One Voice, 26 Markets: What Building a Regional PR Network Taught Me

What building a regional PR network across Central and Eastern Europe taught me about steering communication across many markets

Published November 5, 2026.

In short: Porsche Central Eastern Europe turned scattered press work in 26 markets into one European communication network within two years. Most markets were run by independent importers, so communication first had to prove its value to their managing directors. Five steps made the difference: understanding each market, a clear structure, shared standards, formats tailored to each market, and measurement from the first day. The model became a blueprint for entering new markets.

In 2009, Porsche set up a new regional office, Porsche Central Eastern Europe. It covered 26 markets, from the Baltics to Israel and from the Czech Republic to Kazakhstan. I was asked to build regional communication from scratch.

The starting point was familiar to anyone who has worked in a large international company. The international press team at headquarters managed these markets centrally. Markets received press material, invitations to international events, and the occasional test drive at the home base. There was no regional communication function, no shared standards, and no way to measure what worked. In most markets, one person covered marketing and communication at the same time.

Two years later, 26 markets worked as one network with one voice. Here is what made the difference.

Importers, not subsidiaries

One more difference shaped everything. Most markets in the region were not run by subsidiaries of the brand. They were run by independent importers, companies that had invested their own money in the brand, in showrooms, and in dealer networks. A regional office could not instruct them. It could support them in sales, marketing, after sales, and communication, so that they reached their business targets and kept investing.

For communication, this meant that stakeholder management came first. Managing directors had to see why communication mattered for their business before they would accept it, and before they would spend budget and headcount on it. The most convincing argument turned out to be simple: showing the difference between before and after.

Step 1: Understand each market before you plan for all of them

I started by traveling. I visited the markets, looked at their media cultures and the position of the brand in each country, and spoke with every managing director, the people responsible for communication, and local journalists about business targets and where support was needed. Sizes, languages, and media landscapes differed widely. A plan that ignored those differences would have been ignored in return.

Step 2: Give the network a structure people can rely on

We defined clear roles for every market’s PR manager and built one regional strategy that each country could adapt. Communication became part of each market’s business plan. That changed the conversation with national management: communication was now a strategic partner, with its own goals and, in most markets, its own budget.

Step 3: Set standards the markets actually want to use

We wrote regional PR guidelines with clear do’s and don’ts and set up a shared event calendar. Twice a year, we brought the PR managers together at a regional communication conference. Markets shared best practices, discussed what had worked, and developed solutions together. These meetings did more for consistency than any guideline.

Step 4: Tailor formats to each market

International press events had limited capacity, and journalists from smaller markets rarely got a place. So we created regional press events on product, design, motorsport, and corporate topics. For many journalists, this was their first direct access to the brand.

Some formats were built for a single country. Turkey, for example, was a large diesel market. For the importer there, we planned an exclusive diesel event for Turkish media only. The managing director, the local PR manager, and key journalists traveled to Stuttgart for test drives, a visit to the Porsche Museum, and interviews with experts. The event put the right product in front of the right journalists, and it positioned the managing director as the voice of the brand in his market.

Other formats served the whole region. At the end of the 911 Turbo’s life cycle, we invited journalists from across the region to the Hungaroring for guided driving with Walter Röhrl and a team of instructors. Many colleagues thought it was far too ambitious, with so many cars on the track at once. It became one of the most talked-about events of those years. Journalists valued the chance to meet a legend of the sport and to drive the 911 Turbo on a race track before its successor arrived.

Each of these formats was tailored to a market or a moment, and each one supported the same regional goal.

Step 5: Measure from the first day

Budgets were tight, and every market watched closely how the regional office spent its money. Headquarters funded professional media monitoring for two pilot markets, and we rolled it out step by step. For everything else, we built our own evaluation tool. After every press event, whether an international press drive, a motor show, or one of our regional events, we collected the coverage and assessed reach, tone, and PR value. A full report followed within ten days. This was 2009 to 2011, long before AI-supported monitoring.

The numbers were only part of the picture. Feedback came from many sides: from journalists who said they finally had more opportunities to experience the brand and get information, from the tone of the coverage, and from the media analysis. Managing directors could see their brand’s growing share of voice, awareness, and positioning. They began to treat communication as a real lever for their business goals, and they became willing to invest in it.

Central steering, local freedom: what research says

The tension behind this case is one of the oldest questions in international public relations: how much should be the same everywhere, and how much should each market decide for itself? Dejan Verčič, Larissa Grunig, and James Grunig answered it with a theory of generic principles and specific applications. The core principles of good public relations apply everywhere, but the way they are applied has to fit each country’s political system, economy, media system, culture, and level of activism (Verčič, Grunig & Grunig, 1996; Grunig, 2009). The third edition of The Global Public Relations Handbook builds on this framework and shows how strongly practice still differs from country to country (Sriramesh & Verčič, 2020).

Research on multinational companies also explains why the regional conferences mattered so much. A study of national subsidiaries at Philips and Matsushita found that the autonomy of a unit had no noticeable effect on how often it communicated with headquarters or with other units. Personal relationships built through joint teams, task forces, and meetings did (Ghoshal, Korine & Szulanski, 1994).

Our European communication network followed exactly this logic. The strategy, the standards, and the measurement were shared. The formats, the timing, and the stories were shaped market by market.

What this means for building a European communication network today

The model became a blueprint for entering new markets. The same questions about running a European communication network come up today, for example when new electric vehicle brands enter Europe, or when a company integrates acquisitions across several countries. How do you keep one voice without losing local fit? How do you steer communication across markets that differ so much? And how do you prove that it works?

The answer starts with listening to each market and a strategy that links communication to business targets. Clear structures, shared standards, and consistent measurement follow from there.

A few years later, in a new role, I met many of the region’s journalists again at the Geneva Motor Show. Several told me they missed the regional events. For me, that was the clearest sign that the network had worked.

Read the short version of this case on our case studies page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you build a European communication network across many markets?

Start with the reality of each market: its media culture, the position of the brand, and the business targets of local management. Then define clear roles, build one regional strategy that each country can adapt, set shared standards, bring the network together regularly, and measure results from the start.

How do you keep one voice without losing local fit?

Agree centrally on the narrative, the core messages, and the principles for adaptation. Local teams then shape tone, formats, and timing for their market. Regular exchange between markets keeps the network consistent.

How can communication show its value to management?

By planning communication as part of the business plan and measuring it consistently. Media monitoring and regular reporting on reach, PR value, and share of voice make the contribution visible and help management decide where to invest.

What can brands entering Europe learn from this?

Europe is many markets with different media, regulators, dealer networks, and customer priorities. Brands that listen to each market first, link communication to business goals, and build clear structures early earn trust faster.

How do you get independent importers or partners to invest in communication?

Show the value in their own terms. Link communication to their business targets, start with formats that make a visible difference in their market, and report results consistently. Once managing directors see the before and after, budget and headcount follow more easily.

How do you measure PR across many markets with a small budget?

Start with professional monitoring in a few pilot markets and use one simple evaluation for the rest: collect coverage after every event and assess reach, tone, and value in the same way everywhere. Today, AI-supported monitoring makes this much faster and less expensive.

Further reading

• Automotive and Mobility Communication, Lesmeister Services
• Post-Merger Integration Communication: How to Lead People Through Uncertainty, Lesmeister Insights
• Change Communication: Why Transformations Succeed or Fail, Lesmeister Insights

References

• Ghoshal, S., Korine, H., & Szulanski, G. (1994). Interunit communication in multinational corporations. Management Science, 40(1), 96-110.
• Grunig, J. E. (2009). Paradigms of global public relations in an age of digitalisation. PRism, 6(2).
• Sriramesh, K., & Verčič, D. (Eds.). (2020). The global public relations handbook: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Routledge.
• Verčič, D., Grunig, L. A., & Grunig, J. E. (1996). Global and specific principles of public relations: Evidence from Slovenia. In H. M. Culbertson & N. Chen (Eds.), International public relations: A comparative analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum.