Nestlé: A Brief History of the Marketing Strategies of the First Multinational Company in the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

It can be argued that private companies accelerated the integration of the late Ottoman Empire with the capitalist world economy. Western companies shaped not only the Ottoman economy but also its social and cultural environments. Modern marketing was one of the most important instruments in this process. This article investigates—via a brief historical survey of the marketing activities of Nestlé in the Ottoman Empire between the years 1870 and 1921—the interaction between Western firms and consumers. The article explores how Nestlé gained access to the urban Ottoman market and the methods it used for attracting the Ottoman consumer. Nestlé’s sales efforts show that it had to adjust its strategies to local realities through a process of learning, adapting, and using the specific characteristics of its host society to be successful.