This morning, as I was driving to office, I heard this ad on the local FM station- ?NBA Star Kevin Garnett is coming to town this weekend. Meet him at the new Adidas store?.
Sitting in Bangalore, I felt kinda strange- An American star coming to India to promote one of the most respected European brands! Isn't that strange? Well, not really. Its just another facet of globalization. Being in Technology industry for over a decade, I have had more than a passing interest in globalization. Still, the ad intrigued me enough to go out and do a quick research of my own. Here is what I found out.
When I went out shopping on Sunday, I consciously started looking around for more symbols of globalization. I looked at the home appliance stores, toy shops, cars parked on the roads- just about everything. Here is what I found- LG, Samsung, Sony, KFC, Citibank, Pizza hut, Honda, Suzuki, Ford, Fischer Price, Mattel, Reebok, Nike, Coke, Pepsi, Nokia ? it did not look like I was in India today. Some of the world's most recognized brands are also the most recognized in India. What is also true is that an equally large number of famous brands have been either a failure or only marginally successful.
Clearly, some have managed to benefit from globalization while some have lost out. Over the next few weeks, I will attempt to answer these questions through my blog:
? Why some big international brands succeeded in the local market while others failed? Is it that big businesses managed to outspend the smaller local guys?
? If that was the case, why did some of the equally strong foreign brands not do well enough?
? Why is it that some local firms are still alive and kicking, even expanding overseas?
? Can small firms benefit from globalization? More importantly, how can we make globalization work for us- both as an organization and as an individual?
I believe, and have enough reasons to do so, that globalization provides enormous opportunities for individuals and smaller firms- sometimes even more than it does to the larger firms. In fact, I would go to the extent that it actually helps the smaller guy against big business.
Stay tuned for some interesting stories to see how small businesses around the world are using globalization to their advantage.
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