Global Marketing

The Oxford University Press defines global marketing as “marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking commercial advantage of global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in order to meet global objectives.” Oxford University Press’ Glossary of Marketing Terms.

Why Global Marketing?

Here are three reasons for the shift from domestic to global marketing as given by the authors of the textbook, Global Marketing Management—3rd Edition by Masaki Kotabe and Kristiaan Helsen, 2004.

Saturation of Domestic Markets

For a company to keep growing, it must increase sales. Industrialized nations have, in many product and service categories, saturated their domestic markets and have turned to other countries for new marketing opportunities. Companies in some developing economies have found profitability by exporting products that are too expensive for locals but are considered inexpensive in wealthier countries. (Kotabe & Helsen, p.3)

Worldwide Competition

One of the product categories in which global competition has been easy to track is in U.S. automotive sales. Three decades ago, there were only the big three: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Now, Toyota, Honda, and Volkswagen are among the most popular manufacturers. Companies are on a global playing field whether they had planned to be global marketers or not. (Kotabe & Helsen, p.3)

e-Commerce

With the proliferation of the Internet and e-commerce (electronic commerce), if a business is online, it is a global business. With more people becoming Internet users daily, this market is constantly growing. Customers can come from anywhere. According to the book, “Global Marketing Management,” business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is larger, growing faster, and has fewer geographical distribution obstacles than even business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. (Kotabe & Helsen, p.4) With e-commerce, a brick and mortar storefront is unnecessary.

Evolution to Global Marketing

Global marketing is not a revolutionary shift, it is an evolutionary process. While the following does not apply to all companies, it does apply to most companies that begin as domestic-only companies. The five stages outlined below are explored in depth in the textbook Global Marketing Management.

Domestic Marketing

A company marketing only within its national boundaries only has to consider domestic competition. Even if that competition includes companies from foreign markets, it still only has to focus on the competition that exists in its home market. Products and services are developed for customers in the home market without thought of how the product or service could be used in other markets. All marketing decisions are made at headquarters.

The biggest obstacle these marketers face is being blindsided by emerging global marketers. Because domestic marketers do not generally focus on the changes in the global marketplace, they may not be aware of a potential competitor who is a market leader on three continents until they simultaneously open 20 stores in the Northeastern U.S. These marketers can be considered ethnocentric as they are most concerned with how they are perceived in their home country. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.13, 15)

Export Marketing

Generally, companies began exporting, reluctantly, to the occasional foreign customer who sought them out. At the beginning of this stage, filling these orders was considered a burden, not an opportunity. If there was enough interest, some companies became passive or secondary exporters by hiring an export management company to deal with all the customs paperwork and language barriers. Others became direct exporters, creating exporting departments at headquarters. Product development at this stage is still focused on the needs of domestic customers. Thus, these marketers are also considered ethnocentric. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.15-16)

International Marketing

If the exporting departments are becoming successful but the costs of doing business from headquarters plus time differences, language barriers, and cultural ignorance are hindering the company’s competitiveness in the foreign market, then offices could be built in the foreign countries. Sometimes companies buy firms in the foreign countries to take advantage of relationships, storefronts, factories, and personnel already in place. These offices still report to headquarters in the home market but most of the marketing mix decisions are made in the individual countries since that staff is the most knowledgeable about the target markets. Local product development is based on the needs of local customers. These marketers are considered polycentric because they acknowledge that each market/country has different needs. (Kotabe & Helsen, p.16)

Multinational Marketing

At the multi-national stage, the company is marketing its products and services in many countries around the world and wants to benefit from economies of scale. Consolidation of research, development, production, and marketing on a regional level is the next step. An example of a region is Western Europe with the US. But, at the multi-national stage, consolidation, and thus product planning, does not take place across regions; a regiocentric approach. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.16-17) Research is the search for and retrieval of existing, discovery or creation of new information or knowledge for a specific purpose. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Look up marketing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Global Marketing

When a company becomes a global marketer, it views the world as one market and creates products that will only require tweaks to fit into any regional marketplace. Marketing decisions are made by consulting with marketers in all the countries that will be affected. The goal is to sell the same thing the same way everywhere. (Levitt, 'Harvard Business Review) These marketers are considered geocentric. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.7-18)

Elements of the Global Marketing Mix

The “Four P’s” of marketing: product, price, placement, and promotion are all affected as a company moves through the five evolutionary phases to become a global company. Ultimately, at the global marketing level, a company trying to speak with one voice is faced with many challenges when creating a worldwide marketing plan. Unless a company holds the same position against its competition in all markets (market leader, low cost, etc.) it is impossible to launch identical marketing plans worldwide. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.17-18)

Product

A global company is one that can create a single product and only have to tweak elements for different markets. For example, Coca-cola uses two formulas (one with sugar, one with corn syrup) for all markets. The product packaging in every country incorporates the contour bottle design and the dynamic ribbon in some way, shape, or form. However, the bottle or can also includes the country’s native language and is the same size as other beverage bottles or cans in that country. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.17-18)

Price

Price will always vary from market to market. Price is affected by many variables: cost of product development (produced locally or imported), cost of ingredients, cost of delivery (transportation, tariffs, etc.), and much more. Additionally, the product’s position in relation to the competition influences the ultimate profit margin. Whether this product is considered the high-end, expensive choice, the economical, low-cost choice, or something in-between helps determine the price point. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.17-18)

Placement

How the product is distributed is also a country-by-country decision influenced by how the competition is being offered to the target market. Using Coca-Cola as an example again, not all cultures use vending machines. In the United States, beverages are sold by the pallet via warehouse stores. In India, this is not an option. Placement decisions must also consider the product’s position in the market place. For example, a high-end product would not want to be distributed via a “dollar store” in the United States. Conversely, a product promoted as the low-cost option in France would find limited success in a pricey boutique. (Kotabe & Helsen, pp.17-18)

Promotion

After product research, development and creation, promotion (specifically advertising) is generally the largest line item in a global company’s marketing budget. At this stage of a company’s development, integrated marketing is the goal. The global corporation seeks to reduce costs, minimize redundancies in personnel and work, maximize speed of implementation, and to speak with one voice. If the goal of a global company is to send the same message worldwide, then delivering that message in a relevant, engaging, and cost-effective way is the challenge. (Young, pp.127-136)

Effective global advertising techniques do exist. The key is testing advertising ideas using a marketing research system proven to provide results that can be compared across countries. The ability to identify which elements or moments of an ad are contributing to that success is how economies of scale are maximized. Market research measures such as Flow of Attention, Flow of Emotion and branding moments provide insights into what is working in an ad in any country because the measures are based on visual, not verbal, elements of the ad. (Young, p.131)

Relevant Terms

advertising Commercialism redirects here. ...

advertising research // Advertising research is a specialized form of marketing research conducted to improve the efficacy of advertising. ...

branding moments

Flow of Attention

Flow of Emotion

marketing Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Look up marketing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

marketing research Research is the search for and retrieval of existing, discovery or creation of new information or knowledge for a specific purpose. ...

Picture Sorts

External Links

www.ameritest.net

www.wfanet.org

www.ana.net

www.globalnegotiator.com

References

Kotabe, Masaki and Helsen, Kristiaan, Global Marketing Management – 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc – Publishers, Copyright 2004, ISBN 0-471-23062-6

Theodore Levitt, The Globalization of Markets, Harvard Business Review 61 (May-June 1983): 92-102

Young, Charles E., The Advertising Research Handbook, Ideas in Flight, Seattle, WA, April 2005, ISBN 0-9765574-0-1