International Marketing - Essay Example

Organisations operating internationally have had the dilemma of whether to adopt standardisation or adaptation communication in the overseas markets.Any company that wishes to expand to international markets must question whether to introduce the exact same product as the one that has already succeeded at the domestic market. It should also interrogate whether adapting the product or marketing communications to suit the tastes and preferences of the new and foreign market is the right move to make. Marketers must, therefore, understand the similarities and differences of the domestic and foreign market [ref]. One notable and critical growing global trend is that consumers’ tastes are becoming more homogenised with time. However, this is more in relation to products whose functionalities are their selling points such as mobile phones such as iPhone and alcoholic beverages such as Red Bull. The companies behind these products have introduced uniform marketing communication strategies in all their markets, whether domestic or foreign [ref]. On the same note, there are universally accepted brands which have sailed through regardless of culture such as Coca Cola and have used the same ingredients to make their products all over the world. However, others like McDonald’s have been forced to customise their ingredients to fit the different tastes of each foreign market. For example, McDonald’s does not incorporate beef in its menus in the Indian market owing to cows being holy animals there. If at all they had ignored this at any point, whether in the inception or later stages, they would have passed the wrong message to the intended consumers. This paper argues that, for a marketer, picking either standardisation or adaptation in marketing depends of the type of product and local market since one of them may not necessarily work in all circumstances. As much as it is critical to identify which product to sell in whichever market, whether domestic or foreign, it is far important to know how best to market the product. It is challenging enough to satisfy customers’ demands in a domestic market and far more challenging to master the various cultural, political and legal aspects of each foreign market. Some business people around the globe are proponents of standardisation and view globalisation as an ingredient to having a single market [ref]. This may be true to some extent in case an organisation’s primary goal is to benefit from economies of scale but can be disastrous where diversity in tastes, preferences and culture come into play. This aspect, therefore, demonstrates that a marketer decides on the kind of products to sell, marketing tools and campaigns to employ based on various external forces. Another consideration can be the intended outcome in a particular foreign market so as to decide which strategy between standardisation and adaptation fits best. A marketer, in most cases, is required to blend between standardisation and adaptation strategies so as to derive a desired outcome for both the organisation and the expectations of the foreign market [ref]. Consequently, the dilemma left to uncover is to what extent will marketing communication in regards to a certain product be standardised to match that of the domestic market or adapted to fit the foreign market. The decision to pick whichever degree of application of either aspect goes a long way in affecting numerous supporting factors, for example, organisational structure, research and development and marketing mix among others. An organisation’s attitude towards different cultures largely dictates whether to adopt standardisation of adaptation marketing strategies in any market. These considerations are also referred to as international marketing orientations and can use various approaches [ref]. The first is the ethnocentric approach which basically regards the supremacy of the domestic market. In this case, it is the domestic market’s culture that will dictate the kind of marketing to apply for a particular product in the foreign market. The principles of ethnocentrism state that others are inferior, weak and untrustworthy. In this regard, the marketing communication models and strategies in a foreign market will borrow the exact models applied in the domestic market. The technologies to use, human resources and strategies of the domestic market are regarded as highly superior and thus best suited to apply in the foreign market [ref]. In essence such organisations do not make any effort in adapting the products or marketing communication techniques to fit the needs and wants of the new markets abroad. This approach can best apply where the company perceives the foreign market as a disposal ground for surplus products. This approach may pose a challenge when the culture may not allow such products in their markets. An example is Nissan manufacturers who adopted ethnocentrism and exported their cars to external markets exactly as they were being demanded in Japan. Nissan was forced to change the strategy after failures in building reliable sales in foreign markets, predominantly in United States and Europe. Polycentric approach guides the marketing towards appreciating every market’s uniqueness, whether domestic or foreign. Such organisations prefer to operate foreign markets as subsidiaries, which gives ample room to customise each market to align with their cultures [ref]. This approach fits best when the parent organisation produces high quality products or the products are produced at relatively low costs. However, this approach negates the need for economies of scale and required huge investments in research and development so as to come up with high quality products. Ford Motors and Toyota are examples of organisations which have successfully applied this adaptation approach to suit every market’s consumer needs. Regiocentric approach concentrates more on the similarities between regions. Consumers are grouped into regions based on how similar their cultures are as well as their economic and political states. An example is when an organisation groups all countries that previously formed the USSR or Sub-Sahara Africa. These regions tend to have consumers who share economic, political and cultural aspects thereby portraying a strong regional identity [ref]. Coca Cola has been quite successful in implementing the approach. Geocentrism is the other orientation and it does not lean on either the domestic or the foreign market. The approach is based on the belief that the world is a global marketplace and consumers enjoy and prefer same products and quality. This approach requires the marketing of a product to borrow widely and to incorporate various cultures, tastes and preferences in one package to present to all. It, therefore, requires financial muscle to do this kind of research and thus organisations pursuing this model aim at global market leadership and brand dominance [ref]. Apple and European Silicon Structures are examples of companies applying this model. Every organisation should appraise its products based on the above international marketing orientations so as to devise the best methods to do its promotions. In promotion, the marketer aims at retaining the existing market as well as expanding to new territories [ref]. Consequently, promotion aims at attracting consumers to the product. However, if poorly done, it can as well repel them. As seen above, marketing communication strategies can either follow the domestic market trends, the foreign market trends or blend the two. The marketing communication mix should be married with marketing orientations, marketing mix and PEST analysis. For example, the mode of dressing for ladies in a coca cola advert in the US may accommodate bikini wear while an Arab lady cannot portray the same in a similar advert in Saudi Arabia. Sales promotion, on the other hand, requires that the kind of communication model used to consider the expectations of the consumers [ref]. For those commodities that require personal selling or direct marketing, it is critical to ensure that the sales people are conversant not only with the local languages but also the cultures, economics and political dynamics of the market. Personal selling and direct marketing must use adaptation approach rather than a standardised one. Owing to the changing market needs and complexity in the demographics of the global business environment, there is the need to incorporate integrated marketing communications. The current global market requires that messages are designed to favour specific target markets. The consumer demographics are so diverse that different marketing communication strategies and tools must be used simultaneously and interchangeably to fit any kind of situation [ref]. The narrower the focus of any marketing campaign the better and stronger the relationship between the product and the consumer. Social media and new media devices have hugely changed the manner in which organisations communicated to their consumers. Organisations are now put to task particularly on social media to explain issues and faults and their responses are critiqued and assessed by a global audience. This kind of exposure and scrutiny has forced organisations to own up to issues raised by the global audience [ref]. Therefore, improvement in media technology and the internet can be used to offer a line of integrated marketing communications that targets a global audience but at the same time offers one-one-one interaction with individual consumers. An integrated marketing communication model also offers almost immediate feedback either way and is an ideal platform to source data for research and development initiatives. References Read More