Multinational Retailing – Consistency in Format/ Glocalization – where to draw the line

So Staples launched in Bangalore. Amidst much fanfare (very visible advertising – both in mainline print as well as in OOH). To much expectation by those in Bangalore that have lived abroad and shopped at Staples.
Reactions – very mixed.
The audiences that have experienced Staples earlier come back disappointed – by the breadth of assortment, the depth, even the merchandising. Those who don’t know what Staples does/ should stand for – seem happy – they say its flashy, and cheap (like a Big Bazaar)
So, is this good for Staples or bad?
This is a problem similar to that faced by McDonald’s and KFC when they first launched in India – while the concept was exciting to the Target Audiences, the taste of the food was completely alien – as we know, they companies have made marketing history by changing the menus and the ingredients to suit the Indian palate.
If that was about the product changing, in the case of Marks and Spencer’s, it was a basic mis match (initially) in positioning – in the U.K., M&S was (and to an extent continues to be) a middle class brand. When the brand entered India, however, the pricing, instead of a PPP comparison related one, pretty much equated a straight conversion from pounds into Rupees – that translated to High End in India – the rest of the brand was not in sync – and..bomb!
The point of all of these is actually the classic debate between standardization of an MNC brand vis-à-vis the localization to suit different geographies. HSBC, with its ‘The World’s Local Bank’ campaign actually did an extremely intelligent balancing act of this dilemma. But not everyone else can manage it well.
From all accounts, certainly not Staples!