Global Branding Strategies

Brands are likely the most valuable single asset of any organization. For well-managed brands, they may represent 50-80% of the market capitalization of business-to-consumer firms and 20-35% of the market capitalization of business-to-business firms.... read more

Building and managing a brand in a one country market is not simple – it requires a clear positioning strategy, effective communications, and consistent implementation. Building and managing a brand in more than one country – a global brand – can be exponentially more difficult due to the need to succeed in many – potentially disparate – local country markets.

The competitive environments of country markets can vary significantly with respect to such characteristics as culture, customer needs and behavior, competition, distribution, and regulations. Business objectives can also differ across country markets.

Country differences may require a branding strategy that is effective globally to be modified to be effective in a country market. “Think global, act local” is not just a slogan; it is a challenge for all managers involved with global brands, either at corporate headquarters or in country markets.

For the global brand manager, the more uniform the brand strategy across country markets, the lower the cost. For the country brand manager, the more tailored the brand strategy to local conditions, the more value the brand provides local customers. Making brand decisions at the global level and at the local level requires immense understanding of markets and the ability to balance decisions to increase the chances of achieving business objectives.

Successful global brands can be enormously valuable. However, developing a successful global brand strategy requires diligence and the skills provided in this series of presentations by well-known and well-respected global branding experts. The talks explain how to develop and implement a global brand strategy that is effective in achieving business objectives, including the key components of the strategy and the major considerations which affect the strategy.