Consistency and Adaptation: Balancing Global and Local Priorities and Perspectives

The swing between centralised and decentralised marketing control is something many of us have come to expect. When major corporate change occurs, marketings natural reaction seems to be that we pull in the reins in order to have a greater level of control over the message that is being sent out. In many instances that level of control is gradually loosened until either:

1. The next big event happens, or
2. The “regions” begin doing their own thing to the point that consistency and central marketing efforts are adversely affected.

At that point, control is often pulled back into the centre and the process begins again. Each time we go through this cycle, it has a considerable impact on the business in terms of budget, staff morale, lost knowledge, and so on.

In a recent ITSMA survey, 88% of the respondents confirmed that, within their organisations, the balance between centralised and decentralised marketing had changed in the last five years, with both spending and decision making becoming more centralised in the majority of cases. Interestingly, the shift looks to be going towards a more regionalised model in the next five years.

Although things keep swinging, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Through a number of interviews with members around Europe, we were able to get some deeper insight into what is happening. Everyone agreed that while for the most part the pendulum continues to swing, the swing is getting shorter, suggesting that the two sides seem increasingly willing to understand the needs of the other. In addition to the swing getting shorter, the pendulum also moves forward with each swing.

Most people agree that global organisations should present consistent core values through their global brand but also provide an umbrella under which a degree of localisation can be adopted. However, maximising local effectiveness whilst leveraging scale and ensuring consistency is a difficult balancing act to get right. Add to this the complex and fragmented nature of the European market, and even defining “local” poses its own question: Do we mean regional, subregional, or country level?

Even though the marketing structure within the organisations we spoke with differed considerably, ranging from primarily centralised to primarily distributed, most had at least some representation at each of these three levels. And from the results of our survey it looks as though people hope to see more resources and decision making moved into the regional marketing layer, albeit primarily at the expense of central marketing.

An interesting idea we considered was whether—rather than going through this shifting of power in a stop-start fashion—companies should place a greater level of importance on developing the right processes and frameworks for marketing so that once the correct balance between consistency and local adaptation has been achieved, it can then be maintained. The theory is that the greater level of trust enabled by such a framework would have a positive impact on individual performance and on overall marketing achievements—while also enabling new initiatives to be implemented more efficiently. To test the idea, we asked our survey respondents to what extent they agreed with the statement, “Clearer business processes and a good marketing framework would ensure that local and regional activity was consistent with central requirements.” One hundred percent of our respondents agreed.

So there’s our next challenge, marketers; join us for our next Inner Circle Meeting in London on 11 September to brainstorm how we can figure out this situation!

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ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. We work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation. ITSMA annual program clients include business leaders such as AT&T, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. Our comprehensive research, consulting, and training on topics including ITSMA Account-Based Marketing℠, Brand Positioning, and Solutions Development provide the insight and experience companies need to improve business results. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.