BRICOland brands: the rise of the new multinationals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate to business leaders in the developed world that many powerful brands are rising in the emerging economies; to indicate how those incumbents' branding approaches will need to adapt as a result.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses empirical findings, segmentation into three accessible categories of fast‐rising brands, and third‐party research on the multipolar world to show that the twenty‐first century's “powerhouse” brands are as likely to come from emerging markets such as China, Turkey, Qatar, South Africa, and Brazil as from the USA, Japan and Europe.Findings – The paper states that the dominant brands of the twenty‐first century are far less likely to be household names like IBM and Coca‐Cola and much more likely to be brands that today are relatively unfamiliar in the West – names such as SABIC and Emaar and Ulker. The paper argues that the rise of these emerging‐market brands will change the way that business leaders in the developed wor...