306306Brand and
Product Decisions in Global Marketing
A
lphabet, the company formerly known as Google, has developed some of the world’s premier technology products and services. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergei Brin with
a focus on Internet searches, Alphabet’s mission is connecting people with technology. The company’s core search and ad-driven businesses are still called Google, the brand name recognized virtually everywhere.
In Europe, for example, despite operating under the
glare of regulatory scrutiny, Google accounts for
90 percent of online search traffic. Roughly one-third of annual global digital ad revenues go to Google.
Today, the company has grown
far beyond its roots in search, which is one of the reasons for the corporate restructuring and name change that was announced in August 2015. Alphabet has developed an impressive product portfolio under the Google brand that includes consumer offerings such as Google,
the Google Play app store, Google Wallet,
Google Chrome, and Google Chromecast. Alphabet has also made a number of strategic acquisitions, including video-sharing site YouTube and the Internet of Things thermostat brand Nest.
Alphabet serves its enterprise customers as well. For example, Samsung and several other handset manufacturers use its Android smartphone operating system. Google
Fiber is bringing high-speed, one-gigabyte-per-second Internet service to a growing list of American cities. Google Analytics is a source of big data, and Google AdWords allows advertisers—both small and large—to bid for preferred placement on Web pages. The company also operates huge data centers throughout the world.
CASE 10-1Alphabet
L EARNING OBJECTIVES bb10-1 Review the basic product concepts that underlie a successful global marketing product strategy.
10-2 Compare and contrast
local products and brands, international products and brands, and global products and brands.
