This paper begins by explaining the relevance of global brands and thereafter focuses on the localization strategies for global brands. It refers to the brand building blocks in the customer-based brand equity pyramid authored by Kevin L Keller (2003) for the analysis of the localization strategies. The analysis is followed by a framework that incorporates the localization strategies and approaches for global brands. There are suggestions for further research, followed by the conclusion. The paper has used illustrative examples from various countries and diverse brands to support the analytical arguments.

Globalization is the imperative in the new millennium and companies are strategizing to ensure global success. In this milieu, careful consideration and planning needs to be undertaken with respect to localization of global brands. Aaker (1996) mentions that a core identity across segments and countries need to be maintained thereby ensuring lesser inconsistencies and better economies of scale. Having built a strong brand in one country, the manner in which this brand is introduced globally requires various considerations. Aaker mentions that global brands may necessitate multiple identities but under such situations, a common set of associations should ensure consistency in the brand elements (Aaker, 1996). However, having built a strong brand locally, companies need to find out how to carry the strength of the brand to other markets (Loeffler, 2001).

The corporate brand needs to be promoted to ensure the success of product brands. Nortel Networks promoted the sub-brands and not the corporate brand and were unable to compete with Cisco. Later, Nortel did try to focus on promoting the corporate brand and unveiled an advertising campaign that carried the tagline: "This is the way. This is Nortel." The product brands were known to customers but the lack of promotions for the corporate brand caused financial challenges resulting in several key executives being replaced (Maddox, 2004).

Companies that manage to carve out a niche in a local market realize the need for a strong global identity to compete with established global brands. The British motorcycle brand Triumph has been around for over a century but feels the need for a global identity to enable it to compete with brands like BMW, Ducati and Harley-Davidson (Chandiramani, 2003).

Localization Strategies of Global Brands: An Analysis,global, brands, corporate, localization, identity, Nortel, analysis, strong, strategies, mentions, promoted, countries, century, Chandiramani, challenges, analytical, Companies, considerations, arguments, approaches, customerbased, economies, enable, equity, established, examples, associations, authored, Globalization, HarleyDavidson, illustrative, incorporates