The past 20 years have seen a massive redistribution of economic power to the emerging world. But so far there has been no comparable redistribution of brand power. Fortune magazine's 2012 list of the largest 500 companies by sales revenue included 73 Chinese firms, more than from any other country except the United States, with 132. Yet Interbrand's 2012 list of the 100 "best global brands" included not one Chinese firm. However, in "Brand Breakout", a new book, two academics, Nirmalya Kumar and Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, argue that devel-oping-country firms are swiftly learning the art of branding. A few emerging-market brands have already gone global: it is hard to watch a football match in Europe without having "Emirates" burned onto your retina.
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