Globalisation is here to stay, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit that reveals that nine of 10 firms generate at least 10% of their revenue outside their home market. Forty-seven per cent of firms generate one-third of their revenues abroad.
The figures come from a new white paper called ‘Guarding the Brand’. The paper is based on research into the attitudes and actions of senior executives from around the world – 42% at C-level.
Some of the highlights include:
- 49% of executives agree that brand consistency is getting harder to achieve as they enter new countries.
- Cultural differences (mentioned by 63%) and language/translation issues (44%) are the two biggest problems in managing a brand abroad.
- Two-thirds of executives agree that localising brands in different markets does have a positive impact on sales.
- Thirty-three per cent of executives think they are ineffective when it comes to online marketing. Forty-five per cent think it is difficult to maintain consistency across online and offline marketing channels.
- Eighty-one per cent of executives cite their corporate brand as critical but this drops to just 64% for a product brand.
- In the US and Asia, around 30% of those surveyed think non-marketing based senior management simply pay lip service to brand considerations – this rises to 46% in Europe.
Please click here to go to the EIU site where you can download the full document. The 23-page paper is required reading for anyone involved in branding – from the product manager right up to the chief executive.
