Essay: "Today, markets have become so similar that it is possible to market identical products and services around the world using standardized marketing mixes." Discuss

Résumé du document

The key word with regard to the growth of any company is: innovation. We live in a materialistic society where the consumers needs have grown and where the competition between companies is very hard, in the globalization context. Today, it has become common for a company to target foreign markets to fit their own needs. Different reasons explain the choices of the internationalization. The management may encourage the firm to think international in order to meet other cultures and get new ideas that may be of use at home. Internationalization can be engaged to look for synergies in terms of core competencies of the firm. Also, exploiting internal strengths may be another reason to internationalize the company. Market threats at home also push a company to go abroad, in order to divide the risks but also to not be dependant of a unique market or declining home market.

Extraits

[...] “Coca Cola sells virtually the same Coke beverage worldwide, and it pulls advertisements for specific market from a common pool of ads designed to have cross-cultural appeal.” (Principles of Marketing 3rd Edition p 174). Legal restrictions: Specific restrictions on messages, costs and trademark laws are sometimes apply in some countries. Price: One more time the stage of economic and industrial development is important because of the income levels. Cultural factors: Attitudes toward bargaining. Industry condition: Elasticity of demand, local costs, prices of substitutes Legal restrictions: Tariffs and taxes, antitrust laws, rescale price maintenance. [...]

[...] Some of the products or services are much easier to standardize than others because of the countries characteristics, which are more similar that it was in the past, because of the development of the Internet. We can particularly observe this phenomenon with youth, who are an easy segmentation to target by marketers. In fact, youth use easily the different type of communication, watch the same TV programs and consequently develop the same consumption needs, hobbies, state of mind and culture all around the world. “Global MTV generation”, “They prefer Coke to tea, Nikes to sandals, Chicken Mac Nuggets to rice, and credit cards to cash” Lawrence Donegan, The Guardian, 21/10/1997. [...]

[...] We are not going to come out with a special product for Malaysia.” Gillette's Alfred Zeien (Keegan & Green Global Marketing, 4th international Edition 2005 p 340) We can linked Ethnocentrism with Standardization, which is sometimes associated as a national arrogance or superiority of the firms, because of the vision that markets are same and assume that products and practices that succeed in the home countries will be successful anywhere. This orientation is based on the fact that products can be sold everywhere without any adaptation. (e.g.: Nissan in America) “Nissan‘s ethnocentric orientation was quite apparent during its first new years of exporting cars and trucks to America. [...]

[...] The overcoming barriers to entry: physical environment, consumption patterns, stage of economic development, industry conditions, cultural factors, for the favorite aspect of adaptation. That is why; with this global view, the best orientation that companies have to do is the combination of both approaches, which is possible thanks to the flexibility of the marketing mix elements. Many companies are already doing it, like MTV which used to standardize their products are now adapting programs to each market with a dozen of local music channels in Europe and know a real succeed around the world. [...]

[...] For example: The car market is not anymore standardize as it was in Ford period, because customers needs a car which reflect them and different that the others. That is why cars are now customizing with different options; colors Marketers have to deal with that in order to make the customer feel that he or she is unique. Elements of marketing mix Product: Various limiting elements can be meet by standardize products in host countries, as physical environment, (e.g.: a swimming pool company will not sale a swimming pool without roof in Ireland even if their products are successful in California). [...]