Dynamics of Global Brand文档格式.docx

Dynamics of Global Brand文档格式.docx

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and

C.SamuelCraig

SternSchoolofBusiness

NewYorkUniversity

April2002

PaperpresentedatResearchinInternationalMarketingConference.

CIBERUniversityofConnecticut;

October19,2001.

ContactAuthor:

SternSchoolofBusiness,K-MEC7-67

44West4thStreet

NewYork,NY10012-1126

Phone:

（212）998-0418

Email:

sdouglas@stern.nyu.edu

TheauthorswishtoacknowledgesupportprovidedbytheUnileverFoundationforthisresearch.

Abstract

Brandsplayacriticalroleinafirm'

sinternationalmarketingstrategy.Acoherentinternationalbrandarchitectureisakeycomponentofthefirm'

soverallinternationalmarketingstrategyasitprovidesaframeworktoleveragestrongbrandsintoothermarkets,assimilateacquiredbrands,andrationalizethefirm'

sinternationalbrandingstrategy.Thispaperlooksatthevariouscomponentsofinternationalbrandarchitectureandthedifferenttypesofarchitecturefoundamongasampleoflargeinternationalconsumergoodscompanies.Basedontheseinitialinsights,somekeyissuesthatneedfurtherresearchareidentified.

Introduction

Brandingisakeyelementofafirm’smarketingstrategy.Strongbrandshelpestablishthefirm'

sidentityinthemarketplace,anddevelopasolidcustomerfranchise（Aaker,1996;

Kapferer,1997;

Keller,1998）.Owningthenumberoneortwobrandintheproductcategoryprovidesmanufacturerswithaweapontocountergrowingretailerpower（BarwiseandRobertson,1992）.Astrongbrandnamecanalsoprovidethebasisforbrandextensions,whichfurtherstrengthenthefirm'

spositioninthemarketplaceaswellaspotentiallyenhancingthebrand’svalue（AakerandKeller,1990）.Asfirmsmoveintointernationalmarkets,brandingplaysanimportantroleinitsmarketingstrategy.Inparticular,ajudiciousbrandingstrategyprovidesameanstoenhancethefirm’svisibilityandintegratestrategyacrossnationalmarkets（seeKhermouch,HolmesandIhlwan,2001）.

InmarketsoutsidetheU.S.,theconceptofbuildingstrongbrandsinordertoestablishmarketpositionisrelativelyrecent（Courtetal.1997）.Marketsareoftenfragmented,characterizedbysmall-scaledistribution,andlackthepotentialorsizetowarranttheuseofheavymassmediaadvertisingneededtodevelopstrongbrands（BarwiseandRobertson,1992）.Inaddition,firmshavetypicallyexpandedthegeographicscopeofoperationsonapiecemealbasisbyacquiringcompaniesinothercountriesorenteringintoalliancesacrossnationalboundaries.Asaresulttheyoftenacquirenationalbrandsoroneswithlimitedvisibility.Consequently,companiesoperatinginternationallyneedtoidentifyopportunitiesforstrengtheningtheirpositionthroughimprovedco-ordinationandharmonizationofbrandsacrosscountriesandbuildingacohesiveandeffectivearchitecturefortheirbrands.

Aninternationalbrandarchitectureprovidesastructureandarationaleforbrandingdecisionsatdifferentlevelsoftheorganizationandfordifferentgeographiclocations.Inessence,thisarchitectureprovidestheprinciplesthatguidetheeffectiveuseofbrandssoastodevelopastrongpositionaladvantageininternationalmarkets.Itshouldestablishwhichbrandsshouldbeemphasizedatwhatlevelintheorganization,i.e.corporate,productbusinessandproduct,howbrandsareusedandextendedacrossproductlinesandcountry,andhowfarbrandingisharmonizedandcoordinatedacrossnationalborders.Withoutawell-conceivedinternationalbrandarchitecture,thefirmwillbeatacompetitivedisadvantage,sufferingfrominconsistenciesinbrandidentityacrossnationalmarkets,lackofastrongcorporateorproductidentityininternationalmarkets,andtheinabilitytomaximizethevalueofbrandsacrossnationalboundaries.

Thepresentpaperdevelopsaframeworkforunderstandingthedesignandcompositionofafirm’sinternationalbrandarchitecture.Currentperspectivesoninternationalbrandingandbrandarchitecturearefirstexamined.AconceptualframeworkidentifyingtheelementsofinternationalbrandarchitectureisdevelopedbasedonthefindingsofafieldsurveyoftheinternationalbrandingstrategiesofanumberoflargeconsumergoodscompaniesinEurope.Eachofitscomponentsandthetypicalpatternsofbrandarchitecturefoundinthesecompaniesarethendiscussedinmoredetail.Finally,somedirectionsforfutureresearcharesuggested,designedtoprovideimprovedunderstandingofthisimportantareaofresearch.

PerspectivesonInternationalBranding

Mostdiscussionandresearchonbranding,whetherindomesticorinternationalmarketsfocusesontheequityorvalueassociatedwithabrandnameandthefactorswhichcreateoraretheunderlyingsourceofvalue（Aaker,1996;

Keller,1998）.Considerableattentionhas,forexample,beendevotedtoexamininghowthevalueembodiedinabrandanditsequitycanbeextendedtootherproductswithoutresultingindilutionofvalue（AakerandKeller,1990）.Thisinteresthasbeenstimulatedinpartbytheincreasingmarketpowerandvalueassociatedwithastrongbrandandinpartbytheprohibitivecostsoflaunchingasuccessfulnewbrand.Ininternationalmarkets,interesthasbeencenteredaroundglobalbranding-definingthemeaningofaglobalbrand,discussingtheadvantagesandpitfalls,andtheconditionsunderwhichbuildingaglobalbrandismostlikelytobesuccessful（Roth,1995a,b;

Quelch,1999）.

WhilethisfocusisappropriateforarelativelyfewhighprofilebrandssuchasNikeorCoca-Cola,itignoresthecomplexityoftheissuesfacedbythevastmajorityofmultinationalfirmswhoownavarietyofnational,regionalandinternationalbrands,atdifferentlevelsintheorganization,spanningabroadrangeofdiversecountrymarkets.Typically,thesebrandsdifferintheirstrength,associations,targetmarketandtherangeofproductscovered,bothwithinandacrossmarkets.Equallytheuseofbrandsatdifferentorganizationallevelsmayvaryfromcompanytocompany.SomefirmssuchasSony,IBMorPhillipsemphasizebrandingatthecorporatelevel.OtherssuchasBeiersdorfmostlyhavebrandsattheproductbusinesslevel,suchasNiveaandJuvena,whileyetotherssuchasP&

G,haveprimarilyproductlevelbrands.

Indeterminingwhethertoemphasizebrandingatthecorporatelevelasopposedtotheproductlevelorwhethertoadoptahybridstructure,thefirmneedstoconsidertheroleofcorporateimageaswellasthediversityofitsproductbusinesses.Corporatebrandsprovidestrongidentityforthefirm'

sproductsinthemarketplace,butdonotenabledifferentiationofspecificproductbusinessesorproductlines.Equally,negativepublicityrelatingtoaspecificproductorthefirm'

spolicieswillaffectallproductsandproductbusinesses.Product-levelbrandsfacilitatedifferentiationfromcompetingproducts,butmaybelesscostefficientandresultinlossofpotentialsynergies.Thenumberofbrandsateachleveloftheorganizationandtherangeofproductlinesacrosswhichabrandisused,mustalsobeconsidered.Parsimonyinthenumberofbrandshelpstoachievecostefficienciesbutmayweakenbrandstrengthenifusedacrosshighlydiverseproductlines.Multiplicityofbrandsfacilitatesresponsivenesstospecificcustomerorsegmentneedsandclearproductdifferentiation,butmaybecostinefficientandhamperbuildingofastrongpositioninthemarketplace.

Asthefirmexpandsininternationalmarkets,issuesrelatingtobrandarchitecturebecomeevenmorecomplex.Inadditiontodeterminingthenumberoflevelsinthehierarchy,anotherdimension,namelythedegreeofbrandcoordinationorstandardizationacrosscountries,needstobeassessed.Ofkeyimportanceiswhethertousethesamebrandnameindifferentcountries,leveragingbrandstrengthacrossboundaries,orwhethertofocusonlocalbrandsrespondingtolocalcustomerpreferences.Usingthesamebrandnameindifferentcountrieshastheadvantageofenhancingvisibilityandreach,butmayhavenegativeconnotationsinsomemarketsorresultinlackofadaptationtolocalmarketconditionsandthecompetitiveenvironment.

Oftenthenatureandcohesivenessofafirm'

sinternationalbrandarchitecturedependsonhowithasexpandedinternationally,andhowitsinternationaloperationsareorganized.Somefirms,suchasP&

G,haveexpandedthroughleveragingstrongdomesticbrandsininternationalmarkets.Consequently,astheyseektoexpandfurther,theyhavetoconsiderwhethertodevelopbrandsgearedtospecificregionalornationalpreferences.OtherssuchasNestlé

andUnileverhavetraditionallyadoptedcountry-centeredstrategies,buildingoracquiringamixofnationalandinternationalbrands.Suchcompanieshavetodecidewhethertomovetowardsgreaterharmonizationofbrandsandintegrationoftheirbrandarchitectureacrosscountries,andifso,howtodoso.Furthermore,ifthecompanyexpandsthroughacquisitionorstrategicalliances,thequestionofwhetherandhowbrandarchitecturesofdifferentfirmsaremerged,arises.Inparticular,howfarandinwhatwaybrandingstructuresareintegratedorharmonizedacrosscountrieshastobedetermined.

InternationalBrandArchitecture

AfieldstudyofconsumergoodscompanyexecutivesbasedinEurope（Douglas,CraigandNijssen,2001）wasconductedtogainsomeinsightsintotheirinternationalbrandarchitecture,andhowthesewereevolving.Ofparticularinterestwerethedominantpatternsofinternationalbrandarchitect