Marketing and Globalization - Essay Example

Marketing and Globalisation Investing in business requires the commitment of the investor in making that extra effort to have a competitive advantage in their field of operation. The success factor in business is the customer base and loyalty that it establishes through its operating strategies including product mix and marketing strategies. Additionally, the changing business world continues to bring several challenges, leading to increased competition among other challenges of business operation. However, with the advent of technological advancements, communication channels evolution and expanding marketplaces, companies realise that diversity is the smart choice to make. The experts analysing the marketplace concur that in the upcoming years, business organisations will have to embrace diversity for them to maintain a competitive advantage with respect to the shifting marketplace. Thus, globalisation efforts of the marketplace are influencing the market place remarkably, facilitating diversity for the consumers. The marketing strategies of business organisations continue to evolve, encompassing different practices and platforms in their endeavour to meet the customer at their comfort. Diversity as a feature of the society and the universe at large entails the difference in the culture, thinking, talents and colour, among other factors (Sheth & Charma 2005, p. 617). In addition to these physically observable traits that differentiate people, diversity also encompasses differences that not observed easily, such including life experiences, religion, family situations, personal preferences and sexual orientations among others. These factors of diversity influence the world of business remarkably, bringing a depth and variety of ideas, opportunities, and strengths to the business organisations that they cannot obtain from any other place (Day 2011, p. 186). They are facilitating factors to establishing solutions to challenges and identifying opportunities and insights into operational strategies of business organisations. Conversely, diversity also brings with it its share of limitations and challenges in respect to the operations of business organisations. The increasing globalisation as it facilitates the exploration of diversity in the market place and marketing strategies for business, it brings with it various limitations (Noel 2009, p. 99). Nonetheless, the ability to create an inclusive environment for accommodating the diversity factor in business and the marketplace particularly is critical to the success of all operations and new marketplace ventures. Globalisation in the trade industry is not a new development, as over the centuries, people used to buy and sell products from distant places. However, the current technological advancements revolutionised the aspect of globalisation and simplified the meaning of the term. Today, these vast distances that people used to travel to engage in trade are not a factor of consideration in the marketplace. This is because of the factors of interaction and integration, which form the basic concepts of globalisation (Hollis 2011, p. 38). Thus, marketing globalisation entails the synergy of promotion and sales of goods and services within an interdependent and integrated universal economy. It allows business organisations to trade without boundaries of state or continents. It is through understanding the needs of the consumers that the ethnocentric business ventures build their global marketing strategies towards the needs of the targeted market, diversifying their product mix among other factors and structures of their business. Additionally, the internet stands out as a significant and integral marketing and cultural tool. The traditional communication models such as sending a messenger or writing a letter seemed to influence the lives of the ancestors remarkably. Then there came the advent of radio signals for communicating and later the phone. The invention of the phone landed with great success in all sectors and ages as people sought to communicate to far distant people. However, it is the discovery of the internet that revolution every aspect of communication from near to far distant places. Since the origination of the internet as a technology of the 20th century, it continues to excel and transform the world incredibly. Today, every person in the developed and at least in the developing countries has access to some form of internet connection (BBC Radio- GlobalBiz: Brand China 16 Nov 2013). The internet is in their phones, tablets and computers among other devices of their choice. The young people are chatting via social networks, working class sending mails, entertainment sector capitalizing in selling their products, and education sector incorporating online learning among other accessories in their endeavour to use the internet. All these factors are example of the impact of globalisation brought about by the internet. Initially, the business sector only embraced the technology advancements partially. The concentration of the business on the glamorous consumer and partners relationships entailed in business success received a significant boost with the effects of globalisation in the rise. The internet is transforming business remarkably and extensively, changing the fundamental operations and procedures of companies and large business organisations (Askegaard & Eckhardt 2012, p 56). The use of internet for business operations and successes surpasses the initial aspects of advertising via the internet, buying and selling, called e-commerce. However, the culture of enterprise is revolving accordingly with the diversification of the market place. The utilisation of the internet is shifting from e-commerce to e-business, a factor contributing significantly to the exploration of globalisation in the business world. The companies are adopting methods for engaging their customers directly and intensifying relations between them and their business partners. Thus, in view of the internet and its effect in the globalisation process, it is a leading business cause for exploration in identifying and capitalising with the diversity in the marketplace. The information technology trends continue to facilitating the converging aspect of markets and the world operations. However, despite the advancements and impact of the increased globalisation efforts, diversity remains the window of opportunity for the business world. To engage the market successfully, any business needs to explore the options of variety available in that market. Therefore, the globalisation factor in the marketing industry is successful only when it acknowledges the diversity in the consumer behaviour (Keegan, 2002 p. 1-29). Consumer behaviour is decisive to the triumph of the marketing strategy adopted by any venture, irrespective of its brand name in the international market. For instance, the diversity in religion is such a powerful tool for marketing in the Middle East. An illustration of the impact of diversity in consumer behaviour is this: that a business dealing in the sale of meat of pigs, it will be nearly impossible for such a business to market its products in the country of Muslims. Thus, this shows the significance of understanding the diversity within the consumer culture and behaviour even in the wake of the globalised market place. Another aspect of the consumer behaviour that enhances diversity within the market place is the spending power of the consumers. The consumer can spend only what they have. Thus, in view of the marketplace, there are different levels of consumers (Noel 2009, p. 67). There are consumers with the resources to spend on luxuries while there are those whose resources can only hold their necessities. In view of this sundry aspect, in the marketplace, it is essential for a business venture, seeking to explore the globalised marketplace to study the market and analyse it accordingly, in order to establish strategic and successful marketing procedures within such a diverse customer base. Moreover, the consumers in such a varied marketplace will need a marketing mix strategy that fits their expectation and spending power. For instance, a company that operates within the global market, with a multiplicity of culture and economic power in the world, such as between Nigeria and China the company must establish a marketing mix strategy that accommodates the consumer multiplicity in these markets (Lysonski & Durvasula 2013, p 507). Such a company, presenting the same product in China and Nigeria, it may have to incorporate different packaging and pricing strategies due to the economic differences of the consumers. Therefore, the variety in the spending power of the consumers and economic status of the international marketplaces, diversity is the smartest choice to adopt rather than convergence. Another reason to consider diversity in engaging the globalised market place is the opportunities with which it brings. Borrowing from the case of Nigeria in transition process towards integration of globalised markets, the culture, beliefs, life experiences, and different orientations of people across the universe varies significantly. The life factors such as social status and association to social classes, for example, may affect the ability of a consumer to purchase from various companies. For example, the people in the developing countries have a general view belief from experiences with their local business ventures that the international market provides the exquisite and classy products (Lysonski & Durvasula 2013, p 501). Thus, such a social stratifications can sway the consumer behaviour towards the globalised businesses; as such, a consumer will seek products from a company that operates internationally for prestige. Moreover, the consumers with biased tendency towards companies in a particular region may deter the success of those companies in the global market. Therefore, before a company goes global, irrespective of the opportunities available in the global market, it is essential to understand the consumer behaviour in the global market. The multiplicity of consumers and the consumer behaviour holds enormous determining power over the success of any business venture within the globalised market. Diversity, unlike convergence, it creates opportunities for operation within the globalised marketplace. With the population index indicating that the world population is almost 8.3 billion people, the only opportunity left for business success of companies is to go global. Globalising the operations of the business venture will promote several advantages to the business. However, globalisation in the marketplace also has its share of limitations, even with the diversity factor in consideration. Globalisation in international marketing brings reduced costs in the marketplace. The yoga nature of labour enables the companies to have access to cheap labour and resources from the global marketplace (Askegaard & Eckhardt 2012, p 47). This allows the companies to lower their prices and in turn broadens the market for their goods. Thus, diversity of the labour and resource costs between developed and developing countries promote reduced costs of business operation. For instance, in a country such as India where the population of unemployment is high, investors seek services of the local people at reduced costs. Secondly, globalisation of the marketplace is opening endless potential for the business organisations to harness larger market base, such as, the vast Indian population. The companies are engaging international marketing campaigns from their domestic locations, engaging consumers from the international market. Thus, through globalisation of the marketing procedures, the consumers get access to a variety of quality deals, as well as, diversity in the goods and services they can access. However, despite these observable positive impacts of globalisation of the marketplace and marketing strategies, globalisation also has a bad side. Through the introduction of globalised market place and assortment in the marketplace base, there are new risks and uncertainties entrapping into the operations of business organisations. The integration of the local, national and international markets opens the gap for intensified competition among other challenges (Mirchandani 2004, p 358). The integration of the markets means that new business organisations from all over the world get to trade from the same platform with the national business organisations. Thus, there is increased intensity in competition, in the endeavour to keep with the developments in the marketplace. This eventually results in undesirable activities such as imitations, leading in counterfeit products. Integration of the markets also brings price and profit swings and increased chances of business and product destruction or facing out of brands. Moreover, the companies and businesses that initially enjoyed the monopoly of globalisation are now facing unstable and unpredictable demand trends, leading to their products becoming commodities. This factor leaves the once powerful business corporations with little pricing power and under constantly increasing pressure from competitors undermining their profitability (Chan, Li, Diehl & Terlutter 2007, p 618). Additionally, the inconsistency in consumer needs leads to wastage of resources in marketing, as different markets require different skills and patterns for marketing. Thus, the inclusion of diversity within the global market of business operations has its disadvantages to the companies. In view of the influence of diversity and globalisation of marketplaces to the consumers, the development has its share of bad effects. Globalised markets bring uncertainty to the security of the consumers. The increased business crimes witnessed within the international business platforms increases the chances of exploitation of consumers (Sandikci & Ger 2002, p 469). There are business operations that are inauthentic and insincere in their operations. Thus, globalisation of the markets allows such fraudulent companies to access the unsuspecting consumers in their variety exploiting them and stealing from them. Furthermore, diversity of products brings confusion within the marketplace. Some advertisements lie to consumers; consequently, the consumers get substandard services. For instance, the Nigerians as they transit into globalised markets face the threat of purchasing counterfeit products due to illiteracy and other negative aspects within the markets. The markets exploit the unsuspecting customers with counterfeit and substandard goods. Moreover, globalisation is responsible for the recent loss of culture within developing countries such as Nigeria where culture degradation is a constraint to marketing globalisation (Lysonski & Durvasula 2013, p 497). The disparity in the cultures and display of foreign cultures within these globalised marketplaces results in degradation of native cultures of the target markets. Thus, diversity results in the culture degradation to the consumers as acculturation effects descend on the local people. Nonetheless, despite the challenges that come with globalisation and diversity of the markets, it is essential for business ventures to adopt secure procedures defining the international trend in trade. The international marketing strategies for engaging the multiplicity in infrastructure policies and culture within different countries for companies need to focus on embracing the technological advancements. Technology in the market place is a factor that enhances the process of globalisation. Therefore, with the adoption of effective and strategic technological tools of trade and marketing, the companies will eventually transit from convergence to adopting divergence in their operations. Diversity is the future of successful and efficient business operations for any business venture trading within the global markets. 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