Lead editor at Canvas8 APAC, specializing in trend analysis across industries and award-winning arts & culture reporting.

In today’s hyper-connected globe, the meaning of national identity is no longer rigid, and we’re seeing a dissolution of cultural borders as we travel through our devices. This shift in mentality is happening against a turbulent geopolitical backdrop as countries prioritise regional allies.

Border Reorder

 on the banks of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal. Since launching in the country in 1987, the all-American brand’s popularity in China has eclipsed its success in the US, where it has only 

 as of writing. Known to be a tough market to crack for international brands (many have tried and failed over the years), experts credit its unlikely success to a localised menu with offerings such as rice congee, steamed dumplings and egg tarts. 

Luxury Daily

This localisation, however, extends beyond finger-lickin’-good chicken onto its branding and audience engagement. In January 2024, KFC partnered with the sacred Buddhist site Mount Wutai to launch a 

 in a special Wutaishan-themed cup inspired by the ancient Chinese classic 

. This, as more Chinese Gen Z travelled to Buddhism-related sites and temples to seek spiritual wellness. KFC also released a 

 in September 2024, as an answer to the medium’s growing popularity. Meanwhile, its 

 leveraged meme culture to create highly anticipated weekly events, showing a deep understanding of China’s internet culture. It did all this while retaining its iconic red-and-white visual identity and, of course, 

 by 2026. The brand’s success is a testament to the importance of localising brand identity when expanding to Asian markets.

 market is expected to reach over CNY 3 trillion ($412 billion) by 2028, reflecting the market’s continued preference for products with Chinese elements. 

Statista

In Malaysia, 55% consider JAKIM Halal certification and the presence of Muslim employees when choosing personal care brands. 

Vodus

 Meanwhile, 77% of Filipinos say they would 

 if their offerings didn’t feel personalised. 

Twilio

Beyond cultural differences, however, Asian consumers also differ in terms of what they spend on. For example, those in India are willing to splurge on groceries, jewellery, restaurants and beauty and personal care, while those in China are more willing to shell out money for apparel, travel, restaurants and footwear. 

McKinsey

 These statistics illustrate just how different each market is. So, how can global brands approach this challenge? What does it mean to truly localise in Asia? And who’s responsible for ensuring a brand’s consistency and local impact within the organisation? Award-winning chief marketing officer (CMO) Siew Ting Foo weighs in, backed by her decades of experience.

The need for global brands to maintain universal brand coherence while ensuring cultural relevance in international markets was the focus of a recent Canvas8 Breakfast Briefing with Foo, who has more than 25 years of experience in brand strategy, business transformation and growth at companies that include HP, Unilever, Diageo and Mars. She’s known as a transformation growth leader who helps companies build businesses and brands and is the author of the book 

Building Brands with Soul: A CMO’s Journey to Humanising Growth and Creating Lasting Impact. 

She stresses the importance of balancing a global brand identity with local insights. “Consumer insights is a very important tool in breaking down barriers,” Foo says. This is particularly important in Asia, a diverse region many global companies wrongly assume to be homogeneous. “Indonesia is very different from Thailand, to the Philippines. Decide on the goal, then be very clear with your team about what they can localise and what they can’t,” she adds.

Is it realistic for a global brand to be locally resonant? Or is it a more realistic goal not to be divisive?

I think it's absolutely important that a global brand is locally relevant. Post-COVID, social media has made the world more global, but it's also more local in the sense that the macro environment – the political and economic environment that we're facing – is different. But how do you keep a global brand strategy while having local relevance? Having sat in global roles, I learned that there are some factors you wouldn't localise. For example, the brand positioning, look and feel, and visual identity. If you're a global brand, you have to stay very consistent. But there's one thing that needs to be localised, and that’s the insight. Now that everything is going to be generated by AI, what will be your differentiation point? That becomes the soul of the brand. The onus is really on the regional marketer to navigate things within the organisation, to be the right-hand man of the CMO – to be that voice.

Does that change how businesses should be looking at audiences at the global level as well?

Yes. Gone are the days of demographic segmentation. The CMO has to really decide on what it is that you want to centrally control and not localise and what it is that you want to localise. It will vary. A brand has a good balance of global strategy and local relevance when the entire marketing team comes together and operates as a community.

In many organisations, the CMO function is often based in the US or Europe. Does it create an inherent tension when it’s not APAC-first?

The onus is on the CMO – whether you're the global CMO or the regional CMO – to really work together in that perspective and to break down the barriers.

How do you form those global teams to make sure that the research, insights and knowledge are translated to global teams?

Consumer insights is a very important tool in breaking down barriers. I’ve been in a tech company for the last six years, where marketing has to earn the business. You have to fight for your budget on a quarterly basis and earn credibility. So I use consumer insights to bring the entire organisation together. This applies to marketing. I bring the global team into the market, I get them to talk to the customers, I get them front and centre in terms of data to understand the differences. But remember that you’re not doing it out of ego or because you want to get away with localising everything.

How have you seen people successfully push back against inherent distrust in local insights?

We do so much as CMOs – we know the customers, we represent the customers, we are also the most innovative in the way we think. We help transform, yet we're not recognised. Sometimes, I think it's also internal barriers that sit within the organisation. To give a real-life example: I was the Asia-Pacific CMO for HP. From a contribution sales standpoint, I wasn't the largest, but I was the highest in terms of growth trajectory. I intentionally let the global team, global CMO and stakeholders understand our market, starting with China, then Japan and then slowly coming into India and Southeast Asia.

Intentional influencing will help them understand our nuances. The second strategy I use is creating a use case of success. For example, I will partner with one big market – at the time it was China – and I knew that I would succeed in China because of certain reasons. I made sure that I’d succeed in China with a use case. And then I used the successful model in China, and I replicated it around the world. It’s constant influencing, communication and articulating what our differences are – but also drawing out the commonalities.

Last but not least, numbers. Numbers matter. If you deliver growth, outcome and resources will come. If you look at it from a positive side, marketers control two things that are pretty powerful: customer insights and the brand. You can actually utilise the brand narrative and unite internal beliefs. How do you work with your HR to create internal culture? How do you work with the chief financial officer to make sure that they give you the money? How do you work with sustainability and diversity officers to create an external employer brand? How do you work with stakeholders?

You spoke about the importance of having a very firm tone of voice, a rare visual identity within the brand. For local marketers, how important are local market alliances in developing local brands?

The visual identity is something that I wouldn't localise. You need to stay very true to it because it’s the intangible aspect of the brand that talks to you – it connects with people on an emotional level. But how you talk to the audience in China, the audience in Japan – that’s what you need to localise. The expression of positioning will be culturally different. Having the right partnerships – I call them my brand community – is important. This will have people who are not within marketing, my cross-functional team and also even the agencies that really understand your audience. For example, if you're marketing to Gen Z, make sure you have people from that demographic. If you stand for diversity, equity and inclusion, make sure you have representation around that. It’s better to be more diverse than similar. I always make sure I have very different kinds of people surrounding me, and my job is to then orchestrate them. I'm the orchestrator, not the doer, but I'm supposed to create a creative environment where everybody is at their best.

So when you're thinking about how to ladder up the positioning, it's about ensuring that brand elements are firm enough that you’re saying the same message everywhere, while having enough flexibility to interpret it in different ways in different markets?

A great global brand strategy has to be rooted in a universal global truth that can travel. At the same time, the onus is on the global brand team to make sure that that positioning stays relevant. A great example of that is Nike, right? Nike is a big, iconic brand. And then in the last two years, because of internal stuff, they became a brand that's not in the culture. But now they’re coming back. The global brand positioning needs to be anchored on a universal human truth. And the best global brands are managed through the right representation and manifestation of a relevant, local truth that brings a tone about voice in a culturally relevant way. I'm a believer that a great global brands cannot be managed from the ivory tower. Neither can it be managed just from a local perspective. It needs both. When I was a global head of brand, I had extensions of people of different cultures, different countries. This is the global brand community.

But what happens when the ivory tower itself is mandating a positioning that’s really hard to bring to certain markets? How would you navigate that situation?

This is the real test of resilience. This is the moment you need to represent the brand and believe in the brand. You need to really look at the brand and ask: does it manifest itself in the way you believe? But also in the way that helps drive business growth? Because for the founders and the chief executive officer, at the end of the day, it’s the numbers. You need to work hand in hand with them and speak your mind because you're the custodian of the brand. Nobody knows the brand more than you. And this is when you have to bring in people for the insights, those who can really help you tell a story.

Ask yourself: is this going to help propel the brand? Is this going to help drive growth? Do I believe in it? Can I sell it? If there’s a campaign that goes out that doesn't represent your brand and has huge social issues, the onus is on you to tell the founder, “Hey, actually, I think there's risk here,” based on data. This is the art of marketing now, the influencing skills. And this is the moment you need to stand up. You need to either believe in it or not believe in it. Don't sit in the grey zone.

How far down do you prioritise to keep the brand relevant – without straying outside the realms of what's reasonable?

You need clarity on the operating model: what are three things where you won’t allow localisation? And then also, especially in Southeast Asian markets, it's about investment decisions. Now that multinationals are struggling in China, they’re moving their focus to India and Southeast Asia. But they look at Southeast Asia as one market, when it’s actually so diverse. It’s about being clear on which Southeast Asian markets to put your bets behind because Indonesia is very different from Thailand, from the Philippines. Decide on the goal, then be very clear with your team about what they can localise and what they can’t.

How do you explain to local teams that they’re not a priority?

It’s not an easy task, but you let them understand that creativity doesn’t only mean creating a campaign but also how you understand your audience. How do you activate? So creativity in terms of activation becomes absolutely crucial.

What single piece of advice would you give to everyone here when influencing the global brand decisions at a local level?

My answer might sound a little bit like a motherhood statement, but it's really important. In my perspective, intentionality is critical, and you need to remember that your role as a marketer is to always tell your story. Own the strategy, and if you really believe in that strategy, intentionally tell the story. Marketers are the best influencers. You're not just marketing to customers, you're marketing internally to your organisation. In my mind, I decide what I need to do in 100 days, 200 days, 300 days. Who are the stakeholders I need to align with? You're doing that for the brand that you represent, and you're doing that for the team that you need. Intentional communication and creative storytelling internally are actually more important.

At the core of every good brand is a good story. And when expanding to other markets, it’s vital to ensure that this story – and some of the ways you show it – remains the same. This could be your positioning, look and feel or visual identity. What makes your brand stand out? What do people associate your brand with? What are some visual cues and elements that make your brand iconic? For KFC, it’s their Original Recipe. Fried chicken is still at the core of its business, but it achieves lasting impact in unique menu items – say, pasta in Vietnam, sweet potato balls in Taiwan and porridge in Malaysia. 

Love Food

The best way to localise is through insights. Study what the market actually wants, and use that to inform the way you execute your brand. What do consumers in this market value? How can you adapt your brand story to cater to this? What habits or behaviours do consumers associate with your products?

Marketers know their brand best. They also know their market best. This makes them the best people within the organisation to balance cohesive branding and localisation. They’re the brand’s voice within the organisation, asking themselves questions such as: does our global branding make sense in this market? What needs to be tweaked to make it make sense to consumers and drive growth? What cannot be compromised when localising?

China’s guochao market is expected to reach a value of over 

consider JAKIM Halal certification and the presence of Muslim employees when it comes to choosing personal care brands

of Filipinos would quit a brand if their offerings didn’t feel personalised

A great global brand strategy has to be rooted in a universal global truth that can travel

A brand’s positioning, look and feel, and visual identity are just some of the things that need to be consistent; what should be localised, however, are the insights that inform how these elements are executed in a certain market

The onus is on the regional marketer to navigate things within the organisation – to be that voice for the brand

A visionary future-facing global business and marketing leader, Siew Ting Foo boasts a 25-year career marked by transformative growth leadership roles in Unilever, Mars Inc., Diageo, Fonterra, and HP Inc. Having served as a global chief brand and insights officer and held Asia CMO roles, she is renowned for pioneering human-centric growth strategies and leveraging a blend of creativity and analytics to build resilient brands, drive shareholder values and build high-performing teams. She has been recognised six times as one of Asia's top 50 most influential and purposeful CMOs and is among the world's top three most inclusive leaders. She recently published her first book and is a board member of The Marketing Society.

Asia

Global companies often have to balance brand consistency with local relevance. But this can be difficult – especially in APAC, with its diverse cultures and habits. How can brands maintain a consistent story globally? How should they approach cultural differences? And what does it mean to localise beyond aesthetics?

Analysis

Therese Reyes

Siew Ting Foo

Related Macro Behaviours

Border Reorder