Global marketing and communication - Assignment Example

? Global marketing and communication Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Academic Overview 3 Globalization 3 Localization 4 Glocalization 6 Brand Overview 7 Product Strategy 8 One Macro Environmental Issue 9 Issue Identification 9 Recommendation for solution 11 Conclusion 11 Reference 12 Introduction The world of 21st century is an era of supreme professionalism, fast paced development and tremendous competition. As a result of this fast paced life that is becoming the normal trend in various cities around the world, the demand for new products and services is tremendously rising at a fast and steady rate. As a matter of fact, it can be said that there is a great demand for various new as well as existing products and services in the marketplace. In an attempt to cater for this demand, various companies around the world are focusing on fulfilling this demand by entering into new markets or catering existing markets by offering new values based products and services. This paper discusses in details the multiple processes that companies implement for the process of value generation for a wide range of customers while maintaining their levels of profitability. Academic Overview Globalization The word globalization represents a series of impactful changes that are inducing significant amount of changes in the behavior of the masses around the world, irrespective of their geographical boundaries (Ervin and Smith, 2008, p. 2). In a specific manner, it can be said that the globalization happens when companies of a particular region focus on entering into international markets (Keegan, 2008, p. 34). It is important to state in this note that the process of globalization happens when companies and organizations around the world identify that the entire world is a marketplace for their products and start treating the entire world as a single entity (Pride & Ferrell, 2010, p. 193). The globalization of product and services, which has been triggered in a massive way due to rise in consumer power in regards to accessing of product information that is available in various parts of the world has brought in to effect the concepts of standardization. So, naturally when companies go for globalization of its products by catering to different markets, they also have to ensure product standardization so that the product quality, features and appeal do not vary in markets around the world. So, it can be said that globalization complements the standardization of company’s products in various markets around the world, and as a result plays a major role in the influencing and changing the consumer behavior of the masses in various markets around the world. There are some widely popular examples that can be quoted to demonstrate the globalization strategy of companies when they focused on treating the world as a single entity. It has to be noted that different category of products like beverage drinks, electronic goods, music products, clothing accessories implement the strategy related to globalization. The popular sports brand Adidas implements the strategy of globalization for the purpose of communicating value to its customers around the world (Pride and Ferrell, 2010, p. 194). Another company that increasingly categorizes the world as a single entity for the purpose of marketing its standardized products is the globally reputed beverage brand Coke which caters to consumers around the globe, with its widely popular product range which are homogeneous in all markets around the world (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2007, p. 313). Various companies that have the clothing based product offering like that of Levi Jeans etc, also focus on standardization of its products while offering it to consumers in various markets around the world. Localization Localization happens when companies of a particular country focus on the process of going for market development by entering in to new markets in the country (Hines, 2000, p. 27). Talking in these regards, it can be said that the companies while focusing on the designing of their localization strategy focus on the implementing strategies like market development, product penetration etc. Talking in more details, localization strategy implicates the fact that each market that is present in various regions or geographical locations is a standalone market which has its own set of unique characteristics. As a matter of fact, it can be said that when a company focuses on implementing a strategy related to localization, the company has to take the effort of replicating the entire business model that has been successful in some other market around the world. The localization strategy also means that the company has to forego the various advantages and the competitive edges that it has developed and attained in various markets around the world, in terms of human resource, physical resource as well as other business related advantages and focus on building the same competitive advantages and resources in a completely new manner from the local market. It can be said that the process of localization strategy represents a large scale adaptation of the company’s business processes with regards to the various resources and factors that are present and currently strongly exist in the local setup (Peng, 2009, p. 296). The process of opting for a localization strategy by the company can be very strategic in nature, since it might provide significant gainful opportunities of business through the process of reduction in manufacturing costs and thereby attaining operational excellence (Hill & Jones, 2007, p. 280). A suitable example can be the manufacturing process of various automobile companies in emerging markets, since they focus on attaining significant reduction in input prices and generate large scale profits (Hyundai, 2004, p. 19). Another example can be the America based music channel MTV, which has gone in to localization process in order to attain a rise in the level of entertainment for the company. Glocalization It is of utmost importance to highlight the fact the localization is a possible extension of the process of globalization strategy that is implemented by the company. While globalization focused on rendering standardized products to global markets by treating the entire world as a single market, the process of localization represents offering products to newer markets while synchronizing the product offerings with the local taste and culture of the world. In simple terms, companies implement the ideology of going global, while thinking local (Pride and Ferrell, 2007, p. 118) The glocalization factor has always played a critical role in inducing a significant amount of change in the business process of organizations around the world as they are realizing the importance of adapting their product offering in regards to the local consumer tastes and culture practices. Through the implementation of adaptation strategies, the companies are realizing the fact that standardized product is never the perfect solution to create demand in a new market, which are varying in terms of tastes, cultures as well as lifestyle. So, naturally while focusing on the new markets, the global organizations are customizing their products on the basis of the local cultures. This is automatically resulting in the process of regional and location based product development, which will complement the consumer behavior of the masses existent in the region by being aligned in the same line of culture, tradition, style and demand. It can be said that the glocalization strategy is highly applicable in marketing products in new markets whose consumption patterns can vary on the basis of lifestyle, cultural trends of the consumers. As a suitable example in this particular regard, the demands of customers of Kuwait can be highlighted since they expect the international brand labels to cater to their needs while sticking to the domestic and preexistent taste and trends (Oxford Business Group, 2008, p. 179 – 182). A more relevant example can be the global brand McDonald’s move to open vegetarian restaurants to increase the footfalls of Indian consumers in its Indian stores (Sharma and Patton, 2012). Also, it can be said the popular fast food chain Taco Bell, when focus on gaining market share in new markets, try to adapt its food based product offering on the consumption nature as well as the local taste of the masses. There are numerous other examples of glocalization strategies adopted by the company. It can be discussed that the various international product based companies whose product offering have low value and price and are homogeneous in nature as compared to the competitors also focus on promoting their products though local celebrities as well as providing sponsorship of local events. This helps them to gain a local connect with the consumers, for their global range of products. Brand Overview Apple is one of the leading and most popular global brands which have achieved a significant amount of recognition in markets around the world. The company though has its headquarters in the United States of America has presence in multiple markets in various countries around the world. The company has a highly diversified product portfolio which comprises of highly popular global product brands. The product portfolio comprises of popular product lines like Apple Mac computer, I-pods, I-phones and even the highly innovative and latest technology series of I-pads (Apple 10 K). Apart from that, the company also has a series of complimentary service offerings which are mainly designed to increase customer satisfaction as well as convenience factor for the consumers (Apple.com, 2012). Talking about the brand, it can be said that the brand has achieved global reputation mostly because of the quality as well as innovative features of its product line up. Source: Thompson, 2012. As a result of the highly innovative product offerings, the company’s products always help in the process of creating an automatic pull of demand in the markets. As of the latest statistical data for the I-phones, it can be said that the product occupies the second position in terms of global market dominance. Product Strategy The product strategy of one of the most popular technological company in the recent times is very exciting in nature. The company’s product strategy is based on the very fact, that inspiration creates value, while imitation reduces value. As a matter of fact, the company provides a strong level of focus and attention in the process of product development in an attempt to generate as well as retain the interest of the consumers. The most distinguishing factor of the company’s products is mostly the highly innovative features that the company keeps on developing for its products from time to time. Source: Mazin, 2012 Talking on this note, it can be said that the company focuses on introducing new versions of already existing products in the market which are loaded with all the latest features and services. This helps the company to keep the wagon of enthusiasm rolling amongst the consumers, in regards to what is supposed to come next. Apart from that, the company provides a very high level of attention to the factor of developing high quality of products for its consumers. Talking on this note, it can be said that the high product quality has helped this global brand to develop a high level of customer satisfaction, which has contributed to the process of development of the global brand’s high ratings in terms of brand equity. One Macro Environmental Issue Issue Identification For identifying the environmental issues of macro nature in the business environment, the framework of PEST is often utilized. The PEST framework analyzes the macro level issues of varying dimensions like political, social, economic and technological factors. It has to be considered that the main offering of the company in regards to its product or services are mostly of technological nature. As a matter of fact, it has to be considered that the technology based products have a relatively short product life cycle as compared to other products (Mohr, 2011, p. 146). This happens mostly because of the lowering of customer interests in the new features as well as the tremendous level of competition from other rival companies whose product offerings have features of similar nature. So, it can be said that the macro level issues of Apple is mostly related to the level of competition that the global brand is facing in the market in regards to its product lineups and service offerings. The various sub factors that are contributing to the process of building up of macro level challenge related to technological advancement are the aggressive pricing strategies of the competitors, faster introduction of new rival products of similar nature, rapid design changes as well as tremendous price sensitivity of the products and outdating of existing technology (Apple 10K, p. 6). Recommendation for solution It can be recommended that in an effort to arrest this particular challenge the company should focus on the process of entering into other competitive busine1sses through the process of diversification. While employing the diversification strategy, the company should focus on going for line as well as brand extensions of popular products and services, which will be in line with its core competencies. Conclusion As of today’s date in an attempt to survive the cut throat competition in the marketplace, the companies around the world firmly believe, that the process of entering into new markets through the carefully designed strategic moves related to product development, market development, product penetration and diversification will help them achieve significant amount of business growth in the upcoming future. So, the companies are looking forward to implement the various methodologies like globalization, localization as well as glocalization. On a concluding note, it has to be stated that in this particular assignment, the global brand Apple is taken because of the brand’s significant amount of presence in various markets around the world. The other important factors behind the selection of this particular global brand are the process of high brand equity as well as high consumer demand around the world. The product strategy and the macro level factor were also discussed while doing the brand analysis. Reference Apple.com. (2012). Apple 10K. Retrieved from: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/2206606042x0x610219/112dd7d2-e33a-44ad-b4ea-8870c5dd9281/AAPL_10K_FY12_10.31.12.pdf Mazin, L. (2012). Smartphone Market 2012-2013. Retrieved from: http://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/smartphone-market-2012-2013-infographic/ Mohr, J. (2011). Marketing of High-Technology Products and Innovations. India: Pearson Education Thompson, S. (2012). Infographic: Samsung leads the smartphone market Retrieved from: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/smartphones/infographic-samsung-leads-the-smartphone-market/5463 Apple.com., (2012). Apple Store. Retrieved from: http://store.apple.com/us Sharma, M. and Patton, L. (2012). McDonald’s Plans First Vegetarian Restaurants in India. 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