globalEDGE International Business Blog

Imagine walking into a car dealership and seeing a brand new car with $2,000 written on the windshield in huge neon letters. It seems too good to be true right? Well in India this actually happens. Tata Motors is an Indian automaker that produces the world's most inexpensive car – the Nano.

Many people in the international community have perhaps visited or at least heard of Adbusters.org, the Canadian anti-consumerist activist organization. I remember browsing through the site a couple years ago and watching a few videos, laughing a little bit, and happily forgetting that it existed. Recently, the self proclaimed “journal of the mental environment” and I crossed paths again when a friend of mine received an online invitation to participate in Buy Nothing Day, an international campaign supported by Adbusters in which participants refrain from spending money on absolutely anything on November 27th or 28th (depending on location) in order to create “a chain reaction of refusal against consumer capitalism … a sudden, unexpected moment of truth … the first ever global revolution.” Participating countries include Denmark, France, Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Recently a study released by Ernst and Young, looks in detail to how leading global companies have dealt with the recession and are looking ahead. The report compiles conversations that over 500 of the firms senior partners had with clients around the world.

The Michigan State University Center for International Business (MSU-CIBER) has recently released the 2009 Market Potential Index for Emerging Markets (MPI).

Generally, when something is put to a vote, the most popular vote wins. This is not the case for the Kraft Foods Australia product, Cheesybite. If you don’t know what Cheesybite is, it is a jar of caramel-brown, salty, gooey yeast paste (also known as Vegemite, an immensely popular Austrailian spread), that is mixed with cream cheese. Sounds appetizing, huh? Well to many Australians, it is. In a recent New York Times article, Bill Granger, a well known Sydney chef, said that Vegemite is “One of the only foods that is unique to Australia, and people see it as being quintessentially Australian.”

One of the critical factors of having a large, successful international operation is having “feet on the street” in the country where multinational companies do business.  Recently, an article from ChinaDaily.com featured some staggering statistics about expatriates and the duration of their stay in the country.  Although business demands often dictate relocation by executives and their families, is this the most efficient use of resources?

In recent months, there has been a huge cutback in business travelers staying in luxury hotels. With thousands of workers having been laid off, companies who sent their executives to 5-star hotels were being attacked. Since companies have been under scrutiny for unnecessary spending, business travel has been cut back and downgraded to the bare minimum. Now, the international hospitality industry is trying to bring back luxury business travel.

Recently Interbrand, the world’s largest brand consultancy, released its 2009 rankings of the top global brands of 2009.

So what is a global brand, exactly? A global brand  is one that has transcended the linguistic and cultural challenges of entering foreign markets. Widely recognized global brands have successfully implemented the namesake and desirability of their products to consumers in many countries.

The Top Ten Global Brands of 2009:

It is well known that the auto industry has taken a hit across the globe. With sales and production down and several plant closures, it seems that things are looking grim. However, several Japanese automakers are thriving, not internationally, but in China.

China has just recently launched its brand new Growth Enterprise Market, a Nasdaq-style stock market that has been over 10 years in the making. Twenty eight small- and medium-sized companies will be debuting on the Gem as it is called, made to attract financing of new high growth industries. These industries include software companies, pharmaceutical firms and creative industries. But investing in these companies will be risky business, since there will less than 30 companies to begin with.