14.5 Global marketing: assessing potential markets overseas  (Page 3/3)

Importance of culture on markets

Because international marketing is closely correlated to the cultures in which a firm wishes to sell its product, culture itself must be analyzed to understand the best way to integrate into both existing and emerging foreign markets. There are five essential areas within which culture must be continually studied in order to achieve success in dealing with culture as it affects international marketing.

These are (Tian, 2008):

• culture impacts on marketing (international versus domestic)
• cross-cultural dimensions of marketing research
• cross-cultural aspects of marketing mix (products, price, promotion, and place)
• cross-cultural marketing education and professional training
• and cross-cultural practice in electronic marketing

Consumer behavior diverges across country lines with increased wealth, globalization, and technology; it does not converge (De Mooij, 2005). This simple fact proves the importance of culture knowledge in cross-cultural marketing endeavors. In fact, the importance of cross-cultural study has inspired a definition separate from that of international marketing. Cross-cultural marketing is defined as the strategic process of marketing among consumers whose culture differs from that of the marketer's own culture at least in one of the fundamental cultural aspects, such as language, religion, social norms and values, education, and the living style (Tian, 2008).

A standardized marketing model utilizes the same functions in all markets. Conversely, a customized marketing strategy adheres to the needs and wants of a particular target market.

Global branding—creation of a marketing strategy

An important decision that international marketers must make is whether to utilize standardized marketing, treating all markets in the same manner, or customized marketing, adhering to local customs and traditions for greater effectiveness. This is an important distinction when analyzing the creation, perception, and trends in global branding. In most countries and cultures, marketers do not compete with individual products, but rather with competing brands markets. Many writers have reasoned that a standardized approach to international markets is the most desirable strategy. The main arguments include that sales will increase when a company can market a consistent product image across different geographical markets, and that cost can be reduced through the formulation and implementation of a single standardized marketing plan. Still others argue that because few markets are comparable across country lines, it is necessary to adapt the marketing mix to ensure that sufficient customization exists to satisfy consumer needs in each market. Additionally, not all companies are able to adopt a standardized strategy as its appropriateness varies from industry to industry. One must remember that even within markets there is great diversity of behavior and taste. In the face of intensely increasing competition and globalization, studies show that people increasingly prefer brands with roots in their national or regional tradition. This would indicate that most firms should lean towards marketing customization in order to satisfy the increasingly nationalistic consumption tendencies of their consumers (Bradley, 2005).

Global marketing and the small business entrepreneur

While marketing the products of the highly successful sewing company that Ms. Shahira has started in Pakistan may not be something that she is looking to do today, it is critical for her, and small businesses like the one she has set up, to understand what it would take to market to a completely different set of clients, in a new country.

Companies like Toyota and Coca-Cola have created a dominant brand across the world with their global branding and positioning strategies, and as a result have sustained tremendous financial benefits from doing so.