CENTRAL DEVELOPMENT

In this model, the central team develops a 'tool kit’ designed to equip and inspire country teams to produce brilliant local advertising. The tool kit includes:
- Brand identity rules (e.g., logos, colours, fonts, taglines etc. and when/how to use them)
- A brand idea and/or a creative idea. All countries are expected to base their advertising on these.
 -Examples of creative assets such as video ad(s), video footage or static ads or imagery. These have usually been researched in a diverse set of countries and optimized. They should be used as the basis for local executions (e.g., in small countries) or act as inspiration for local content (e.g., in big countries)
 -Suggestions for media combinations and activation concepts that could work well
 
Local marketing teams are responsible for adopting and adapting the ideas and content to produce advertising that works well in their country. They need to:
- Create the local media plan and negotiate with/buy the media (apart from any global deals with media companies such as Facebook and Google)
- Choose assets to be used as the basis for local executions
- Adapt these assets to produce executions that use the local language, feature local packaging, are consistent with local laws and are formatted for local media channels
 -Create additional content (e.g., for local social media) that resonates with the local audience
 
You should consider a centralized ad development approach if:
- Consumers think about and use the category in a similar way across countries
- Your product portfolio and launch strategies are aligned across countries
- Perceptions of your brand are similar everywhere
- The competitive environments are broadly consistent
- Advertising that leverages global themes would work well for your brand
 
To make this model work for your organisation, be clear on who is responsible for what, and allocate budgets accordingly. Ensure the central team has a good understanding of all the markets and cultures in which your brand operates.
 

HUB DEVELOPMENT

This approach is worth considering if the opportunities for central development described above exist, but only if countries are put into groups (‘hubs’), rather than being lumped together. In this model, a select few countries that are most valuable for the brand are given responsibility, and budget, for developing advertising that will work well for their market and for other, broadly similar markets. There are very few global brands that develop advertising centrally that will work in every country, even allowing for localisation. The Hub approach may be more practical. Global companies tend to operate at least three hubs. They might have a hub for North America/Northern Europe, one for South America/Southern Europe one for South Asia/Southeast Asia. Grouping countries into hubs should be based on these factors:
- How the category is used
- The brand’s history and status in each country
- The competitive environment
- Consumer trends that might affect the brand’s prospects
- The regional organisation of the company
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LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Local advertising development may be the best option if there is very little common ground between countries. This is rare for any brand that is marketed internationally after all, the benefit of an international brand should be that it delivers cost efficiencies by operating across country boundaries. In this scenario, each market has its own budget to develop advertising. Inevitably, local budgets are small. If an international brand decides to operate in this way, it can still create an advantage over local competitors if countries share their most effective ideas and content so that other markets can replicate their success. In reality, this rarely happens because each country believes their market context is unique and their customers respond to advertising in a different way. This may be true for certain brands but in many instances, the needs, priorities and advertising response are remarkably similar across countries. If this is the case, an international marketing approach is a good option but only if all key countries are persuaded to help make the platform a success.

Hybrid models are also possible. For example, a few large markets might develop their own advertising, leaving the central team to cater for all the smaller markets. This allows markets with lots of resources to produce advertising optimized for their market while enabling smaller markets to benefit from being part of a large organisation with centralized resources.