As China displaces Japan for second place in the world economy and India, Brazil and the next 11 power ahead – not to mention the recent upheavals in the Arab world – a new world order is truly asserting itself. Simon Silvester in this issue’s cover story starts from the observation that most of the world’s global brands are made by Western companies for Western consumers and adapted to people in poorer countries as the world has become increasingly ‘globalised’. From this perhaps obvious but rarely commented on observation, he goes on to discuss the significance of this state of affairs in the form of some 20 insights about how aspiring global branders should think about the millions of new consumers in these many emerging countries.
Each country will have its particular character, of course, but there are a number of common features that markets share. Take just two: they are startlingly young in contrast with the ageing West, which has many implications not least of which is that the familiar retention strategies of mature markets are worthless: think trial. And as the ‘Letter from Brazil’ emphasises, these emerging countries are full of optimism compared to our gloomy and nervously cautious outlook. Eighteen more observations that bubble with intriguing possibilities
make fascinating reading.
Marketers are a generally optimistic bunch, generally young, and generally fascinated with the next new thing. But the next new idea often has feet of clay. Short memories, limited experience and a ‘glass half full’ outlook can mislead. Take two big subjects: media and brands. Patrick Barwise looks at the much-hyped claim that ‘video on demand’ is just around the corner and he takes a sharp forensic swipe at the argument, producing convincing evidence that the forecast is deluded. Fru Hazlitt in ‘Speaker’s Corner’ makes a similar point in relation to the also much-hyped ‘long tail’.
Elsewhere in the issue in an equally combative mood, Laurie Young takes a swing at the conventional wisdom that is taken as given at conferences and in marketing courses: that newness is all, that commoditisation is a constant threat from demanding consumers and that creating long-lasting value propositions is increasingly difficult. Nonsense, he says, and mounts a spirited defence of nourishing brands over a long period of time, providing evidence from his list of brand birthdays going back to the mid-19th century (his full list goes back several centuries) – that are still alive and kicking today.
Judie Lannon, Editor