Mirage of Global Markets: How Globalizing Companies Can Succeed as Markets Localize, The

Chapter 4. Global Branding and Promotion

The question of whether or not an international company should pursue a policy of global branding—whether it should seek globally consistent brand names, identities, and positions—encapsulates perfectly the core dilemma of international marketing. On the one hand, brands work because of their consistency and omnipresence, offering customers a short cut in the purchase decision by a promise of reliability and familiarity. It is also true, of course, that it is more efficient for companies to manage a single brand worldwide than a portfolio of different brands, both in terms of economies in marketing expenditure and in terms of managerial control and accountability. This suggests that brands should seek wide ...