INSIDE INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING DEFINED

International marketing is the performance, in more than one nation, of business activities that direct the flow of a company’s goods and services to consumers of users for a profit. The only difference in the definition of domestic marketing and international marketing activities take place in more than one country. This apparently minor difference accounts for the complexity and diversity found in international marketing operations. Marketing concepts, processes, and principles are universally applicable, and the marketer’s task is the same whether doing business in Dimebox, Texas, or Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Business’ goal is to make a profit by promoting, pricing, and distributing products for which there is a market. If this is the case, what is the difference between domestic and international marketing?

The answer lies not with difference concepts of marketing but with the environment within which marketing plans must be implemented. The uniqueness of foreign which marketing comes from the range of unfamiliar problems and the variety of strategies necessary to cope with different levels of uncertainty encountered in foreign markets. In short, international marketing is different from domestic marketing because of the different cultural influences involved and their potential impact on the successful implementation of marketing programs.

Competition, legal restraints, government controls, weather, fickle consumers, and any number of other uncontrollable elements can, and frequently do affect the profitable outcome of good, sound marketing plans. Generally speaking, the marketer can’t control or influence these uncontrollable elements but instead must adjust or adapt to them in a manner consistent with a successful outcome. What makes marketing interesting is the challenge of molding the controllable elements of marketing of marketing decisions, such a product, price, promotion, and distribution within the framework of the uncontrollable elements of the marketplace, such competition, politics, laws, consumer behavior, level of technology, and so forth in such a way that marketing objectives are achieved. Even though marketing principles and concepts are universally applicable, the environment within which the marketer must implement marketing plans can change dramatically from country to country. The difficulties created by different environments are the international marketer’s primary concern............

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INTERNATIONAL MARKETING DEFINED

International marketing is the performance, in more than one nation, of business activities that direct the flow of a company’s goods and services to consumers of users for a profit. The only difference in the definition of domestic marketing and international marketing activities take place in more than one country. This apparently minor difference accounts for the complexity and diversity found in international marketing operations. Marketing concepts, processes, and principles are universally applicable, and the marketer’s task is the same whether doing business in Dimebox, Texas, or Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Business’ goal is to make a profit by promoting, pricing, and distributing products for which there is a market. If this is the case, what is the difference between domestic and international marketing?

The answer lies not with difference concepts of marketing but with the environment within which marketing plans must be implemented. The uniqueness of foreign which marketing comes from the range of unfamiliar problems and the variety of strategies necessary to cope with different levels of uncertainty encountered in foreign markets. In short, international marketing is different from domestic marketing because of the different cultural influences involved and their potential impact on the successful implementation of marketing programs.

Competition, legal restraints, government controls, weather, fickle consumers, and any number of other uncontrollable elements can, and frequently do affect the profitable outcome of good, sound marketing plans. Generally speaking, the marketer can’t control or influence these uncontrollable elements but instead must adjust or adapt to them in a manner consistent with a successful outcome. What makes marketing interesting is the challenge of molding the controllable elements of marketing of marketing decisions, such a product, price, promotion, and distribution within the framework of the uncontrollable elements of the marketplace, such competition, politics, laws, consumer behavior, level of technology, and so forth in such a way that marketing objectives are achieved. Even though marketing principles and concepts are universally applicable, the environment within which the marketer must implement marketing plans can change dramatically from country to country. The difficulties created by different environments are the international marketer’s primary concern.

THE INTERNATIONAL MARKETING TASK

We learn about how the marketer decisions effected by the international marketing task. In this case the international marketer’s task is more complicated than that of the domestic marketer because the international marketer must deal with at least two levels of uncontrollable uncertainty instead of one. Uncertainty is created by the uncontrollable elements of all business environments, but each foreign country in which a company operates adds it own unique uncontrollable. Thus the more foreign markets in which a company operates, the greater the variety of foreign environmental uncontrollable there are to contend with. Frequently, a solution to a problem in country A is not applicable to a problem in country B.

References:

Philip R. Cateora, International Marketing, 6^th. The Irwin Series in Marketing.

Posted in: About International Marketing