Japanese automakers create single products and brands for worldwide consumption, while Ford customizes products for local markets. You know who won. Why do global brands work? What makes them work? Professor John Quelch provides some answers. Key concepts include:
• For decades, Ford has created specialized products for different countries while Toyota, Nissan, and Honda sold standard products under a single brand umbrella.
• Ford's strategy resulted in added manufacturing and supply chain costs, a balkanized bureaucracy, and deteriorating market share, financial performance, and stock price.
• There are 5 characteristics that all top global brands have in common.
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| Why Global Brands Work |
Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. Ford has finally woken up to what Toyota knew a long time ago: the power of a single global brand. Over 20 years ago, Harvard professor Theodore Levitt praised Japanese manufacturers for their focus on "what every consumer in the world is seeking: world-class modernity at affordable prices." Either because they didn't understand regional differences in consumer preferences or out of self-confidence, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda sold standard products under a single brand umbrella. For decades, Ford adapted its manufacturing platforms, features, and model names from one country to another. The results: added manufacturing and supply chain costs that strained consumers' willingness to pay; a balkanized bureaucracy in which regional managers exaggerate the need for local adaptations to defend their turf; and a deteriorating market share, financial performance, and stock price.
