In this episode, I talk to Paul Markovits, whom I met in the late 90s and early 2000s at P&G in Brussels. He went on to have a terrific career at P&G before moving back to Bucharest, where he worked—among others—for Vodafone, Heineken, and Carlsberg.
Paul is a brand champion and a consumer expert and has worked with critical global brands in local market reality, adapting and executing global strategies in Romania.
The discussion covers strategies for maintaining the local relevancy of global brands, with insights into Paul’s career journey from market research to brand management in various sectors like consumer goods, telecom, and beer. The conversation also delves into striking a balance between a brand's functional and emotional attributes, the importance of solid execution in strategy, and the roles of different marketing tools. Finally, they address the ongoing debate between performance marketing for immediate sales and long-term brand building.
In this episode:
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Meet Paul
01:51 Paul's Career Journey
08:44 Brand Strategy Insights
09:44 The Role of Functional and Emotional Attributes 15:49 Challenges and Successes in Craft Beer
22:45 Global Brand Strategies
24:20 Heineken's Global Citizenship Strategy
27:30 Tackling Gender Bias Locally
28:34 Global Brand Manager's Toolbox
29:38 Balancing Global and Local Strategies
32:20 Measuring and Executing Strategy
37:33 Bridging Strategy and Execution
44:20 Marketing Toolbox Essentials
49:19 Performance Marketing vs. Brand Building
51:48 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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