International Marketing

When a firm decides to operate across national boundaries, there arises the need to apply its marketing principles to the target country, for business success. This is called International marketing.

As suggested by Doole and Lowe (2001), “At its simplest level, international marketing involves the firm in making one or more marketing mix decisions across national boundaries. At its most complex level, it involves the firm in establishing manufacturing facilities overseas and coordinating marketing strategies across the globe.”

Before making a decision for International marketing, firms must undertake an environmental analysis which includes, PEST Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and Five Forces Analysis. Etc this will help the firms to answer a few basic questions such as

• Ease of transformation from domestic to international marketing
• Nature of competition within each individual market etc

International marketing could be standarised which implies that the product offerings will remain the same across the markets in which the firm sets up its operations. One of the greatest advantages of standardisation process is that the costs involved are relatively lower for a large target base. However, standardization is not an easy process as culture tastes and habits of one country are different from the other. There is a wide range of difference in incomes, culture, language, skills and buying behaviour across the national boundaries. In adequate understanding of the differences across boundaries could lead to serious consequences. Past examples suggest that companies have suffered earlier due to standardization of marketing across boundaries.

Another form of International marketing involves differentiated marketing. This type of marketing requires firms to segment their overseas markets, and implement a localised marketing mix to meet the needs of each of its foreign markets.

International Marketing Example: The case of Starbucks Corporation.

The aim of the organisation was to become a worldwide global brand. Starbucks’ advertising strategies played a crucial role in the success of the business. The advertising strategies adopted by the firm are more local and differentiated rather than standardized.

Visit sample Starbucks SWOT Analysis?