Consumers want to support their local businesses. Up to a point. You can argue quality, consistency or price as key reasons consumers give for going past a local brand and choosing a regional, national or global brand. I say it goes further than that. Consumers want to be part of a bigger community. Think of the phenomenon that is YouTube, MySpace or Facebook.

Take for example Li Ning, China’s top atheletic wear company. Once the leading brand of sneakers in China, it now lags behind Nike and Adidas. The reason given by Abel Wu who oversees the footwear division is “We don’t have as strong a brand.” Their strategy is to create an international brand image eventhough 99% of their sales are in China. Taking a page out of the Nike playbook, Li Ning sponsors international teams including the US ping-pong squad and the Sudan track team. Shaquille O’Neal endorses their shoes in China. The results so far? It’s still early with profits up 61% on sales up 37% last year.

Source: BusinessWeek – Marketing – Acting Globally But Selling Locally

McKinsey & Co. recently released a report on what countries can do to reduce overall greenhouse emissions. BusinesWeek captured the essence of the report in a simple, easy to read chart that shows a range from the cheapest to the most expensive measures to reduce greenhouse emissions. McKinsey states that by doing all the measures — “would cut 3 billion metric tons of emissions per year in 2030 vs. what they would be at current growth rates. That would put emissions below current levels.” What I found most interesting is that the cheaper measures are something that most consumers and businesses can do today. Change your lighting. Upgrade your home appliances (refrigerator, hot water heater, HVAC, washer and dryer, TV, to name a few) to more energy-efficient models, drive a more fuel-efficient car or truck.

Yes, there is an initial investment to make these changes. And yet your return may be realized in just a few months. At Brand Engine, we replaced all of our lighting at the studio — reducing our carbon emissions by over 50% (just from the lights) while increasing the quality of the light (color and brightness) and the visual comfort level for our employees ( e.g. less eye strain) — and will recoup our investment in less than 10 months based on a lower monthly electrical bill. Not bad.