Today in Global Small Business: A Christmas Carol Can Never Come Too Early

©iStock/RockingStock

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Ferrell, the “Saturday Night Live” alum, appears 5/16/26 with James Austin Johnson as President Trump in a sendup of “A Christmas Carol.” Paul McCartney provides the music.
• Search LIVE goes global.
• Exposing marketing tactics and strategies driving the global growth of nicotine pouches.
• Quote of the week:  “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” – Charles Dickens
• HEINEKEN appoints new global marketing agencies to drive next phase of brand growth.
• If AI can translate instantly, why learn another language?

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of February 1, 2026, we average more than 900,000 readers on a monthly basis.

Lisa Bamford Discusses Going Rogue: When Creativity Drives International Business (wegginar® 2/5)

©2025 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Join Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® for their next informative and engaging wegginar®, "Going Rogue:  When Creativity Drives International Business," with Lisa Bamford, Director of Global Marketing and Business Development at Sciencix, a manufacturer for analytical laboratory instruments used in medical research.

About Lisa Bamford:

The first season of Lisa Bamford's career unfolded in Nashville, TN in the music and entertainment business, including concert tours, recording sessions, and performances at the Grand Ole Opry. After losing her father to cancer, Lisa pivoted to the field of medical research laboratories, which would eventually lead her to Sciencix.

In 2023, Sciencix was honored at the White House as the U.S. SBA’s National Exporter of the Year winner for excellent support to laboratories in over 100 countries. In 2024, Sciencix received the Governor’s Excellence Award from the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina for notable international business growth that expanded the state’s global presence and ecosystem. Lisa then went back to Washington, D.C. to receive the President’s “E” Award by the U.S. Department of Commerce for her strategies to generate international business growth.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Music from Meredith College, post graduate studies in Education and Pedagogy from Belmont University, and a Master of Science from Grand Canyon University. She is President of the NC World Trade Association Triangle Chapter, is a statewide board member of the NCWTA, and serves on the Statewide Advisory Board for the Small Business & Technology Development Center.

Here's what she will discuss during her wegginar:

• How to Turn “Oh, No!” Into “What If?”
• Combine Creative and Analytical Thinking to Fill in Unexpected Gaps
• Don’t Overlook the Humanity in International Business
• And more!

To learn more and to register, visit here.  The program is free of charge thanks to generous sponsors as noted on the graphic.

Global Marketing Is Essential for Modern Businesses

©iStock/invincible_bulldog

In an era where businesses (both large and small) can sell and ship their products and services to consumers across the globe within a matter of days, it can be easy to forget how markets functioned before the digital age and the innovations in transportation.

In this article, you will learn: The definition of global marketing (in case you are living in a cave), the importance of it, some effective strategies, examples of campaigns, and other important points related to fully understanding the significance of marketing to expand your business globally.

Japan Airlines (JAL): Ready for Takeoff Post Pandemic

©iStock/Teka77

When the pandemic hit, the global marketing team at Japan Airlines (JAL) saw its budget disappear overnight.  They saw the whole thing disappear.  Poof.  There wasn't a whole lot to promote during the pandemic – back then JAL was operating between the US and Southeast Asia, routes without any stops in Japan itself.

Back in 2019, the airline’s plan was to streamline its global marketing efforts across regions, develop a more integrated approach to marketing, introduce new marketing-related skill sets and break down internal department silos.

Discover what they did, and how they are now ready for takeoff.

Today in Global Small Business: TikTok Shop Launched Invite Only In-App Ecommerce Feature

©iStock/Wachiwit

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• In addition to its most recent shopping features, TikTok has just launched TikTok Shop, where users can now make purchases directly through the app.
• Volkswagen hires Google exec to head global marketing.
• Quote of the week:  "E-commerce is a powerful means to connect the unconnected to global trade." – Arancha Gonzalez
• Globalize your online sales.
• Using AI to translate speech for a primarily oral language.
• Shipping industry is facing a new problem – too many containers!

How Social Media Influencers Can Rock Your Global Business

©iStock/NataliaAlkema

What a story!  And one that everyone can learn from.  White Claw's rapid (overnight) success was due, almost entirely, to a social media influencer.  White Claw is a hard seltzer.

"He [the influencer] came up with a slogan, 'ain't no laws when you're drinking Claws', and it took off from there," said [Chris] Taylor, a Hilton College associate professor. "The last thing a company wants is their alcoholic product associated with law breaking, but it started selling out everywhere."

As the story goes ... "The influencer, with millions of followers, flooded social airwaves with the slogan, even putting it on T-shirts. It created a fervor for a product that wasn't on the radar of the beverage industry at all. Demand went through the roof and soon White Claw was selling out everywhere."

Something to think about.  Taylor goes on to say, "But with the explosion of social media influencers, it's truly a worldwide trend that I believe is here to stay."

Read the entire article on how researchers discover a viral trend in global marketing.

Today in Global Small Business: 9 Translation Books You Never Heard About

©iStock/FabrikaCr

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• 9 translation books you never heard about.
• Mother-daughter duo Pratiksha and Vama Sangoi building a global soap brand, as well as the journeys of other small businesses.
• From a national business to a global success.
• Quote of the week: “Words travel worlds.  Translators do the driving.” – Anna Rusconi
• How to take an 'always on' approach to global marketing.
• Some serious knowledge on what to do – and what not to do – when scaling-up globally.

Taco Bell Is Globally Rebranding the Quarter Moon, Calling It the Taco Moon

©iStock/nzastrophotography

Taco Bell, the Irvine, Calif., Mexican fast-food chain, is rebranding the quarter moon as part of the company’s first global marketing campaign. The “taco moon,” as the company calls it, appeared in the night sky on May 4, 2021.

According to Taco Bell, the moon may not be made of green cheese but it definitely looks like a taco twice a month.

Only 628 of the company’s locations are outside the U.S.—which runs counter to sister chains KFC and Pizza Hut, both of which have an enormous presence in international markets.

Read more about how Taco Bell is hoping global marketing in the chain’s famous irreverent style can help move the global growth process along.

The Wider the Reach, the Bigger the Market Share

©iStock/jokerpro

More than just publishing a website in another language, global marketing also has to do with building a customer engagement strategy and then zeroing in on which channels and types of content will effectively reach those customers.

To know if your business is ready for global (online) expansion, discover which five questions you need to ask. 

Today in Global Small Business: Sayonara to Steve Easterbrook as CEO of McDonald's

©iStock/J2R

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Endeavor Global Marketing reportedly paid about $200 million to acquire 160over90 and now will adopt that name after it pulled the plug on an IPO. 
• There are challenges to international e-commerce but they can be overcome.
• Quote of the week: “Embrace what you don't know, especially in the beginning, because what you don't know can become your greatest asset." – Spanx founder Sara Blakely
• Customer service can get better even if loyalty doesn't.
• As China and US attempt to sign a trade deal, thousands of companies are asking for tariff exclusions.
• You're fired!  McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook is out as of 11/3/19.

Today in Global Small Business: Happy New Year 2018!

©iStock/Racksuz

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Laurel Delaney, President, WEGG and Founder, GlobeTrade.com, will present on "Laurel Delaney's Global Trade Trends Report 2018," and will cover AI, Quantum Computing, AR and VR, Wearables and more in the next WEGGinar™ held on Wednesday, January 10 at 11:00 a.m. Central time. WEGGinar™ is no charge but you must sign up to attend: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1940601026277957634
• If you want to be successful in 2018, you've got to be thinking ahead.
• What's your new year's resolution or annual mantra?  It anchors every decision you make in the entire year.
• What will work look like in 2030?
• In 2018, don't make these 10 mistakes in global marketing.
• In case you have run out of ideas, here are 5 ways to be more productive in 2018.

From all of us at the Global Small Business Blog, we wish you a Joyful, Global and Healthy New Year!

How to Adjust to a World That Needs to be Everywhere and Anywhere the Customer Is

©iStock/amoklv

With the ease of connectivity largely driven by the Internet, Dutch company Philips is adjusting to a world where it needs to be "everywhere and anywhere the customer is" rather than trying to encourage them through a linear journey, according to the electronics brand's global head of digital and social marketing Blake Cahill.

"That’s a really big shift for everybody who used to, at least at our company, think of the development from the top of the funnel and you convert ‘here’. What we’re saying is the customer can start at Amazon and then go to a user review and then go to search and then go back to the shopping cart and then check something on their phone.

There are some really great questions addressed and insights shared in the article below.  Here's one example:

Question:  Does a company have to be on lots of platforms and how can that be balanced with making a profit?

Answer:  "You have to be where the majority of your customers are but also create a culture where you’re constantly experimenting with new platforms and you need to be able to quickly pivot if everybody decides to leave Facebook tomorrow and go to another platform," says Cahill.

Read more:  Traditional customer journey has been 'blown up' says Philips global marketing chief

Social Media Gives SMBs Greater Heft in Global Marketing

©iStock/Pogonici

Technology and the Internet have changed everything.  In combination, they allow the smallest of the smallest companies a chance to compete head-to-head against companies a million times bigger.  And never could we have imagined upstart businesses going global and expanding beyond their traditional markets in such a short a time span.  Many call this "born global" companies.

Why's this happening?  Many new technology trends are creating efficiencies.  Here's one for example:

Social media gives SMBs greater heft in [global] marketing 

Till the advent of Twitter and Facebook, could anyone have imagined a small startup going head-to-head with a big corporation from across the globe? But on social media, the advantages of deeper pockets seldom hold true, and it’s possible for a young upstart to quickly get noticed and build up its brand simply by being more responsive and observant.

Learn more about the other technology efficiencies:  How emerging technologies can help SMBs go global.

A Few Insights From Global Marketers and Localization Experts

iStock/Thinkstock

Check out the first special edition of Brand Quarterly where they have gathered insights from global marketers and localization experts - from companies such as Cisco, SAP, Lego and Mastercard.

Yes, you can learn a thing or two from the big guys when it comes to international expansion.

Read the 68-page free report:  Brand Quarterly July 2014 - Global Marketing Special Edition By Vesey Creative

Tiffany & Co. Needs a Global Hand

iStock/Thinkstock

Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide becomes a marketing communications partner to Tiffany & Co. to complement Tiffany's internal marketing capabilities.

Ogilvy & Mather plans to provide brand positioning and advertising support for Tiffany & Co. globally with creative and strategic hubs in New York and Paris. The scope of the assignment will cover print, digital, video and out-of-home.

Bring on the global marketing experience in luxury!

Read:  Tiffany & Co. Selects Ogilvy & Mather for Global Marketing

The Middle Class Is On the Move All Over the World

According to Milton Kotler, the middle class is on the move all over the world.  What does that mean?  We need to open our eyes to the reality of the vast urban middle class in the East, and other parts of the so-called developing world. He illustrates his points (trends) in a comparative view of two great cities, one new and one old: Shenzhen, China and Chicago, Illinois (the latter where I live - pictured).

The second purpose is to open Western eyes to the economic dynamism of BRIC countries and their emerging and developing market cohorts in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The Middle Class in on the move all over the world, and is moving at a faster pace in the Developing and Emerging global sector than in the Developed sector.

Learn more over at Milton Kotler's China blog (fascinating material).

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Online Tutorial in Global Marketing

iStock/Thinkstock

Our friends and colleagues over at globalEDGE have put together a neat little online tutorial on Global Marketing.

Test it out or get smart (direct link ... sound and all) here.

Purpose-Based Global Marketing

iStock/Thinkstock

Jim Stengel, a former global marketing officer for Procter & Gamble who retired from his post last fall,, has started his own firm, The Jim Stengel Company, LLC. The firm focuses on “purpose-based marketing." He plans to consult, author a book and serve an advisory role to MarketShare Partners.

He knows a thing or two about global marketing. Check out his site.