Six deadly traps for global branding and advertising

Hamsini Shivakumar

Discusses the problems faced by global brands in their attempt to be both globally consistent and locally responsive.

Six Deadly Traps for Global Branding and Advertising

Hamsini ShivakumarJWT, Mumbai

It is now a commonplace that the globalisation phenomenon of the last two decades has changed the landscape for brands, especially multi-country brands. We may think of global branding as going through three phases.

In the first phase, which lasted from the 1950s to the 1980s, global branding in practice was 'glocal' or multinational/ multi-local. This was the era when large multinationals expanded their presence worldwide with a more federal approach. Operating companies in countries had complete freedom in choosing positioning and brand names for globally sold products...

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