Research Shows 91% of International top Executives Believe that Branding Should be Global in Scope, and Carefully Harmonized

Richard Guha, Principal of The New England Consulting Group, the leading market driven strategy consulting firm in the US, shows that large company C-level global executives believe that branding is a key issue in business. They believe this whether consumer or B2B, and that a harmonized approach is very important.

Pasadena, CA (PRWEB) April 20, 2005 -- Business Week, Fortune, and Forbes, as well as many other magazines and newspapers have had cover stories on the increasing globalization of business. Most of the commentary addresses manufacturing and supply chain issues. However, branding may be ultimately more important. Many who do express opinions do not have the experience of living and working in other countries. The New England Consulting Group carried out some research among 35 C-level managers who had experience working and living in a wide range of countries in a variety of functions. This research suggests that top global managers see branding as a critical and strategic issue, but only 37% believe that corporations generally do a good job. Most respondents replied that it is more important in consumer markets, but 72% believe it is important or very important in B2B markets. Brand names were judged to be only slightly more important in North America. Brand mapping and portfolio planning are felt to be critical.

Richard Guha, Principal of the New England Consulting Group, who spearheaded the study, stated that, Branding is a critical issue, but few companies do it well on a global basis. It is rarely managed on a deliberate basis to maximize the value of the brand portfolio." He went on to point out that, the danger is that branding decisions are often taken for tactical reasons and companies have to retrofit brands into strategy much later."

Richard Guha, with Bachelors and Masters degrees from Cambridge University, has been a corporate officer in three major global corporations, President of Reliant Energy Retail, CMO of MediaOne/US West, and Remedy/BMC enterprise software. He founded several companies and has been on the Board of three. He brought his experience and insight, gained in fifteen years in the rigorous and competitive world of consumer packaged goods at Procter & Gamble and Mars, Inc., to other industries, and played pivotal roles in the transformation of several major corporations. Richard created the consumer broadband market and he has advised many Fortune 500 corporations and well-known CEOs. His thoughts on a wide range of business issues are expressed regularly at http://takecontrolof.blogspot.com/

The New England Consulting Group has been the premiere management consulting firm specializing in strategic and tactical marketing management for twenty-five years providing expert services both domestically and globally to Fortune 500 companies, including Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Kraft/General Foods, and PepsiCo, among many others. Innovators of such ideas as The Marketing RoadMap, Six Sigma Marketing, and practitioners of the Principal Principle, the New England Consulting Group continues to seek new avenues for the expression of insightful and innovative ideas.

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