Global brands can have tremendous traction on the local level, if they can find out how to appeal to locals of an area on their terms. We see hundreds of national campaigns and even regional campaigns for huge global brands but not too many hyper local campaigns. Campaigns aimed at a city, not New York City or even Los Angeles City, but Portland Oregon City, or even Boulder Colorado City. But how do brands become a part of a small community? How can they successfully run a hyper local campaign?

Like they say, start the campaign at digital and build out. But it takes a bit more than that. What does digital mean on the local level? How can a brand leverage events, activities, parties, anything on the local via digital or the web? There is a bunch of hype about location based anything. But we always cry privacy there. And we can always just build a new social network for every community that ever existed. “Mayan Space” for the Mexican restaurant on 10th and Morrison, that makes sense.

I tend to always think the key is integration. We don’t need any more stand alone social networks, or opt in location based SMS messages with coupons. How about turning away from the brand and towards it’s product (or service) and appeal what the brand offers on a local level. The web is all about personal customization - Firefox and Google lead that revolution. But those are digital assets, it’s time to get some traditional brands to appeal their products on the local level. And their brand will follow.

I want to see a brand bring a community together through its product. I want somebody to show me that I can join in with my city or neighborhood to design or create my local version of Nike Dunks. I want to collaborate with 100,000 other people via the web to make the perfect Portland shoe. People have a lot of pride for their city, why don’t we see brands leverage this more?

Take this idea down to the university level. A 20,000 person online collaboration to make the University of Oregon iPod. How much longer until the web is no longer a global communication tool, but a local one? I think we are on the way.