Managing Brands in Global Markets: One Size Doesn't Fit All

Theodore "Ted" Levitt of Harvard Business School set the marketing world abuzz in 1983 with a bold prediction: Globalization had arrived, and before long global companies would be selling products and services in the same way everywhere on earth. Levitt's forecast was compelling -- and more than a little daunting for executives wondering how they would go about adapting to this brave new world of monolithic brands.

More than 20 years later, however, Levitt's prediction has not come to pass, according to Wharton marketing professors George S. Day and David J. Reibstein, who note that only a handful of truly global brands exist today, despite the increased globalization of markets. In addition, experience has shown that companies need not always create one-size-fits-all global brands just because the world appears to be shrinking. Indeed, firms should recognize that adapting brands to local conditions will on many occasions be the best approach, and at times the only approach, because local conditions will leave them no other choice.  Read more (Knowledge@Wharton)