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Q. 1: Discuss and evaluate the differences and distinctions which maybe be activated or applied when considering cultures and marketing in a variety of differing cultures internationally?   (10 marks) 

Most businesses today have entered the international market; making them susceptible to a variety of cultural and communicational challenges. Marketers need to accept, and to be prepared to combat such challenges in the international market. That being said, in such cases the average marketing mix will not suffice. With cultural changes, marketing strategies would also have to be redesigned in order to adapt to the local markets. International Marketing strategies go beyond the 7P’s of marketing; product, price, packaging, place, promotion, positioning and people. Products and their uses may vary in different countries according to the local consumer needs.

International marketing requires restructuring and adaptation hence; restructuring the marketing mix is an integral step. In some instances, the product/brand name and marketing campaigns may also become problematic in another culture e.g. The Coca Cola Company initially faced linguistic challenges when it came to China; the name ‘Coca Cola’ sounded like the Chinese phrase ‘KookeKoula’ which translates to ‘A thirsty mouthful of candle wax’. The company responded strategically by changing its name to ‘Kee Kou Keele’ in China, which means ‘Joyful tastes and happiness’. Other similar examples include that of Pepsi whose campaign ‘Come alive with Pepsi’ had to be changed as it was directly translated as ‘Come alive out of the grave’ in Germany. Even General Motors had to rename their ‘Nova’ brand in Spain since ‘No-va’ means ‘No-go’ in Spanish [1]

Correspondingly, prices may also vary in different parts of the world. Marketers need to be aware of the differences in income levels, cost of living and average disposable income of consumers of a particular country. Furthermore, people have different purchase behaviors in different parts of the world hence appropriate channels need to be put into place. In other words, socio-economic factors play an underlining role and are majorly accountable. Likewise, packaging and positioning also requires alterations. Some countries have international legal requirements for packaging while others are just sensitive to certain colors or symbols in the packaging of the product that not only averts the consumer from purchasing the product but is also catastrophic to the positioning efforts of the company. Product placement and promotions also vary across cultures. Since geographical as well as demographical differences exist, even giants like Walmart had a tough time in India where small stores trend more, but companies can adopt better understand of the local & international cultures to perform well in their international business [2]

According to Doug Casey’s book ‘The International Man’, there are seven elements of international marketing. These elements are integral for adaptation due to cultural diversity

Research: market needs analysis, market segmentation and SWOT

Infrastructure: administrative details and setup

Product localization: cultural integration into the product/service

Marketing localization: cultural integration into marketing campaigns and promotional efforts

Communications: linguistic barriers and translational issues with brand names, taglines and marketing communications

Inbound marketing: localizing marketing efforts for increased accessibility

Outbound marketing: tools for broadcasting messages for the target market

[3]

Q. 2: Critically examine and discuss how and why your chosen marketing organization needs to strategically plan and manage its relationship strategies as a key external critical success factor in the contex of potential success failure of its future market Development planning- 10 marks.

                For every business marketing organization, it is important to understand that competition is getting intense with the passage of time, and consumers have more choices than ever before. So, they have to focus on key relationship strategies to make sure that they are engaging well with the customers, and getting their desired & needs fulfilled. If an organization is bale to develop a great relationship with its customers, then they can satisfy them, and keep them loyal for long term. The business field is getting as dynamic as ever, and if an organization is able to win the trust of customers, reach out to them well, and provide great service quality along with better marketing tools, then it is more likely that they will win the hearts of their customers in current market, and it will also open new horizons of opportunities in the future potential market. The success rate in the market can get better for organizations, when they achieve customer satisfaction by developing market plan, which is based on building great relationships with viable relationship strategies [4]

                The chosen marketing organization for the review of relationship strategies is Procter & Gamble (P&G). The company has been enjoying success around the globe and they have achieved it through proper strategy and market planning. They have always focused on their innovation as well as growth strategies to build great customer base. They have always made sure that right people are working on the right job so that they can achieve efficiency and success in international markets. Their innovation has been instrumental for their success in so many ways as they have kept it in their marketing and relationship strategy. It is great awareness by P&G to understand that they have to keep innovation in their strategic business and marketing planning [5]. P&G has been known for its ability to understand the needs of consumers as well as future markets through great market research. They know how to engage with consumers with updated marketing efforts so that a better relationship is built with them for long term [6]

                P&G has to understand that they need a dedicated customer relationship management strategy, which offers unique opportunities for their future growth. The customer relationship strategy must be aligned with their business & marketing strategy so that they can achieve competitive advantages over their international and local competitors in different current markets as well as future markets [7]. The good thing is that P&G understand the importance of key success factors for them like they know that customers as well as shareholders are important for their long term success. So, they need to make viable changes in their business & marketing strategy every now and then, so that things can be on the right track. They understand the fact that companies which don’t understand their needs to change things cannot last for long time in a competitive business environment. They are focusing on value creation not only for their current and future markets, but also for their shareholders. They are focusing on innovation and productivity improvements so that they can enhance their capabilities to ensure success in their markets [8]

Q. 3: Evaluate the major trends in contemporary marketing strategy within international business-10 marks.

                It is a fact that things are changing quickly in today’s dynamic business landscape and companies have to be more aware & agile in their approach to keep delivering the goods. If a company lacks the essence of adopting latest marketing strategy trends in the international markets, then it is more likely that they will be wiped off from the market by their competitors. The global and international business has been growing faster with the passage of time, and reach of businesses across international boundaries are offering more opportunities for the international companies. There are so many elements to be kept in mind like contemporary marketing trends in international business for companies, because if they won’t do it, then someone else will do it, and gain more space in the international business markets. The ever changing and growing international business environment is asking to adopt news trends progressing in the international markets. The customers are being attracted with various new trends and if any company does not adopt those trends within time, then it can be hard for them to get out of trouble in diverse international business markets around the world [9]

                The companies have to come up with latest strategies adopting contemporary market and research trends so that they can gain more success in the international markets. Some of the latest trends are detailed below one by one:

The evident role of technology is crucial in today’s international business, and if companies are not aware of this fact, then they cannot grow their business on international level. The digital technologies are gaining more ground with every passing day, and ever increasing popularity of Smartphone is a concrete evidence for that. The consumers are using smart phones to do various things like shop from international destination, and the use of smart phones is increasing across the world. So, companies have to invest in digital technologies like planning a comprehensive mobile marketing strategy so that digital consumers are targeted for their international business [10]

The other major trend in marketing strategy is the use of data analysis along with big data. The international business organizations can use consumer data to revise their marketing strategies and update them according to the customer trends and preferences. The traditional market research trends are vanishing from the marketing strategies, and use of data analytics is getting popular. The presence of consumers on online and digital platforms is allowing companies to gather more information about local and international level consumers [10]

The other latest trend in the marketing is the level of integration as well as personalization. The companies have to adopt this trend to integrate their marketing strategies as per customer needs and wants, and in some cases, the companies may also provide personalization and customization for loyal customers so that they can keep them loyal, and earn good word of mouth to get potential customers. The global trends with ever changing technology as to be the focus o international businesses in their future marketing strategies [11]

The below given figure demonstrate that how market system used to work in the past, where marketing strategy was simple; a company use to advertise to its consumers.,

Source: http://www.managementmarketing.ro/pdf/articole/320.pdf

And here is another figure, which shows that how latest market research and trends have changed in the marketing, where consumers feedback and response is also getting a vital place in the marketing strategy:

Source: http://www.managementmarketing.ro/pdf/articole/320.pdf

Q. 4: Critically evaluate the international marketing strategy of a company of your choice.It is expected that your company will be a major multi-national company operating in most of the major market in the world? -15 marks

                The companies can be diverse in their approach while delivering their international marketing strategy, but still it depends on various aspects that how they would go about their business. Every international and global firm can have different international marketing strategy because they cover different markets with different set of consumers. Some companies may give importance to innovation in their marketing strategy, where some would go with traditional marketing style, and there can be companies which may opt to facilitate preferences and needs of their customers as much as they can. Keeping these facts in view, it is important to look at a multinational firm in terms of their international marketing strategy over the years to understand that how they achieved success through their successful international marketing strategy. For this purpose, here is going to be look at Nike, one of the famous sports footwear and apparel company working across every major market in the world. Here are some insights from their international marketing strategy:

In earlier years, Nike was a production oriented company, who looked to focus on production of goods more. But as time passed, they realized the fact that they need something more than that, and need to engage customers in their strategy. So, they changed their previous approach and came up with a customer centric approach by adopting marketing oriented company. They quickly realized that global business trends are changing and they were lacking the leads in this regard, so they came up with more dedicated marketing strategies on international level. They adopted a marketing strategy, which was more reactive in nature, and customers’ feedback was given importance in this regard. They always tried to integrate customer centric approach to engage customers with their brands, and they have been quite successful in doing so for so many decades across different markets in the world [12]

It is a fact that it is an era, where things are tough for the companies like Nike in international markets as customers are having so many options in their local markets along with international markets. Nike realized that they need to adopt an advertising approach which focuses on customers to get their engagement. So, they changed their promotion and marketing strategy, and came up with a campaign “Just Do It”. They focused and spend more on their international strategy and came up with attractive advertising with their campaign. “Just Do It” became their major marketing strategy across different markets and proved to be a huge success until now. They shifted their focus from product to the user that how they can obtain value by using their products [13]

The other great international marketing strategy from Nike was to use emotional marketing in their ads. They tried to come up with ads, which had great emotional appeals to make an emotional connection with customers. The focused to deliver emotional message, where something valuable is achieved by Nike products across the globe. The other part of this marketing strategy is using the endorsement from famous celebrities. They always used famous celebrities in their marketing ads and campaigns to make sure that people who relate to these famous celebrities and sports personalities can also relate to the products used by them [14]

References of international Marketing