While the movers of global capitalism do lunch, supper and power breakfasts in New York at the WTO gala, globalization continues to influence world society in many and nefarious ways, and marketers need to be on top of it.

Not the least of these is the curiosity in many cultures of other cultures. It has been ongoing in the world's leading power and globalization's greatest proponent - the USA - for a long time. But it occurs elsewhere as well.

Not the least being Asia, and Asia's most developed economy - Japan. This rancours such observers as Malaysia's Mahathir, who once called Japanese consumers "blondes" - for slavishly following "Western" tastes. For leaders in developing countries like Malaysia see "foreign influence" as a threat to their own "way of life", and the clear advantages of nationalism to any sitting government.

But even in Malaysia, the Kuala Lumpur skyline could be easily mistaken for any Western city, the cars, while most are seen as a Malaysian brand "Proton", look like any small East Asian sedan - as we have argued before, leadership in developing countries have encouraged Western style consumerism to bolster their economies - but with that comes a buying of the soul, which is a necessary but unwelcome by-product... Yet that's another story...

According to the BBC's Tokyo correspondent Juliet Hindell, Japan ads demand Western charm.

Foreign faces dominate advertising images in Japan. Famous foreign film stars can promote products they would never endorse back home and earn millions of dollars in the process. ...However, you do not have to be famous, as advertisers say that any foreign face will make their ad stand out from the crowd...

Juliet as a Western expatriate in Japan has found her one and half years old son to be a "fashion model" in Japan, selling clothing, furniture and earphones in various ads. Her account is an interesting personal case study in "cuteness" in Japan and how the advertising industry targets it. After all, wasn't it Japan where Sanrio's Hello Kitty wares emanates from, as well as various Nintendo and Sony computer game characters?

Global brands dominate the billboard landscape in many Asian and Western cities. Local brands fade in failed attempts to emulate the former's success by copying the strategies of global brands. Rather than accentuating the powerful brand elements of the local milieau, and long established cultures, they sell-out, and play right into the hands of global brands.

This curiosity in other cultures is a powerful motivator however. It is why North American and Australian street corners are crowded with Thai restaurants. It is why when we ask focus groups to mention the images they see when they think of specific countries, the first or second mentions are often product categories, - cars for Germany, watches for Switzerland, fast food for America. It provides color and excitement to those jaded with their own local villages like New York, Tokyo, Sydney and London.

The power of "difference" in motivating and influencing people can never be underestimated.