International brand management - centralized or decentralized? Efficient or effective?
In this post we describe how we collaborate with our centralized, decentralized or hybrid clients and within our Worldwide Partners network to reach the best business results for our clients.
Many companies based here are active throughout Europe or globally. They are confronted with rapid changes. New products and processes are copied at a breathtaking pace. That´s why it is so important to strengthen brands and marketing departments. Only those companies remain competitive who are brands with an own, unrivaled, strong character. A brand with personality isn´t so easily copied. This is not only important for the appearance on the domestic market but also on the international stage.
But how do you manage international brands? Centralized or decentralized? What is better in terms of cost and what is better in terms of impact? As is almost always the case, there is no patent remedy; it all depends on the circumstances.
Efficient: globally uniform, coherent appearance that strengthens the brand
For a number of clients, we centrally develop and run unified international campaigns. The reasons are manifold: budgets are limited, standardization is cheaper, client’s organization is centralized, the products are evaluated by the same criteria and used in the same way everywhere. This is mostly true when target groups are comprised by jetsetters. However, the most important reason is: consistent branding with a focused and clearly differentiating brand message strengthens the brand and creates a real powerhouse.
Strong brands have a core message that builds on the brand's DNA. Varying brand messages do confuse just as dazzling personalities do. They jeopardize trust-building that is essential to prevail against the ever-growing armada of low-cost providers.
Effective: local approach when markets differ substantially.
Nevertheless, there are clients we recommend acting differently in different markets. We prefer this when cultural habits vary, market structure and maturity levels differ, or strong national competitors in other markets require different positioning priorities and when sufficient budgets are available. Then we teach our agency partners in other countries the clients´ CI and provide knowledge and understanding of the brand.
Efficient and effective: mixed (hybrid) form with focus on both brandbuilding and customer centricity
In an increasing number of cases, we apply our so-called brain trust model. We create a new balance between efficiency and effectivity. By involving the clients´ foreign subsidiaries and their "territorial rulers" as well as our worldwide agency partners already when exploring the DNA of a brand we motivate them for the brand. Our partners, all owner managed agencies, that are only dedicated to the client and don´t have to follow interests of an HQ at Wallstreet, collect insights and data on market, competition, and target groups for us.
We form a lead team with members from the most important markets. After defining in collaboration with our clients the brand´s mission and vision and crafting a unique value proposition, we jointly develop a unified brand message that builds on the core values of the brand. Crowdsourcing in our network helps to find the core creative idea. Core message and core idea are formulated and designed in such a way that they can be accepted globally, with heart and brain. We are always on the search for the big idea and do not settle for the lowest common denominator with interchangeable, meaningless messages and images.
Once the big core idea has been found and accepted, the design and realization can be varied depending on the channel, media or country and its cultural conditions. We first communicate the brand's mission and vision, CI and the key messages in guidelines to the teams in all markets to maintain consistency. When these teams are familiar with the framework, they can adapt the messages to the country-specific challenges and opportunities, they can tailor it to specific needs and painpoints of their clients so that it resonates best with the target audience and thus increasing relevance and impact. This is how we created many award-winning campaigns and gained high business success also in foreign markets.
Author
Ingrid Wächter-Lauppe
CEO of Wächter Worldwide Partners
and Board member of Worldwide Partners.Inc.
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