The process of global brand strategy development and regional implementation

Although standardization–adaptation has long been recognized as a dynamic negotiation, less is known about the attendant processes within organizations. Accordingly, this study “pulls back the curtain” on a new global brand management strategy at Kimberly-Clark (KC). An extended case method was employed, comprising three rounds of semi-structured interviews with senior regional and global marketing managers on six continents. Global brand strategy development at KC entails sharing information and best practices, implementing common brand planning processes, assigning responsibilities for global branding, and creating and implementing effective brand-building strategies. Indeed, KC's approach, predicated on accountable empowerment and capacity-building, is transforming the organization by increasing marketing capability locally while instilling better processes and disciplines centrally. An examination of these seemingly orthogonal objectives allows us to see how brand strategy cohesiveness is maintained in an unconventionally decentralized structure.