pandora’s Box of a different sort, one that surprisingly
can even affect the kind of graphics or visual images a product’s package can display.
Lesson 7: Economies of Scale
One advantage of a unified global branding policy is the ability to achieve economies of
scale in marketing and promotion expenses, savings that can ultimately be passed down
to consumers. Development costs can be spread over the global offices, resulting in
smaller markets having access to the otherwise unaffordable results of a much larger
budget. Conversely, even in primary market areas, local marketing units sometimes may
generate better, more on-target ideas than big budget global efforts. Therefore a company
has to make sure there is open communication and balance among all international
participants (marketing, production, design, printing, advertising, promotion, and so
forth) and that all points of view are listened to and respected early on in the process. The
bigger and more well known a brand is around the world, the more important it is to build
a spirit of teamwork among all who will have a stake in protecting the long-term equity
of the brand, while still allowing tactical local action to optimize short-term revenues.
However, for a global brand to be cohesive, it is imperative that the central organizing
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unit does not lose strategic control by allowing local or regional factions to have too
much autonomy. This is particularly true in regard to maintaining consistent expression
of core brand attributes, the lack of which is usually the first visible indication that “brand
anarchy” prevails. By vigilantly maintaining strong communication of a brand’s essence,
localized versions of on pack promotional campaigns can effectively target the
demographics, psychographics, and sociographics of specific regional markets.
Thus, there is so much to contemplate when creating a design strategy for the global
marketplace that the list of factors to consider sometimes seems unwieldy. The positives
and negatives of creating one global design versus localized adaptations, or remaining
associated with the country of origin versus embodying cultural differences, must be
weighed against each other. However, despite these complications, great brands tap into
basic human needs and aspirations. There can be no stronger global brand platform than
one that speaks directly to customers and improves their lives—no matter how small or
incremental that improvement.
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THE BRANDING C’s
Many companies are no longer content with being a well-recognized name in one
country. Instead, companies are seeking to build brand awareness from customers across
the globe. Global branding campaigns have accelerated in the past several years, as
different geographic regions gradually blend into one worldwide market. And
technology, such as the Internet, has helped global branding considerably. After all, a
Web site essentially gives a company a global presence, and a global direct marketing
campaign via e-mail is a lot simpler than dealing with the postal regulations of dozens of
countries.
Building name recognition worldwide requires an advertising and marketing game plan
that stresses consistency. Compaq Computer Corp., based in Houston, for example,
recently dumped its European advertising agency, Bates Worldwide Inc., and
consolidated its $200 million worldwide account to Ammirati Puris Lintas in New York
City. Why? Because Compaq wanted to send a consistent message worldwide and felt it
could do that best with one agency at the helm.
Although technology is vital to conveying a particular global brand message, it also has
drawbacks. While the Internet has opened a global line of communication to companies
of every size, it also has removed an element of control that companies once held over
their brands. For example, there's nothing stopping any person or organization from
linking to a company's Web site. Links from less-desirable sites may send the wrong
message, brand wise, about the company a particular brand keeps. Technology, it seems,
pulls off the neat trick of removing some branding problems while simultaneously
creating others. But smart brand builders, like the three profiled below, use technology
selectively to focus on what Nelson calls the top three priorities of global branding:
consistency, community and customer service. KFC (formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken),
for example, depends on a CD-ROM toolkit to send a consistent brand message to its
franchises worldwide. Owens Corning has built an online community that enhances its
image as a brand that helps its customers. And AMD's Net Seminars help it convey
information to its smaller customers, who might otherwise fall through the cracks. These
strategies are just a part of an overall global brand strategy at each company. AMD, for
example, has an extensive print ad campaign that it uses to reinforce consistency. But by
using technology to push their messages, all three companies hope their global brand
campaigns will be that much stronger.
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Thus, as more and more companies market their products across far-flung borders, many
are discovering that technology can help them maintain one of their most important
assets--their brand name
To build an effective brand, the considerations are of the following:

 Consistency
 Communication
 Continuity
 Co-operation
 Control
Consistency
Global consistency in brand packaging and advertising image portrayal, in both above
and below-the-line programs, builds upon the brand's strengths. Also, stringent controls
are in place to ensure the brand experience remains consistent around the world. This
experience guarantees a consistent high-quality product and brand support that makes the
brand instantly recognizable and familiar to consumers the world over.
Communication
Building familiarity and relevance to consumers is only achieved through effective

communication of the brand message. A Company can spread its brand message through
promotional programs, sponsorship and public relations.
Continuity
Long-term marketing programs to ensure a cumulative build over time enhance brand
equity. Eg: Australianness is the essence of Foster's brand image is promoted in every
market in the world. All Foster's lager theme advertising is consistent with an Australian
positioning. A powerful range of award winning advertising and promotional programs
has been the driving force of the brand's success.
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Co-operation
A company generally seeks partners to build the brand's success through co-operative
arrangements. As an established company, they secure their brand by licensing and
agreements in different countries.
Control
A company tightly controls the brand and its image to manage, protect and grow the
brand equity worldwide. Eg: Foster's Brewing International has strict controls in place to
protect Foster's image, reputation and identity. Their Australian-based marketing team set
the brand direction, upholds standards and promotes the latest technology to develop
communications links between their marketing team worldwide. Foster's has an
electronic, virtual global marketing office.
THE TOP 15 GLOBAL BRANDS
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Lots of ingredients go into ranking the world’s most valuable brands. To even qualify for
the list, each brand must have a value greater than $1 billion, derive about a third of its
earnings outside its home country, and have publicly available marketing and, financial
data. One or more of those criteria eliminate such heavyweights as Visa, Wal-Mart, Mars,
and CNN. Parent companies are not ranked, which explains why Procter & Gamble
doesn’t show up. And airlines are not ranked because it’s too hard to separate their
brand’s impact on sales from factors such as routes and schedules.
The first step is figuring out what percentage of a company’s revenues can be credited to
a brand. (The brand may be almost the entire company, as with McDonald’s Corp., or
just a portion, as it is for Marlboro.) Based on reports from analysts at J.P. Morgan
Chase, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, Interbrand projects five years of earnings and
sales for the brand. It then deducts operating costs, taxes, and a charge for the capital
employed to arrive at the intangible earnings. The company strips out intangibles such as
patents and customer convenience to assess what portion of those earnings is due to the
brand.
Finally, the brand’s strength is assessed to determine the risk profile of those earnings
forecasts. Considerations include market leadership, stability, and global reach—its
ability to cross both geographical and cultural borders. That generates a discount rate,
which is applied to brand earnings to get a net present value.
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ISSUES IN DEVELOPING A GLOBAL BRAND
There are various issues at the organizational level that influence the global branding
strategy. There are two strategic parameters affecting decisions on global branding. They
are the relative strength of globalization pressure in that particular industry and the
degree to which the company has internationally transferable assets.
If globalization pressures are weak and the company's assets — including the brand —
are not transferable, then the company need not go in for a global brand. It should
concentrate on creating a higher brand value in the domestic market. If globalization
pressures are weak and the company has transferable assets, then it should look at
extending these to a similar market using a global brand.
The home advantage due to a strong brand proposition can be used as a platform for
building brands in selective markets. By this the company can reap added revenue and
scale economies with valuable international marketing experience. This category of
global brand extension goes in for looking at analogous international markets that are
similar to the home market in terms of consumer preference, geographic proximity,
cultural similarity or even government regulation. Bajaj Auto's extension to the South
Asian market for its three-wheelers is an example of brand success in an analogous
market. The success of Indian films with a typical emotional branding is another
example of brand success.
Companies can look for countries with a common cultural and linguistic heritage. The
success of Ramanand Sagar's serial Ramayan in the Asian market is another example.
The story of Asian Paints in the Indian market has made it to go in for global branding in
countries such as Nepal, Fiji and Korea with its typical low cost formulations and service
delivery propositions to support the brand name `Asian Paints'.
Companies from emerging markets can also go global and launch global brands.
However, for having a global brand one has to take into consideration a different set of
opportunities and constraints. The low cost of wages and proximity to raw materials also
gives domestic companies a competitive advantage to go global. If these players can
overcome the deficiencies in skills and financial resources, then launching a global brand
will be a difficult proposition.
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The success of Infosys and Wipro as brands in the global market are examples of global
branding successes in the hi-tech industry. However, there are many complex factors that
can affect a global marketing strategy. These include the nature of the product (for
example, consumer durable products being more suited to standardization than non-
durables), features of a particular market and even organizational history.
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HOW GLOBAL BRANDS COMPETE: THE BRANDING WAR
Global branding started in the 1980s to save costs and to ensure consistent customer
communication. Companies’ strove for global scale on backstage activities for example
technology, production and organization, but made sure product features,
communications, distribution and selling techniques were customized to local consumer
tastes (“glocal” strategies).
Global brands can’t escape notice. People view them differently than they do to other
firms. Global brands are seen as powerful institutions. They are capable of doing great
good and causing considerable harm. Most people choose one global brand over another
because of differences in the brands global qualities. Firms must learn to manage those
characteristics. That’s critical, because future growth will likely come from foreign
markets.
When cross-border tourism and labor mobility raised, TV channels, movies and music
became universally available to consumers and the Internet growth exploded, all these
factors forced people to see themselves in relation to other cultures.
The rise of global culture doesn’t mean that consumers share the same tastes or values,
but it has become a lingua franca for consumers all over the world. Consumers associate
global brands with three characteristics and evaluate them on those dimensions while
making purchase decisions:
1. Quality signal (44%)

People like global brands because they usually offer more quality and better guarantees
than other products. They may be expensive, but the price is reasonable when you think
of the quality. Global brands are dynamic and exiting because they come up with new
products all the time.
2. Global myth (12%)

Consumers look to global brands as symbols of cultural ideas. They use brands to create
an imagined global identity that they share with like-minded people. Global brands can
make them feel like citizens of the world, part of something bigger and give them a sense
of belonging.
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3. Social responsibility (8%9

Global companies wield extraordinary influence (positive and negative) on society’s well
being. They expect firms to address social problems linked to what they sell and how
they conduct business. People think that global brands have a special duty to tackle social
issues. People may turn a blind eye when local companies take advantage of employees,
but they won’t stand for transnational players like Nike adopting similar practices.
There are four major global consumer segments:
1. Global citizens (55%)

They rely on the global success of a company as a signal of quality and innovation. They
are also concerned whether companies behave responsibly on issues like consumer
health, the environment and worker rights.
2. Global dreamers (23%)

They see global brands as quality products and readily buy into the myths they author.
3. Antiglobals (13%)
They are skeptical that transnational companies deliver higher quality goods. They dislike
brands that preach American values and don’t trust global companies to behave
responsibly and they try to avoid doing business with transnational firms.
4. Global Agnostics
They don’t base purchase decisions on a brand’s global attributes. They evaluate a global
product by the same criteria they use to judge local brands and don’t regard its global
nature as meriting special consideration.
Global brands usually compete with other global brands. They must strive for superiority
like brand’s price, performance, features and imagery. They must learn to manage
brands’ global characteristics, which often separate winners from losers. Smart
companies manage their brands as global symbols because that’s what consumers
perceive them to be. Consumer understanding of global brands are framed by the mass
media and the Internet. Just because companies are globally successful doesn’t mean that
consumers have only positive perceptions about them. Companies have to manage their
dark side.
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Global success usually allows companies to deliver value to consumers by authoring

identity-affirming myths. For example Microsoft wasn’t selling just technology; it was
selling the dream of personal empowerment. “Anybody who says that one person can’t
make a difference is wrong. Try to push, don’t give up, don’t give up. Where do you
want to go today?” But when companies author less-than credible myths, it can hurt
brands. One more opportunity and new responsibility for the global companies is that
they should treat antiglobals as customers. One person in ten worldwide wouldn’t buy
global brands if given a choice. These antiglobal represent more potential sales than do
markets the size of Germany. Companies must earn the trust of that segment by focusing
on them as disgruntled consumers.
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GOING GLOBAL STRATEGY
Defining a brand is not something that is generally left to chance. A brand is a construct
and not a living and breathing organism, as some would have us believe, and as much of
the language employed in branding. Brands are created, stimulated and applied by people
working in organizations seeking to create worthwhile experiences for their customers
that will induce behavior Beneficial to the organization. This calls for some careful
preparations and planning. Managers of global and international brands must understand
these issues in order to assess the potential for standardizing their brands across diverse
societies, the factors that necessitate specific brand adaptations, and the prospects for
competitive advantages. Likewise, managers of local brands need to understand the
particular strengths and weaknesses of the strategies of their global competitors and use
this knowledge to devise their competitive responses.
General Brand Strategies

Brand strategy is aimed at influencing people’s perception of a brand in such a way that
they are persuaded to act in a certain manner, e.g. buy and use the products and services
offered by the brand, purchase these at higher price points, donate to a cause. In addition,
most brand strategies aim to persuade people to buy, use, and donate again by offering
them some form of gratifying experience. As branding is typically an activity that is
undertaken in a competitive environment, the aim is also to persuade people to prefer the
brand to competition.
A global brand needs to provide relevant meaning and experience to people across
multiple societies. To do so, the brand strategy needs to be devised that takes account of
the brand’s own capabilities a competencies, the strategies of competing brands, and the
outlook of consumers (including business decision makers) which has been largely
formed by experiences in their respective societies.
There are four broad brand strategy areas that can be employed.
(1) Brand Domain. Brand domain specialists are experts in one or more of the brand
domain aspects (products/services, media, distribution, solutions). A brand domain
specialist tries to pre-empt or even dictate particular domain developments. This requires
an intimate knowledge, not only of the technologies shaping the brand domain, but also
of pertinent consumer behavior and needs. The lifeblood of a brand domain specialist is
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innovation and creative use of its resources. A brand domain specialist is like a cheetah in
the Serengeti preying on impala and gazelle. The cheetah is a specialist hunter with
superior speed to chase, and the claws and teeth to kill these animals. The cheetah is also
very familiar with the habits of its prey. It finds ways of approaching, singling out and
capturing its prey. The cheetah is one of the most accomplished of hunters within the
wild cat species; it catches up to 70% of prey that it hunts.
(2) Brand Reputation. Brand reputation specialists use or develop specific traits of their
brands to support their authenticity, credibility or reliability over and above competitors.
A brand reputation specialist needs to have some kind of history, legacy or mythology. It
also needs to be able to narrate these in a convincing manner, and be able to live up to
the resulting reputation. A brand reputation specialist has to have a very good
understanding of which stories will convince consumers that the brand is in some way
superior. A brand reputation specialist is like a horse. It can be purebred, have certain
nobility and bearing, and exhibit qualities that can be traced back to these (e.g. grace,
speed, temperament, looks). Like a horse, the brand reputation specialist can also thrive
on association with celebrities.
(3) Brand Affinity. Brand affinity specialists bond with consumers based on one or more
of a range of affinity aspects. A brand affinity specialist needs to outperform competition
in terms of building relationships with consumers. This means that a brand affinity
specialist needs to have a distinct appeal to consumers, be able to communicate with
them affectively, and provide an experience that reinforces the bonding process. A brand
affinity specialist is like a pet dog. A dog is generally considered to be man’s best friend,
due to its affection, its obedience, its loyalty, the status and the protection it provides to
its owners. Different kinds of dogs will command a different form of affection.
(4) Brand Recognition. Brand recognition specialists distinguish themselves from

competition by raising their profiles among consumers. The brand recognition specialist
either convinces consumers that it is somehow different from competition, as is the case
for niche brands, or rises above the melee by becoming better known among consumers
than competition. The latter is particularly important in categories where brands have few
distinguishing features in the minds of consumers. In some cases, a brand recognition
specialist needs to be able to outspend competition to gain unbeatable levels of
awareness. In other cases, a brand recognition specialist needs to convince a loyal
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following of consumers that it is unique. A recognition specialist is like a peacock. Most

of us will know little about birds, but we can recognize a peacock from a large distance.
We may not know its precise qualities, but if we were to choose between birds we are
more likely to plump for a peacock than for a more ordinary specimen, because of its
beauty and presence.
The Strategic Planning Cycle
The business strategy

The strategic planning for a brand starts with an understanding of an organization’s
business strategy. Strategizing for business is not something that is exclusive to the
business world. Not-for-profit organizations also have a need for this type of activity,
particularly those that are dependent on donations from the general public. The business
strategy is aimed at achieving particular consumer behavior. Only if consumers actually
purchase, use goods (more often), pay a higher price or donate (more) will the objectives
of a business strategy be met. These objectives may include a larger market share,
increased returns, higher margins and increased shareholder value. Brands are designed
to persuade consumers to exhibit the behavior that will make these objectives come true
for the organization. Thus, the influence of business strategy upon brand strategy is direct
and compelling.
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THE STRATEGIC PLANNING CYCLE
Then, the brand expression

It is the task of brand management to translate the business strategy into a brand
expression. Most brand managers usually consider this to be ‘the brand’ without fully
realizing the influences on the brand as it winds its way towards the consumer. However,
the brand expression does contain the materials with which brand managers are able to
shape their brand. It is imperative to obtain a good understanding of one’s ammunition,
so to speak, to determine what kind of battles can be fought with the brand. This means
getting a complete view of all the elements of the brand expression, then choosing which
to use and emphasize in the brand’s manifestations. It is important to realize that these
manifestations do not consist merely of advertising and promotions, but that they
encompass the full experience that consumers have of the brand.
Finally marketing
The marketing mix in its turn aims to translate the brand expression into actual products
or services, with a specific price, to be sold at specific outlets, to be promoted through
specific communications activities and channels, and to be supported by a specific
service. The influence of the marketing policy is indirect, in that the correct translation of
the brand into the marketing mix determines whether consumers are provided with the
correct experience of the brand. The marketing implementation consists of the actual
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production and delivery of the products and services, their accompanying messages to
consumers, and the actual product or service experience. The implementation eventually
determines whether consumers experience what the brand strategy sets out to provide.
The marketing implementation may make or break a brand at the moment that is of most
importance to consumers: for instance when they actually experience the brand through
advertising, promotions, purchase, usage, and after-sales service.
It does not end there

Having translated the business strategy into the brand expression, which in turn has
guided marketing activities, brand management would seem to have done its job.
Managers could be forgiven for leaning back and waiting for well-deserved acclaim to
erupt. However, all the hard work put into devising and executing the brand may still
flounder on the perception of the brand among consumers. Much of the central argument
in this book focuses on how brand perception is influenced not only by the policies and
actions of the organization, but also by the lenses through which consumers observe these
activities. Understanding which lenses affect the consumer perception of a particular type
of brand helps brand management to determine the brand’s potential among consumers in
a particular market.
The subsequent brand recognition is far more than simple awareness of the brand. It is
rather the way in which consumers discriminate (or not as the situation may be) between
the brand and competitive brands. In addition, it consists of how consumers see the
relationships between the brand and other brands. Other brands may be part of the same
organization (such as a master brand or extension brand), but can also be brands that are
related through partnership, endorsement, co-branding or as a branded element.
Consumers through particular lenses that need careful consideration also consider these
forms of brand recognition.
Finally, consumers to such an extent must appreciate the brand that they happily part with
their money and are satisfied in the process. If this is the case, such behavior will
generally fulfill the business strategy. However, in most cases, the organization’s
management will likely see the results as the basis to reassess the assumptions, policies
and activities to try to improve performance in one way or another. This starts off a new
cycle of planning.
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THE BRAND ENVIRONMENT
More factors influence a brand than the business strategy and the subsequent efforts of
the organization and its affiliates to bring about the brand, as described in the previous
paragraph. A brand operates in an environment consisting of, on the one hand, the
elements of the strategic planning cycle, and on the other hand, organizational
conventions, competitive forces, market structures, cultural factors, consumer motivation
and media attention: the lenses and filters through which consumers perceive and
experience the brand. These factors combined constitute the brand environment
THE BRAND ENVIRONMENT.
Factors that influence the brand

The brand environment consists of the brand itself – expression, perception and
recognition – surrounded by internal and external factors that have an influence on the
brand. Only by taking these factors into consideration can management understand the
entire brand proposition, and how it is affected in different markets. Some factors affect
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some brand elements more than others, some types of brands are more sensitive to
particular factors, and the effect may vary according to markets and consumer segments.
The problem facing brand managers is how to unravel all these elements and turn their
insight into policies that will unlock the full potential of their brand in a particular
market, and across multiple markets at the same time. This requires a common
framework that can be used across markets in order to obtain equivalence of brand
analysis. A framework ensures not only that global brand management talks the same
brand language and follows the same procedures as local brand management, but also
that it becomes clear which internal or external factors are uniquely influencing to
particular societies or even segments of societies.
Global and local brand management
Global brand management needs to understand how various markets compare on these
issues in order to determine how best to manage the brand globally. Determining
communalities and differences in business strategy, brand expression and marketing
provides insight into the extent, to which the organization’s policies and activities
regarding the brand diverge, as well as the causes and rationale for divergence. Doing the
same for the situational factors, the brand perception and the brand recognition provides
an understanding of the extent to which the brand is perceived differently across markets,
and what causes these differences. A complete analysis offers brand management an
appreciation of the core elements of the brand, as expressed and perceived around the
world. This type of information forms the basis for shared strategizing and planning for
the branding process by global, regional and local brand management. Decisions
regarding brand extensions, harmonization, rejuvenation, portfolio rationalization,
alliances and acquisitions depend on a thorough understanding of a brand and its
environment.
Impact on Brand Strategies

The factors discussed above each have their own specific impact on the four general
brand strategies and their strategy sub-types. Due to the limitations of its format, this
paper focuses on factors that influence the four general strategies only.
We also limit the discussion to one global branding issues that has attracted a lot of
attention among practitioners in recent years, namely brand harmonization or
standardization. This is not say that the factors discussed above do not also have a
profound effect on other global branding issues such as global brand extensions,
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rationalizing a global brand portfolio, global brand architecture and co-branding global
brands.
Domain Specialists
Domain specialists generally require economies of scale to be able to sustain their
investments in constant innovation. Brand proposition standardization or harmonization
is part of this drive towards economies of scale. Domain specialists tend to centralize
brand management, which leaves little room for local adaptation. Domain specialists,
therefore, need to either establish new conventions themselves (through a successful
challenge) or not enter the market at all. Information and communications technology
(ICT) companies have had the advantage of establishing conventions without having to
challenge existing category conventions. They have had the opportunity to shape their
category. This is why many ICT companies have been able to establish highly
standardized global brands. Among the world’s ten most valuable brands in 2001
(compiled by Interbrand) are four such ICT domain specialists, namely Microsoft, IBM,
Intel and Nokia.
Shaping a category does involve having in-depth knowledge not only of technology, but
also of consumers. Iridium, the mobile satellite phone operator, did not have this
knowledge and failed miserably when it introduced a service that few felt a need for.
Most people already had excellent alternatives to the expensive and unwieldy system.
Domain specialists are particularly susceptible to category conventions, as these largely

govern the brand domain aspects. Renault, which introduced a fair number of innovative
car designs during the past decade (e.g. Twingo, Scenic, Espace), has little or no position
outside Europe. While the brand has successfully challenged automotive design
conventions in Europe, it fails to persuade consumers across the Atlantic. Other European
car brands, many less innovative than Renault, have been successful in the USA. Domain
specialists can also be prone to cultural conventions, especially beliefs and customs
directly related to the products or services involved. For instance, there is a traditional
belief in Chinese culture about the efficacy of certain herbs. Proctor & Gamble tapped
into such beliefs by adding Showu root extract to its popular Rejoice shampoo, claiming
it makes black hair shinier. This adaptation provided Rejoice with a competitive response
to local competition such as the Olive brand, which had earlier staked its claim of
providing luster to black hair.
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Domain specialists’ brand building activities consist mainly of introducing global brand
extensions to reinforce the perception of the brand’s innovativeness. Without constant
and consistent extensions, the brands would quickly lose their relevance to consumers.
Reputation Specialists
Reputation specialists are a diverse bunch, some of whom rely heavily upon their
pedigrees while others leverage their connections to celebrities, and yet others build on a
promise that they have demonstrably been able to keep. Reputation specialists are often
good at tweaking their brands to ensure relevance to consumers in specific societies. This
means that brand and marketing management need to be largely localized, with a largely
a guiding task for global management. It also means that competencies such as consumer
understanding and narration need to be available locally.
Reputation specialists are particularly susceptible to cultural and needs conventions.

Brands that leverage their country-of-origin make use of beliefs (sometimes stereotypes)
about those countries. However, the significance and essence of such beliefs can vary
widely across societies. The same applies to values. Virgin’s reputation as a challenger to
established brands connects well with the general British distrust of major companies.
Whether the same will work for Virgin in the Far East is doubtful, as consumers there
tend to trust major companies and their brands more than contenders.
Reputation specialists often make use of people’s senses of insecurity and their needs for
belonging. A toothpaste brand that is endorsed by dentists may meet security needs in
one society, while the relevant security need in another country is whiteness. A particular
celebrity endorsement may work wonders in one country, but the same person may not
mean a thing in another country. For instance, Nike used American football and baseball
star Bo Jackson for advertising in the USA, but substituted him for local sports celebrities
in other countries.
Reputation specialists often have a limited scope for challenging category conventions.
However, they also have less of a need for doing so. Volkswagen, which builds on a
reputation for the excellent quality and resale value of its cars, does not feel the need for
constant innovation. Unlike Renault, Volkswagen’s sales do not dry up when it doesn’t
introduce innovative designs every few years.
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Reputation specialists’ main brand building activities are narration to and education of
consumers about their brand, as well as an experience that is consistent with the brands’
reputations.
Affinity Specialists
Affinity specialists are able to pluck the heartstrings of consumers. They way they do so
differs markedly between brands, but the common result is unrivalled brand loyalty.
Some affinity specialists are able to standardize their brands across societies by using
themes that are common across various societies. For instance, Mercedes is a brand that
many (successful) people around the world wish to be associated with. However, most
affinity specialists need local brand management in order to be able to build a worthwhile
rapport with consumers. Affinity specialists need to get close to consumers to be able to
connect with them. This closeness requires affinity specialists to understand exactly
which conventions can and cannot be challenged. This also means that the brand’s
organization must encourage local brand management initiatives.
Affinity specialists are particularly susceptible to cultural and needs conventions. For
instance, a financial services brand that connects to it customers by employing empathy
utilizes a society’s prevailing values and esteem needs. In a collectivist society, the
brand’s empathy is likely to be expressed through showing deference to customers. In an
individualist society, the empathy is likely to be expressed through personal recognition
and advice pertaining to the customers’ specific financial situations.
Affinity specialists also make use of people’s sense of belonging. Many youth brands
seek ways of appealing to consumers in such a manner that they wish to be associated
with the brand. This entails constant cool hunting and staying closely in tune with teens
and young adults. Tommy Hilfiger was the epitome of teen cool, but when the brand got
stuck in the same rut for a season it instantly became obsolete. Affinity specialists have
the greatest scope for challenging category, needs and cultural conventions. Due to their
general closeness to consumers, affinity specialists are in-tune with their consumers and
can sense when conventions are shifting. The Body Shop challenged packaging
conventions by using simple plastic refill bottles, thereby reinforcing the social
conscience of the brand, which resonated with likeminded consumers
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The main brand building activity of affinity specialists is relationship building. It differs
considerably between the types of affinity brands how this is achieved, whether that is
through events (e.g. Harley Davidson), through service experience (e.g. Starbucks), a
loyalty programme (e.g. Shell), an Internet information site (e.g. Pampers), through
demonstrating an understanding of target consumers (e.g. MTV), extolling principles
relevant to target consumers (e.g. Greenpeace), or by demonstrating coolness and hipness
at relevant occasions (e.g. Burton). The particular connection with consumer needs to be
constantly reaffirmed by the brand through behavior, advertising, publicity, direct
communications, brand extensions, etc. Brand extensions generally aim at reinforcing
that bond by offering products or services that bring consumers into closer or more
frequent contact with the brand (e.g. Harley Davidson aftershave).
Recognition Specialists
Recognition specialists succeed by using two aspects, namely consumers. Inability to
discriminate between a multitude of brands in a category and their inability to know more
than a few brands in a category. In some categories it is difficult for consumers to
understand the differences between brands. Subsequently consumers will opt for those
brands that they know, the ones they hear of often. These will usually be the big players
in a market. For instance, most people are not able to fathom the differences in the
propositions offered by various banks. What they are aware of are the well-known banks.
This awareness breeds confidence and leads most people to choose one of these. A more
extreme case is the mass wine category, which is teeming with unfamiliar brands. By
raising its profile, the Ernest & Julio Gallo brand provides a safe haven for consumers. It
is a brand that they can trust to provide a consistent quality at an agreeable price. In some
categories, consumers actively know only one or two brands. Apparently, there is an
inability or a reluctance to know more brands. This may be due to the fact that
competition is weak at raising its profile or the category is a low-interest one. Such
brands become the points of reference in their category. For instance, people will
generally be actively aware of only one or two toilet paper brands. These brands will
usually have very distinct propositions, e.g. one is soft and the other is decorative.
Distributors’ own brands will usually occupy the value positions. The recognition
specialists keep their advertising expenditure at high levels to preserve this situation.
These high levels of advertising expenditure necessitate recognition specialists to find

economies of scale in this area. Developing regional or global campaigns is a logical
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consequence. Recognition specialists, therefore, tend to centralize brand management,

which leaves little room for local initiatives. Recognition specialists often have a limited
scope of adapting to local conventions. However, recognition specialists are susceptible
to category conventions and needs conventions. For example, Citibank presents its credit
cards as ‘dependable’ in the USA and as having ‘distinction’ in Hong Kong. Citibank
thus adapts to the prevailing conventions of representation in both markets.
Obviously, the main brand building activity of recognition specialists is (mass)

advertising. A high general awareness among consumers forms a formidable barrier to
competition. A recognition specialist, therefore, requires advertising skills as one of its
core competencies.
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BRAND GLOBALLY, MARKET LOCALLY
Global companies know that strong global brands are the key to winning international
consumers, but creating effective brands across the complex barriers of nationality,
geography, language and culture often proves a daunting task. Global branding must be
driven by collaboration among local markets, both with each other and with central
marketing. Because local markets do face unique competitive challenges, each country
organization should bring to table data on its own market. To find common ground,
representatives of each country should sit down together, talk about their markets, and
then jointly develop a set of hypotheses about what brands in the market, channels and
consumers are shared across countries and regions. The goal is to replace the model in
which each country organization relies on its own assumed knowledge of local
consumers with one in which the entire organization uses the same view of the “global”
consumer.
Making it easy for local markets to collaborate

1. A different process for coordinating brand development
2. A revised consumer research methodology
3. A clearer definition of the roles of and relationship between the center and regions
An alternative analytical method is needed that allows the organization to compare

markets as well as to identify and test common market conditions. It must allow the
organization:
1. Construct a single framework that can be used to segment the consumer landscape in
different countries
2. Actively develop and test and re-test hypotheses about consumers using different sets
of existing local data
3. Work as unified team with complete transparency in terms of how the data are being
analyzed and what they show
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4. Start the process with a small number of representative countries, and then refine the
framework over time as new findings emerge
When a workable segmentation methodology is in place, both the center and regions need
to begin working together in a defined way. The center must focus on assuring
consistency. It means more than a shared set of guidelines for brand iconography, colors,
lettering etc and it also requires guidelines for the process and method of branding itself.
The center needs to lay out a board branding and marketing doctrine. The center must
define what the brand stands for and how the organization will develop that brand.
Local organizations role is to participate actively in developing workable global

segmentation and provide the necessary data. The global branding process allows local
markets to bring forward their deep regional knowledge about valuable customer insights
that may also apply to other markets. Approaching the branding process in this way as a
collaborative process with flexible methodology and clear set of roles, can produce a
rapid and beneficial shift in the way the organization functions and global brands get
developed.
In global companies there has to be s different approach to creating insight into

consumers, it goes a long way toward facilitating agreement across markets and
alignment of the brand against common consumer segments. The approach here is
designed as a process:
1. All steps in the analysis are made completely transparent
2. All important hypotheses about consumers, including potential differences and

similarities between markets, are explicitly raised and tested with real data, using robust
statistical analysis
3. Each subsequent stage of market analysis only goes forward once consensus has been
achieved about the previous stage4
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GLOBAL BRAND ROPOSITION MODEL
Global brand proposition model is a unique framework for equivalent and comparable
brand analysis across multiple markets and societies. The model combines the strategic
planning cycle with the brand environment into an analysis tool that can be applied both
globally and locally. It allows global and local analyses to be linked together seamlessly.
The model consists of two main parts, an internal analysis and an external analysis.
The internal analysis

The internal analysis is essential for gaining an understanding of how the brand’s global
and local organizational constructs shape the brand expression or multiple brand
expressions, as the case may be. Issues such as business strategy, corporate culture,
organizational structures, the brand’s significance to the organization and the
relationships between global and local brand management teams all play a role in shaping
brand expression elements. These individual elements, in their turn, should guide global
and local marketing activities. The way the brand defines its advantages over
competition, its legacy and principles and its character have a specific influence on issues
such as product and service development, channel choice, advertising, staff demeanor,
delivery and supply chain management. Most important is to gain an understanding on
how well these processes connect up in order to provide consumers with the required
brand experience. Although there is a certain hierarchy between the processes analyzed, it
may well transpire that a requirement in a lower order process compels a change in a
higher order process. For example, to realize a specific brand expression may require a
rethink of the organizational structure by which the brand is managed.
The external analysis

The external analysis focuses on how local conditions act as lenses through which
consumers – or particular consumer segments – observe the brand, and how these
circumstances affect consumers’ understanding of the brand by itself, and in relation to
other brands. Specific situational factors affect brand perception elements in a particular
manner, thereby influencing brands that are perceived as being especially adept at
individual elements. The resulting brand recognition relates the perception of the brand to
those in its environs, both competitive brands and related brands, either brands within the
same organization or others that provide enhancement to the brand. The findings from the
external analysis provide new input for the internal analysis. The analysis of the brand
perception, in particular, provides a starting point for further strategic planning. As the
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brand perception holds the meaning and significance of the brand to consumers, it is the
main area that global and local brand management will want to influence. As a result, the
model functions as a constant and consistent feedback loop. Each iteration of the process
will help refine or redefine global and local brand propositions.
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THE ROAD MAP
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HOW GLOBAL ARE GLOBAL BRANDS?
Nowadays many companies from local markets go to international. They want to expand
business, to introduce their products or services to foreign customers. For companies it is
not an easy task to enter into global market, because no one knows what the rules for the
entrance are. Diversification of culture, customer behavior, taste, needs and expectations
for making global brand are significant points. Many companies fail their international
entering campaign, because they try to standardize the approach that worked at home
(domestic) market and replicate it in many different “elsewhere”. This might seem from
the first look plausible and reasonable, but it is mistake. Going global does not mean
blindly taking a single brand management approach and using it everywhere. That what
works at local market it doesn’t mean that will be successful in other. For a prosperous
making brand global company needs a complex act of balancing many different strategic,
operational and organizational factors. A major source of error with global brands was
the too-easy presumption that the benefits of going global were real, tangible and open to
capture through a precise, well-defined set of brand management activities. And this
presumption, in turn, rested on a set of four not-always-validated assumptions:
1) Homogenization of taste
If managers believe that national tastes, preferences, and standards are becoming more
similar, it makes sense for them also to assume that a product, successful in one country,
will succeed elsewhere. For example, for Gucci, a luxury goods company that targets
affluent customers throughout the world in much the same way, this means believing that
similar demographics and income levels promote similar attitudes and behavioral patterns
worldwide. So in 1990, when the Gucci name was re- launched with a $10 million print
campaign, its “from the hand of Gucci” message was the same in the US, the UK, Japan,
France and Italy. It shows that many of the same consumer segments show up in many
different countries. Nationality is rarely the primary basis of segmentation. The more
effective basis of segmentation is consumer needs, and each segment may contain
representatives of a host of different nationalities, because not all Germans are like each
other and different from other nationalities, nor Spaniards etc.
2) Economies of scale
One argument used to justify the move to global brands is the need to capture economies
of scale in advertising. For example, Coca-Cola reduced its advertising expenditures $
10- 15 million, British Airways lowered its costs from 17 % to 5% of its total marketing
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budget. In global advertising the main point is to express company’s idea creative, clearly
and that it mirror common point. For instance, the campaign for Gillette’s Sensor razor
used the same message in 19 countries –“The best a man can get”. Economies of scale in
advertising are often less than anticipated. The upstream benefits of global
standardization – in R&D, raw material, sourcing, and production – are significant. One
European company by standardizing prior differences in its product range has been able
to rationalize its operations from 17 to 7 factories. Initial expectations about economies of
scale in advertising have been proven false, but there are real scale-related benefits in the
upstream elements of the business system.
3) International expansion
For years, managers assumed that the best way to expand internationally was to go one
country at a time – that means to use so-called “waterfall”. The advantage of this mod el
was that it took a lot of time to ensure that a product was exactly right for consumers in
each country, but these delays gave a reprieve to competitors.
The alternative is “sprinkler” model. When going global with a genuinely global product,
there is no need to waste time adapting it to local needs. Considering the time
traditionally required in the “waterfall” approach between home country launch and
foreign launch by even the strongest global brands – McDonald’s, 22 years; Coca-Cola,
20 years - the appeal of the sprinkler becomes clear. Rapid expansion has become a
necessity, even if it means taking greater risks. The “sprinkler” model can work perfectly
well. That means allowing time to fine-tune both the product and its positioning in one or
more markets before full-bore international expansion. The other important thing is not to
rely on a totally standardized product. Some elements of the marketing mix should be
adapted to local requirements.
4) Organization.
No small part of the appeal of global brands is the prospect they appear to offer of
simplifying a company’s global organization. Specifically, the ability to focus on a few
standardized products worldwide would seem to allow managers to concentrate activities
regionally rather than nationally and this would open up a series of opportunities to
eliminate functions such as marketing and distribution from national subsidiaries, speed
up decision processes, keep country managers from becoming too powerful, save costs
and allow easier control.
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The main problem with organizational standardization is the demotivation of local

country managers. Staff recruited and promoted on the basis of their ability to become
general managers of a national subsidiary finds themselves losing real power. This could
lead to lack of interest or backlash against global marketing campaigns.
The key to going global effectively is to acknowledge that there is a fine line between the
benefits of adopting a global approach and the risks both of seeking a level of demand
homogenization that does not exist and demotivating local management. There is a three-
step process for getting global benefits in accurate focus and for designing a path to reach
them that optimizes the risk-benefit equation:
1) Challenge the benefits of going global
2) Standardize only the core elements
3) Modify both structural and non-structural organizational elements.
Taking a brand global is not a one -decision strategy to follow standardization in all
things. It is an ongoing set of managerial choices, a thoughtful selection of strategic,
operational, and organizational approaches from a wide menu of options. The real
challenge is to identify and maintain the right dynamic balance in an ever-shifting
environment.
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ADVANTAGES OF GLOBAL BRANDING
• Image of strength and staying power

• Economies of scale in packaging and promotions
• Benefits from media overlap
• Brand awareness facilitated when customer travel
• Desirable home country association
• Brand Image consistency
• Ability to replicate domestic marketing success quickly and efficiently.
DISADVANTAGES OF GLOBAL BRANDING
• Competitive environments
• Global names and symbols are not always optimally effective.
• Can pre-empt local marketing ideas
• Consumer Response to marketing mix elements
• Administrative procedures
• Consumer needs, wants and usage patterns
• Legal Environments
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CUSTOMER BONDS: CRITICAL TO GLOBAL BRAND SUCCESS
The Struggle to Create Value

People buy brands, not products, and fundamentally the brand is an organization’s
promise to their customers. The brand enhances the value of the product or service
beyond its functional purpose in the customer’s mind. Companies that lose sight of this
fundamental premise lose their brand. It is in the establishment of this trusted bond — the
ability to achieve both a share of the customers mind and heart — that ultimately defines
the achievement of sustainable differentiation. Today, however, that challenge is greater
than ever before. Too many messages, too many mediums, parity products, multiple
continent distribution goals, and a customer who holds a greater degree of knowledge and
choice than ever before define the changing landscape. Historic measures for competitive
advantage are now the price-of-entry for any successful organization. The inability of
brands to distinguish themselves makes it difficult for companies to influence customer
loyalty. While the prize of truly relevant differentiation is elusive, the rewards of higher
sales and margins, increasing/maintaining prices, and ultimately delivering greater
shareholder value are too important to ignore.
What Makes A Strong Brand?

As already highlighted, the value of the company is not in what it sells. It’s in the
promise of the brand. When creating and maintaining a brand, it’s important to remember
that three of the primary characteristics of a strong brand are:
• Brands adhere to a set of powerful principles.
• These principles are founded on a single defining idea.
• This idea is based not on what the company sells (e.g., widgets), but on what the
customer buys (e.g., hope).
Perhaps most important, strong brands are characterized by an unfailing consistency in

their communications. Globalization has created untold opportunity, yet its impact on
company decision-making is clear. With so many messaging mediums available,
companies must be vigilant in ensuring there is no dilution of their message. Global
brand strategies must be clear and consistent, yet must also be respectful of local needs.
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This alignment of messaging is one of the biggest opportunities in value creation, and can
only be achieved by ensuring that customers perceive a consistency in the actions,
expressions and experiences of the brand. Leaders must also understand that the brand is
an asset, and that brand asset management is a critical corporate management
responsibility. Senior leadership needs to closely guard the key principles on which the
customer relationship has been developed. Those companies that delegate this
responsibility risk a serious disconnect in the relationship.
Rising Customer Expectations

And so in today’s branding arena, the knowledge of your customer is as critical as ever.
Of central importance to the branding challenge is the dramatic rise in customer
empowerment and expectations. Interactive communications and virtually unlimited
information have given customers tremendous freedom of choice — a freedom they have
been increasingly willing to exercise over the last decade. Yet as customers become more
sophisticated and more interested in innovative products and customized services, they
have also become more unpredictable in their tastes and needs.
Today, customers continue to expect and demand more value from brands. Without this
perceived value, they are unwilling to pay a premium price. Customers who have a
positive brand experience from one supplier, regardless of industry, will tend to be
dissatisfied with lower levels of service from other suppliers. What is fascinating is that
customer expectations clearly transcend industries. Today’s marketers must be aware not
only of the competitive benchmarks within their own industries, they must also be aware
of how new standards of customer expectations are being set in the greater marketplace.
Examples of brands that successfully deliver extra value and service include:
• Dell, which delivers custom computers in two days.
• Standard Life Bank, which guarantees mortgage acceptance within nine minutes.
• Toyota, which delivers custom cars in 10 days.
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Of course, e-commerce is becoming a major force in many businesses and is playing a

role in the establishment of customer expectations. Yet this access to potentially greater
customer contact and information does not always translate into a relationship. Today’s
marketers know that e-commerce can be an essential element of the customer
relationship, yet cannot be viewed as the only component or they risk failure in making a
sustainable connection.
The Need to Know Customers

While companies are moving rapidly toward a more sophisticated approach to customer
relationship management, the basic premise of “know thy customer” has not changed.
Marketers are gaining their knowledge by:
• Understanding customer expectations, attitudes and behavior through a well organized

and managed customer database.
• Crafting innovative customer strategies based on thorough customer analysis
• Commanding premium prices by differentiating themselves through criteria other than

price.
• Building customer affinity by selling other products or services.
• Exploring customer-centric revenue management, which optimizes profits for each

customer relationship.
So as highlighted, an essential element of effective branding is a heightened

understanding of what the customer wants to buy, and then ensuring you delivers your
brand promise in a relevant way to that target.
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THE BRAND CHALLENGE
Many local brands are being evaluated according to their potential as global candidates.
The bottom line for global companies is that there are not enough resources to go around
managing scores of local brands that are not truly different. Global brands are supposed
to benefit from the scale and the scope that having a presence in multiple markets brings.
As global retailers gain more power, marketers may feel more pressure to have brands
that can travel with their customers. Another justification for a global presence is fueled
by the increasing similarity that consumers are displaying in terms of their consumption
habits and preferences. Besides, global brands are perceived to be more value-added for
the consumer, either through better quality or by enhancing the consumer’s self –
perception as being cosmopolitan, sophisticated and modern. Internally, global branding
can be seen as a tool to tighten organizational relationships using the transfer of best
practice in brand management.
For global companies significant point is whether a brand’s image will carry over
effectively to other markets. Efforts to standardize brand name by eliminating local brand
names have met with consumer hostility and globally branded items introduced into
product lines have not always received enthusiastic support of country managers. Global
brands may have more success in high profile, high- involvement categories, while
consumers may still give local brands preference in purchasing every day products. The
issue with global brands is not so much whether to globalize or to localize, but how much
of each to do. Of course, the best of global while being the best of local, the same
marketers need to factor in uniqueness and relevance of a local brand as well as the level
of “globalness” in the product category.
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OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
No subject in today’s pharmaceutical advertising business generates quite as much

excitement, controversy, or promise as the concept of global branding. Unlike the case a
decade or so ago, when talk of “world brands” first waxed and quickly waned under a
mound of parochial pressures, pharmaceutical marketing and advertising people now
seem to be treating this subject with a greater sense of urgency and perhaps inevitability.
At this point, however, there still remain more questions than answers about global
branding in our industry:
• What constitutes a global brand?

• What is the value of global branding?
• What is the process of establishing a global brand?
• Who drives the process?
• How do you manage brand equity over time, particularly in an industry where brands
have relatively short product patent lives?
• Does global branding require major cultural change within our companies?
In consumer marketing, global branding has not only taken root, it is in full bloom. The
trend toward global branding, moreover, is accelerating rapidly. An issue of Advertising
Age reports that in 1997, consumer agencies around the world landed 136 global or
regional assignments worth over $5 billion in capitalized billings: 63 of these branding
assignments were global, 51 were pan-European, and 22 covered regional assignments in
Asia or Latin America.
According to Advertising Age, the surge in worldwide assignment represents a more than
30-fold increase from the modest total of two global assignments that were awarded in
1992. The Financial Times reports that the top-10 consumer brands in the world today
are all global brands, including Coca-Cola, IBM, McDonalds, Disney, and Sony.
Consumer product marketing, of course, is not prescription product marketing.

Prescription products are developed from a base of scientific research, subject to complex
labeling issues, beset by difficulties in gaining a single worldwide trademark, and fraught
with unique legal, regulatory and medical pitfalls from country to country. Despite these
difficulties, however, the case appears to be building for global branding in
pharmaceuticals, and that this time around it may be more compelling. Here are some key
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reasons why global branding makes good business sense in the present pharmaceutical
business environment:
• In most cases, particularly in the developed countries, disease manifests itself similarly
regardless of geography.
• The huge investment in pharmaceutical product R&D, $500 million per NDA, demands
maximum return on company investment as soon as possible. This places a premium on
preparing prescribers, payers, and patients for a new medication well before it is
approved (often via disease education) and assuring that it is administered appropriately
to the people who need it as soon as it has received regulatory approval (increasingly in
the context of disease management).
• We are moving toward simultaneous product approvals in the major markets, and the
drive to regulatory harmonization is becoming stronger.
• Differences among target customer segments are narrowing because of information
access. The combination of Internet technology and direct access to satellite video
transmissions, two aspects of communications whose impact was unknown in the early
1990s, have pushed us to at least to the outskirts of what Marshall McLuhan once called a
global village. As people gain access to information regardless of its location or theirs,
the interests and needs of the professional audience, and patients for that matter, must
inevitably converge.
• And in the not-so-distant future, as the culmination of these inter-related processes,
many experts project that some form of preferred global treatment algorithms will exist
for most disease states, as well as in disease prevention.
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Differentiation among global brands

A brand is defined as a product or service that can be distinguished from its competitors.
The distinguishing characteristics of a brand consist of:
• Its attributes, the features, benefits, and ‘brand personality’ traits, that set it apart from
its competitors,
• Its associations, the connections that are made in the customer’s mind between the
brand and its attributes, and
• Its identifiers, the brand’s name, its logo, color, the shape of its packaging, or of the
product itself.
Indeed a brand is much, much more than just a name and a logo. It has been observed that
generally all brands fall into four categories:
1. Power brands. This is the product that does its job best for me … Tide.
2. Identity brands. This is the product that expresses me … Levi’s.
3. Explorer brands. This is the product that takes me beyond where I am now …
Microsoft.
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4. Icon brands. This is the brand that creates a world that I want to be a part of …
McDonalds.
The decision to position a global brand in one of these categories cannot be left to the
market or farmed out to one’s subsidiaries, although they should have a voice in the
process. Brand management must, in a systematic and objective way, determine their
brand’s orientation and vision. Once that decision is made, everything that brand
management does to support it must sustain this vision and add to brand equity.
A true global brand achieves a clear and consistent identity with its target customer
segment regardless of geographic location. It is positioned similarly from country to
country, maintains a specific personality, and presents a consistent advertising message.
Building global brand equity requires that all marketing efforts reflect the needs of the
target segment and support the position and personality of the brand across borders.
Global brands are built with relentless consistency.
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GLOBAL BRANDING BARRIERS AND DRIVERS
Varied aspects have been defined which restrict the development of global brands. The
mention of few or them and their influence is as follows:
TRENDS THAT ARE IMPORTANT IN DISCOURAGING GLOBAL BRANDING
It has been greatly felt that decentralization and local empowerment and increase in
nationalism has had multifold importance in discouraging global branding. The extent of
the effects of the above mentioned are as:
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The beliefs of many people lead to a research being conducted by many companies who
found out the following details:
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FACTORS IMPORTANT FOR GLOBAL BRANDING
The following details have been put underneath in a pictorial format depicting the varied
factors that influence the growth/ development of global brands by the companies and the
extent of their influence. It is hereby brought to notice that these are not all the limiting
factors but just the factors under consideration. There are/ can be many more factors that
influence the global branding decisions which can vary both from personal / professional
influences.
The above analyses has been done by Medicus and DMB&B who have extensively
analyzed leadership brands both in local markets and global market.
It was observed that vast majority of industry respondents agree that while global
branding might be a good thing for in-line products, global branding is critical for the
next big product in their company’s product pipeline.
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Turning to the actual implementation of branding strategy, where it was asked as to

which brand support services are now the most frequently provided either globally or
through a central services unit. The following observations were made:
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FUTURE OF BRANDING
If competition is the driving force behind branding, we need to understand the issues that
face brands in the coming decade to be able to anticipate the future of branding. There are
five major developments that are partly related to one and other
(1) Progressive globalization, which entails increasing economic, social, technological,

regulatory and political interaction between societies across large parts of the globe. This
process is not new but the pace at which globalization develops intensifies with the
introduction of the Euro, China’s admission to the WTO, the prolific spread of the
Internet and (mobile) telecommunications networks, and the worldwide development of
mega-distribution power, to name but a few. Large parts of the world’s population are
affected by these changes.
(2) Conversely, the ever-quickening pace of globalization leads to the revival of local
identity and pride among those affected. In many countries, this is expressed through a
renewed historic awareness, national pride and a search for roots and authenticity. We are
happy to reap the benefits of modernization, but unwilling to commit ourselves to world
citizenship. We cling to what binds us locally, underscoring our differences with other
societies, shunning cultural homogenization.
(3) The economic developments that have been the effects of the deregulation of trade and
industry in many parts of the world have led to an increase in educated and marketing
savvy segments of consumers across the world. This process is likely to continue with
leaps and bounds, and will mean that consumers will become increasing critical of what
they are offered. This entails that consumers will seek out more tailor-made products and
services, which affects the way in which these are produced.
(4) The improvements in (basic) health services and the decline in birth rates in North
America, Europe and large parts of Asia-Pacific have tremendously increased the number
of aging consumers. This (often wealthy) generation has differing needs to younger
consumers, as well as a wealth of life experience.
(5) Finally, there is the emergence of what has been dubbed the Now Economy. Aided by
an improved inter-operability of various kinds of IT systems (ERP, Supply Chain
Management, CRM, e-commerce, GPS, etc.) companies will be able to individualise
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consumer offers, develop profound consumer understanding, and optimize the consumer
experience. How much of this is hype and how much is substance is difficult to determine
at the moment. However, it is clear that such technological developments will become
increasingly pervasive in our professional and private lives.
Implications for Branding

All these developments have the following implications for the future of branding.
Branding needs to be increasingly consumer-oriented and driven by the readiness to
provide individual consumers with worthwhile experiences. This implies investments in
product and service innovation, consumer understanding, consumer-oriented ordering and
delivery systems, and brand-based employee training and guidance. Brands will
increasingly need to balance on the tightrope of modernization and tradition. As more
brands are stretched across borders, they will need to offer distinct value to consumers in
competition with local and global brands with their own specific innovation power and
market adaptation requirements (e.g. category, culture or needs-specific). Brands will
increasingly need to prove themselves to sophisticated consumers. Not only brand claims
will need increasing substantiation to consumers, but also the ethics and behavior of the
company behind the brand. This implies increased company transparency, which
currently goes against the grain of most companies that jealously guard such sensitive
information. NGOs and the media will play increasingly important roles in monitoring
these issues.
Product brands will be provided with service enhancements that bring consumers into
increased contact with employees. Conversely, service brands will decrease their human
contacts with consumers through further automation of services.
Both movements entail that efficient handling of these contacts must be combined with a
clear understanding of the required brand experience across consumer touch-points.
These developments may be difficult to accept for aging consumers, who will start to
make up the bulk of consumers, certainly in terms of spending power.
Services thus must be differentiated to accommodate individual consumer needs and

preferences (e.g. cash home-delivery services by banks).
Consumers’ increasing power over manufacturers and retailers, which is a function of

competition, spending power and technological developments, mean that they will
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increasingly require more real-time gratification from brands. From ordering a

customized car from the comfort of their homes to the immediate effectiveness of drugs,
consumers’ expectations will need to be met with more urgency than ever before.
No Complacency!
It is clear that the days of brands as great wealth generators are numbered. As
competition catches up with the traditional power brands and as consumers become more
discerning, brands will need to work not only harder but also smarter to prove their
worth. The increased focus on consumers means that employees and business partners
need to be instilled with a clear sense of the brand to be able to deliver on the brand
experience. In addition, they will need to recognize the differences between consumers
and tailor the brand to meet differentiated brand experiences for different consumer
segments and ultimately individual brand experiences for individual consumers.
Shareholders will need to recognize those companies that take on this challenge and
reward them accordingly. Share prices must reflect companies’ current endeavors on
behalf of their brands and the current and future company value that these activities
affect. The use of brands for manipulative purposes will be penalized and the use for
value creation rewarded.
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OBJECTIVES
What is Global Branding?
&
How and Why do companies go for GLOBAL BRANDING?
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED
All the data was collected from secondary sources like Books, Journals, Company
websites and Articles posted on the Internet.
Since all the branding issues are analyzed and incorporated by the top management, thus
their literary works have been referred to.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Considering all the above aspects, the issues regarding global branding addressed by
various companies to step into the global arena have been evaluated and the following
suggestions can be made:
1. The naming conventions of the product adopted by a company which plans to go

global should be in tune with the standards and thus one should be aware of the
cultural facets of the market before entering into it. Hurting the cultural
sentiments would cause the company great harm when going global.
2. Generation of healthy competition leads to innovation and creativity. Thus, one

should regard the presence of the competitor in the market and then attack their
products and strategies instead of being a follower. This should be done though
better communication to the mass and delivery of quality, thus leading to create a
successful and strong foothold in the foreign land.
3. Avoid the intermingling of one country’s issues with another country. Respect
the borders.
4. The product launched should be in sync with the preferences all the nationals of
that respective country thus adopting the strategies of “Glocalization” i.e. global
products related to it as local products.
5. Have a strategically developed one common mission and vision which would help
the company to be more relative in all markets and be goal oriented.
Page 72
SYNTHESIS & CONCLUSIONS
It is agreed that if you success in one market, it doesn’t mean that you automatically success
in every market. You need to know about your customers and you need to do customer
segmentation. If your brands are global, it gives you power. People trust in global brands,
they (usually) want them. Global brand means quality and then the companies can ask for
higher prices.
One shouldn’t think about getting a global brand, more important is how you do brand
leading. The most important thing is to take care about the customers, because they know
what they want. Managers of leading global companies believe that if you can make it in
Japan, you can make it everywhere. If somebody uses a Burberry scarf in Tokyo, everybody
has to have it. It is very funny, but Japanese people are very willing to have all the latest
trends from around the world, and they have the money for it.
Companies and employees should know why they want to go to the international markets and
do they have the resources for it. Companies before going to global markets have to know
well if their product is committed to mass or to specialized customers. This is important to
company’s future strategy and advertising. As an example we have McDonald’s and Gucci.
Customers’ of these companies are not special, because across the world you can find people
who like fast food or don’t care about how much money they use for their clothes. Those
customers do not present any typical behavior of their nationality, but they are one type of
customers’ segmentation. So, we think that to go to the international markets for those types
of companies is easier. Of course McDonald’s can’t offer their specialty food in India owing
to cultural constraints, and Gucci will not be successful in poor countries like in Africa.
Companies want to be well known in the world, because it gives them power. They can
dictate the fashion and prices; they are the leaders in the markets. This sounds very attractive
and seems nice, so, companies can just forget about the risk, which is very significant point,
because the failure in global contest makes a huge damage to company’s image. It leads to
reducing selling, lack of trust, loosing customers. Mistakes in business world cost very
expensively and companies have to be really careful. However, companies have to pay
attention not only to external environment, but also, to internal employees. Companies’
Page 73
success mostly depends on united, well working team. Human recourses are very important
factor nowadays. Knowledge, communication and sharing information are the key points in
business environment. The more information company has, the better it can prepare for
entering to unknown market and a good preparation leads to success.
Page 74
ANNEXURES (Print Ads of Global Products)
1. Amul (Going Global)
Page 75
2. Coca Cola
Page 76
3. Ford Motor Company
Page 77
4. Adidas
Page 78
5. DeBeers
Page 79
6. Levis
Page 80
7. United Colors of Benneton
Page 81
REFRENCES
1. Strategic Brand Management, Author: Jean- Noel kapferer , Second Edition, Pg

336-372
2. Brand Leadership, Author: David A Aaker & Erich Joachimslhaler, Pg 303-330
3. Brand Management, Author: Harsh Verma
4. Brand Management, Author: YLR Murthy
5. www.brandmeta.com
6. www.businessweek.com/1999/99_26/b3635016.htm
7. Overcoming obstacles to Global Branding, Author: Glenn DeSimone
8. Business Week,Journal, Issue August 2, 2004
9. Design Management Journal, Article By: Larry Roellig, Executive VicePresident,

Consumer Branding, Enterprise IG
10. http://www.larta.org/lavox/articlelinks/2004/041129_branding.asp
11. http://www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/031598_marketing.html
Page 82

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Global Branding – A Competitive Tool

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

DATE : Mr. KRISHNA SARASWAT

KUNWAR JEESHAN SRIVASTAVA

A "brand" is defined as "a name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them

A sound understanding of a brands’ functioning leads to a permanent search for new

• Brands adhere to a set of powerful principles.

Perhaps most important, strong brands are characterized by an unfailing consistency in

Branding, be it global or domestic, can be explained with the following metaphor:

THE LURE OF GLOBAL BRANDS

1) Stimulate the sharing of insights and best practices across countries

2) Support a common global brand-planning process

· A process template must exist.

There are some suggestions how to make an effective process model:

1. It should include an analysis of customers, competitors and the brand

2. It should avoid a fixation on product attributes. (A narrow focus on attributes leads to

3) Assign managerial responsibility for brands in order to create cross-country

1. Business Management Team

3. Global Brand Manager

· Companies must have believers at the top

4. Global Brand Team

Who Runs the Brand Globally?

Global brand Manager Brand Champion Person

4) Execute brilliant brand building strategies.

Global brand Assigned

COMMON APPROACHES TO GLOBAL BRANDING

Maslow’s Need Self-

The development of standardized marketing strategies can vary dramatically. For

Technology - a catalyst to product standardization

DESIGNING GLOBAL BRANDS

Branding is important because it communicates a brand’s business proposition and,

Lesson 1: Creation of a captivating name and word mark, or symbol

challenge was to create a compelling branding system that would be consistently

Lesson 2: The quandary of country association

It is up to companies either to emphasize these associations to their advantage or to

Lesson 3: Taking into regard cultural tastes and differences

Lesson 4: Physical packaging

An often-overlooked, or at least underestimated, component of a brand’s personality is

Lesson 5: Effects of environmental and social pressures

Lesson 6: Different government legislation of consumer packaging from country to

Lesson 7: Economies of Scale

THE BRANDING C’s

To build an effective brand, the considerations are of the following:

Building familiarity and relevance to consumers is only achieved through effective

THE TOP 15 GLOBAL BRANDS

ISSUES IN DEVELOPING A GLOBAL BRAND

HOW GLOBAL BRANDS COMPETE: THE BRANDING WAR

1. Quality signal (44%)

2. Global myth (12%)

3. Social responsibility (8%9

There are four major global consumer segments:

1. Global citizens (55%)

2. Global dreamers (23%)

Global success usually allows companies to deliver value to consumers by authoring

GOING GLOBAL STRATEGY

General Brand Strategies

(4) Brand Recognition. Brand recognition specialists distinguish themselves from

following of consumers that it is unique. A recognition specialist is like a peacock. Most

The Strategic Planning Cycle

The business strategy

THE STRATEGIC PLANNING CYCLE

Then, the brand expression