TRENDSETTER: Omnicom's Vice Chairman Tim Love discusses Marketing Responsibility and "The Penalty of Freedom"

In an address to MBA students and key industry executives at Oxford University's Said School, Tim Love, Omnicom’s Vice Chairman and recently-named Chairman of Asia Pacific India Middle East & Africa (APIMA), talked about how sweeping societal and technological change has altered traditional definitions of global brands in a world with new frames of reference.

According to Love, "Multiculturalism is fast becoming the new objective of global brand-building. The planet is not one homogeneous market."

At the same time, Love believes that we now live at a time when definitions of borders and even nations may become somewhat less relevant. He cites that among the world's top 100 economies, 49 are nations, while 51 are multinational corporations. "Today there is a shift in expectation. More people are touched by a brand across borders. And now given both Internet access and greater corporate transparency, we can find out more about a brand's values." This ranges from immediate consumer access to sources of a brand's ingredients to its employment programs to its charitable associations and to its responsibilities in developing economies. MORE