International marketing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

International marketing (IM) or global marketing 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.[1] It refers to the firm-level marketing practices across the border
including market identification and targeting, entry mode selection, marketing mix, and strategic
decisions to compete in international markets.[2]According to the American Marketing Association
(AMA) "international marketing is the multinational process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges
that satisfy individual and organizational objectives."[3] In contrast to the definition of marketing
only the word multinational has been added.[3] In simple words international marketing is the
application of marketing principles to across national boundaries. However, there is a crossover
between what is commonly expressed as international marketing and global marketing, which is a
similar term.

The intersection is the result of the process of internationalization. Many American and European
authors see international marketing as a simple extension of exporting, whereby the marketing
mix 4P's is simply adapted in some way to take into account differences in consumers and
segments. It then follows that global marketing takes a more standardised approach to world
markets and focuses upon sameness, in other words the similarities in consumers and segments.

The difference between domestic and export marketing

What is marketing?

Clearly, the term "marketing' is the common element in domestic marketing and export marketing. But what
does marketing entail? Although marketing is often considered in the same light as selling, selling is
essentially the end result of the process of marketing. In other words, although selling and sales are part of
the marketing process, marketing is in fact much more.

Marketing can be defined as the process of managing the efficient and effective utilisation of a firm's
resources with the aim of understanding and meeting the opportunities and threats in a dynamic
environment in such a way that the firm's market offering(s) lead to the satisfaction of consumers' needs and
wants so that the objectives of the enterprise, the consumer and society are achieved." (adapted from
Marketing Management, Cant et al: 2006.)

The marketing concept

This definition underscores the marketing concept, which has six pillars on which it is built. These are:
 1. Bringing together in an efficient way all of the resources of the firm (people, machines and money)
to produce a product or service
2. Understanding the environment and the needs of consumers
3. Meeting the needs of customers with products or services produced
4. Addressing the opportunities and threats in the environment
5. Achieving the objectives of the firm which is usually to make money
6. Doing all of this with the good of society in mind

The marketing mix

In doing so, the firm will engage in a marketing process that has four main objectives, namely:

1. To produce a product that meets customer's needs

2. At a price that customers can afford and are willing to pay
3. Promoted in such a way that customers become aware of and are convinced to buy the product
4. Delivered to a place where the customer can easily acquire the product

These four elements are referred to as the firm's marketing mix (also termed the 4Ps of marketing -
product, price, promotion and place) and represent those aspects of marketing over which the marketer
has control. In this regard, they are sometimes referred to as 'controllables'.

The marketing environment

The marketing manager must also take into account the 'uncontrollables', i.e.
environmental factors in the market over which (s)he has no control, yet which have a
significant impact on the success of firm's operation. These environmental factors
include, for example, business practices and institutions, technological developments,
social and cultural norms, economic patterns, competitive activities, etc. (click here to
learn more about the external environment).

The customer is king

What the above definition also implies is that marketing must be orientated towards the customer. Today,
marketers (and exporters) are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that a company does not make
money from products but rather from people (wherever in the world they may be), and that a mismatch
between what the company offers and what customers buy will result in large inventories of unwanted
products and the loss of customers to competitors.

The challenge of marketing

A company which is able to co-ordinate its entire business system including its capital, its human resources,
its competitive processes and its marketing mix to focus on the satisfaction of customer needs profitably
within a dynamic external environment is usually assured of success. Against the background of the
company's overall business and marketing objectives, the challenge of the marketing manager is to use
tools such as market research to mould the controllable elements of marketing (i.e. product, price, promotion
and distribution) within the framework of the uncontrollable elements of the market place.

Domestic marketing

Domestic marketing is about doing all of the above tasks within the confines of the local or domestic/home
market.

What is export marketing?

Export marketing is about marketing across national borders. All the basic principles of marketing can be
applied to both domestic and export marketing, the latter is far more challenging because when entering a
new country/market, the marketer will have to deal with a different kind of customer in a foreign environment
with laws and regulations that may differ radically from those of the domestic market. Even in a world that is
moving towards increasing similarities in consumer tastes, marketing methods, production processes and
business practices, there are still a significant number of differences between international markets to make
selling to them challenging - see figure 2.

When trading across national borders for example:

 The customer profile in the foreign market is often very different from that of the customer in the
domestic market, particularly in the areas of language, religion, ideology, living standards and
fashion
 Different and unfamiliar cultural, economic, legal, social and political systems may be encountered
in foreign markets Foreign markets represent unfamiliar environments
 There are greater complexities associated with payment, distribution, transport and insurance
 The role of documentation assumes added importance to prevent misunderstanding and costly
litigation
 Goods are subject to customs control and the payment of import duty (where applicable)
 A number of technical and administrative regulations may apply to exports - legal requirements in
certain foreign markets in respect of the technical specifications of a product, that call for changes
to be made before the product may be imported
 Exchange rates, and in some cases exchange control regulations, are applicable
 There are new parameters that the exporter will need to take into conisderation, such as import
duties as well as legal restrictions, different modes of transport, international trade documentation,
foreign currencies, and different and additional marketing channels
 There is generally more extensive use made of the fax and e-mail than the telephone and when
these are used, different time zones and different languages have to be considered
 Operating in foreign markets exposes the exporter to far wider and more intense competition than
would be the case in the domestic market
 The complexity of exporting, the additional environments that exporters face, as well as new
parameters that exporters will need to deal with, makes the export management task far more
difficult

The main distinguishing feature between export marketing and domestic marketing is thus that with the
former, a company is operating within external environments that are highly uncertain and where the rules of
the game are often ambiguous, contradictory and subject to rapid change! Export marketing is therefore
more challenging, complex, risky and expensive. Ultimately, export marketing takes more effort and more
time, and requires greater financial resources than domestic marketing. In addition, it requires at least the
same level of commitment that companies give to their local operations.

Multinational marketing (marketing across several different foreign markets) is even more complex. When
dealing with more than one foreign market, the firm is faced with several different external environments,
each of which may call for different product, pricing, promotion and distribution strategies. The challenge is
to co-ordinate, integrate and manage the various marketing programmes to achieve the firm's overall
marketing objectives.