Welcome to my blog on world marketing, a little cool, not so mainstream – kind of like World Music. It’s a new dance together, but not many people know how to dance to this world beat. My blog today is on a big world out there which we ignore at our own peril.

If you want to make my blood boil, all you have to do is suggest introducing a marketing program in the US “as a pilot” before running it in Europe, the America’s, Asia-Pacific; and the Middle East. In a global economy, what makes sound business sense about that strategy?

Chances are your international marketing teams are as bright, skilled and creative as your experts in the US. And chances are that your company is focused on ensuring that an increasing amount of revenue is generated – as quickly as achievable – from non-North American international markets.

If you check with your finance team, I’ll bet your company’s revenue growth rates outside the US are higher, too. Only those spending their days under a rock can miss the recent domestic and international economy-dominated headlines: “America’s Vulnerable Economy” (The Economist), “USA 2008: The Great Depression” (The Independent, UK), and “Consumers’ mood as grim as early-80s” (Reuters).

I’m making a lot of sweeping generalizations, but for the majority of industries I follow professionally, and for many customers, globalization sits on top of their ‘to do’ list of strategic imperatives. So…why is global marketing still so elusive at best, or at worst ignored by North American businesses?

A partial answer to that rhetorical question is that because of the size of our own domestic economy, most North American companies don’t have a comfort zone or real familiarity with many countries or international regions they’re depending on for business growth.

Off-shore, many executives take a combined personal and professional approach, to both global marketing and their careers that goes well beyond most American companies and executives’ lip-service to global focus. On a conference call with an Australian-based senior marketer recently, she gave a quick snapshot of her career, living and working professionally in five countries.

Across three continents, including years in the major hubs of Tokyo and London, she gained invaluable market-entry and cross-cultural grounding. Her company boasts Australian, Canadian, Dutch, Swiss, English and New Zealand executives who have worked in Canada, the US, Europe and the UK. Three other staffers separately worked in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Antigua for 5-9 years. Their virtual teams check in across time-zones from Bangkok, New York, London and Prague.

I personally have spent over a third of my career outside my native US – Taipei, Hong Kong, the Duesseldorf-area, and Singapore, in that order. International experience is widespread among my contacts and those of the marketer in Sydney. She listed off a US contact with Walmart in China, an English couple who just relocated to Dubai, Australian professionals now in Bangkok and Barcelona; and US, New Zealand and English colleagues based long-term in Japan. A few of my closest pals in the world are an Indian in Dubai, an American in Singapore, a Taiwanese in Shanghai, a German in St. Maarten, and a New Zealander in the UK. These skilled senior executives have developed a formidable understanding of international business and marketing.

Am I saying all American marketers should stampede for the passport counter? No, but we lag behind much of the world in understanding international marketing. Your marketing team both at HQ or overseas is on the front line of business development, building exposure for your brand and laying the groundwork for international expansion.

It is their role to look beyond that front line, acting as a change agent within the organization, to recommend opportunities looming rapidly on the horizon.

How do American marketing executives move out of their comfort zone and play catch-up with their international peers and worldwide competition? It is a crucial challenge facing American companies – one we collectively have to address for both business success and survival. And by taking non-US growth opportunities with the seriousness they deserve, American marketers can lead the charge into global marketing for US companies.

We’ll talk more about the “how’s” of global marketing in upcoming posts of Worldly Wise Marketing, as well as how marketers are successfully seizing their global career and business opportunities.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts – from wherever you are located – on companies engaged in global marketing. I can hear that world beat drumming louder and louder – are your feet tapping yet?”