International Businesses face a variety of challenges when marketing their product/services in another country outside their home country. To overcome these differences and challenges, the international company has to adapt its marketing strategy accordingly in the host country (4 Ps of international marketing). See eText.
- Part 1: (a) Identify/describe an international company of your choice and the country that they competed outside their home country. (b): Discuss (with examples) how the company adjusted its business/marketing strategy in that host country. Your discussion should cover at least 2 of the 4 Ps of global marketing (1) Product design (2) Pricing strategy (3) Promotion strategy (4) Placement or Distribution channels.
- Part 2: Evaluate if the company has been successful in responding to the differences/challenges faced and the reason for your assessment. You should explain why the change was necessary for the company. Make sure you support your evaluation with support from credible sources. Reminder to give credit to original authors for their views/comments.
How to cite from an online source
Last, F. M. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title. Retrieved from URL. Example Example: Satalkar, B. (2010, July 15). Water aerobics. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com
How to cite from the company website
Organization. (Year of Publication or date website accessed). Title of report. Retrieved from URL
Example Nike. (2021): Annual report. Retrieved on 21 April 2021 from http://s1.q4cdn.com/806093406/files/doc_
financials/2015/ar/
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
- You should label your responses e.g. Part 1A, 1B, Part 2A, 2B.
- Your initial response to the discussion question(s) should demonstrate your reading of the eText and application of key concepts discussed
- You should have at least 2 sources in your Reference list. One could be the eText and another source from online news sources tto show additional reading.
- The proper way to cite the eText is as below
- Gasper, J. E., Bierman, L., Kolari, J. W., Arreola-Risa, A., Hise, R. T., & Smith, L. M. (2017). Introduction to Global Business Second edition. VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781305856226/
12-3a Developing New Products for International Markets
Most companies follow a defined set of steps when developing new products for overseas markets. First, they have to decide upon the sources of new product ideas that will be used, including internal sources (R&D, sales force, marketing research, employee suggestions, etc.) and external sources (customer suggestions, independent inventors, marketing consultants, etc.). Sometimes, new product ideas can come from unexpected sources. Argan trees grow only in Morocco; they thrive in semiarid terrain. Argan oil, delivered from the nuts of these trees, has become one of the hottest new products in the $430 billion hair care and skin care product market. Walmart and Tesco are two large retailers that are now carrying Argan oil. LOreal and Unilever have entered this market, often paying $30 a liter; the retail price can often reach 10 times that figure. The increased demand for Argan oil has been attributed to women becoming less resistant to using oil on their skin and hair. From these sources, new product ideas will emerge and be evaluated against a set of variables the company feels are related to new product success. The most important of these variables are captured in .
Those product ideas that are not rejected in this step are then subjected to ; the idea is presented to a small sample of the intended market to gauge its reaction. Ideas that succeed in this process are then moved to the step, where projections of potential revenues and profits are made. If these numbers are acceptable, the physical product is then developed.
One very important aspect of the development step is product design. Chrysler, for example, has used design as a way to differentiate its offerings from those of competitors. Design ideas are borrowed from art, architecture, fashion, and furniture. Some top designers make over $1 million annually and have access to the executive suite.
Following development, new products are subjected to , the major purpose of which is to develop the most appropriate marketing mix for the new offering. In the last step, , the new product is manufactured, the marketing strategy is finalized, and the product is introduced to the foreign market.
12-4a Advertising
Major advertising media frequently used in international markets include television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and direct mail. In general, advertising reaches large audiences at low cost per contact.
Television advertising is being used more frequently because more people own television sets, especially in emerging markets. International marketers must be aware of legal restraints that regulate television advertising in host countries. For example, in some European nations, ads disparaging competition are not allowed.
Radio is an effective medium in countries such as the Philippines where television set ownership is low, and a large percentage of the population lives in rural areas distant from major cities.
Residents of some countries are very avid readers of newspapers. In China, for example, men gather daily in tea shops, share various newspapers with each other, and discuss the news. Some business newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal, have different editions for different parts of the world (Europe and Asia). One major advantage of newspaper ads is that they have a low cost per contact.
Magazines can be directed to consumers and business audiences and are directed to more focused markets than newspapers. While some magazines for business audiences are general in nature (Forbes, Fortune, and BusinessWeek), others are targeted to specific industries () or to specific jobs existing in a number of industries ().
Direct mail is the most focused of advertising media; it can be directed to very specific target markets, like retirees over 70 years of age who live on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Savvy marketers, like PepsiCo, Unilever, and Cadbury have developed a unique way to reach Indias 833 million people who live in rural areas and have limited access to cable television and newspapers. They are contacting this market via cell phone calls. Unilever, for example, has a 15-minute call, free to subscribers, that provides Bollywood music and jokesas well as four ads for the companys products.
Personal selling is considered a very effective method to generate sales in international markets, especially with business audiences. Because it involves direct, face-to-face contact with foreign business persons, it encourages active participation and feedback from the prospects in the selling process. One disadvantage of personal selling is its high cost per contact: By some estimates, a sales call on an international prospect may have an average cost of $2,000.
One major decision that sales managers must make is whether to use expatriates or locals as sales personnel. Vivek Gupta, who lives in a Delhi, India, suburb with his wife and two children, is an example of the latter. A graduate of an engineering college in India, Mr. Gupta works as a sales rep for IBM in India. One of his biggest sales involved convincing the telecommunications company, Vodafone, to allow IBM to handle everything from its customer service to financesa $600 million contract.
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