eggs in one basket overstretch the credibility of that basket? Sir Richard Branson for one thinks that it doesn’t have to: ‘Each time Virgin entered a new business all the conventional pundits whined that we were stretching our brand too far. Rather than worrying too much about brands being stretched too far, people will have to stretch their imaginations further.’
Of course, the imagination is a powerful thing, and how might it work if when you are sat stranded some- where between London and Manchester, on a Virgin train, and your mind turns to that flight you have booked to Johannesburg, next week, on a Virgin plane…
If a company like Nestlé were to have all its products under the one name, what would be the impact on the supermarket shelf? It could end up looking rather like one of those ‘despised’ private labels… Or if it was hit by a food scare on one of its products, how might that impact on all its other products?
of a brand that knows no borders. Good example, and if you can do itthen the benefits are enormous, but where does that leave segmentation and posi- tioning? In very few markets do we find that ‘the world’ is a useful segment. Would you sell vodka in France in the same way you would sell it in Poland?
In truth, Heineken do not make that attempt – the brand name may be global, but the brand definition has some very local treatments.
ICI
In 1999 ICI Paints sold its Autocolor brand to long-time rival PPG. Autocolor was the paint brand for the car refinish market, the ‘you bend ’em we mend ’em’ business as insiders called it.
Some observers were surprised, the business was a success and a technical jewel in the ICI crown, but as a global brand it was a non-starter. John McAdam, executive VP for coatings at ICI, was clear about the sale: ‘Technical markets are global... if you are not in the top three – forget it.’
Things are different in the decorative paint market. Back in the 1980s when ICI bought in quick succession a number of leading brand names around the world – including Valentine in France and Glidden in the United States – the plan was set for a process of ‘Duluxization’ – the creation of a truly global brand. No more, as John McAdam points out, ‘Decorative markets are different from technical ones because you can be No 1 in the United Kingdom and be nowhere in Italy.’ Instead, the policy is to use local brands where they have strengths and resonances and to build a global portfolio of strong brands that includes Dulux, Glidden, Valentine, Cuprinol, Hammerite, Polyfilla and Polycell.
John McAdam concedes, ‘We thought we could apply a UK solution to the United States, without doing regional research.’
Making global brands work
We find some of the same elements as in the debate over corporate or product brands; the economies of
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Some paint markets are global…
… some are local
scale that global brands can bring (though never forget the staggering costs of their upkeep) versus the need to recognize local differences. Global brands can stand local variation of course – Kentucky Fried Chicken is essentially the same brand in Japan as in the United States, but without the coleslaw – the Japanese don’t go for coleslaw, and the KFC management call that a no-brainer.
Global brands with local customization can turn over time into quite distinct brands, without assiduous management. It is a difficult line for the brand manager to follow – they must be ever vigilant for variations that might actually change the brand’s personality and values, while not becoming seen as the ‘Gestapo’ of the business. Remember that brands must evolve and that a ‘thought police’
approach can only bring stagnation.
Care is required at both ends of the spectrum.
Perhaps the greatest care should be taken to avoid corporate egos getting into the brand’s driving seat.
Brands, global or otherwise, may be managed by the boardroom, but they should be driven by the market. National and cultural differences are still huge despite the ever-shrinking world, and there is still positive advantage in tailoring a brand to find a unique match with a local need. It’s called finding a competitive edge.
We have come through many manifestations of how to deal with the apparently shrinking world.
First came the rather brutal ‘one size fits all’
approach, particularly from the United States with all the concomitant charges of US imperialism. Then we had the softening ‘think global act local’ approach.
Glocal, with its underlying desire to demonstrate that ‘we’re all the same really… ’ brought some uncom-
fortable stereotyping, and then came the rather ephemeral idea that we are one ‘global village’ – less a statement of the brotherhood of man and more a clumsy attempt to find workable global segments.
Now it would seem that we are back to ‘think local, act local’, at least that is the view of Douglas Daft, CEO of Coca-Cola, the world’s most truly global brand.
Daft quite rightly dismisses the idea of there being a market segment called ‘the world’: ‘We were looking at similarities, not differences, and we didn’t stand for anything in particular for the individual.’
It will be interesting to see just how far Coca-Cola allows the development of local brand definitions to go and how keen the local management is to take up its new freedoms.
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Part III
Brand management – the implementation
While brand positioning was about finding or creating a relevant space in the customer’s mind, implementing the brand is about cementing the brand definition into that space. At this point, we could easily expand to five more books of this size with guidance on the naming, packaging and adver- tising of your brand, not to mention the building of positive associations and the development of addi- tional interactions with customers. Limited space is, however, a virtue on this occasion. Most of these activities are jobs for the experts. What seemed a great name ‘down the pub’ can fast lose its magic when seen emblazoned on the product (witness those truly cringe-worthy company names painted on the back doors of countless vans driven by plumbers, electricians, builders et al – how about
‘Ubends “R’us’?). Likewise, advertising is an expensive game and enthusiastic amateurs can make some very costly mistakes. Advertisements written by brand managers or, worse, the CEO, can be spotted a mile away.
This is not a book for professional copywriters, packaging designers or other media experts. It is a guide for those who own and manage brands and who need to know what all those experts will be getting up to on their behalf. Only then will they be able to manage them effectively. This then is the approach taken in Part III, everything you need to know, but not so much that you might consider doing it yourself!
It is the brand manager’s responsibility to ensure that every brand interaction with the customer builds and enhances the brand’s definition. This includes the choice of the name, the logo, the pack- aging design, the sales approach, the management of customer relationships, the advertising, the appearance at the point of sale, the characteristics of the product or service in use, after-sales support and, not to be forgotten, the handling of complaints.
Each one of these ‘steps along the way’ is an oppor- tunity for a positive customer interaction, and each one is what we might call a moment of truthfor the brand.
Chapter 15 will focus on advertising’s moments of truth, while here we will focus on some of the ingre- dients that can help build positive associations and