International marketing (IM) refers to marketing carried out by companies overseas or across national borderlines.

This strategy uses an extension of the techniques used in the home country of a firm. In other words, International marketing is the performance of business activities designed to plan, price, promote and direct the flow of companys goods and services to consumers in more than one nation for profit.

Foreign environment (uncontrollable)

Political/legal forces Cultural forces Geography & infrastructure Domestic env. (controllable) Price Product Promotion Research Channels of distribution Domestic env. (uncontrollable) Political/legal forces Competitive structure Economic climate Competitive forces Level of technology Structure of distribution

Analyzing international marketing opportunities Selecting target markets To adopt appropriate business and marketing strategies Developing the international marketing mix Manage the international marketing efforts

The analysis is done to identify unfulfilled or under fulfilled needs that a marketer may satisfy through its products or services. This analysis can be done through information seeking and analysis or through market research (secondary or primary data collection and analysis).

BEFORE ANALYSIS

AFTER ANALYSIS

A marketer may have a product or service concept developed first and looks for the needs in the market that can be satisfied by these products or services.

The marketer may also first identify unfulfilled or under fulfilled needs in the market and then develop a suitable product or service offer to satisfy these identified needs.

Tata Motors Limited acquired Daewoo Motor's Commercial vehicle business in 2004 for around USD $16 million. Nano is the cheapest car in the World - retailing at little more than a motorbike.

TATA did so because he saw an opportunity that this can excel his business.

Moreover Tata Nano will be exported to Malaysia by Tata Industries in parts, seeing an opportunity in that market.

Once the marketer has identified the potential opportunities in the first step now is the time to select the groups of potential international customers (target markets) to whom to sell the products or services.
This step also involves identifying

the potential buyers, demand measurement & forecasting, market segmentation, market targeting & market positioning.

This step also requires the marketers to decide what key benefits in a product or service to offer to the selected target customers and on what aspects to differentiate from the competition.

Economy

THERE ARE CARS FOR EVERY SEGMENT OF THE SOCIETY

Segment Maruti 800 Alto Tata NANO etc. Mid- Size Segment Hyundai santro Maruti zen Tata Indica etc. Luxury car segment Honda city Hyundai Verna Mahindra Scorpio etc. Super luxury car segment Skoda Laura Honda Accord BMW Mercedes Audi etc.

Since a firm needs to offer best value to the potential customers to makes its products and services more salable compared with competitors, firms have to adopt appropriate business and marketing strategies.

For aligning and coordinating numerous activities and efforts,

To achieve best value for the buyer and best profits for the firms,

To optimize all the activities, efforts undertaken and resource utilization.

Various researchers have studied successful companies around the world and attempted to identify how these firms have aligned and coordinated their activities and efforts. Porter has concluded that successful firms have adopted one of the three strategies, i.e., a) Cost leadership, b) Differentiation or c) Focus. Other scholars have identified that successful firms adopted strategies that were aligned with their market position, i.e., a) A market leader, b) Challenger or c) Follower.

 Other

researchers have asserted that firms have achieved success in markets through adopting on of the three value discipline strategies, i.e., a) Operational excellence, b) Customer relationship or c) Product leadership.

The

internationalization strategy so far has been to keep local managers in new acquisitions, and to only transplant a couple of senior managers from India into the new market. The company has a strategy in place for the next stage of its expansion. Not only is it focusing upon new products and acquisitions, but it also has a program of intensive management development in place in order to establish its leaders for tomorrow.

Marketing mix identifies four key areas for developing a well coordinated marketing strategy.
To create a strong marketing impact a firm needs to develop appropriate programs in these four key areas and also need to ensure that all these four aspects of a firms marketing program are well coordinated and in conformity with each other to give a clear image to the target market of the firms brands and its products.

Product - For many, a product is simply the tangible, physical entity that they maybe buying or selling. You buy a new car and thats the product.
For example MARUTI SWIFT

The new Swift is a generation different from Suzuki design. Its solid look is complemented by an equally rooted road presence and class-defining ride quality. New chassis systems allow for the front suspension lower arms, steering, gear box and rear engine mounting to be attached to a suspension frame. One gets lower road noise, and a greater feeling of stability as you sail over our roads with feather-touch ease.

price is the one which creates the revenue, all others are costs. In theory, price can really only be determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. For example MARTUI SWIFT

Price Of all the elements of the marketing mix,

Pricing of this premium latest model from the Suzukis stable is

start from Rs.4 lakh. This price range would practically rip apart Hyundais offering in Getz, which is priced at a much higher tag of Rs. 4.5 lakh. Both the companies are known for their value based offerings and Maruti with their extensive service network and brand reputation for making reliable cars should get the customers nod over their competition

Place What we mean by place is not the geographical location, its the methods of distribution used to get products and services to customers. Place is also defined as channel, distribution, or an intermediary. Its the way in which goods and services are moved from the manufacturer or service provider to the user or consumer.

For example TATA INDICA Tata automobile group have a very large distribution network all over the world. Tata Indica v2 is exported and assembled in many countries. South Africa has an assembling unit for consumer vehicles.

Promotion - This is normally what people wrongly perceive marketing to be all about. The promotional mix consists of various tools available to the marketer such as; advertising, sales promotions, direct marketing, e-marketing, public relations; social media, exhibitions, sponsorship, point of sale, PR, etc. For example MARUTI SWIFT
Event Organized By Maruti to Promote Swift Fever FM and Maruti Suzuki Swift organize a Night Rally for Delhi-ites

In a co-operative marketing initiative, Fever FM and Maruti Suzuki Swift came together to organize a Night Rally in Delhi. The Swift Night Life Rally was organized for the Swift Life Club. The brand tied up with the station to extend the experience to the people who were unable to participate in the activity.

Physical evidence This is the element of the service mix which allows the consumer to make judgments on the organisation based on appearance and on the service thats received.
For example TOYOTA

Toyota creates a powerful physical evidence for its customers through its Showrooms, Hoardings, Logo etc. All the showrooms are designed on a common platform.

Processes Procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities by which services are consumed, and how they are received by the end user, are all essential elements of process strategies. The various processes involved in getting available the product from the manufacturer to the end consumer are to be efficiently performed by the company. The processes start when the customer is contacted by the Sales Personnel of the Dealership

For example TOYOTA COROLLA

The customer contacts the Dealership if he is interested to buy a Corolla. After the call is made, an appointment is fixed. The Sales Executive prepares for the meet. He collects all the possible information which would be needed for the meeting i.e. data about the meeting i.e. data about customer, details about the car, maximum permissible discount structure, finance options, delivery terms, free accessories which will be provided to the customer. The sales personnel will find out that what is the present vehicle used by the customer, his present buying power, satisfaction level, seriousness in buying etc. Along with that he will also find out his exact needs, desired level of satisfaction, lifestyle patterns etc. Sales personnel also ask certain questions through which he comes to know about the various factors he wants to know. He asks both open as well as closed ended questions. With the help of these questions, he can come to know the various reasons due to which he is buying that car. These can be Performance, Safety, Comfort, Driving Pleasure, Appearance etc.

People All people directly or indirectly involved in the consumption of a service are an important part of the extended marketing mix. Knowledge workers, employees, management and other consumers often add significant value to the total product or service offering. There are various types of people in any Organization. The various types of people can be classified as Customers, Sales Executives, Society, Government, Competitors, and Media. The most important out of these is our Customers. A customer can be any person who purchases the product; he may or may not use that product for himself. A consumer is one who actually uses the product himself.

For example

A father purchases Corolla for his son. In this case the father will be the Customer and son will be the Consumer

Developing a good marketing program is not good enough for success. A firm also needs to manage the international marketing effort properly. Thus, firms also need proper analysis, planning, implementation and control of their marketing program Quite often firms fail not because they did not have a viable marketing program, but that they failed in properly implementing their well designed plans.