Global Marketing Communications and Strategic Regionalism

Abstract

This article examines how ideas of global standardization, localization, and regionalization are played out in relation to global marketing. Its aim is to deepen present understanding of global marketing communications and corporate strategy through case studies examining corporate responses to the issues of global standardization, localization, and regionalization. To do this, a research project was developed: an exploratory analysis of the advertising trade-press literature over a ten year period (1997–2007) mapping how three major multinational corporations (MNCs)—Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Colgate-Palmolive—engage with marketing from the global, to the local, and the regional.

From this exploratory analysis, two key developments emerge. The first is that, despite individual variations in each corporation's response to global marketing, in broad terms the dominant global marketing approach is one of ‘glocalization’. The second key development and key argument of this paper is that, while the reemergence of ‘regionalization’ in analyses of global marketing and corporate strategy is becoming more prevalent, the term as presently understood requires significant conceptual revision. Thus we propose and develop the concept of ‘strategic regionalism’ as a valuable umbrella term for capturing some of the nuances of regionalization as it pertains to and is practiced within global marketing communications and corporate strategy.

Este artículo examina cómo las ideas de localización, regionalización y estandarización global se han desarrollado en relación al mercadeo global. Su objetivo es profundizar el conocimiento actual sobre las comunicaciones del mercadeo global y la estrategia corporativa a través de estudios de caso, para analizar las respuestas corporativas a temas como la regionalización, localización y estandarización global. Para lograrlo, se desarrolló un proyecto de investigación: un análisis preliminar de la literatura de prensa especializada en publicidad durante un periodo de diez años (1997-2007). Se realizó un mapeo de cómo las tres principales corporaciones multinacionales (MNCs)—Coca-Cola, McDonald's, y Colgate-Palmolive—abordan el mercadeo a partir de lo global, a lo local y por último lo regional. De este análisis preliminar, surgieron dos resultados fundamentales. El primero consiste en que, a pesar de las diferencias en la respuesta de cada corporación al mercadeo global, en términos generales, el enfoque predominante del mercadeo global fue el de “glocalización”. El segundo resultado y argumento fundamental del artículo consiste en que, mientras el resurgimiento del término de ‘regionalización’ predomina en el análisis de mercadeo global y de estrategia corporativa, dicho término requiere una revisión conceptual. Por lo tanto, proponemos desarrollar el concepto de ‘regionalismo estratégico’, como un término genérico que reúna los diferentes matices de regionalización pertinentes, que se utilizan en las comunicaciones de mercadeo global y estrategia corporativa.

本文探讨全球标准化、本土化和区域化等概念相对于全球营销现象是如何过时了。通过案例研究，本文考察了公司是如何应对全球标准化、本土化和区域化等问题的，其目的是要深化对全球营销传播和公司战略的现有理解。为此，我们进行了一项研究：深入分析十年内（1997–2007）三大跨国公司（MNCs）即可口可乐、麦当劳和高露洁的广告宣传文献，勾画它们如何进行从全球到地方到区域各个层次的营销活动。

从这一分析来看，有两个重要发展。首先是，尽管各公司的全球营销战略存在个体间差异，广义地讲，主导性的战略还是“全球本土化”。第二个重要发展也是本文的主要观点是，虽然在分析全球营销和公司战略的过程中，再度出现“区域化”越来越普遍，但目前所理解的“区域化”在概念上需要进行重大修正。因此，我们提出和发展了“战略区域主义”这一有用的包容性概念，以抓住区域化在涉及和运用于全球营销传播和公司战略时的一些细微差别。

Keywords:

• advertising
• marketing communications
• globalization
• standardization
• localization
• adaptation
• regionalization
• glocalization
• region
• strategic regionalism
• McDonald's
• Coca-Cola
• Colgate-Palmolive

Acknowledgements

This paper is an output from a program of research under Australian Research Council Discovery—Project, DP0556419, ‘Globalisation and the media in Australia’, funded 2005–2009. The authors gratefully acknowledge the ARC's financial support.

Notes

This paper is part of a larger study which examined the strategies of six global marketers with respect to standardization, localization, and regionalization: Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, McDonald's, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and Toyota.

The origins of this strategy are said to stem from Daft's time as country manager for Coke Japan in the mid 1980s. It is reported that during this time, Daft ‘broke with tradition and expanded the company's product-line beyond its carbonated core brands to cater to fickle Japanese tastes’, introducing new products such as a canned coffee called Georgia (still Coca-Cola's most successful line in Japan), Royal Milk Tea, as well as various juices and ‘health tonics’ (Yoon, 2001). Upon elevation to CEO, Daft drew on this experience to redirect Coca-Cola's global marketing efforts. Daft firmly believed that a similar path to that taken in Japan was the way forward for the company in all world markets if it was to regain a strong brand identity, as well as wrest market share and brand supremacy from Pepsi.

A more general example is found in the cultural and linguistic difficulties the company faced when rolling out its ill-fated global ‘Life tastes good’ campaign because the tagline did not translate well in many foreign languages; the campaign was ditched after the events of September 11 (Chura & Linnett, 2001).