Correspondence: Saikat Banerjee, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT-Deemed University under Ministry of Commerce), IIFT Bhavan, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016, India. Tel: 0091-11-26966563, 26965124 (Ext: 412); E-mail: saikat@iift.ac.in, saikat1972@rediffmail.com

¹Has contributed research papers and articles in well-known journals like International Journal of Commerce and Management, Vision, South Asian Journal of Management, Management and Change, ICFAI University, Global Vista, 8M, SCMS Journal of Indian Management. His areas of interest are strategic marketing, consumer and brand management.

Received 16 April 2007; Revised 16 April 2007; Published online 8 June 2007.

Abstract

Globe has become a small village from the point of view of communication and market access, but till today country-specific culture plays a deciding role behind the success of any marketer. To ignore country-specific culture and to move on the assumption of presence of global culture may well offer a bumpy road to a brand marketer. A close match between country-culture and brand-culture adds significantly to effectiveness of strategy execution. Marketers face a tough time to integrate brand-culture in different countries of operation. This paper has offered a conceptual framework to manage the integration of brand-culture with the culture of the country of operation. A matrix framework is proposed for position identification and possible branding strategies, which is applicable regardless of the type of product or service provided and country of operation.