Return to Home Page 1997 The Multicultural Context of Brand Loyalty Paul Herbig ABSTRACT OF The Multicultural Context of BRAND LOYALTY In today's global market, a brand's marketing strategy must go head-to-head, not only with regional or national brands, but also with international competitors' marketing strategies. This adds an entirely new dimension to a company's marketing strategy when it comes to identifying, attracting, and retaining a market. This paper examines the concept of brand loyalty, discusses the various issues connected with brand loyalty, discusses cross-cultural views on brand loyalty throughout the world and illustrates the proliferation of brand loyalty across international frontiers. INTRODUCTION A brand is a trademark or a distinctive name of a product or manufacturer. It is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or any combination used to identify the goods and services of a seller. Brand names performs many key functions: 1. It identifies the product or service and allows the customer to specify, reject or recommend brands 2. It communicates messages to the consumer. Information provided could include statements regarding their users’ style, modernity or wealth (The Economist 2 July 1994, pages 9-10). 3. It functions as a piece of legal property in which the owner can invest and through law is protected from competitor trespass. Brand names convey the image of the product; ‘brand’ refers to a name, term, symbol, sign or design used by a firm to differentiate its offerings from those of its competitors, to identify a product with a particular seller. Branding adds values to products and services. This value arises from the experience gained from using the brand: familiarity, reliability, and risk reduction; and from association with others who use the brand. A brand is both a physical and a perceptual entity. The physical aspect of a brand can be found sitting on a supermarket shelf or in the delivery of a service. The perceptual aspect of a brand exists in psychological space-in the consumer's mind (American Demographics., 1994) A successful brand has a recognizable name which signals specific attributes to the consumer (quality, elegance, value). The ability to make a consumer repeatedly seek out and buy one brand over another even when others offer coupons or lower prices is brand loyalty. Traditionally, marketing's main goal had been targeted at increasing sales by attracting a steady stream of new customers. The focus of marketing is now being shifted towards a company's existing customer pool. Customer loyalty programs are designed to turn one time buyers into brand loyal customers (i.e., turning one time buyers into customers who will purchase the product over and over again). Customer retention is critical since it has been shown that it is up to five times less expensive to sell to a loyal customer as it is to create a new one. According to management consultant Bains, companies that improve their customer retention programs by a mere 5 percent can expect to gain a profit rise anywhere between 20 percent and 125 percent (McDonald 1994) (Nonetheless, companies accept the fact that there are some customers who are not worth keeping: An ideal customer is of adequate size with reasonable demands with the capability of becoming a long-term customer). Not all products, though, have the possibility of creating brand loyalty. Simple commodity products experience low customer retention. Consumers usually purchase a lower price product when shopping for paper products such as paper towels, toilet paper, and facial tissue. Frozen vegetables, frozen entrees, and cat food have been found to have the least brand loyalty. Products with strong brand loyalty include mayonnaise, soft drinks, and bar soap. A perfect example of how important brand loyalty is for some products is the beer industry. When beer drinkers are asked why they drink a certain brand of beer, they inevitably always say that it is because of the taste. Blind taste tests, however, have shown that when beer drinkers often have different taste reactions the second time. This indicates that beer consumers are actually being sold on the image of the product and not the product itself (American Demographics, 1994). Brand image also contribute heavily to a luxury product’s success; few people buy luxury names they do not know. Penetration levels of any brand is strongly affected by its awareness level and the relationship is strong between awareness and purchase (Dubois and Paternault, 1995). The catalog industry is another example of an industry which reaps in great benefits from loyal customers. According to direct mailers, loyal program members order merchandise twice as often, spend as much as three times more money, and are up to five times more profitable than non-members. These loyalty program members can account for up to one-half of all purchases, even though they represent only 10 to 15 percent of a catalog company's customer base (Chevan 1992). International Brand Loyalty Brand and brand loyalty problems are magnified in the international marketplace. In today's global market, a brand's marketing strategy must compete head-on, not only with regional or national brands but also with international competitors' marketing strategies. This adds an entirely new dimension to a company's marketing strategy when it comes to identifying, attracting, and retaining a market. Brands have staying power due to the promotional efforts expended by companies to create awareness and image for their brands. Standardization of both the product and brand are not necessarily consistent; a regional brand may have local features or a highly standardized brand may have local brand names. As a result of separate marketing, Unilever sells a cleaning liquid called Vif in Switzerland, Viss in Germany, Jif in Britain and Greece, and Cif in France; it would be very difficult to standardize the brand name for all European markets since each brand name is well established in each local market. Brand names often are difficult to standardize on a global basis. Johnson’s Pledge furniture cleaner is called Pronto in Switzerland and Pliz in France while retaining its American brand name in the U.K. Translation problems could render the translated version obscene or with a negative connotation (local slang or idioms). The brand name could already have been registered with another local or international company. Yet, many brand names are worth their weight in gold. Anyone’s list of the top ten global brands would have many of the same companies: Coca-Cola, Sony, Kodak, Disney, Nestle, Toyota, McDonald’s, IBM, Pepsi-Cola. Global brands carry instant recognition and especially for international travelers represent a risk avoidance strategy versus using local brands. European consumers buy American, for its quality, prestige, and American image. Goodyear sells its tires in Germany with images of Indy Cars. Budweiser has made a name for itself as a premium brand with an American ad campaign. Europeans also pay premium prices for American goods: $7 for sixpack of Bud in United Kingdom vs. $2 in the U.S. European teenagers wear baseball caps (backwards of course) and Football jackets over their basketball t-shirts. Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort have prospered as American Brands (Milbank, 1994). The Japanese lean towards pastoral names or names of girls for their car models: Bluebird, Bluebonnet, Sunny, Violet, Gloria versus animals and power names for American car models: Mustang, Cougar, Cutlass. The first sports car Nissan sent to the United States was named Datsun Fair Lady. Seeing a fiasco in the making, the name was changed to 240Z. However, branding is not a guarantee for success in the global market (Onvisit and Shaw, 1989). Some restrictions on brand names exist: “med” in France is limited to medicated products, thus potentially causing firms to adjust brand names. The lack of success of Suchard’s entry into the UK market demonstrates that if you are a powerful marketer in one country, you can’t literally transfer those brands and still expect them to be success. The UK chocolate company Thorntons experienced difficulties in France. Cadbery followed a fragmented branding approach, retaining the brand names on the various companies it has acquired in Europe (Littler and Schlieper, 1995). Coca Cola uses Coke Lite as a brand name instead of Diet Coke in France since the term ‘diet’ is restricted due to medical connotations and suggests poor health. Cross-Cultural Brand Loyalty - United States One of the advantages for American companies is the fact that the United States is one big melting pot. Before investing monies in international research, companies should do their preliminary research right here do try to define the type of research to be conducted abroad. By identifying similarities between immigrants to the United States and the people from their home countries, much of the preliminary work can be completed before going into the foreign markets to conduct research. A company can eliminate major dislikes and be prepared to investigate further their likes. For example, a new study found that ethnic minorities spend more money per household on groceries than the general population. African-Americans spend an average of $66 per week on groceries, while Asian-Americans spend $87, Hispanics $91, and the average household spends only $65. One explanation given for the larger purchases from minority families is that minority families tend to have larger families. Another explanation, which should be considered by marketers, is that minorities tend to purchase more brand products and spend more on quality products (Richard, 1994). Minorities are also known to be less cynical about advertising messages because they are actually seeking out information about the product.; things that the general public may take for granted. Yet another study shows that the African-American spends about $350 billion annually, Hispanics about $200 billion a year; and Asian-Americans about $120 billion a year (Loro 1994). When reaching for the Hispanic market, door-to-door sampling is preferable to direct mail, in-store and newspaper sampling programs. The Hispanic culture along with the Asian culture are very much into building relationships for business. This type of contact builds stronger ties with consumer and products (Loro 1994). Although some cultures (e.g., Hispanics) do not respond well to coupons, other cultural groups such as the African-Americans do. This is one way of building brand loyalty by reaching a group of people who have not been contacted before. U.S. products that are international tend to pursue a policy of standardized branding (Rosen, Boddewyn, and Louis 1989). The majority of U.S. brands do not; the apparent standardization is the result of extensive distribution of a few brands worldwide (Coke) rather than wide distribution of many brands. EUROPEAN BRAND LOYALTY Through a survey administered to adults in England by BMRB International, over half of Britain's most affluent shoppers do not follow the trend of switching brands, but find a brand they like and stay with it: 61 percent of the adult shoppers "tended to agree" with this philosophy of brand loyalty. Another finding that may be alarming to retailers, is that 50 percent of the respondents do not believe brands are better than own-label. When asked whether they looked for the lowest price, 8.2 percent responded affirmatively, and 2.7 budget for every penny spent on household shopping (Marketing, 1995). There seems to be trend in the UK to create brand loyalty through coupons. According to NCH Promotions the overall UK market grew by 5.15 percent in 1995 due to retailer funded coupons (Walker 1996). Catalina Corporation has developed electronic coupon checkouts in the UK market, the most sophisticated point of Purchase technology in the country. According to Catalina's Managing Director, "Catalina is able to drive categories and brands, increasingly without wastage. " Some agencies feel although that Catalina is only able to facilitate short-term brand switching. In March 1996, NatWest became the first UK Bank to issue promotional vouchers via 1,000 cash machines to its customers. Each voucher, besides carrying the promotional message from advertisers such as Buena Vista Home Entertainment, SeaFrance and the Guardian, also carries the NatWest brand name. According to research, 67 percent of bank customers are likely to use the promotional vouchers dispensed from ATM machines along with their cash (Walker 1996). Other banks are soon to follow NatWest's footsteps. Manufacturers are excited about profiling customers who make cash withdrawals and targeting them for further coupon promotions. P&G in UK has adopted a new strategy. Instead of concentrating on promotional activity and advertising, the company has allocated budgets to fund low prices in order to build brand loyalty and promote its label's growth in the UK market (Richards 1996). In other words, P&G is forcing customers to switch brands to get the best value. Contradictory to the belief of companies such as Catalina, P&G has taken a diametrically opposite view, claiming that coupons and other promotions create confusion, decrease customer loyalty, and increase system costs. On the other hand, there is an argument that only strongly established brands like P&G can afford to use price cuts as a means of increasing brand loyalty, the less known brands may not achieve the same result. Brand Loyalty in Japan The Japanese worship brand names, the perfect solution in a society where individual preference is muted. Once a designer name or brand logo catches on, the scramble begins. As soon as consumers are confident the logo means status or prestige, they will snap up anything that sports the reassuring logo. The Japanese have taken this fanaticism a step further. They do not rush out and buy just any recognizable brand; they buy catalogs filled with photographs of accepted brand products. Before making a purchase, many consumers must consult a reference work to guarantee its prestige. Different reasons for this brand loyalty exist according to age groups. The main reason the older Japanese rely heavily on brand names is that in their formative years (during The Second World War and the years of postwar poverty) goods were scarce and few opportunities existed; being unsure of exactly what they wanted, they opted for the safety of a famous name. The youth tend to prefer brand names because of their fashion consciousness. Consumers associate product quality, safety, and reliability with the image of the company that produces it. They need to see the company as trustworthy and reliable in order to evaluate a brand favorably (Nishikawa, 1990). This hierarchical concern with brands can be seen in the way the various Suntory brands have clearly defined ranks and, therefore, occupy different positions in society. In the early 1960s, the best selling Suntory was a light whiskey called Red; a few years later, Kaku was priced higher. The most premium brand was called Old. Later on, priced even higher for senior executives, came Suntory Reserve. When a Japanese salaryman selects a Suntory brand, he does so solely according to his position in the company. Suntory Old dominates the Japanese market in the middle level. Reserve is what you drink when you reach high management ( Fields, 1984). When Nabisco went to Japan, consumers there found the Oreos too sweet, so the amount of sugar was reduced to give them a more bitter taste. Some consumers still found them too sweet and told Nabisco they “just wanted to eat the base” without the creme, so Nabisco added a modified Oreo without the creme, Petit Oreo Non-Creme Cookies, which consisted of single wafers without the creme. Coca Cola changed Diet Coke to Coke Light in Japan; Japanese women do not like to admit to dieting and in Japan, the idea of diet implies sickness or medicine. BRAND LOYALTY IN OTHER COUNTRIES In Cambodia, beer drinkers display little brand loyalty. This has driven beer manufacturers to engage in all kinds of tactics to reduce brand switching among consumers such as give always, ring pull or bottle top competitions, point of purchase promotions and billboards (Business Asia, 1996). Name changes are not necessarily voluntary: In India, because of a ban on the use of foreign brand names, hybrid brand names are the norm: Maruti-Suzuki, Dcm-Toyota, Kinetic-Honda, Lehar-Pepsi ( Asian Advertising and Marketing, March 1992, page 23). Air travel is an essential means of transportation in Australia. The deregulation of the airline industry in 1990 caused the entry of Compass Airlines into the Australian market. Compass is able to give better prices and unrestricted fares to consumers, thus capturing 20 percent of the airline market. Threatened by Compass, both Australian and Ansett Airlines have launched frequent flier programs to increase brand loyalty among consumers (Browne,Toh, and Hu 1995). Philips, the Dutch electronic company, is focusing its marketing effort on Central Asia.Its current strategy is to set up a strong presence in Asia, build brand loyalty for its labels among distributors (considering Asia's logistical and distribution problems) and customers, besides establishing a reputation at the top end of the electronics market (Crossborder Monitor, 1995). Creating Brand Loyalty Three recommendations to creating brand loyalty (Edmondson, 1994) include: 1. Give your brand a good cause. By associating a brand with a good cause, the product is distinguished from the competition by adding a benefit. Consumers will feel that by purchasing the product, they are also helping a good cause. 2. Get permission, then get personal. Get to know the customer. By knowing the customers, companies can always keep in touch with them and inform them of special offers or promotions. But .. . get their permission first. The strategy may backfire when you contact customers who get annoyed if direct promotional literature is sent to them. An example of this type of mishap is a jewelry company which sent out mailers to customers who had purchased a high ticketed piece of jewelry. The jewelry company sent out promotional literature and mentioned the fact that an expensive piece of jewelry had been purchased recently by the receiver. Wives of some of the men who received the mailers did not know of the purchases, which left some very angry men. 3. Sell with information, not hype. We live in a world of information, but what customers actually want is knowledge. So not only do consumers want substance, but they also want entertainment, and as if that was not enough, they also want it on their own terms. Brand Loyalty Marketing Ten basic principles to build enduring, profitable growth for brands and their companies (Light, 1994) are: 1. The pillars of Brand Loyalty Marketing are the four basic elements which every marketing plan should contain to be effective in creating brand loyalty. Those elements include a) identifying b) attracting c) defending and d) strengthening brand loyalty. In addition, a company should be able to determine whether the marketing efforts are helping or hindering brand loyalty 2. Brands don't have life cycles. Although products go through life cycles, brands do not necessarily experience them. The value of some brands even increases over time, which has been the case with companies such as Levi's and Coca-Cola. 3. Build leadership based on brand loyalty. A company can become a leader through brand loyalty. A loyal customer can be nine times as profitable as a disloyal one. It makes smart sense to target loyal customers. 4. Be a leader in every market in which you choose to compete. When a company decides to go into a market, it must do so with full force. The profit received from market leaders is three times as much as for market followers . 5. Avoid undermarketing leaders. To maintain a lead in market share, a company must support marketing to the fullest. Reaching the top only means that the real job has just begun. Maintaining a top position requires more work than reaching the top. 6. Be a pioneer. Leaders are usually associated with pioneers. Most leaders in industries are usually also innovators and creators of products. To maintain this position, companies must invest heavily in research and development. Pioneers are faced with the heavy cost burden of research and development, where as companies which copy or clone are not. 7. Know the value of your customers. A company must determine the value of their existing customers. They should not their likes and dislikes, as well as their purchasing power. Knowing the value of the customers allows companies to better adapt products for a better acceptance of their loyal customers. 8. Keep your loyalists sold. By learning more about customers, a company has a much better chance at keeping these customers. It is not enough just to keep customers, a company must work to keep them satisfied as well, and aware that they are satisfied. Satisfied customers translates into loyal customers. 9. Sell on quality, not on price. The basis for even having loyal customers is quality. The primary focus of a marketing plan should be the quality of the product, and not how inexpensive it is. 10. Branding policy is business policy. Building brand loyalty will endure profitable growth as well as volume . Conclusion A global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world. The same set of values, brand character, forms the key in the global brand strategy (Chevron, 1995). According to Omelia (1995), successful global brands must anticipate cultural trends, styles and evolving consumer values in order to appeal to customers across international boundaries; a product's relevance to its customers dictates its global potential. Brands which have a large disparity in consumer regard and image are not as likely to find a standardized global positioning to become a global brand. Successful multicultural advertisers have secured brand loyalty from culturally diverse consumers by tailoring the brand's image to reflect individual cultures. With regards to brands, creation or maintenance of a global brand is highly dependent upon the existing status of the brand. If the company has maintained independent brand names for the same product for numerous countries, it becomes more difficult and chancy to implement a single global brand name. If the product has been adapted in various countries to accommodate local tastes, the creation of a single global brand is not recommended. For example, ccording to a commentary on beer consumption by McCann-Erickson Worldwide, "To Brazilians, beer is a soft drink, to Germans good beer is the one that's locally brewed, to the English lager beer is a new product, to Americans, beer is a boy-meets-girl drink, to Australians beer is a man's drink.” European retailers are moving away from distributors of packaged goods and becoming consumer marketers with their own private labeled brands. (Adweek February 14, 1994: 38). Private labels, or manufacturers'' "own-brand" (for example, H.E.B. Brand in Texas) have shaken up the packaged goods industry in North American and Europe. They have claimed 31 percent of the United Kingdom's grocery sales, and 21% of Canada's, according to Datamonitor and A.C. Nielson, respectively. Interestingly enough, "own-brands" sell comparatively weaker in less developed countries such as Argentina and India, due to the lack of large supermarket chains. As a matter of fact, private labels have barely even affected the Hong Kong market where high disposable income has created high-price brand loyalty. Other countries such as South Africa and Japan on the other hand, have felt the influence of private labels (Levin, 1995). The success of private label products can be considered to be negatively correlated with the country's economic status. When a country's economy is doing good, then its citizens tend to favor the brand labels. But when the economy is bad, consumers are often willing to substitute brand labels with private labels, thus an increase in the sale of private label products. Therefore, private label sales tend to be highest in countries either still in a recession, or just climbing out, like the United Kingdom. Brand loyalty also can vary across cultures. Chinese consumers tend to be more brand loyal and tend to purchase the same brand or product other members of the group recommend; They tend to be members of a small number of reference groups. Hispanics tend to be more brand-loyal, more likely to use familiar stores, and more likely to be price and promotion conscious than non-Hispanics. This could be due to relatively low income levels and large family sizes (Saegert, Hoover, and Hilger, 1985).One explanation for greater brand loyalty and the corresponding less tendency to buy private label brands could be the purchase of prominent brands connotes the assimilation of ethnic consumers into the mainstream economy. Many new immigrants are familiar with many brands from their native experience and continue to use those brands from risk avoidance as well as the emotional experiences (of the homeland) they may be connected to. Colgate toothpaste holds a 70 percent market share due to its dominance in Latin America. However, Crest, though holding only 15 percent of new immigrants, has nearly twice as many of the acculturated Hispanics. The cultural context of brand loyalty can be explained easily through the use of Hofstede’s dimensions. Power distance is the willingness to accept that those with power are entitled to it and those without power ought to accept the way things are and just go along with it. This is an Asian cultural tendency. Big market-share brands are the kings of their brand world and consumers from cultures with high power distance tend to believe in them implicitly: the dominant brand has achieved what it has because it is the best and one should not question it. The power dimension is related to uncertainty avoidance (risk). A third dimension is individualism-collectivism, the degree to which one’s individual beliefs are submerged to fit in with the greater good of what is acceptable in society as a whole. Asian cultures tend to be highly collective. This collective orientation has implications for consumer attitude formation and brand loyalty and ensures the survival of the dominant brand (Robinson, 1995). REFERENCES Aaker, David A. (1996), "Measuring Brand equity across products and markets," California Management Review, 38/3: 102-120, Spring. Anonymous 1, "A Bit About Brands. " American Demographics, Issue: Marketing Power Supplement, (January 1994), 8. Anonymous 2, "Wealthy Prove Loyal. " Marketing, 16 March 1995, p. 3. Anonymous 3, "Brew, Babes, and Brands," Business Asia, 28 (7), (April 8, 1996), 6-7. Anonymous 4, "Philips Establishes Itself in Central Asia," Crossborder Monitor, 3 (50),(December 20, 1995), 8. Anonymous 5, "British American study finds disparities in images of global brands," Communication World, 11/5 (May): 34-35. Anonymous 6, :"Brands on the Run," Adweek, 35/7 (February 14, 1994): 38-40. Anonymous 7, “Brands,” The Economist (2 July 1994): 9-10. Anonymous 8: “Brands,” Asian Advertising and Marketing (March 1992):23. Boze, Betsy V. and Charles R. Patton (1995), "The future of consumer branding as seen from the picture today," Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12/4: 20-41. Browne, William, Rex S. Toh, and Michael Y. Hu, "Frequent Flier Programs: The Australian Experience," Transportation Journal, 35 (92), (Winter 1995), 35-44. Carl, Kate, "Good Package Design Helps Increase Consumer Loyalty," Marketing News, 29 (13), (June 19, 1995), 4. Chevan, Harry, "Loyalty has its Rewards, " Catalog Age, 9 (1 1), (November 1992), 1, 46-47. Chevron, Jacques R. (1995), "Global branding: married to the world," Advertising Age, 66/20 (May 15): 23-24. Dubois, Bernard and Claire Paternault (1995), "Observations; Understanding the world of international luxury brands: the dream formula," Journal of advertising Research, 35/4 (July/August): 69-76. Edmondson, Brad (1994) "New Keys to Customer Loyalty," American Demographics, 1, (January), 2. Fields, George (1984),From Bonsai to Levi’s, MacMillan: New York, Hill, Julie Skur (1995), "World Brands," Ho, Suk-ching and Chi-fai Chan (1995), "What is in a brand-quality perception of manufacturer versus private brands," Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 7/4 : 39-57. Jones, Barry and Roger Ramsden, "The Global Brand Age," Management Today, September 1991: 78-80. Levin, Gary, "No Global Private Label Quake-Yet," Advertising Age, Issue: International Supplement, (January 16, 1995), I-26. Light, Larry, "Brand Loyalty Marketing Key to Enduring Growth," Advertising Age, 65 (42),(October 3, 1994), 20. Littler, Dale and Katrin Schlieper, “The Development of the Eurobrand,” International Marketing Review, 12/2 (1995): 22-37. Loro, Laura, "Minority Promotions Pick Up the Pace, " Advertising Age, 65 (20), (May 9,1994), S-4. Mazur, Laura, (1993), Brands across Borders, Marketing Business (October): 36-37. McDonald, Gael M. and C.J. Roberts, "The Brand naming Enigma in the Asia Pacific Context," International Marketing Review, 1991. McDonald, Malcolm, "Make Them Beg for More," Marketing,, (April 28, 1994), 3 1. Milbank, Diana “Made in America Becomes a Boast in Europe,” The Wall Street Journal, (January 19, 1994): B1, B6. Nishikawa, Sadafumi (1990) “New Product Development,” Journal of Advertising Research, 20/2 (April/May 1990): 27-31. Onvisit,Sac and John J. Shaw, “The International Dimension of Branding,” International Marketing Review 6/3 (1989):24 Omellia, Johanna (1995), "The essence of global branding," Drug & Cosmetic Industry, 157/3: 50-55. Richards, Amanda, "P&G Brings its Price War to British Aisles," Marketing, 14, (February 15, 1996), 14. Rickard, Leah, "Minorities Show Brand Loyalty." Advertising Age, 65 (20), (May 9, 1994), 29. Robinson, Chris (1995) “Asian Culture,” Journal of the Market Research Society 38/1 (1995): 55-63. Rosen, Barry Nathan and Jean J. Boddewyn and Ernst A. Louis, "US Brands Abroad: An Empirical Study of Global Branding," International Marketing Review, 6/1: 7-21. Joel Saegert, Robert J. Hoover, Marye Tharpe Hilger, “Characteristics of Mexican -American Consumers,” Journal of Consumer Research , 12 (June 1985): 104-109. Springett, Rod (1995), "Global Seduction," Marketing Week, 17/51: 40-41. (March 17) Tse, David K. and Gerald J. Gorn (1993), "An experiment on the salience of country-of-origin in the era of global brands," Journal of International Marketing, 1/1: 57-76. Walker, Jo-Anne, "Redemption Revival," Marketing Week, 19 (7), (May 1996), 67-73. Walley, Wayne (1995), "Programming globally-with care," Advertising Age, 66/37 (September 18) : I-14. Warnaby, Gary (1994), "Laura Ashley; an international retail brand," Management Decision, 32/3 : 42-48. Whitelock, Jeryl, Carole Roberts, and Jonathan Blakely (1995), "The Reality of the Eurobrand: An empirical Analysis," Journal of International Marketing, 3/3: 77-95. Winram, S. (1984), "The Opportunity for World Brands," International Journal of advertising, 3: 17-26.