Exploring Branding, International Marketing, Global Business Cultures - Term Paper Example

EXAM PAPER: Exploring branding, international marketing, and global business cultures BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANISATION HERE HERE DATE HERE EXAM PAPER QUESTION 2 Branding strategies, in the global marketplace, differ from one country or region to another. In many cases, the different branding strategies employed depend on the unique culture, values, and pre-conceived consumer attitudes which exist about a particular brand. In new, international markets, a company must first establish brand recognition, which is the process of building initial awareness about a product brand (Kurtz, 2006). In order to build this awareness, many product brands which are first entering a new, international marketplace rely on promotion and heavy advertising in order to build this awareness. As one example, in Japan, a recent study identified that logo presentation often builds higher levels of brand awareness and even, in the best marketing scenario, brand preference (Davidson, Kegan and Brill, 2004). It would seem that allotting a higher advertising budget, initially when entering a new foreign market, tends to build a higher level of awareness about the brand so that future marketing communications can achieve success through the altering of consumer attitudes about the brand. Also, in highly competitive market environments, sometimes there is already a high concentration of similar, competing products in this market. When this occurs, a business must consider how to best make their products stand out from competition. In this scenario, an emerging product in a foreign environment relies on positioning strategies, which is the pursuit of putting a product in a certain position in the minds of potential buyers (Kurtz). For example, if research identifies that most consumers in a specific region of the world value their history and cultural heritage, the business (as part of further branding strategies) might focus on linking the product user’s beliefs with the brand. Where in Europe, as one example, a certain food product might be positioned on quality, in Asia the positioning strategy might be to reinforce the rich history and culture of the people themselves, thus giving a positive consumer perception of the brand as one which truly cares about their values and culture. According to Rajagopal (2007), successful, strategic product positioning highly impacts consumer perceptions about unfamiliar brands. This would also strongly reinforce the need for international businesses to conduct considerable research about the country in which they are attempting to sell their products to learn how best to relate to the potential buyers. Pricing is yet another strategy in global markets, as most consumers actively consider price options when deciding which products to buy, especially when there are considerable competing products in these markets (Camp and Yague, 2007). In order to build initial interest about a product in a new market, a company may consider a lower pricing strategy (for a short period) in order to get customers interested in the new product. This, of course, depends on the profitability expectations of the product in this market as well as having an understanding of the price that customers might actually be willing to pay for products in these market environments. QUESTION 3 One major aspect of international marketing is the array of differences which the business might encounter when taking domestic products to the global market environment. Buyer behaviour is one of these differences, especially in terms of the level to which the buying market believes a new product is innovative. Auh and Shih (2009) offer that the type of innovation and the buyer perceptions of this innovation will strongly impact whether the product will meet with expected sales success. For example, high-tech products, such as new mobile technologies, must consider whether competing products in these markets have similar features or whether the new product they are attempting to sell is unique in terms of features. For instance, a new mobile telephone with a touch screen technology, in highly-Westernised Asian markets, might not be considered very innovative, thus potential sales success is limited. However, if this same product were to be distributed and sold in a lesser-developed region, such as more rural Indian communities, this might be considered a highly innovative product and will meet with higher sales successes. This would point towards the business having a firm understanding of the competing products in these markets, which features are most unique about their own products, and then determine the best market to sell these products where consumer attitudes would be favourable to profit expectations. Additionally, there appears to also be ethical differences, in terms of what is considered acceptable and appropriate, in terms of advertising, business social responsibility, and other related marketing communications. Smith and Hume (2005) identify that what is considered to be ethical decision-making in domestic markets might be deemed offensive or without any real value to the buying population. Ethics are quite different from culture because it is the moral force by which codes of business conduct are measured. For example, consider a business which puts significant emphasis on public relations as part of their product and sales strategies. Domestically, this might involve sending sales representatives into local markets to promote a product or offer loyalty discounts as part of prospecting. In a foreign marketplace, similar tactics might be considered to be an invasion of personal consumer or businessperson privacy and respect, therefore eroding potential positive attitudes about a business. If there is the possibility that such activities would be considered unethical and socially-irresponsible, the business must consider these differences before launching a similar prospecting strategy in this global market. According to Dahlen and Lange (2006), negative publicity frequently, in global market environments, can create a brand crisis to the point where a firm’s entire product category is impacted negatively. Similarly, especially in American and European markets, online tracking information is utilised to determine whether a product or line of products are meeting with expected sales successes. In this Westernised markets, this is common and widely accepted, as many online sales websites use personal information, as part of a registration online, to track whether current product strategies are meeting with profit expectations. In other markets, where privacy or security is more of a paramount concern, the business might find that they are doing more damage to their business’ reputation by using similar tracking efforts. This is yet another example of the many differences that a business might well experience in foreign market environments. QUESTION 5 Alves, Lovelace, Manz and Matsypura (2006) describe various international cultural dimensions (Hofstede’s cultural dimensions), which highlights specific business cultures in different global marketplaces. In the United States, as one example, there is a strong cultural demand for individualism, where the unique beliefs and values of the individual is considered more vital than the collective thoughts of a whole group of citizens. This would essentially mean that in the United States, in the business environment, people are rewarded as individuals for their unique contributions to business goals and are recognised accordingly. However, in Mexico, as one example, there is much less cultural emphasis on individualism and this market environment (as a populace whole) bases many of their decision-making processes and perceptions based on the collective beliefs of the entire nation (Mathis and Jackson, 2005). This would be highly important for a European business, which also strongly emphasises individualism, to consider these factors when setting up a new business in Mexico. If this same European country attempts to develop the same internal business culture which has found success in Europe, the business might find considerable resistance if individuals are considered more important than the collective whole of the entire staff in the organisation. Therefore, the business might wish to establish a more team-focused environment where group activities and group brainstorming sessions are the norm in this environment so as to avoid cultural misconceptions or resistance to reward strategies. As yet another example, in Japan, there is a high cultural focus on the importance of masculinity in business agreements, where women are not considered to be as vital to the business as they are in countries like the United Kingdom or the United States (Mathis and Jackson). Where it might be commonplace to have female leaders in all levels of the business, this might not have the same positive results in countries like Japan. Therefore, a business must understand these unique cultural beliefs prior to staffing high-level management to ensure that there are no interruptions to business activities or the creation of biases against female leaders which could affect profitability or product sales successes. Though there would be potential opportunities for businesses to help shape new attitudes about individualism or masculinity in these new markets, managing such diversity seems to be quite difficult as these are often long-standing, historical values in these foreign business environments. Burman (2008) emphasises that one method of dealing with this cultural issue is to create workshops, where members of domestic and foreign team members, meet together to discuss cultural issues and how best to bridge the gap between misunderstanding and team-focused business strategies. Embracing differences and promoting this through training and team-based exercises seems to be the most logical method for enhancing cultural diversity. Bibliography Alves, J., Lovelace, K., Manz, C. and Matsypura, D. (2006). A cross-cultural perspective of self-leadership. Journal of Managerial Psychology, Bradford. 21(4): 338. Auh, S. and Shih, E. (2009). Brand name and consumer inference making in multigenerational product introduction context. Journal of Brand Management, London. 16(7): 439-450. Burman, Edward. (2008). Managing Cultural Diversity in a Global World. http://www.workinfo.com/free/Downloads/299.htm. Accessed 18/7/09. Camp, S. and Yague, M. (2007). Effects of price promotion on the perceived price. International Journal of Service Industry Management, Bradford. 18(3): 269. Dahlen, M. and Lange, F. (2006). A Disaster is Contagious: How a Brand in Crisis Affects Other Brands. Journal of Advertising Research, New York. 46(4): 388. ABI/INFORM Global Internet. Accessed 17/7/2009. Davidson, J., Keegan, W. and Brill, E. (2004). Offensive Marketing: An Action Guide to Gaining Competitive Advantage. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. ABI/INFORM Global Internet. Accessed 16/7/09. Kurtz, David. (2006). Contemporary Marketing, 12th ed. United Kingdom: Thomson South-Western. Mathis, R. and Jackson, J. (2005). Human Resource Management, 10th ed. United Kingdom: Thomson South-Western. Rajagopal, E. (2007). Buying decisions towards organic products: an analysis of customer value and brand drivers. International Journal of Emerging Markets, Bradford. 2(3): 236. Smith, A. and Hume, E. (2005). A Comparison of Ethics: Ethical Belief Systems in the Individualism/Collectivism and Power Distance Contexts. Journal of Business Ethics. Iss. 62: 209-220. Read More