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“Taking A Brand Global: Ten Steps To Success”
I. Introduction: The Importance of Being Global
A strong global brand is a powerful weapon. These days, however, it may also be an
indispensable one, even as the economy challenges our faith in brands to deliver a profit.
According to Interbrand’s “World’s Most Valuable Brands 2000” study, for example, although
Amazon’s share price has declined, its brand value has increased by 233%. On the other
hand, international power player Coca-Cola, although still the world’s #1 brand, saw its value
drop by 13%. And technology brands did quite well— Microsoft, IBM, Intel, and Nokia placed
second through fifth—not at all foreshadowing the precipitous crash in their stock prices about
half a year after the study findings were released. Overall, notes marketing writer Jane
Bainbridge in Marketing [20 July 2000], Interbrand’s second annual study of this kind reveals
not only that global brands are “stable assets,” but also that “the most valuable brands are
global.” In fact, she argues, “to have a billion-dollar brand, a company has to be global.”
II. Branding As The New “Universal Language”
Based on a recent survey of more than forty-five thousand people across nineteen countries,
Young & Rubicam makes a rather startling claim. In its newest Brand Asset Valuator report,
issued in March 2001, the firm asserts that brands have taken on a godlike status: consumers
find greater meaning in them and the values they espouse than in religion. As Conor Dignam
reports in Ad Age Global [12 March 2001], the study claims that superbrands like Calvin Klein,
Gatorade, IKEA, Microsoft, MTV, Nike, Virgin, Sony PlayStation, and Yahoo! can therefore
also be called “belief brands.” Alt ...