Big Brands（在线收听）

Jackie:  Welcome to bbclearningenglish.com and another chance to hear Insight Plus, a

series first broadcast in 2001 that looks at the language of issues you hear about in

the news. Today’s topic is Big Brands, companies which see the entire world as their

market. Brands whose advertising, popularity, look and feel are in many respects the

same from one country to another. The presenter is Lyse Doucet.

Lyse:More and more, large Western and in particular American companies are spreading

their goods to the four corners of the earth in search of new markets and, of course,

bigger profits. In recent months, the advance of these multinationals has hit the

headlines. Global brands are the topic of today’s Insight Plus - your guide to the

language and issues you hear every day in the news.

Clip

I’m wearing a Converse coat, Ralph Lauren shirt and Nike underneath it, Nike t-shirt …

.I'm wearing a GAP sweater but I think it's not as big of a deal because I bought it in

the States where I'm from and I think if you bought it here it'd be giving in more

towards buying the brand just because it's American or it's not something that started

here ……… Today I'm wearing Nike trainers and I've got a Converse sweater on and my

trousers are from GAP

Lyse:  To explore this continuing rise of big brands across the globe, let's take a look

at a report by Rahul Sarnaik.  It was broadcast on the BBC World Service programme, 

Insight.     Here’s the first extract.  

 Clip

“Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric and Ford”

 According to a survey based on their brand value, they're the world's top five corporate

names - and they're all from the USA.  The number one brand-name, Coca-Cola, was valued

in June 1999 at more than eighty-billion dollars. Is it true that these brands are

penetrating（深入） deeper into more and more markets around the world?

Lyse: A brand like the ones we heard - McDonalds, Coca Cola, Microsoft - is more than a

label, or the name of a product or company.  A brand represents a set of values that the

company wants the consumer to associate with its products. These values go beyond the

need for quality or durability（持久性） For example, some companies try and appeal to

the youth market and its sense of adventure, whereas others target older consumers who

may be more interested in luxury（奢侈的）, comfort and prestige.                       

We heard in the report that the biggest brands worldwide are the ones with the highest

international brand value.  Brand value is becoming increasingly important. It’s about

how well regarded a brand is by the consumer or the buyer. It’s measured by looking at

the status of the brand in a market and whether people remain loyal - whether they

continue to buy the product.  

The report asks “Is it true that these brands are penetrating deeper into more and more

markets around the world?”  In other words, are the big American names trying to

establish themselves in more countries? Well let’s find out as we listen to more of

this report.  

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Is it true that these brands are penetrating deeper into more and more markets around

the world? Yes, according to Richard Robinson, of the London-based business analysts

Datamonitor:

Richard Robinson - Data Monitor

If you think about what's happened over the last 10 years or so there's been a massive

globalisation of the media.  The result of that has been that brand values and consumer

values around the world have homogenised to a certain degree. And that's really played

into the hands of a lot of the big Western multi-national companies. For example from

the soft drinks industry - Coca cola, Pepsi Cola - over the past 10 years they've

established massive distribution networks（配电网） worldwide in markets where they were

previously fairly under-represented

Lyse:According to business analyst Richard Robinson, the answer is yes.  The top

companies’ market penetration is increasing.  And why? Well, did you notice the word

globalisation in the phrase “the globalisation of the media”.  What he means is that

all over the world people now watch the same TV channels, log on to the same websites,

and read and listen to the same news stories.  As Richard Robinson says:

Clip Richard Robinson - Data Monitor

…there's been a massive globalisation of the media.  The result of that has been that

brand values and consumer values around the world have homogenized to a certain degree. 

Lyse:The different types of media like television, print and the internet, have been

crucial in “homogenizing values”. That means that in promoting the same images and

messages about certain products they have played their part in making the values of

brands and those of consumers more and more alike.  What we admire, trust and enjoy,

both about ourselves and the things we buy, is becoming much the same wherever we are in

the world. 

The global market and global brands are the subject of today’s Insight Plus from the

BBC World Service - your guide to the language and background to the stories that stay

in the news.

It’s not just the global media which has helped big brands to spread their appeal. The

changing political scene has also played a part.  The collapse（崩溃，倒塌） of

Communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and the improvement in

relations between the West and China, have meant that vast new markets have opened up

for western goods.  Big brands have also been able to spread their influence because of

the worldwide fascination(魔力，魅力) with certain aspects of western life. Two

interviewees from Rahul Sarnaik’s report make this point.  Shoba De is a novelist and

media commentator（注释者，评论员） based in Bombay in India.   Professor Cary Cooper

lectures in social psychology at Manchester University in England. They both say that

western culture has an “all-pervasive influence” - its influence can be felt

everywhere.  To begin with, Shoba De talks about how the big brands are making great

advances - or inroads（侵入，侵犯） - into newer markets such as India.  Although she

says that awareness of big brands - or brand consciousness - has always been strong

there.

Clip Shoba De

They're making incredible inroads and more rapidly than I could have imagined possible

even a couple of years ago.  The brand consciousness（意识，知觉） has always been there

in urban India because we have access to satellite television as well as imported

magazines, fashion magazines. But ever since our beautiful young ladies started to win

international beauty titles I think the focus has changed and urban India seems obsessed

with labels of all kinds - particularly those coming out of Europe. And of course the

American sub-culture - that has such an all-pervasive（普遍的，蔓延的，渗透的）

influence on all of us

Prof Cary Cooper

What they see through films, through American Television is only the positive side and

that is what they aspire to, to wealth, to the visual side of wealth, i.e. the clothing

the brand name and the brand products.  Countries in Eastern Europe, certain countries

in the Far East, in the Middle East… where they want the good life and don't see the

potential downsides of a society that's very much acquisition(获得，所获之物) and money

-driven.

Lyse: There are potential downsides or disadvantages of Western society - such as a

perceived obession（疯狂的代价） with money and gain,  but much of the world seems

fascinated by it and some people even aspire to it. And that plays into the hands - and

indeed the pockets - of the big multi-national companies.   

Take the McDonald’s food chain, it started in the 1950s and now opens up on average 5

new restaurants a day somewhere in the world.  And Coca Cola - invented back in 1886 -

now sells more than one billion drinks every day.  These two companies have operated

globally for a long time but they were always considered an exception.  Now more and

more businesses are realising global branding is the key to success.  Companies are

spending millions of dollars on branding in a bid to build a powerful international

image. 

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You feel that maybe that there’s more quality involved that you're maybe a bit more

sure about the production methods, bit more secure about knowing things like that…I see

people wandering around with the big label brands and the clothes don't actually look

any better - you've paid four times as much for something that actually looks worse,

what's that about? ….Normally I do go for something which is quite popular because at

least you know you're getting value for money, at least you're getting something

reputable…I think everybody knows about Coca Cola and Nike and everything some of them

and everyday you wear them as a good thing because there's a convergence(汇聚，聚焦) -

everybody's going for the same trend. But there are bad things about it because

everybody's so obsessed with（死抱住。。。不放） his or her friends that they're

spending a fortune out of it just to have branded goods themselves…It's in some way a

bit all pervasive, a bit oppressive - there's a Starbucks on every corner…..Regional

and cultural differences are becoming less important to the fashion industry and people

are buying similar clothes, looking for similar fashion regardless of whether it suits

their locality, their person and just going for the image, this global image. 

 Clip

For the consumer, the branded good can bring a lot of benefits.  A globally recognised

name offers reassurance, security, and quality, as well as status.  But it's actually

more complex than that.  While it's challenging for advertisers to promote a brand that

appeals across many different cultures, the long-term goal is to sell a way of life, not

just a product.

Lyse: Reassurance, security, quality, status -  these are some of the reasons

why big, international brands are popular.  But as the report also points

out, consumers aren’t just sensible shoppers they’ve also bought into

the image, the lifestyle, the very dream that big multi-national

companies have carefully created.  

Global brands have hit the headlines recently. And not just for their market penetration

and end of year profits. Demonstrators（示威者） have disrupted big international trade

meetings, campaigning against globalization and global business. They fear this

relentless（无情的，冷酷的） spread of big brands is posing a real threat to our

communities, small business and the environment.  And it could also mean the end of

individuality.  As Rahul Sarnaik says in his report, individual choice and expression

could be become a thing of the past …

 Clip

The power of global marketing-strategies has been demonstrated by the inroads that

branded Western goods are making across the globe. Some commentators have predicted a

future in which the world's young people will all dress alike, eat the same food, listen

to the same music, drive the same cars, and drink the same drinks.

Lyse:  Today on Insight Plus we’ve heard how global branding is helping large

multinational companies make inroads into new markets.  We’ve also heard that the

globalization of the media - the fact that many of us are reading, watching, and

listening to the same news and advertisements - has meant that the desires of the

consumers and the promises made by the big brands are converging - they’re becoming the

same.

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