Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national and international level and which
involves understanding the similarities, dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities
to attain the goal. Concentrating on global marketing is as important as concentrating on domestic
marketing if a company is aiming to increase sales.
The domestic market has become saturated in most categories of products and services, in all
industrialized countries and hence, they started to deal with other countries to increase their
sales. Usually in such cases, goods that are too expensive for the domestic customers to buy are
exported to other well-off countries.
When a company does marketing within the boundaries of a specific county, it has to compete with
other domestic companies as well as international companies who are a part of the market. The
marketing steps taken by the professionals are based on the taste of a specific audience. The
product might not suit the taste of customers at a higher level. The other domestic companies that
plan to go global hinder the growth of such companies. They become invisible at the international
level as they are unable to cope with the growing competition and might not be aware of potential
competitors. The product development is dependant on the need of the local residents. Such kinds of
businesses are ethnocentric and are only bothered about their performance in the domestic
marketplace.
Companies planning to go global should start with export to a foreign client first. The returns
wouldn’t be satisfying in the beginning. The export department can be introduced at the
headquarters that deals with all the laws. There can be a possibility of becoming secondary
exporters by bringing export management company into the picture, who will deal with the language
problem, time difference, paperwork and customers. If managing the exports without any help, the
export department can be started at an office located abroad. This office works in collaboration
with the regional headquarters. But the respective offshore offices take the marketing decisions, as
they will have best knowledge about the particular market they are operating in.
Multinational marketing involves marketing in many countries. The marketing is based on the
requirements of different countries and the returns are rewarding. Each region should be studied
individually based on development, production and marketing. Such kinds of markets are known as
region centric. Global marketing involves the whole globe. The entire world is summarized as a
single market and the products that are released in the market should fit the needs of any regional
marketplace. Marketers all over the world make the marketing decisions. Such a kind of market is
known as geocentric.
The automotive industry is one such market that saw a global boost in sales during the last fifty
years. Earlier only the local companies like Ford and General Motors used to produce cars in
America, but today other international competitors like Toyota and Honda are operating in the same
market and have out done the local companies. Another key factor to the global marketing is the
Internet, which introduced e-commerce. Businesses went going online and global. This encouraged the
sales of the company and the figures are only increasing because of ever increasing Internet
users.
The geographical location of customers is no longer a hindrance. Global marketing management and
business-to-business e-commerce is growing rapidly.
Product, price, placement and promotion are the elements of global marketing. The product created
should be such that it can sell anywhere using the same method. It should consider the primary
elements of all the markets. However, the language in which the product is named can be changed,
where as the content can remain the same. The price is never constant. It should be decided after
reviewing the market and the currency of the country. The variables which affect prices are location
where the product is being produced, cost of ingredients, transportation charges, labor charges,
etc.
Placement is how the product is distributed and how it reaches the targeted market. Like in third
world countries, there is a lack of superstores, so they can be placed or sold at ordinary shops.
After the product is developed and distributed, it should be promoted precisely known as
advertising, promotion is one of the major steps of marketing and consumes major part of the budget.
If it is possible to send out the same message worldwide in a relevant and cost-effective way, it
sure must be put into practice but the challenge is really big.