IB - Global Marketing Mix [LESSON]

Global Marketing Mix

With the rapidly emerging force of globalization globalization ('The process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.'), the distinction between marketing within an organization's home country and marketing within external markets is disappearing very quickly. With this in mind, organizations are modifying their marketing strategies to meet the challenges of the global marketplace in addition to sustaining their competitiveness within home markets. These changes also have prompted brands to customize their global marketing mix for different markets, based on local languages, needs, wants, and value.

The Four P's of marketing—product, price, placement, and promotion—are all affected as a company moves through the different phases to become and maintain dominance as a global company. Promotion becomes particularly important for positioning the company in such a way that a single product can be tweaked instead of revamped for different markets. Coca-Cola is one strong example of global marketing. The drink brand uses two formulas (one with sugar and one with corn syrup) for all markets. The product packaging in every country incorporates Coca-Cola's contour bottle design and signature ribbon in some shape or form. However, the bottle can also include the country's native language and appear in identical sizes as other beverage bottles or cans in that country's market.

Promotion in the International Market

  • To successfully implement global marketing strategies, brands must ensure their promotional campaigns take into account how consumer behavior is shaped by internal conditions (demographics, knowledge, attitude, beliefs) and external (culture, ethnicity, family, lifestyle) influences.
  • Global companies must be nimble enough to adapt to changing local market trends, tastes, and needs to their promotional mix.
  • When launching global advertising, public relations or sales campaigns, global companies test promotion ideas to provide results that are comparable across countries.

Placement in the International Market

  • Placement in global marketing involves conducting extensive research to accurately define the market, as well as the attributes that define the product's potential environment.
  • Regardless of its size or visibility, a global brand must adjust its country's strategies to take into account placement and distribution in the marketing mix.
  • In addition to where products are placed, global marketers must consider how these products will be distributed across the different shopping venues and communication channels unique to that particular country or market.

Pricing in the International Market

  • In the global marketing mix, pricing factors are manufacturing cost, market place, competition, market condition, and quality of product.
  • Price will always vary from market to market, and global brands must be prepared to deal with external influences such as trade tariffs, and political and economic shifts in the target country.

Global Marketing in Light of the Internet

The Internet has allowed marketers to benefit from reduced geographic and time constraints, and reach consumers in various new ways.

  • One of the great benefits of global marketing via the Internet is the elimination of geographic and time constraints.
  • The Internet provides scope and immediacy for marketers looking to reach large swaths of consumers across different demographics.
  • Technological tools such as behavioral targeting, as well as online groups and communities, allow companies to effectively target consumers in different markets with different needs.

Global Marketing Strategies

Globalization: selling the same product and using the same promotion methods in all countries.

Häagen-Dazs company was made in the US but the owner called his new brand Häagen-Dazs, to convey an aura of the old-world traditions and craftsmanship to which he remained dedicated. This name evokes the spelling systems used in several European countries. Read this article Links to an external site. about the history of Häagen-Dazs.

Product Adaptation: selling a similar product with a few changes made for the specific country.

The Flamin' Hot Cheetos was invented by a Latino man for Mexico and South America, but ended up becoming popular in the United States. 

 

Promotion Adaptation: making changes in the promotion of a product or service for a specific country.

The Coca-Cola commercials don't need any promotion adaptation because they don't have words and could be used in any country to promote coke. 

Customization: creating a specially designed product or promotion for a certain country or region.

McDonald's customizes their product offerings in different countries with region-specific menu items. For example: The McArabia, a flatbread sandwich, is for the restaurants in the Middle East. The McVeggie in India and the EBI-Fillet-O shrimp burger in Japan.

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