Section 1: Overview of International Marketing

International marketing is the performance of business activities designed to plan, price,

promote and direct the flow of a company’s goods and services to consumers and users in
more than one nation for a profit.

“In more than one nation” accounts for the complexity and diversity found in IM
operations.

The uniqueness of foreign marketing comes from the range of unfamiliar problems
(competition, legal restraints (hạn chế pháp lý), government controls, weather, fickle
(often changing) consumers, natural disasters) and variety of strategies.

Marketers cannot control or influence the uncontrollable elements but to adjust or adapt,
mold the controllable elements of marketing decisions (product, price, promotion,
distribution or research) within the framework of uncontrollable elements.

Adjust and adapt ⇒ Interpret effectively the influence of uncontrollable elements (Culture)

⇒ Find the way to recognize it

Reasons why companies decide to GO GLOBAL:

 Expand sales
 Acquire, diversify production resources
 Reborn the product life cycle
 Reduce the dependence on the existing market

⇒ Optimizing profit

International marketing tasks is more complicated since international marketers have to

deal with 2 levels of uncontrollable uncertainty.

Uncertainty is created by the uncontrollable elements of all business environment, different

in each nations - CAGE (culture, administration, geography, economy)

3 ways to add value in a world where differences still matter:

 Adaption
 Aggregation
 Arbitrage

To be globally aware is to have TOLERANCE of and a WILLINGNESS to learn about

cultural differences

 Tolerance is understanding cultural differences and accepting, working with others

whose behaviors are different from your.

5 stages of international marketing environment:

 No direct foreign marketing: does not actively cultivate foreign customers,

however still reach international market.
 Infrequent foreign marketing: Temporary surpluses caused by variations in
production levels or demand may result in infrequent marketing overseas markets.
 Regular foreign marketing: has permanent productive capacity devoted to the
production of goods and services to be marketed in foreign markets.
o A firm may employ foreign or domestic overseas intermediaries, or it may
have its own sales forces or subsidiaries (công ty con).
 International marketing: Companies are fully committed to and involved in
international marketing activities.
o Seek markets all over the world and sell products.
o Entails not only marketing but also the production outside the national
borders.
 Global marketing: Companies treat the world as one market.
o Market segmentation are no longer focused on national borders, but defined by
income levels, usage patterns, or other factors that frequently span countries
and regions.
o The transition from international marketing to global marketing is catalyzed by
a company’s crossing the threshold at which more than half its sales revenue
comes from abroad.