Nestlé in the Ottoman Empire: Global Marketing with Local Flavor 1870–1927

Abstract

This paper examines the marketing activities of Nestlé in the Ottoman Empire between 1870 and 1927. Nestlé began with the same strategy it had developed in Western markets for the Ottoman market. But the Ottoman political, social, and cultural context differed considerably from Europe. The article explores how Nestl´e responded to this complex marketing environment with increasing local differentiation. It goes on to demonstrate that as well as its variegated approaches to the ethnically, religiously, and culturally heterogeneous urban consumer, Nestlé's success derived from its ability to connect with different strata of society. I argue that the Ottoman Empire, and especially its capital Istanbul, were strategically essential to Nestl´e's development of its adaptive global marketing strategy.