Ruth Mortimer on global vs local
Two major brands have announced they are no longer relying on local marketing directors in the UK. Coca-Cola has scrapped its GB marketing director position altogether, while Kraft has decided that while the position will exist, marketing will be led centrally from Europe.
But doesn’t this fly in the face of current thinking? Brands keep telling us that consumers are sick of global brands. A cover story in Marketing Week just a couple of weeks ago saw brands (including Coke) telling us just how vital their local grassroots activity is.
People apparently feel divorced from the ultra-connected global world and are turning to smaller, physical communities for their interactions. In the piece, Tesco revealed that locally sourced products are up 25%.
This reflects the online world too, where we expect more and more customisation and personalisation these days.
So are Coke and Kraft taking a risk by going regional over local? This may in fact have some benefits for the businesses in terms of cost savings, scale, distribution and consistency. But if marketing is going local, is this a step backwards for the brands strategically?
Read Ruth’s blog in full at: http:// brandstrategy.wordpress.com/
