A brand culture perspective on global brands

Abstract

The notion of the brand has expanded from merely adding name recognition and value to existing products and services to a cultural, managerial and strategic tool. The term global brand encompasses multiple dimensions, which include marketing standardization, consumer perception and international management. Furthermore, a key tenet of branding strategy posits that global branding decisions should cohere with other marketing elements, such as the brand’s core essence, the brand personality and positioning and the brand’s execution. Thus, global branding refers to a complex process of reinforcing and aligning multiple elements on a global scale. This chapter presents a brand culture approach to global branding, and discusses examples from a Chinese context that reveal how brands make deep cultural connections with consumers.