ARTICLE CITATION: Aaker, D.A.; Joachimsthaler, E. (1999, Nov.-Dec.), The lure of global branding, Harvard Business Review, 137-147
This can best be described as a ôhands onö article full of good strategic advice for the brand manager who is infected (or infatuated) with the desire of taking his or her particular product and converting it into a global brand. ôAs more and more companies come to view the entire world as their market, brand builders look with envy upon those that appear to have created global brands -- brands whose positioning, strategy, personality, look and feel are in most respects the same from one country to anotherö (p. 137).
Apart from the ôbragging rightsö and the subtle psychic income that derives from having a brand name thatÆs a household word around the world, there are certain pragmatic benefits that the authors ascribe to having a global brand. Among these are economies of scale, ease of strategizing and ease of marketing. However, warn the authors, building a global brand is difficult, and the most important procedure for a company to follow is to take a ômore nuanced approachö where the goal is to create a product that is a strong brand in its own right in multiple global markets.
Following interviews with 35 global brand managers, the authors discerned these four main guidelines companies should follow.
A. The company should ôstimulate the sharing of insights and best practices across countriesö
B. The company should ôsupport a common global brand-building processö
C. The company should ôassign managerial responsibility for brands in order to create cross country synergies and to fight local biasesö
D. The company should ôexecute brilliant brand-building strategies.ö
The first three of these are objectively achieved, but the fourth presents a bit more of a challenge.
The article then proceeds to use these four elemental criteria as the organizing...