Marketing : Process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individuals and organizational objectives
International Marketing as an Integrated Functional Area
- Operations
- Management
- Accounting
- Finance
- Human Resource Management
Marketing Mix
• How to develop the firm’s product(s)
• How to price those products
• How to sell those products
• How to distribute those products to the firm’s customers
The Elements of the Marketing Mix for International Firms
Marketing Mix :
- Product
- Pricing
- Promotion
- Place
Key Decision-Making Factors
• Standardization versus customization
• Legal forces
• Economic factors
• Changing exchange rates
• Target customers
• Cultural influences
• Competition
Standardization versus Customization
• Should the firm adopt an ethnocentric approach?
• Should it adopt a polycentric approach?
• Should it adopt a geocentric approach?
Standardized International Marketing
Advantages
• Reduces marketing costs
• Facilitates centralized control of marketing
• Promotes efficiency in R&D
• Results in economies of scale in production
• Reflects the trend toward a single global marketplace
Disadvantages
• Ignores different conditions of product use
• Ignores local legal differences
• Ignores differences in buyer behavior patterns
• Inhibits local marketing initiatives
• Ignores other differences in individual markets
Customized International Marketing
Advantages
• Reflects different conditions of product use
• Acknowledges local legal differences
• Accounts for differences in buyer behavior patterns
• Promotes local marketing initiatives
• Accounts for other differences in individual markets
Disadvantages
• Increases marketing costs
• Inhibits centralized control of marketing
• Creates inefficiency in R&D
• Reduces economies of scale in production
• Ignores the trend toward a single global marketplace
Pricing Policies
• Standard price policy
• Two-tiered pricing
• Market pricing
Conditions for Market Pricing
• Firm must face different demand and/or cost conditions in the countries in which it sells its products
• Firm must be able to prevent arbitrage
Risks to Market Pricing
• Complaints about dumping
• Damage to its brand name
• Development of a gray market for its products
• Consumer resentment against discriminatory prices
Promotion Mix
• Advertising
• Personal Selling
• Sales Promotion
• Public Relations
Factors affecting Advertising Strategy
• The message it wants to convey
• The media available for conveying the message
• The extent to which the firm wants to globalize its advertising effort
Advantages of Personal Selling for International Firms
• Local sales representatives understand local culture, norms, and customs
• Personal selling promotes close, personal contact with customers
• Personal selling makes it easier for firm to adopt valuable market information
Distribution Issues
• Physically transporting its goods and services from where they are created to the various markets in which they are to be sold
• Selecting the means by which to merchandise its good in the markets it wants to serve
Basic Parts of a Distribution Channel
• The manufacturer
• A wholesaler
• The retailer
• The actual customer
