In a world focused on science and new technology, brands help to explain why several of the world's multinational corporations have little to do with either. Rather they are old firms with little critical investment in patents or copyrights. For these firms, the critical intellectual property is trademarks. Global Brands explains how the world's largest multinationals in alcoholic beverages achieved global leadership; considers the predominant corporate governance structures for such firms; and looks at why these firms form alliances with direct competitors. Brands also determine the waves of mergers and acquisitions in the beverage industry. Global Brands contrasts with existing studies by providing a new dimension to the literature on the growth of multinationals through the focus on brands, using an institutional and evolutionary approach based on original and published sources about the industry and the firms.
1 Brands and the Evolution of Multinationals 1
2 Leading Firms - The Historical Legacy 23
3 Growth and Survival 43
4 Family Ownership and Managerial Control 67
5 Channel Management 87
6 Diversification Strategies 107
7 Acquiring Brands 129
8 The Life of Brands 148
9 Conclusion 180
App. 1 Value-Added Chain in Alcoholic Beverages 191
App. 2 Brands Owned by the Leading Multinationals in 2005 198
App. 3 Annual Sales for Each Firm in Alcoholic Beverages 202
App. 4 Selection of the Sample 216
App. 5 Biographies of the World's Largest Multinationals in Alcoholic Beverages 218
App. 6 Types of Governance Structures in Distribution, 1900-2005 232
App. 7 Schematic Representation: Alliances as Dynamic Processes for Acquiring Marketing Knowledge 238
App. 8 Diversification Strategies 242
App. 9 Patterns of Diversification within Alcoholic Beverages 249
App. 10 Schematic Representation: Brands and Marketing Knowledge in Mergers and Acquisitions 251
App. 11 Evolution of Sales of the World's Leading Brands by Beverage Type