For more on 'Making Global Local' check out the full story from the Williams Lea Tag Roundtable in AdNews print. Click here to subscribe to the AdNews magazine or read the iPad edition here.
Technology may have made building and sharing marketing ideas easier than ever, but a panel of Australia's top brand marketers have found that a strong and consistent brand voice is key for marketers looking for ideas that work across global marketers.
The panel was part of a roundtable, hosted by Williams Lea Tag, in partnership with AdNews, on getting global efficiencies in marketing.
Vodafone general manager of brand Natasa Zunic told the group that, despite being part of a huge global brand, her team is empowered to make decisions on what will work best in the Australian market, not what decisions are made abroad, by virtue of having a strong brand managed at a global level.
“That is the first step – huge consistency,” Zunic says, “It comes down to clarity across all stakeholders, the agencies and beyond marketing, in terms of what that brand and platform – the essence of the brand – is and then being able to draw it out with our own content.”
PwC executive director, Megan Brownlow, said pinning down what the brand stands for is critical for big multinational organisations and that often it's as much an internal exercise as it is an external one. Many organisations use “brand police” to ensure brand messages are communicated effectively through the business and remain consistent across business units.
However she adds: “Giving some decision making latitude to your local chief is critical and so is providing some sort of horizontal mechanism where everybody can come together and share learnings,” she said.
Kellogg chief marketing officer Tamara Howe says she believes the Australian market is actually primed for this decision making freedom. She points to its isolated geography, which means organisations can take more risks in Australia, with the learnings than shared with the rest of the global business.
“The tyranny of distance actually works in our favour; we can fly some stuff under the radar and take some more risks,” she said.
“When you're working in a market like the US or the UK, the risk associated there, because of the size of the market and the size of the mistakes, is massive. Certainly we feel that permission in the spirit of trying to create an organisation that takes more risks. ”
Want more? Check out the full story from the Williams Lea Tag Roundtable in AdNews in print. Click here to subscribe to the AdNews magazine or read the iPad edition here.
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