“Too many companies try to enforce a global brand voice. In reality, global branding is more like directing a choir of many distinct local voices that all sing the same song,” explained Nataly Kelly, Common Sense Advisory’s Chief Research Officer. “Branding isn’t a unidirectional activity from the company to the customer. Rather, it’s an ongoing, active conversation between the two. That’s why a brand takes on different attributes in each market.”

The report helps global marketing executives, international brand managers, and localization professionals understand:

• Why the phrase “location, location, location” applies for companies of all kinds, not just those in retail settings
• Case studies and strategies from Google, Nestlé, and other popular global brands 
• The importance of the customer’s and company’s location, and how location-based brand attributes evolve over time
• The role of perceived brand foreignness or “non-localness”
• The range of tactics that companies use, from downplaying local origins to strategically adapting non-local identities
• Tips for “walking the global tightrope” using both stability and flexibility when moving into new markets
• How marketing staff can work more effectively with localization and translation professionals to amplify their efforts

“Many marketing executives do not take advantage of the in-house expertise sitting right under their noses. Their colleagues in translation and localization have knowledge in tailoring messages for local markets,” Kelly pointed out. “The sooner these two internal groups begin to talk to each other, the faster their company will see success in international markets.”

About Common Sense Advisory

Common Sense Advisory is an independent market research company helping companies profitably grow their international businesses and gain access to new markets and new customers. Its focus is on assisting its clients to operationalize, benchmark, optimize, and innovate industry best practices in translation, localization, interpreting, globalization, and internationalization. For more information, visit: http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com or www.twitter.com/CSA_Research.

Media contact: Melissa C. Gillespie, Melissa@commonsenseadvisory.com, +1 760-522-4362