Usually by requesting it through the global digital or brand team, who typically define what is fixed (brand, compliance framework) versus what the local market can build — the practical starting point is clarifying that boundary before any build begins.
Most groups have some form of global digital governance, even informally, and a new or refreshed affiliate site request typically routes through it. The useful first step is finding out what that governance actually requires versus what is assumed to be required, since the two often differ.
What is genuinely fixed at global level — identity, compliance framework, sometimes the platform itself — and what the local market can adapt, needs to be explicit before any design or build work starts. See local affiliate websites for how we approach that clarification directly with both local and global stakeholders.
We can build the local site once the boundary is clear, and we can also help facilitate that boundary-setting conversation with global where it has not happened yet, since ambiguity there is what causes the most friction later.
That is common, and the project can still proceed by explicitly documenting the boundary between what global controls and what the local affiliate decides, rather than assuming an unstated split. Doing this early avoids rework later once global does eventually formalise its policy for local affiliate websites.
Sometimes, though shared infrastructure across a group is often preferable for security patching, cost, and consistency of governance across markets. See multi-brand consolidation for that broader consideration of when a shared platform makes sense versus when a local exception is justified for this specific affiliate.
It depends heavily on how quickly the governance boundary between global and local can be clarified, which is often the real bottleneck rather than the build itself. Once that boundary is settled, a local affiliate site typically moves faster than a first-of-its-kind global build would.
This should be agreed before launch and documented in the project scope, since ownership can sit with the local affiliate, with global IT, or with an agency partner depending on the group’s structure. Leaving it unstated is a common cause of access problems later, particularly when staff or agencies change.
Tell us your situation with global and we will tell you how we would approach getting your local site built.