The International Trade Council and Enterprise Estonia held their four-day "Go Global" conference and awards in Tallinn, Estonia, and recognized Criterion Global with its “Creative Industries” award for its work in export marketing and global expansion advertising. Criterion Global was singular among global media agencies in this recognition, at the awards programme with 8,142 award entrants, and over 30 years of history “celebrating companies that drive economies forward.”
Criterion Global’s business model, which provides international media buying services to in-house brand teams, creative agencies, and Top 20 global media agencies in a wide set of global markets, was recognized as disruptive to an industry in which over 74% of digital media (and 50% of all media globally) is allocated to Meta, Google, and Amazon.
While World Bank economists forecast shrinking global growth into 2023, brands seeking expansion into new markets generally fare well in recessionary economic environments. One chief reason: as costs of advertising decrease in recession, opportunistic brands find outsized impact from global expansion advertising efforts. This was a key point from the International Trade Council’s “Go Global” panel discussion on “2022-2023 Megatrends + Opportunities” which included leaders from Euromonitor, Invest Poland, Criterion Global and more. The panel and conference, held in Tallinn, Estonia, was attended by 500+ representing 80 countries.
"We help brands align media investment to local media consumption, and how audiences spend their time and attention; International advertisers need to focus on the needs of their growth markets, versus a generic, prescriptive formula” said a Criterion Global Principal, speaking on the panel, which covered global supply chains, digitization, inflation, and the state of globalization.
In 2020, Criterion Global expanded its Budget BlueprintSM offering, guiding brands on how to budget for advertising. The firm’s international media planning and buying practice provides capital-efficient paid media advertising activation. Demand for Budget BlueprintSM studies grew 3x YOY from 2021 to 2022 YTD, amid rampant inflation and shifts in global consumer spending and advertiser outlook.
About Criterion Global
Criterion Global is the leading independent, international media agency “for brands with global ambitions.” With specialization in global expansion advertising, and multinational export marketing, the firm offers competitive differentiation versus other global media agencies with its nimble team structures and agile, project-based servicing. Industry specialization includes international expansion marketing, financial services, high growth startups, export brands, and economic development agencies.
About The Go Global Awards
The annual Go Global Awards, led by the International Trade Council, were hosted this year by Enterprise Estonia, the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency at Tallinn’s Seaplane Harbour. Judges include leaders at Enterprise Estonia, LuxInnovation, InvestRomania, AmCham (American Chambers of Commerce), SelectChicago, Rhode Island Executive Office of Commerce and more.
About International Trade Council (ITC) and Enterprise Estonia
The International Trade Council is a chamber of commerce network of over 176 countries and over 418 professional organizations worldwide, including the world’s most innovative manufacturers, re-manufacturers and exporters, along with representatives from government bodies, trade associations, venture capital firms and financial institutions.
Enterprise Estonia serves to develop the economy of Estonia, including export capacity, tourism, and “high value-added foreign investment.”