• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, December 10, 2007 11:45 AM

Marketers seeking to expand their companies' global reach long have focused on tailoring products to fit the tastes of consumers in different countries. As the world shrinks--especially for young, Internet-savvy consumers--they must now also cater to particular subcultures of customers who share very similar outlooks, styles and aspirations despite their different nationalities and languages.

"We're seeing global tribes forming around the world that are more and more interconnected through technology," says Melanie Healey, president, Global Health and Feminine Care at Procter & Gamble. Among these tribes: teenagers from every continent who socialize on the Internet and like the same music and fashions, working women trying to juggle careers and families, and baby boomers.

Managers in P&G's feminine-care products division, for example, have concluded that teenage girls on every continent have the same concerns and questions about puberty. That means it can create one set of answers for its beinggirl.com Web site--which is available in 40 countries--and then translate them into many languages.

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