Going Global

Once a brand has firmly established itself, it can begin contemplating the moves required, including establishing the proper relationships and networks, to take the brand global.

In 1864, Gerard A. Heineken purchased an old brewery in the Netherlands. Four years later, he opened another in Amsterdam, which was followed in 1874 with a brewery in Rotterdam. For the first time, and with great success, he leased his first brewery to produce Heineken abroad (in Belgium) in 1878.

Heineken thrived because it correctly believed that global expansion could best be accomplished by forming joint ventures, acquiring existing breweries rather than importing the beer straight from the Netherlands, and licensing the brand.

In 1931, a joint venture was formed in Singapore and, by 1960, Heineken owned or had an interest in breweries in 24 countries beyond the Netherlands. The beer with the green bottle and the red star grew to become the world's third largest selling beer thanks to the relationships the brand established with breweries around the globe. However, had Heineken not devoted the resources to ensuring that the breweries abroad were brewing enough and the required quality beer, the story of its global expansion might not have been so extraordinary.

In the early 1980s, the NBA was a domestic TV property. However, by the end of the decade, the game could be seen in more than 50 foreign countries, and, by 2001, the NBA was broadcast in more than 200 countries, reaching 750 million households worldwide. The NBA is now broadcast from Albania to Zimbabwe and at least 200 countries in between.

It is understood that the game of basketball is among the world's most popular sports. Its success as an Olympic sport allows children from all over the world to watch it and aspire to play it. The NBA also fostered internationalization by getting its best players to play on the country's dream team when the amateur-only rule was lifted before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Further, it played overseas exhibitions in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Playing teams from other countries also allowed the NBA to scout future players.

The league learned, as many companies have, that modifying the product to appeal to certain markets would help its popularity. For the NBA this meant drafting more and more foreign players and marketing their presence. Spain watched the Memphis Grizzlies Pao Gasol, and in Yugoslavia the attention focused on the Sacramento Kings "Peja" Stojakovic. Germans rooted for the Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki and Greeks followed the Phoenix Suns Iakovos Tsakalidis. In the 2002 NBA draft, five of the first 16 players were foreign, including the top overall pick Chinese center, Yao Ming.

In the summer of 2002, the United States team, filled with American NBA players, lost to Spain, Yugoslavia, and Argentina and didn't medal in the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis. Prior to the tournament, the United States was 53 0 when using NBA players.

The NFL plays preseason games in foreign markets such as Ireland, Japan, and Mexico and plays NFL Europe games in Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, and Spain, yet there is not one native from any of those countries on an NFL roster. Having foreign players in the league affords the NBA a true connection to international fans. So, too, did having the world's most recognizable personal brand, Michael Jordan, playing in the NBA. Jordan's global appeal, when combined with the distinctly international flavor the NBA now offers, led David Stern to comment during his 2002 State of the League address that the possibility existed that the NBA would have a branded presence (in the form of a franchise) internationally, either in Mexico or Europe by the end of the decade.