International marketing

Read the text and practice exercises:

Marketing is the process of studying the wants and needs of others and then satisfying those wants and needs with quality products or services at competitive prices.

International marketing is marketing activities that are performed to compete beyond the domestic market. Marketing activities performed across national boundaries are usually significantly different from domestic marketing activities. International marketers must have a profound awareness of the foreign environment. The marketing strategy ordinarily is adjusted to meet the needs and desires of foreign markets.

The level of involvement in international marketing can range from casual exporting to globalization of markets. Casual or accidental exporting is the lowest level of commitment. For example, the products of a small medical supplies manufacturer might occasionally be purchased by hospitals or clinics in nearby countries. Full-scale international marketing involvement means that top management recognizes the importance of developing international marketing strategies to achieve the firm's goal. Globalization of markets requires total commitment to international marketing; it embodies the view that the world is a single market.

Although most firms adjust their marketing mixes to differences in target markets, some firms are able to standardize their marketing efforts worldwide.

Traditional full-scale international marketing is based on products customized according to cultural, regional, and national differences. Globalization, however, involves developing marketing strategies as if the entire world (or regions of it) were a single entity, a globalized firm markets standardized products in the same way everywhere.

Marketers must understand the complexities of the international marketing environment before they can formulate a marketing mix. They therefore collect and analyze secondary and primary data about international markets.

Environmental aspects of special importance include cultural, social, economic, political and legal forces. Cultural aspects of the environment that are most important to international markets include customs, concepts, values, attitudes, morals, and knowledge. The most prominent economic forces that affect international marketing are those that can be measured by income and resources. Credit, buying power, and income distribution are aggregate measures of market potential. Political and legal forces include the political system, national laws, national pressure groups, and courts.

After a country's environment has been analyzed, marketers must develop a marketing mix and decide whether to adapt product or promotion. There are five possible strategies for adapting product and promotion across national boundaries: (1) keep product and promotion the same worldwide; (2) adapt promotion only; (3) adapt product only; (4) adapt both product and promotion; (5) invent new products. But only if foreign marketing opportunities justify the risk will a company go to the expense of adapting the marketing mix.

Decisions about the distribution system and pricing policies are important in developing international marketing mix. Foreign distribution channels are nearly always different from domestic ones. The allocation of costs, transportation considerations or the costs of doing business in foreign nation will affect pricing.

There are several ways of getting involved in international marketing. Exporting is the easiest and most flexible method. Licensing is an alternative to direct investment; it may be necessitated by political and economic conditions. Joint ventures and strategic alliances are often appropriate when outside resources are needed, when there are governmental restrictions on foreign ownership. Direct ownership of foreign divisions or subsidiaries is the strongest commitment to international marketing and involves the greatest risk.

Notes:

the level of involvement - piвeнь задіяності

products customized according to - товари, що відповідають традиціям країни…

aggregate measures - сукупні заходи

secondary and primary data - вторинні та первинні дані

requires total commitmеnt to - вимагае повної відданості (cnpaвi)...

Exercises

Exercises 1. Study the following definitions. Make sure you understand them and can reproduce them from memory:

marketing - the identification or anticipation of customer demand, and the satisfaction of that demand by the development, distribution and exchange of goods and services;

international marketing - marketing activities performed across national boundaries;

marketing mix - consists of four major variables: product, price, distribution and promotion;

marketing environment - the environment that surrounds both the buyer and the marketing mix; it consists of political, legal, regulatory, societal, consumer movement, economic, and technological forces;

target market - a group of people for whom a firm creates and maintains a marketing mix;

marketing strategy - a plan for selecting and analyzing a target market and creating and maintaining a marketing mix;

distribution channel - a group of interrelated intermediaries who direct products to customers.

Exercises 2. Find the following words and phrases in the text and translate the sentences containing them:

quality products; to compete; national boundaries; marketing strategy; casual exporting; top management; a total commitment; target markets; customized; a single entity; complexities; primary data; legal forces; customs; can be measured by; buying power; develop a marketing mix; product and promotion; justify the risk; decisions; distribution channels; the allocation of costs; flexible method; licensing; joint ventures; subsidiaries.

Exercises 3. Find words in the text opposite in meaning to the following:

to displease; superficial; planned; secondary; ordinary; domestic; inflexible; inappropriate.

Exercise 4. Match the words in column A with their synonyms in column B:

A B

to satisfy to gather

profound suitabl

casual adaptable

to collect to fulfil

prominent deep

flexible accidental

appropriate determination

goal limitation

decision well-known

restriction objective

alternative property

ownership choice

Exercises 5. Make a proper selection:

licensing	partnership formed to create competitive advantage on a worldwide basis;
strategic alliances	partnership between a domestic firm and foreign firms and/or governments;
joint venture	an arrangement in international marketing in which the licensee pays commissions or royalties on sales or supplies used in manufacturing;
p romotion	resources such as money, goods and services that can be traded in an exchange situation;
buying power	the communication with individuals, groups, or organizations to directly or indirectly facilitate exchanges by influencing audience members to accept an organization's products.