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One of those features is a Q&A with Nigel Hollis, a name you should follow. The executive vice president and chief global analyst for Millward Brown Group recently authored the new book The Global Brand: How to create and develop lasting brand value in the world market. One section that really got to me was Chapter 9, "How Global Brands Have Met the Challenge of Going Local," which delves into those challenges and presents some illuminating case studies from the likes of Nestle and General Motors.

In the chapter, Hollis offers up five steps for entering a new foreign market:

1. Adapt products and services to meet local needs and tastes (this is what Kraft did with Oreo in China, as you can read about in the Marketing News article "Live Like Locals," also in Aug. 30).
2. Solve the value equation through product and pricing strategies
3. Create a strong presence and distinctive identity
4. Adopt more aggressive point-of-purchase tactics
5. Keep track of consumers' evolving relationships with brands

All are important naturally, and their levels of importance may vary depending on the category and product. But in an interview with Marketing News, Hollis specifically cited step two as a particular challenge for marketers. "The temptation is to make things cheaper, and I think one of the biggest challenges is to avoid lowering margins simply to extend your footprint within a category and to drive volume," he told me. "You can always drive more volume by dropping the price of a product or a service, but once you've done that, unless you can cut costs appropriately, you probably lost margin even though you may have gained volume. And it's a lot tougher to gain back margin that it is to gain back volume."

If you're still on the fence about the book, consider reading Hollis' interview in Marketing News' Aug. 30 issue (available at marketingpower.com soon). You can also check out his blog at mb-blog.com.