The Emergence of Globalization and the Marketing Mix - Essay Example

The Emergence of Globalization and the Marketing Mix PART A The emergence of globalization has come with a number of social, economic and political realignments and the firms are the great casualties to the changes. The multinational companies are fighting for market size and the cardinal tool in this respect is effective communication that would make their marketing bear fruits. It is worth to note that the multinational corporations have geographically dispersed value creation sites, distribution and sales points and this presents a challenging scene in which the cross-culture aspect of the global market must be captured. A lot of research has therefore been in progress to develop the best marketing communication strategy that will capture the cultural differences across various countries or regions that share the same product (Bjerregaard, Lauring, Klitmøller, 2009, pp.56). The marketing mix that is appropriate for all this multicultural world market for multinationals must converge to achieve the same goal of expanding the market while at the same time saving the firms costs of operation. Different regions or countries have a specific social framework and any marketing strategy and the communication strategy need to conform to this diversity factor lest it realise insignificant publicity and product promotion. The cultural factors are closely attached to the economic policies of the specified regions, their religious beliefs, political ideologies and the level of economic development. An effective marketing communication plan needs to be designed to promote the image of the firm at local level with a global view. It is therefore imperative that market research is thoroughly carried out to develop a communication plan that is in line with the demands of cultural diversity and political environment (Smith, Pulford, & Berry, 2009, pp.75). In reporting this subject a case study of two firms is important to bring out the real concept of integrated market communication strategy. Some examples of multinational companies include Coca Cola, Toyota, Nokia Inc and others. These firms have central headquarters in a given country but their operations are decentralised in different regions like the Middle East, West Africa, North America, and Europe, East and Central Africa and many other regions. In this report Middle East market is to be compared with Europe such that appropriate marketing plans can be observed by the multinationals to capture a substantial market share through market (Bjerregaard, Lauring, Klitmøller, 2009, pp.55). One product that would serve best to be used for comparison is the Coca Cola soft drinks which are consumed at international level. Comparing United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia would provide the best results in terms of the best integrated marketing communication plans viable across two market environments. The choice of these two states is based on their cultural, taste, behaviour and the general spending pattern differences across the consumer body. This would facilitate designing of a customer focussed marketing communication strategies for Coca Cola Company and other multinational counterparts operating in the same product line like Pepsi (Egan, 2007, pp.134). To establish this comparison, the local cultural model of the two states need to be discussed and the prevailing marketing communication environments in each provided by aid of graphs and charts. Some of the key marketing focal points that will provide comparison grounds comprise of the culture of the citizens of the two countries, their political system, consumer behaviour, level of media activity and effectiveness and the overall competition within each country’s local market. The most outstanding factor that is vital in the marketing strategy appropriate for the two countries is the religious faith. Saudi Arabia is a Muslim state with strict adherence to the Islamic laws which covers even the economic policies of the entire region. The mode of communication for effective marketing in this region is preferably done in Arabic language and use of sexuality inclined connotations that are commonly used in other parts of the continent when marketing is prohibitively indecent (Fill, 2011, pp.90). This means that mode of the communication must be done on a moral standard of Muslim at the right time and with utmost honesty. The government of Saudi Arabia is fairly autocratic and being a monarchy it controls virtually all the economic activities of the citizens. It is common knowledge that in Saudi freedom of the media is shelved by the state and this means that even the airwaves and television frequencies are censored by the government agencies. In this respect the language used in expanding the market for Coca Cola must conform to the legal restrictions of the government authorities. The consumption behaviour of the Saudi people is fairly extravagant and this is something that the multinationals in this region need to capitalize on. Some mode of marketing mix must carefully be applied in this country especially on gender basis and use of social networking sites like Face book, twitter, YouTube and others which are restrictively gaining liberalization (Floor, 2011, pp.43-8). Any market communication targeting these sites is likely to attain insignificant influence in catching the attention of the clients. The trend in shopping is relatively at peak during the Holy month of Ramadhan where food consumption plummets and so does the demand for foodstuff and soft drinks. Competition within the local market is fairly low due to the government controlled economy and subsequent indirect influence in what products to consume and in what quantity. On the other side of the coin, UK is one of kingdoms that enjoy height of total free market economy where the firms face intense competition amongst themselves. The media and other social networking sites are freely used and any form of marketing communication strategy based on technology and customer tailored can work. The spending in this region is relatively constant due to stable income with marginally greater magnitude of consumption during the global festive seasons towards December. The international communication that is emerging is the steady convergence in taste and preference that has been facilitated by exponential growth of information and communication technology (Smith, Pulford, & Berry, 2009, pp.75). In both cases the promotion of research and development based on technology has been playing a significant role in blending English and the Arabic in Saudi Arabia to cater for the other non-Muslim or Arab communities. The media oppression experienced in Saudi Arabia is not good for marketing global products easily to the citizens on the other side the products being marketed in UK must meet specific quality threshold (Webster, 2004, pp.134-8). The communication issued on the products must be conformant to the rules and regulations governing international trade ethical standards. It is important to note that the spending habit of the UK citizens on soft drinks especially Coca Cola is influenced by the cold temperature during winter while the temperature of the Middle East is relatively constant and hot. On the spending level they are almost the same due to the even distribution of higher income between the two states under case study. The local markets forms the units that sums to form the market for the multinational companies. It has always been important to use favourable marketing communication to catch the attention of the people. Marketing is a social process and requires in-depth understanding of the behaviour of people in a given place and the world at large (Fujio, 2004, pp.335). The mode of communication used need to seek attention, evoke desire to buy and be consistent to the taste of the target market. Research has established that diagrams make more sense in marketing than any other strategy. This explains why the image of the products, brand messages and positioning has been winning hearts of consumers. In the local market the cultural environment is almost homogeneous but regional segmentations also dictates the mode of communication to be used. For instance, the urban dwellers have some locally generated language that makes communication enjoyable to them and therefore while planning marketing mix, this language need to be given emphasis. To the people in rural set up the image oriented form of communication will be more appealing and attractive. Mass communication systems also need to be used to cover the clients in the geographically dispersed consumer population. The market under focus in this case entails the mode of Coca Cola marketing strategy in the rural areas. In such a setting a lot of emphasis is put on what people can see rather than listen to and hence the suitability in application of image. The global appeal of Coca Cola in this region already gives it upper hand in competition and wide market coverage. Taking the case of the brand message, Coca Cola has a variety of soft drinks each with a differentiated tastes and ingredients. To create brand loyalty, this company introduced various drinks like Krest, Sprite, and Fanta besides Coke itself. It worth noting that each of these brands has a specific promotion logo and this has immensely created diverse preference of the many varieties under the umbrella of Coca Cola. Even the different colour of the brands paints a picture in the mind of the consumer and this is very useful in creating a psychological attachment with a given brand. For example Fanta is orange and most consumers would commonly be heard ordering for it using its colour. The same is applicable with Sprite, Coke and others. Take the brand appeal of the following Coca Cola soft drinks in the market. The color is captivating and many clients will always associate this colour with the quality. The brand taste will build a strong culture in the consumers and this has always worked for this firm in the local market. Image is another tool for communication when it comes to establishing a better marketing communication tools. The firm uses billboards with the various brands and this is accompanied by impression of people in a party with Coca Cola (Nan & Kleiner, 2006, pp.12). In business, the target of any marketing strategy is to create an imagination in their mind of the consumer so that he/she can buy the product. In that respect, seeing is believing when people see the impressive images of others enjoying the various brands on billboard, television, social networking sites like face book, twitter, YouTube etc, they tend to develop interest towards the product (Kahle, & Kim, 2006. pp.65). Various factors make people to take up a given product brand and this include colour. The appeal of color is very strong especially among the female consumers. Take the colour of Coke just used above, some consumers will definitely crave for it and prefer it for some occasions like romantic meetings and special memorial events. This is the power of image besides boosting the market standing of the firm itself. Coca Cola has in some cases used sporting events and associated them with its different brands like in the case of sprite in Basket ball. This means that most of this sports’ enthusiasts will always strive to take a taste to try out what is being displayed by the advertisements hence increasing its market size. Logos of the different brands of a product like in the case of Coca Cola are always backed up by images that show a close association with message in question. The logo for sprite states “Quench your thirst” and besides this is an image of basketball players taking the drink amidst the thirsty period at the end of the game (Kahle, & Kim, 2007, pp.57). Positioning of the marketing communication is also vital in terms of consumer density. In this case, billboards and other image materials on Coca Cola like the emerging electronic advertisement with large screens are placed in places with high human traffic or mass settlement density. Even the sales promotions carried out are always undertaken in places where there is frequent and high human concentration mostly in social places like trading centres, sports centres and institutions of learning. Another strategy of improving the image and publicity of the firm is through the retailers’ application of stickers in front of their shops and this goes a long way in informing new customers on the existence of such a product besides retaining the existing ones. A combination of the above discussed market communication strategy has bore fruits for Coca Cola and other firms not discussed in this work. It is also important to note that the language used is refined and simplified as much as possible to take care of the Youth, middle aged and the elderly market segments. PART B The globalization influence requires that market communication is tailored to meet the diverse cultures in the international market. Taking China as one the market for Coca Cola products, the most important thing is to establish the best brand message, the product image and appropriate position of the brand. China is one of the fast growing economies that have been attracting the international attention with a large local market for both external and local products. Citizens of this nation have a culture of hard work and spirit of quality in most of the products they use. Technological advancement is fairly high among the population and this means that the best way to sell a brand is through massive investment in technological application especially e-commerce. Chinese are a bit conservative when it comes to language and this means that the brand ha to retain its global identity but other marketing communication must be expressed in Chinese. It is also important to incorporate the photos of Chinese natives consuming the said product to create a lasting impression to others of the quality of the product. However, the laws and regulations including consumer protection statutes must be considered when putting up an advertisement or any other marketing mix (Webster, 2009, pp.167). All age group inclusive advertisement in which the young, old and the middle aged people pose for a marketing photo is also viable to the firm. The brand message must be inspirational like the logo below this coca cola brand; It reads “live positively” a message that is inspirational and people would like to associate with. It is advisable that some research is done to understand the sub-cultural differential among the people. This can be achieved conducting a participatory experiment on the behaviour of these people so that the perception they will hold over the brand is established. Even in China, there exists regions where product accessibility is a problem and this means that marketing must be done in such areas in line with their setting and this now involves middle men in the chain of distribution. Another approach of achieving this is repackaging the product into affordable units and attractive packages. Involving the community in promotion will even make the information more effective since these local promoters are conversant with the local behaviour, their spending habit, social structure, language and religious belief (Korac-Kakabadse, et al. 2001, pp.54). Multinationals companies can do better in international market by employing people coming from such places since there is always the sense of belonging when the local people in a given region see their own as the associate with the product and they tend to belief and have much trust. This explains the choice of regional leaders with the lower ranked hailing from their own regions. Promoting the product through involving the society in their preferred social activities like sports events can also boost the sinking of the message. Considering gender, age, faith and social class and segmenting the market in terms of marketing will work towards improving the viability of the communication strategy to the firm. Branding and imaging are powerful marketing tools for a corporation especially in the international market. Company brands and images communicate for the company. Therefore, imaging and branding are essential marketing tools which are cost-effective in the long-run. Consumers’ purchasing behaviour and choice of a production is partially influenced by the reputation and company images. Branding and imaging sends a very strong signal about the company, its products and other aspects of marketing. In order to make branding possible and appealing to consumers, all the brands must contain a logo. For instance, Multinational Corporation such as Nike and Coke-Cola heavily build their international reputation and recognition using their imaging and branding. The consumers’ purchasing and consumption choice is based on their view, attitude and perception about the products (Koekemoer, & Bird, 2004, pp.245). Branding or product imaging communicates to the consumer; therefore, consumers may decide to consume a product based on their imagination of the product even if they had not had a taste of the brand before. This is the similar situation with Chinese consumer who relies on branding and imagination in making purchases. Promoters and marketing experts advice producers and manufacturers to consider positive imaging and product branding as a potential marketing strategy beyond the domestic market environment. The same strategy has been employed by a number of companies in study the product market. The quality of the products or goods is in the consumer mind and is ensured through strong brand image (Kitchen, 2009, pp.97). As observed by marketing experts, once consumers have developed strong love for a product/service, they will keep consuming their desired product based on the internationalized message drawn from the company image and products. In addition to winning consumer loyalty and repeated purchase, branding and imaging of products/services also makes it easier for the potential consumer to filter out all the countless generic items at their disposal within the marketing environment. Product/service branding are economic in time as it gives a consumer realistic reason to buy a product without wasting a lot of resourceful time in choosing (Webster, 2009, pp.89-95). Brand reinforcement and advertising (including viral campaign) or other commercial ads may be used to rebuilt company image and branding. Vital campaign is a more trustworthy method of increasing the image of the company. This is a perfect approach to brand promotion as it always falls in the consumers’ cutting edge, hence the common marketing philosophy “customer’s first image”. Brand is reinforced with the qualities of services and goods made available to consumers. Through continuous advertising, brand cult is achievable as the market as the message is persistently spread concerning company image, products and services. Branding is not only of economic benefit to the business entity, but also the consumers as they will enable them build strong taste for their desired products (Korac-Kakabadse, et al., 2001, pp.18-9). The choice of the brand reflects personality, visions, core values, and value perception of the advertising firms. Therefore, branding presents a win-win state for all the parties to the business. Companies perform product branding with the following objectives: delivering clear message, confirms your credibility, Motivates the buyer, Concretes User Loyalty, and connect emotional prospects of the customers. In order to be successful in product/service branding, marketers must have the ability to develop a deeper understanding of the consumer needs and demands and match such needs with the products/services for which consumers find value for their money (Balsmeier, & Heck, 2004, pp.67). This is achievable through integrating the firm’s branding strategies at all the points of public contact because brands reside in the minds and hearts of the consumers, prospects, and clients. It is the summation of consumer perception and experiences, which can be influence through emotional attachments founded in product imaging and branding. As the battle market share and customers intensifies, strong branding and imaging is inevitable and invaluable. To remain competitive, companies heavily invest in researching, building and defining their brands. Since the only promise marketers have for their customers is brand, it is paramount for these organizations to live to their promises by ensuring that branding messaging is strong enough to built on customer loyalty (Smith, & Taylor, 2004, pp.314-7). Besides, branding and imaging are foundational piece in marketing communication which firms cannot do without if they are to survive the stiff competition for consumers. A number of companies have moved to brand and image as a modern approach to marketing. In order to effectively connect with their customers, firms have embarked on effective and sustainable marketing strategy. Companies must therefore maintain good brand image to attract and retain prospective clients. As described by marketing professionals, brand image simply refers to the overall opinion and perception of customers about a given brand which is described as the collection of possible associations in the mindset of clients. It is also an indication of consumer beliefs and strong sense of love for the company. Brand image in other words is the prediction of consumer’s insight about company services/products, hence should be protected and preserved. Companies should therefore heavily invest in brand protection because through brand protection, the image and reputation of the company are equally protected. In addition, brand image depicts the overall characters of the company. In this manner, firms should clearly present their core values, vision and mission statements as unclear goals not only confuse the customers but also drive away potential clients. In presenting clear brand image, firms consider three elements of imaging and branding which are company logo, corporate identity, and précised company slogan. The thought believed to be the driving force behind positive image branding is the concept that consumers are not only after the product/service but also the reputation of the producer (which is displayed by the brand image). In order to present a perfect brand image in a competitive industry, firms should remember to make their brand images unique, direct and optimistic (Balsmeier, & Heck, 2004, pp.87-9). This uniqueness in image branding strategy is attainable through utilization of different brand communication gargets such as advertising, packaging, word of mouth, among others. Effective brand image comes with three main advantages. First, rational benefits of an effective brand image makes clients to prefer the company’s products and services over other products made available by the competitors. Secondly, emotional benefits associated with effective brand images shows the clients the value placed in such products and the emotional comfort they will realized on consuming the products/services (Moingeon, & Soenen, 2002, pp.178). Finally, brand imaging gives the company functional benefits as the firm has to explain to its consumers why its products/services are more preferred over other products in of the same nature. Reference List Balsmeier Phillip W. and Heck , Anita K. (2004), Cross Cultural Communication & Cross Cultural Management. An International Journal. Volume 1 Number 2. 1994. pp13-21 MCB University Press. Bjerregaard Toke, Lauring, Jakob, Klitmøller, Anders (2009). A critical analysis of intercultural communication research in cross-cultural management: Introducing newer developments in anthropology. 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