Global Brand Building and Management in the Digital Age

Abstract

The rapid spread of the internet and internet-based technologies is reshaping how companies build and manage global brands. While specific platforms and technologies change rapidly, what does not change quickly are the underlying trends. This article identifies the implications of five core underlying digital trends for global brand building and management: (1) rise of digital global sales channels, (2) cocreation of global brand strategy, (3) global transparency of brand activities, (4) global connectivity among the brand’s consumers, and (5) the Internet of Things. For each trend, the author discusses key changes taking place in the marketplace and directions for future research.

A Bad Job of Doing Good: Does Corporate Transparency on a Country and Company Level Moderate Corporate Social Responsibility Effectiveness?

“…Finally, the study examines implications of the corporate transparency moderator for international marketing research. Corporate transparency has recently been identified as a key trend of international brand building and management (Steenkamp 2020); however, there is only limited knowledge on how corporate transparency interacts with CSR on an international level. The international marketing literature that examines the causes of differing degrees of CSR effectiveness between countries is confined to arguments related to either the state of economic development or culture (e.g., Becker-Ohlsen et al 2011; Choi et al 2016; Web Appendix 1 provides a more detailed discussion), and results are inconclusive (e.g., Auger et al 2010; Eisingerich and Rubera 2010; Jean et al 2016; Kim and Choi 2013).…”

Digitization and the Reorganization of GVCs

“…As one would expect, the growth of e-commerce has mostly benefited hyper-sized enterprises such as Amazon or Alibaba. Global consumer e-commerce was 14.1 percent of global retail sales (Steenkamp 2020 , 14). Alibaba now accounts for one-sixth of retail sales in China.…”

“…Major international garment and luxury brands, who also have their own online sales programs, are likely to have greater bargaining power than smaller or new brands that rely almost entirely on the platforms for their online sales. However, even with large brands, one should note that there is a compulsion to be online with the platforms, since the number of visitors is likely to be higher than with own-brand websites (Steenkamp 2020 , 16).…”

Editorial: Vision for JIM and First Issue of 2020

“…The first three articles examine the impact of digital trends on international marketing, either broadly, considering the domain as a whole, as in the case of the article by Sheth; for global brand building and management, in the case of the article by Steenkamp; or for our understanding of the customer journey in the international context, as in the article by Nam and Kannan. In his article, “Global Brand Building and Management in the Digital Age,” Steenkamp (2020) describes important implications of five core underlying digital trends for global brand building and management, and for each trend he discusses key marketplace changes currently happening. Sheth’s (2020) article, “Borderless Media: Rethinking International Marketing,” describes the evolution of social media and its influence on marketing in terms of five key dimensions of value creation.…”