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Published on March 21, 2008

There are many companies that have been successful with their globalisation efforts, while some have fallen short of expectations, and many have failed.

There are many different models for global operations. Here are some prominent ones:

n Globalised with regional hubs (Diageo)

n Globalised with centres of excellence or lead countries (Unilever, P&G and Colgate)

n Globalised but allowing the local market almost complete freedom (Coke)

n Globalised with 100-per-cent mandate (no flexibility)

What works well for one company could be a failure for another because of the nature of the product, cultural differences and varying strengths and weaknesses.

To know whether a company has the right model, ask, "Why should a company be globalised?"

Over the years, I have heard many answers to this question but the best answer is simply, "Globalisation should make you win bigger." It is as simple as that.

In theory, globalisation has many advantages:

n Greater choice of marketing and advertising campaigns

n Cost savings due to economies of scale

n Identical brand and organisation image

n Quick transfer of best practices

n Avoiding mistakes  

Because of the global mandate for identical and consistent key brand benefit, positioning and advertising concept, Johnnie Walker has the same brand image everywhere - premium, masculine and pioneering. The same can be said for Nike, Colgate, Apple and many more. But some brands pose a challenge. For instance, at one point, Palmolive was a beauty product in Asia but a dishwashing product in the US. It was an inconceivable task to globalise at that time.

The concept of centre of excellence or lead country has been adapted by many companies to benefit from best-practice transfer and to avoid repeating mistakes. The process is simple. Similar countries are grouped into clusters or regions. A country in the cluster is nominated as lead country to test a product launch or new advertisement. Experience from that country will then be transferred to the others.

The best globalisation model should give you the flexibility to win in your market while also conforming to the global principle mandate.

For example, Diageo has a global campaign on "Keep Walking" for Johnnie Walker. But at the same time there is a regional campaign on "Keep Walking". But if you look at the regional campaign about Asian men wanting to progress, it's a lot more relevant.

Even if a product or advertising launch is successful elsewhere, the local management should have the flexibility to do things in a different way suited to the local market but conforming to the global concept.

One of the best practices of localisation of global campaigns is to make sure that the "connection moment" is nailed. Having the right consumer insight is the key to winning in the market and the connection moment is a core part of consumer insight that you must crack. Proven successful global campaigns with a targeted connection moment strategy is a sure-win formula.

Globalisation and localisation is an onward journey, where one has to keep evolving and adapting, to ensure one gets the results one wants.

vorathep rangchaikul

The Nation