Recently, an internationally active sporting goods conglomerate assured its shareholders that they do not need to worry about the profitability of their stocks, because the turnover problems the European company is experiencing in the United States will be compensated with the opening of 400 stores in China, which is in line with their successful globalization strategy. If globalization was that easy, many businesses would already be much further ahead with their globalization strategy. Actually, globalization would be reality overall, if it was that simple. As a matter of fact, this term is more a welcome buzzword for diffuse announcements and strategies, which have no beginning and no end. Globalization always has to serve as an excuse, when we want to frighten someone to death. Or, it always serves well, when someone wants to give a momentous speech, without really being able to divulge anything.

I think when we speak of globalization we should be aware that it does not take place anywhere far out there in the world, in China or Russia, in Africa or America, but, if at all then it is taking place everywhere around us, right here. In other words, if we want to deal with globalization we have to get control over our direct surroundings first. And then, just as a rock that falls into water, the circles spread wider and wider. This is how the truly successful have done it at all times, long before the word globalization began to make its rounds. The most successful, for over two thousands years globally operating business in the world, the Roman Catholic Church, has demonstrated this very impressively.

Globalization is something else than to sell or be present worldwide. One can export into many countries, to all continents, yet still not be considered a global company.

Globalization means to communicate to the business, to every single employee in a company, a universal mindset and course of action without having to give up ones own unique personality. To melt ones own environment with the rest of the world. In order to have a good footing in this new situation, a very clear profile, a distinctive positioning is required, a correlating image, a certain awareness, values worthy of protection and last but not least also ties to ones own origin and history. The 7-elements, which we say constitute the substance of a true brand. For us this means no more or less than that globalization has to take place under the protective shield of a brand.

The protective shield brand is by no means reserved for the marketers of consumer goods. For us, a brand is not simply marker or label of a product. For us, the brand is testimonial for any type of corporate performance. The brand is a burning lens, where the performance of a company is bundled together.

In connection with the processes taking place under the term globalization, often the foundation of global businesses, global brands and such things are mentioned. I have often pointed out in previous BriefLetter issues, that I do not put much stock in such “Gerry-Davies-Ideas”, the man who proclaimed fifty years ago to be the first citizen of the world.

Because people are still misguided about globalization it often becomes a threat and is misused in order to create insecurities and fear. As long as we do not overstep the boundaries of acceptable risks, as long as we move forward and not backward and as long as we are true to our principles, nobody should be able to frighten us with globalization.