Theodore Levitt (1983) argued that globalisation was driving consumer tastes towards convergence, and that firms should pursue standardisation — one product, one message, everywhere — to capture economies of scale. Critics, drawing on Hofstede's (1980, 1983) work on cultural dimensions, countered that deep-rooted cultural differences mean a fully standardised approach often fails to connect with local consumers.

In practice, most successful global brands sit somewhere in between: a recognisable global identity, adapted at the margins for local relevance — a process often summarised as "think global, act local", or glocalization (Robertson, 1995). Select a brand and a target market below to see how its Product, Price, Place and Promotion mix might shift, and how that links back to the market's Hofstede scores.