Global disruption is no longer a distant risk but a defining condition of modern business. Climate change, geopolitical conflict, rapid technological change, and shifting cultural values are overlapping to reshape how companies operate and communicate worldwide.
According to Yuliya Strizhakova, associate professor of marketing at Rutgers University–Camden, simply recognizing disruption is no longer enough. Organizations must learn to respond strategically to persistent global uncertainty, replacing assumptions of stability with agility grounded in core values.
"Modern global marketing is about staying flexible and adapting to local markets and political shifts, while developing globally relevant products around core social and environmental values," Strizhakova said.
Strizhakova is a co-editor of the recently published volume “Global Marketing in Times of Disruption,” published by Emerald Insight as a part of a marketing research series. The book examines disruptions across four areas—increasing nationalism and anti-globalization sentiment, trade wars, climate change, and digital technologies—and how those disruptions are reshaping corporate approaches to global market expansion and consumer engagement.
"Most businesses are aware of ongoing disruptions—such as evolving technologies, tariffs, climate change, military conflicts, or other political and social shifts—but the importance they assign to these disruptions and their long-term impact is set by their leaders and key stakeholders," said Strizhakova. "Businesses may overemphasize some disruptions while ignoring others, particularly when the impacts are abstract or delayed, as with climate change.
"Others may view disruptions as temporary setbacks. But disruptions also provide business opportunities, and great leaders use them as such."
Strizhakova stresses that smart organizations are reimagining their approaches to global marketing by embracing innovation, sustainability, and a nuanced understanding of local contexts.
“Digital media continues to fuel global consumer culture and set up global trends that in most instances favor global brands,” Strizhakova said. “Although we are currently experiencing a rise in nationalism, agile companies are adjusting their approach to incorporate a variety of 'glocal' strategies, such as integrating local flavors, variations, artists, or other locally relevant expressions in addition to their more homogenized global messages.”
Among the four global changes considered in the new volume, Strizhakova identifies two areas likely to have the greatest impact on businesses and their global marketing efforts over the next decade.
“Disruptions resulting from climate change and new technologies are likely to have the most impact in the coming years,” said Strizhakova. “The environmental demands required to support the development of artificial intelligence are going to put a significant strain on the world’s natural resources and are likely to aggravate climate change even further and fuel additional social and political disruptions.”
Businesses receptive to changes that align with their strategy and values are most likely to remain competitive and successful despite anticipated disruptions.
“Leaders will need to adapt and change quickly to incorporate disruptions as opportunities,” said Strizhakova. “In some instances, it may mean new digital operations or communications that are constantly changing with ongoing technological developments.
“In other instances, it may mean adding new brands to the portfolio to address certain social and cultural shifts or going back to the drawing board to rethink the very core of their offerings to consumers.”
