of course, we all know the world is flat and getting flatter, that we live in an increasingly globalized world. But to every trend there is a counter-trend.
in the uk and other developed economies there is a nascent and growing movement towards localist consumerism. People in supermarket aisles can be seen picking up their frozen chicken to see if it was reared in their region or shipped in from overseas. Localism sits at the convergence of a few different things:
first, green consumerism. No Impact Man and his followers are suspicious of any food or drink (and, increasingly, anything) that has to travel more than a few hundred miles before it reaches my home or my mouth.
second, authenticity. The search for what is real and uncorrupted becomes ever more urgent as the developed world gets ever more over-marketed - and what is local is tangibly authentic.
third, cultural production. As the internet and other technologies allow consumers to generate their own content, people are getting used to the idea that they can create their local media or use the internet to generate local activities.
this presents an interesting quandary for global brands. The imperative to integrate your communications to local markets becomes more urgent than ever before. But it's not just about communications in the traditional sense - it's about what you do for and within a local community. How do you become a genuine part of the fabric of a community? Are there implications for your supply chain? How do stay true to your global (or American or Swedish) heritage but reinvent yourself at different levels of localism? There are no easy answers. But unless your brand is thinking about them it may quickly find itself out of touch and out of place.
