Winning Global Markets: How Businesses Invest and Prosper in the World's High-Growth Cities

Chapter 8How Marketers Manage the City-Centered Global Economy

We have shown how growing a business in the top global-growth cities is a two-way street between how midsize and large multinational companies (MNCs) compete with one another to position their business expansion and how global cities compete with one another for investment by top companies. Company marketers have to pick the best city regions for their headquarters and business divisions. City marketers, primarily operating through their city or metropolitan (metro) economic development agencies, have to win the competitive battle to attract top companies to their city and city region.

Two major impediments to this thinking must be overcome. On the company side, business and marketing organizations have to overcome decades of thinking that global market expansion has to proceed at a global region level and a country level. The preponderance of data and analysis of economic growth is compiled at global, regional, and national levels, not at city and city region levels. Hence, the strategic tendency of company marketers is to investigate opportunities at a national level and do business at a central government level. We call this the diplomatic route, and it is out of date.

Economic growth is not happening at the national level. The rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth of many top global cities exceeds the national rate of GDP growth. Company marketers have to shift their focus from geographical regions and ...