Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2016 - 57

EDITORIAL SUPPLEMENT the Top 10 deliverables necessary for an affiliate to successfully launch the brand. Once that list is made, we go through a process in which each affiliate chooses and owns at least one of the main deliverables. (While the budget needed for the development of that deliverable is held by the global team, it is assigned to that deliverable and the affiliate who will champion the work.) A key expectation is that the group leading the workstream is expected to obtain input from the other Wave I affiliates, with the expectations that 80 percent of the deliverable will be used by all of the Wave I, Wave II, and Wave III groups. The remaining 20 percent is localized based on customs, regulations, language, and so on. In this process, the global organization helps in three ways. First, the global team owns and champions several deliverables themselves. Second, the global group facilitates shared learning and communication and provides expertise and coaching to each affiliate. Third, the global team referees, adjudicates, and resolves any conflicts in an objective manner, keeping the brand's success as the primary objective. Key to the process's success is that each affiliate has a vested interest in providing input to the other groups, because affiliates quickly realize that they will all need to use the programs and materials being developed. All groups want to ensure that the people developing the solution have a clear understanding of what is required for success in their own local market. Teams also learn about the market conditions in other countries, many times enabling them to see more similarities to their own markets, resulting in a more global solution. When market research is being conducted in one affiliate, for example, all of the Wave I countries are strongly encouraged to attend, listen, learn, and provide input. In the end, you will know if you have implemented this part of the process correctly if, at the global launch meeting, most of the presentations are given by the Wave I affiliates, not by the global brand team. To recap, building a global brand within an alliance can be easier and more productive if you align and focus on the processes surrounding four value inflection points in the global branding process. First, clearly and jointly define the alliance's brand objectives. Second, define and agree on the launch order. Third, jointly select your brand's advertising agency. And finally, make sure that marketing leaders from each geography and each alliance partner will participate in the global brand design. This process of gaining alignment and building trust increases the odds that your global brand will be made more successful through a well-run alliance partnership. n Markus Saba is the Senior Director of Global Marketing for the Diabetes Business Unit at Eli Lilly and Company, an Adjunct Professor at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and on the Board of Directors at Easter Seals Crossroads. David Thompson, CA-AM, is chief alliance officer at Eli Lilly and Company and is a member of the ASAP board of directors. This alignment has a wonderful effect, and it tends to promote the feeling that one good turn deserves another. It makes each affiliate much more open to listening and learning from other affiliates as they make progress on workstreams. 57 SUMMER * 2016 | STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2016