Executive Insights: Real Differences between Local and International Brands: Strategic Implications for International Marketers

Abstract

In the current context of globalization, firms have concentrated their efforts on the development of international brands. As a result, international brand portfolios have been restructured, and many successful local brands have been eliminated. This article's objective is to improve the understanding of local brand differences and competitive advantages relative to international brands. To achieve this, the authors reanalyzed the Young & Rubicam database Brand Asset Valuator and examined more than 744 brands across the four largest countries in Europe: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. The authors discuss the managerial implications of the findings for international marketers as they develop their ideal international brand portfolios.

Smes Marketing Mix: Examining Influencing Factors for Its Successful Management

“…A study by Schuiling and Kapferer [70] confirms this, adding that by the use of standardised stakeholder factors substantial savings in labelling, packaging and communication can be made. This in turn enables a higher speed to market, particularly for new B2B initiatives [70]. Several studies (e.g.…”

“…Therefore, a request for information helps to centralise marketing mix Standardization, making SMEs less dependent on certain business units, maintaining significant amount of power [6]. Similarly, Schuiling and Kapferer [70] in a SME study of the B2B area identify structural bonds to particular business units where particular and unique knowledge in terms of marketing mix Standardization are held. According to Heide and Weiss [99], such structural bonds might be overcome by a centralised management of marketing decisions and by corporate policies, implying a separate procedure to clearly communicate information to all stakeholders involved.…”

The Coo Effect in the International Brand Positioning Strategy

“…Although, some countries' consumers may prefer products from companies sharing their own national origin, this might not be faced as a general tendency (Katsumata & Song, 2016). In international markets, the consumer's perception plays an important role since the COO evaluates, in a worldwide level, the general image of its own and of the competitor's brand (Hooley et al, 1988), considering different geographic markets (Wind, 1986;Schuiling & Kapferer, 2004;Hassan and Craft, 2012;Douglas & Craig, 2013). In this scenario, the brands have to globalize elements of the marketing strategy, which relies on specific benefits and attributes that make the product unique.…”

The Adoption of E-Business by Organizations in China: An Institutional Perspective

“…Local brands also enjoy a higher degree of consumer trust than foreign ones (Schuiling and Kapferer 2004), and such a tendency is higher in China than in many other countries. Theorists and empiricists have found evidence that China is a low-trust society characterized by a tendency to distrust 'out-group' people and trust only 'in-group' people (Fukuyama 1995).…”