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Globalizing Brands?

Brand Strategies of Western Multinational Corporations in Central and Eastern Europe

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The Changing Nature of Doing Business in Transition Economies

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Abstract

The liberalization of the political and economic systems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 has opened a huge new market for foreign firms. In particular, the enormous growth potential of the region prompted a rush into the emerging markets of this region. While the motivation to enter these markets was clearly understood, the choice of the adequate marketing approach turned out to be more complicated. The foreign firms almost faced a “tabula rasa,” a regional market that had been isolated from the modern Western marketing and consumption culture for more than four decades. What is the right marketing approach in such a situation? Should the management of the foreign firms opt for a more localized or a more standardized approach in international marketing strategy? Had management followed classic international marketing theory, it would have leaned towards a more localized approach given the huge differential in purchasing power and market development between Western and Eastern Europe.

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Authors
  1. Arnold Schuh
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, University of Gloucestershire, UK

    Marin Marinov (Professor of International Business and Management) (Professor of International Business and Management)

  2. Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

    Svetla Marinova PhD

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© 2011 Arnold Schuh

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Schuh, A. (2011). Globalizing Brands?. In: Marinov, M., Marinova, S. (eds) The Changing Nature of Doing Business in Transition Economies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230337015_4

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