Global-Local is a term paper illustates about the new emerging notions of Global economy.An economy which does not have a stronghold of single economy.To establish its identity global brands are positioning their brands locally to capture the recognition.

1. History
Global-Local identity is one of the concepts which can be identified in the era of post-
modernity. Modernity occurred due to the first sheer pace of change in technology which set
the modernity into moderation , second a scope of change which means different areas of
globe are drawn into interconnection with one another and third with the intrinsic nature of
modern institutions such as the political system of the nation-state the wholesale dependence
of production upon inanimate power sources, or the thorough going commodification of
products and wage labour. Certainly, globalization became the consequence of the modernity.
Globalization, involves the flexibility brought about by the nations by allowing the global
forces to influence the local market conditions, to achieve economic growth. On the other
hand, as a part of reiterating localization, regions try to protect and maintain a part of the
local conditions and local culture, without being totally swept away by the forces of
globalization. Global-local Identity tries to balance both these approaches in terms of catering
to the local tastes and preferences, while attempting to follow the global corporate philosophy
and vision that the firms have.
The history of global-local identity can be traced back in the 1980s of Japan. According to
the Oxford Dictionary of New Worlds the idea has been modelled on Japanese Dochakuka
(deriving from dochaku “living on one’s own land”) ,originally the agricultural principle of
adapting one’s own farming techniques to local conditions but also adopted in Japanese
business for global localization , a global outlook adapted to local conditions’.
There is a debate among the scholars regarding the concept of global-local identity.
Giddens(1991:21) explained the global-local theme in the context of globalization and
asserted that globalization is a phenomenon which is concerned with the intersection of

2. presence and absence, the interlacing of social events and social relations “at distance” with
local contextualities.
However, according to Roland Robertson, a sociologist, gave a new direction to the concept
and viewed the traditional way of thinking of Giddens as ambiguous as it does not explain the
complexities lying behind the concept of global-local identity. Roland Robertson described
the concept as in terms of particularity which is a global value and what is taking place is
‘universalization of particularization’ or the ‘global valorization of particular identities’.
Considering the global-local identity as an invention of the globalization Nederveen Pietrese
describes the process of globalisation as the process of ‘hybridisation’, where introvert
cultures are gradually receding and trans local cultures made up of diverse elements are
coming to the foreground. Therefore the globalisation can be regarded as a tandem operation
of local/global dynamics or global localisation and the globalisation has accelerated the
cultural mixing.
The concept gained its importance in the business arena in late 1990s by British sociologist
Roland Robertson , who propounded the general issue of the relationship between the
particular and universal became popular which was one of the main marketing buzzwords of
the beginning of 1990s. For example in 1996, Coca Cola engaged the services of ’30
advertising agencies to bring a creative local flavour to the global message’. Robertson
describes this process of corporations producing products for the global markets by adapting
local and other particular conditions as ‘universalization’ and ‘particularization’.
There is a popular intellectual view of Tomilson(1991) which states that the concept of
global-local issue attained its popularity specifically when the entire world was swamped by
Western- American culture. The major alleged producers of ‘global culture’-such as those in
Atlanta(CNN) and Los Angeles (Hollywood) – increasingly tailor their products to a

3. differentiated global markets. For example , Hollywood attempts to employ mixed,
‘multinational’ casts of actors and a variety of ‘local’ settings when it is particularly
concerned to get a global audience.
On the other hand Straubharr stated that global-local identity was established with the coming
into being of media imperialism and cultural synchronization theories as the television
programming flow not only left the impression at the global level but also at regional or geo-
linguistic, national, sub-national or even local levels. Straubhaar says there is a subtle
interplay between the global and local in television form and content.

4. The theories which can be emerged from Global-local identity concept:
1. Imperialism.
2. Diffusion of innovation Theory.
3. Decentralization.
Imperialism Though not through military forces the great powers acquired its control in the
local market but it is true that very swiftly through business , technology and media the
world’s leading market has left a mark over the various localised culture.
Diffusion of innovation theory can be emerged which means that new ideas and technology
is spread and well accepted in the culture. Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is
communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.
Diffusion is a special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are
perceived as new ideas and an innovation, simply, is “an idea perceived as new by the
individual.”
Decentralization can be emerged from global-local identity. For example, decision-making
is distributed amongst various economic agents or localized within production agents
regarding any product in accordance with the culture.

5. Current Status
The concept is accepted or rejected depends upon the various factors of the preferences of the
locality. The relevance of the concept can be better understood in following categories :
Business
While conceptualising the category of business in respect of global-local identity following
brands can be taken into account:
 McDonald’s, a globalization stereotype, has adapted its global marketing to different
regions or countries. For instance, it provides Maharaja Mac and Veggie McNuggets
in India, which is made of lamb or chicken according to the preferences of people.
McDonald has given the adage of “think global and act local” a concrete shape in
India. McDonald products are preferred not only by the young generation but by the
older generation also due to its quality servicing and pricing. MacDonald has
adjusted its pricing according to the pocket size of middle class. Today McDonald's
is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 32,000 local restaurants
serving more than 58 million people in around 130 countries each day. 70 percent of
our restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent, local
businessmen and businesswomen.
 Pepsi believes tapping into the courageous side of the youth is what makes Mountain
Dew the fastest-growing Pepsi brand in India. The product is as global as it gets but
Pepsi delivers the brand’s global message “Darr ke aagey jeet hai” (there is triumph
beyond fear) to its primary target — the youth — with as much local flavour as
possible.

6. Media
The media presents another important realm in which global-local identity is made
apparent. A powerful means of making connections on an international scale, the
media is nonetheless a tool also capable of having an impact on a more local stage.
 At the global level some television channels like CNN take the same content to
worldwide audiences , whereas others are creating more regionally or locally adapted
versions of the CNN programmes.
 The original plan for STAR TV was to broadcast popular American shows to Asian
audience with as little effort as possible. However the plan was unsuccessful and
STAR TV had to invest on local branches to make local shows. Today in India STAR
TV is providing entertainment and news in various local channels.
Digital Platform
The concept of global-local identity can also be seen in digital platform .
 Google , a perfect search engine and a global brand has adjusted its dimensions in
accordance with the localised culture of various countries. For example in India the Google
search page transforms its page in accordance with the festival celebrated in the country
which shows that it has tailored its ideas according to the nature of culture..
 Facebook approached the e-market with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy, but now is facing the
realities of cultural difference. In the US – the country of origin – having lots of friends is
culturally acceptable and even encouraged. In Japan however, having more than 50 friends
indicates that you are superficial. Therefore, Facebook has lost its lead market position in
Japan due to the fact that it did not understand and encapsulate culture into its mass strategy.
‘Mixi’ is the social networking brand most Japanese people use; it doesn't tell others how
many friends you have, it doesn't have a ‘like’ button and accounts do not display public

7. walls. This shows that a global-local strategy may be necessary even in the digital
environment. Though it is successful in India still has to do a lot to get fit into this concept.
Though there are many brands like Pizza Hut, Dominos , Starbuks , Walmart have
established its hegemony in the world market but following is an example of the growth of
MacDonald and Google in India giving a brief overview of their strategy of global-local
identity as a success.
Source: Media report
The fastest growing burger chain has seen the revenues from the country grow at a
compounded annual growth rate of around 28.5 per cent over the past six years. In the last
five years alone (FY08-FY13) its revenues have shot up over threefold to around Rs 1,300
crore for the year ended March 31, 2013, based on revenue clocked by its franchisees in the
country.

8. It can be analyzed that due to the presence of Global-local identity concept the Google has
earned relatively fair revenues in India. Thus it shows that it is necessary to tailor your
services in order to survive in the world market.
So it can be analysed that in the present scenario the concept of global-local identity is well
accepted by the public and it is relevant in the contemporary context. People have become
more demanding and the producers of these global brands are tailoring their products in
accordance with their needs and thus catering them with full satisfaction. With this they are
able to maintain their reputation in the global market

9. TRENDS:
Though the Global-local identity has fairly established its peculiarity in the economy of
world market. Global-local identity can lead to a handsome profit for any industry, where
entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and technological innovation thrive under a Government
increasingly attuned to the value of the creative industries.
The society of any country is divided into two large segments of population: the growing
middle class and the huge underbelly of poverty stricken people. In India itself the middle
class constituted a portion of about 700 million of the total 1 billion population while others
put 300 million. Infact some political scientists such as Rajni Kothari argue that it was the
model of development that India imported from overseas which has led to the creation of
‘two- India’s with one cornering resources and institutions and the other India left to fend for
itself’. Therefore in coming years the brand positioning should be done in such a manner in a
localized culture that it should tailor their services in order to give the benefit to the ignored
sections of the society. For any product to be localised it should concentrate on ‘PUBLIC
SERVICE’.

10. CASE STUDY OF MTV , a music television
MTV Networks was established in 1981 as a US based Music TV network .It has been
expanding since 1987 when it opened MTV Europe. Currently it is owned by media
conglomerate VIACOM. Other channel Partners are Nicklodean and VH1. It generates
more than $1 billion in revenue outside US. However ,the most rapid growth of MTV is in
Asia continent. Almost 2 million people are watching MTV around the world , the majority
outside the US.
INITIAL STAGE
MTV had to overcome a lot of challenges before it became a Global hit. Initially it aired only
American programs with English speaking VJs throughout the Europe assuming that
Europeans would flock to see and hear more about American programs. But surprisingly
their tastes were mainly local except for a handful of global superstars like Madonna and
Michael Jackson. Most Europeans preferred local popular music. Similarly what was popular
in Germany might not be popular in Great Britain. Each country has its own unique and
favourite music scenes and songs. People would love to hear these more than adapt to
Foreign music. MTV clearly failed to understand this core principle and as a result MTV
suffered and started to decline. Soon there were many local copystations in Europe that
catered to individual countries Music scenes. Local copycat music stations soon took away
viewers and large portion of advertising revenue away from MTV.
STRATEGY
In 1995, MTV completely changed its strategy by adopting Global-local identity concept.
For example in Asia MTV Network has an
 English-Hindi channel for India.
 Mandrine feeds for China and Taiwan
 Japanese feed for Japan.

11.  Bahasa-language feed for Indonesia and so on.
They used digital and Satellite technology of transmission of localized programs which
greatly saved lot of time and effort. MTV exercised Creative Control over these different
feeds.
 All the channels irrespective of the language have the same familiar frenetic look and
feel of MTV.
 Local MTV stations are first started using expatriates from elsewhere in the world.
This helped MTV to do “gene Transfer of Company’s culture and operating
principles. Once it was established the network switches to local employees and
expatriates move on.
 However to retain its popularity MTV has been increasing the share of local
programs.
 Some of the popular local MTV programs in India include:
1. MTV Bakra – real-life comedy scenes.
2. MTV Cricket in Control- cricket inside stories
3. MTV Housefull – Hindi film stars.
TASTE OF SUCCESS
Between the years of 1996-2000 MTV rating in India scaled more than 700%.MTV
captured about 70% of its European advertising revenue. Similar trends were evident
elsewhere in the world. There phenomenal increase in MTV viewership was across the
countries. By 2004, 72 channels, 321 million household viewership in 140 countries.

12. CONCLUSION
MTV Networks has become a symbol of Globalization. It adopted right International
strategies and controls at the right time to regain its popularity, especially in non-english
speaking countries like Asia and Europe. The rationale behind MTV’s Global-local strategy
was to ‘get inside the heads’ of the local population and produce programming that matches
their tastes and preferences.

13. APPENDIX
Appadurai, A. (1988). Putting hierarchy in its place. Cultural Anthropology, 3(36), 36-49.
Featherstone, M. (1995). Undoing culture: Globalization, postmodernism and identity.
London: Sage.
Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University
Press.
Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In
Featherstone, M., Lash, S & Robertson, R. (eds.), Global Modernities(pp. 25-44). London:
Sage.
Nederveen Pieterse, J. (1995). Globalization as hybridization. In Featherstone, M., Lash, S
& Robertson, R. (eds.), Global Modernities (pp. 45-68).London: Sage.
Chapter1 Glocalisationof Indain Television:USha M.Rodrigues
MTV slideshare
Mac Donald India.com
Studies of business of brands

14. TERM PAPER
WORLD APPROACHES TO COMMUNICATION
TOPIC- GLOBAL-LOCAL IDENTITY
NAME – DISHA SHARMA