International Marketing

International Marketing is an older term encompassing all marketing efforts in foreign countries, whether coordinated pr not, involving recognition, of environmental differences, foreign trade analysis, and so no. As describe earlier, in our historical perspective, “multinational marketing” meant marketing strategies that assumed all markets to be “multidomestic” , or having strong local preferences, and is a predecessor term to global marketing, with its emphasis on standardization and integration.

Defining International Marketing:

Marketing is defined as a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need & want by creating and exchanging products and value with others.

Evolution of International Marketing:

Firms, depending on their level involvement in foreign markets, pass through following five evolutionary phases.

1. Domestic marketing

–Domestic marketers tend to be ethnocentric (focus is solely on domestic market) & pay little attention to changes taking place in the global market place.
–Such firms produce and sell products and services only in their home country.

–Firms that keep focus only on their domestic markets may be vulnerable to the sudden changes forced on them from foreign competition, when foreign firms enter the markets or even when foreign firms develop better or cheaper products.

2. Export marketing

–Exporting firms fulfill unsolicited / solicited orders from foreign countries.
–For growth in export marketing, however, a company requires physical, financial and managerial resources.

–When a firm attempts to export it faces many issues that include difficulties in import/export restrictions, cost and availability of shipping, collection of money, development of distribution channels etc.

–Export marketers still tend to take ethnocentric approach, since they mostly make products in their home countries and have no direct involvement in the foreign markets.

3. International marketing

–An international marketing firm has polycentric orientation with emphasis on product and promotional adaptation in foreign markets whenever necessary.
–They make strategic decisions that are tailored to suit the cultures of the foreign countries.

–The company may establish an independent foreign subsidiary in each and every foreign market it services – such efforts are also called multi-domestic marketing.

4. Multinational marketing

–Multinational firms are those that sell products or services in many countries.
–Economies of scale in product development, manufacturing, and marketing are achieved by multinational firms by consolidation of some of their activities on regional basis.

–In this regiocentric approach product planning may be standardized within a region (e.g. a group of contiguous and similar countries).

5. Global marketing Emphasizes

–Global marketing firms sell products and services in most countries around the world.
–Through global operations firms achieve reduction of cost inefficiencies and duplication of efforts among their national and regional subsidiaries.

–Global operations allow opportunities for the transfer of products, brands, and other ideas across subsidiaries.

–Opportunities to operate worldwide are supported by the emergence of global customers.

–Improved linkages among national marketing infrastructures leading to the development of a global marketing infrastructure.