Creating and sustaining a global brand

As business has become increasingly global, the values and principles that guide managers are no longer local. To cope with globalisation, creating a brand image is essential. According to marketing guru Philip Kotler, "Brand image is a set of beliefs consumers hold about a particular brand." In today's world, consumer perception gets more currency. That is why spreading of products over the world is needed to emerge in the global market with a global brand.
Global brand, more often called global product, is the name of a product or service that is known and sold in all parts of the world by a particular company. Presently, a new generation of global brands is emerging. With an international business suggesting strength and stability in the fragile economic markets, global brands are no longer being seen as dominating bogeymen. Nowadays, global brands for global market are the combination of local and global perceptions of consumers which also involves buyers, sellers and investors. This type of product or market is known as 'global-local' or 'glocal' market or product. Surely, a 'glocal' brand has the advantage of economies in terms of production, recognition, and packaging.
Previously, companies offered a diversified product set, market-specific price points, localised production and distribution and clear distinctions between the approach it takes in their own states and internationally. But in an era of competition, if a company is new in the market it has to be local to all over the world through its products. 'Local' is not only geographical, but also psychological. It's local if it feels local, regardless of its logistics. It needs to feel aligned, relevant and integrated with a space and the people in that space. Until you're welcomed as a resident, you're still a visitor - and no local wants to buy everyday goods or necessary goods from a tourist.
How can Bangladesh produce and market global brand products? Though we have various products renowned in the world such as tea, medicine, readymade garment (RMG) products etc, we don't have the absolute recognition of a global brand which indicates the use of three words 'Made in Bangladesh'. It is a matter of hope that we are launching ourselves through organic clothing, environmentally and socially responsible textile processing methods settled by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) , which are patronised  all over the world. On the other hand, after the collapse of Rana Plaza on April 24, 2013, the world's consumers became concerned about who are making their cheapest clothes and immediately more than 100 global brands signed the Bangladesh Accord on fire and building safety, driven by ILO, IndustriALL Europe and UNI Globl Union. As a result, the government, manufacturers and various associations of the related fields have committed to improve factory safety and other conditions for regaining US GSP facilities.
Now, what strategies should Bangladeshi companies implement to be a global brand? In brief, Bangladeshi companies, intending to create global brands, need to do the following: identify the relative attractiveness of each market for your brand, conduct attitude and usage studies in each country in which you are considering entering, identify the sequence of brand launch by country/region of the world, know the category and brand indices in each country in which your brand operates and establishes a branding scorecard that can be applied country to country.
There are a number of strategies that companies in Bangladesh can follow in order to build brands in the globe. Researchers, analysts and Marketing Week, a London-based magazine, set out the following strategies that can help companies to become a global brand -
BUILD A STRONG, CONSISTENT BRAND CULTURE: In the past, a rigid corporate structure was an important element of the global brand. Local markets were in charge of developing their own brand strategies. However, in recent years building a consistent and strong brand culture that remains familiar to consumers wherever it is in the world has become a priority. It becomes more important that your brand reflects your culture, rather than your guidelines.
BE BORDERLESS IN YOUR MARKETING: With abundance of digital platforms, it is no longer possible for brands to follow different brand strategies in different countries. Marketers need to rethink the term 'glocal'. 'Think global, act local' slogan doesn't work in a digital age. If you look at brands like Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola and McDonald's, they are not only everywhere and have local strength and identity, but also consistent across markets. More than 50 private sector companies work hand in hand with public institutions, civil societies and the media in West Africa to increase borderless trade. By 2018, this will increase by nearly 200 per cent to $307 billion with 130 million cross-border online shoppers.
ADOPTING A GLOCAL STRUCTURE: The ability to be both global and local is paramount for successful international campaigns. One of the mottos of 'glocalisation' is 'local in spirit but global in character.' Create a strong global hub, which is about managing and initiating projects where you can share resources and create central segmentation models, but also help coordinate with local markets. Always remember, in terms of both distance and time, consumers have the freedom to change the brand to whatever they need. So, reflecting local attitudes, behaviour and nuances are important to cope with the customers.
MAKNG CONSUMERS YOUR CO-CREATORS: It's all about consumers advising each other, talking to each other, as well as talking to the brand. It all happens on a global scale and at the same time. Social media has helped to create the perfect environment for interactions. For a new way of operation or a new global brand, it will be a brand that is asking for opinion listening to consumers and asks for co-creation.
DIGITAL STRATEGY: In the fields of strategic management, marketing strategy and business strategy, digital strategy is the process of specifying an organisation's vision, goals, opportunities and initiatives in order to maximise the business benefits of digital initiatives to the organisation. There are numerous approaches to conducting digital strategy, but at their core, all go through four steps:
1) identifying the opportunities and/or challenges in a business where online assets can provide a solution;
2) identifying the unmet needs and goals of the customers that most closely align with those key business opportunities and/or challenges;
3) developing a vision around how the online assets will fulfill those business and customer needs, goals, opportunities and challenges, and
4) prioritising a set of online initiatives which can deliver on this vision.
PUBLIC RELATION STRATEGY: The aim of public relations by a company often is to persuade the public, investors, partners, employees, and other stakeholders to maintain a certain point of view about it, its leadership, products, or of political decisions. It's possible to reach and communicate with the real consumers. To adapt with this strategy, increasing media relation, knowing real market, using technology, monitoring the web and creating social awareness can be the pathways.
Strategic decisions, backed by customer insight, are to be implemented effectively to spread a business or a brand globally. For that, developing and socialising a global marketing plan early by seeking feedback, consolidating and sharing insight for planning future activity, communicating with available researchers, analysts, professionals and media, understanding global market needs and developing a collaborative approach and dividing the markets into tiers could be the straight ways for new entrance. Global marketing requires some effort to work, but, most obviously, it should ensure consistency across territories. It allows operation more efficiently through economies of scale of the companies. Beyond this, it enables to prioritise and optimise company's efforts and budgets effectively to operate globally with a local presence.
Implementing the above strategies not only depend on the companies but also requires government policies and their flexibilities for investors. Absolutely, it is Brand= Culture, as it's the source of promise for positioning, strategy for brand plan, story for communication, freshness for innovation and experience for culture and operations. Encouraging initiatives, low rate of interests on loan, regular subsidies for  a few years and immediate subsidies in case of  loss, mobilised and quick port facilities, sufficient steps to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), continuous monitoring should be taken in order to create a global image. And last but not least, using the diaspora route, a strategy involving companies and proper authorities targeting immigrants from their own country and building enough scale and sales to support a brand push can be the cornerstone for branding Bangladesh.
The writer is a student of EMBA, the University of Dhaka. safayethussain@gmail.com