Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national
and international level and which involves understanding the similarities,
dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities to attain the goal.
Concentrating on global marketing is as important as concentrating on domestic
marketing if a company is aiming to increase sales.
The domestic market has become saturated in most categories
of products and services, in all industrialized countries and hence, they
started to deal with other countries to increase their sales. Usually in such
case, goods that are too expensive for the domestic customers to buy are
exported to other well-off countries.
When a company does marketing within the boundaries of a
specific county, it has to compete with other domestic companies as well as
international companies who are a part of the market. The marketing steps taken
by the professionals are based on the taste of a specific audience. The product
might not suit the taste of customers at a higher level. The other domestic
companies that plan to go global hinder the growth of such companies. They
become invisible at the international level as they are unable to cope with the
growing competition and might not be aware of potential competitors. The
product development is dependant on the need of the local residents. Such kinds
of businesses are ethnocentric and are only bothered about their performance in
the domestic marketplace.
Companies planning to go global should start with export to a
foreign client first. The returns wouldn’t be satisfying in the beginning. The
export department can be introduced at the headquarters that deals with all the
laws. There can be a possibility of becoming secondary exporters by bringing
export management company into the picture, who will deal with the language
problem, time difference, paperwork and customers. If managing the exports
without any help, the export department can be started at an office located
abroad. This office works in collaboration with the regional headquarters. But
the respective offshore offices take the marketing decisions, as they will have
best knowledge about the particular market they are operating in.
Multinational marketing involves marketing in many countries.
The marketing is based on the requirements of different countries and the
returns are rewarding. Each region should be studied individually based on
development, production and marketing. Such kinds of markets are known as
region centric. Global marketing involves the whole globe. The entire world is
summarized as a single market and the products that are released in the market
should fit the needs of any regional marketplace. Marketers all over the world
make the marketing decisions. Such a kind of market is known as geocentric.
Automotive industry is one such market that saw a global
boost in sales during the last fifty years. Earlier only the local companies
like Ford and General Motors used to produce cars in America, but today other
international competitors like Toyota and Honda are operating in the same
market and have out done the local companies. Another key factor to the global
marketing is the Internet, which introduced e-commerce. Businesses went going
online and global. This encouraged the sales of the company and the figures are
only increasing because of ever increasing Internet users. The geographical location of customers is no
longer a hindrance. Global marketing management and business-to-business
e-commerce is growing rapidly.
Product, price, placement and promotion are the elements of
global marketing. The product created should be such that it can sell anywhere
using the same method. It should
consider the primary elements of all the markets. However, the language in
which the product is named can be changed, where as the content can remain the
same. The price is never constant. It should be decided after reviewing the
market and the currency of the country. The variables which affect prices are
location where the product is being produced, cost of ingredients,
transportation charges, labor charges, etc.
Placement is how the product is distributed and how it
reaches the targeted market. Like in third world countries, there is a lack of
superstores, so they can be placed or sold at ordinary shops. After the product
is developed and distributed, it should be promoted precisely known as
advertising, promotion is one of the major steps of marketing and consumes
major part of the budget. If it is possible to send out the same message
worldwide in a relevant and cost-effective way, it sure must be put into
practice but the challenge is really big.
