The Considerations for Global Branding

Cross-country gaps in brand equity may be due to any of the following factors :

1. HISTORY. By necessity, brands that have been around for a long time tend to have much more familiarity among consumers than latecomers. usually, early entrants also will have a much more solid brnad image if they have used a consistent positioning strategy over the years.
2. COMPETITIVE CLIMATE. the battlefield varies from country to country. in some countries the brand faces only a few competitors. in others the brand constantly has to break through the clutter and combat scores of competing brands that nibble away at its market share
3. MARKETING SUPPORT
4. CULTURAL RECEPTIVITY TO BRANDS. Brand receptivity is largely driven by risk aversion. within Europe, countries such as Spain and Italy are much more receptive toward brand names than Germany or France. the study found that the impact of a brand’s credibility as a signal of quality on consumers’ brand choice is larger in high uncertainty avoidance and high-collectivist cultures.
5. PRODUCT CATEGORY PENETRATION. a final factor is the salience of the product category in which the brand competes. because of lifestyle differences, a given category will be established much more solidly in some countries than in others. in general, brand equity and product salience go together : the higher the product usage, the more solid will be the brand equity

source : GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT – Masaaki Kotabe & Kristiaan Helsen – 2011 – page 365