Why do organisations turn to a centralised global marketing function and is it something that would benefit your international campaigns model? Here are some key considerations and questions to ask yourself prior to embarking on a centralisation journey.
Centrally coordinated, locally relevant
Global companies looking at centralising global marketing activities are typically seeking the following benefits:
- Brand consistency globally across all channels and markets can be significantly enhanced which strengthens brand awareness across the globe.
- Consistency in technology used and ways of working, gives much greater clarity for global teams to understand local market activity and the ability to track and monitor the effectiveness of marketing activity across the regions.
- Leveraging from global resource can result in a significant cost reduction across all areas and regions of marketing.
- Global campaigns produced centrally can be more easily coordinated, streamlined, and launched simultaneously, making them especially effective for global product launches and other initiatives requiring unified messaging and execution.
Centralising your international campaigns can streamline processes and reduce costs. Pairing this approach with external creative agencies allows companies to reap the efficiencies of centralisation while getting to choose the best possible creative partner, no matter where they are in the world. This combination can enhance campaign effectiveness and consistency while maintaining creative agility, contributing to successful international marketing campaigns.
Will a centralised approach work for me?
Here’s some questions to help decide if centralised global marketing will be suitable for your organisation.
- Product: How similar are products across markets?
- Human condition: How similar are consumer motivations to purchase?
- Creative development: Is a common creative platform possible while accommodating local market flexibility?
- Production process: how can you maximise economies of scale while producing the right content for each local market’s cultural and media needs?
- Localisation model: how can you localise in a smart and efficient way to ensure cultural relevance?
Four stages to global marketing centralisation
Finally, there are four broad stages you’ll need to plan for to implement a centralised international marketing function.
- Business case development: What could the financial value be from moving to a new operating model? Build a compelling case for centralisation by quantifying potential cost savings, identifying revenue opportunities, and demonstrating the expected return on investment. Secure executive buy-in to drive the initiative forward.
- Evaluation and planning: Which activities should we start with; what would the new process and change management be? Assess current capabilities, identify core activities for centralisation, and define the new operating model. Develop a robust strategy and choose carefully a qualified global localisation and adaptation partner to ensure a smooth transition and address concerns.
- Pilot and testing: Implement a new working approach in a pilot phase and evaluate the outcome and opportunity to extend. Select a representative market to test the centralised approach, measure performance, and gather feedback to refine the model.
- Rollout and optimisation: Based on pilot learnings, expand across new areas and continue to optimise. Work closely with the global localisation partner to expand the centralised function to additional markets, continuously monitor performance, and leverage technology to enhance efficiency and effectiveness – both in your processes and in your international marketing campaigns.
See how your international campaigns are really performing
Complete the Global Campaign Health Check, a 5 minute assessment to identify where friction may be limiting scale and consistency across markets.
If you have an international campaign you think needs our help, get in touch today.
