The global brand at a crossroads

Greet Sterenberg and Malcolm Baker

This article is based on Research International's 2002 R10 study of global brands which was carried out in 41 countries and 52 cities.

The Global Brand At A Crossroads

Malcolm BakerandGreet SterenbergResearch International Qualitatif

The start of the debate on globalisation can be traced to Theodore Levitt's paper 'The globalisation of markets' (1), published 20 years ago. In it, Levitt asserted that global companies, and their brands, would spread ubiquitously by offering consumers an unbeatable combination of quality, availability, reliability and low price. He describes a world in which tastes and needs would become increasingly homogenised, with successful companies focusing on what everyone wants rather than what everyone thinks they might like.

Much has happened since Levitt's article was published....

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands