Global marketing is aimed to reach global consumers and sell products on a global scale. Marketers apply different strategies and techniques in order to reach the target market and create effective marketing strategies. Standardized, concentrated, and differentiated global marketing are the most common approaches used by marketing operating on an international scale. Consumption factors shape the mix; decisions are made about the individual components and design of each of the sub-mixes as well as the total mix itself; and opportunity assessment, marketing planning and programming, marketing organization, and marketing control are fundamental management functions necessary for the design and maintenance of an effective marketing mix.
The standardized approach means that a marketing campaign is created for a global market but can be successfully adapted to local conditions, if necessary, developing this strategy, marketing managers are continuously being obliged to produce the best total mix of ingredients to meet the demands of both the global marketplace and the company (Fill, 1999). They must develop a system by integrating the three submixes into a whole. An understanding of forces that constrain and influence marketing effort, and the impact of the interaction of a combination of marketing ingredients, is helpful in achieving this system (Doyle and Stern 2006).
Although it may be impossible to determine the optimum marketing mix, it is usually within the realm of reason to develop logical, adequate, coordinated marketing programs. The typical examples of standardized marketing are McDonald’s and Proctor & Gambler campaigns. McDonald’s strategies are aimed to meet global consumers creating a global culture of fast food and eating habits. They develop a standardized approach that is easily applied to local markets such as Chinese and Japanese markets, Russian and Italian markets. Similar to McDonald’s, Proctor & Gambler develops its global strategies in order to popularize its brand name and attract consumers’ attention to new products. Thus, it applies some of its global strategies (e.g. Arial, Tide) to local markets and their cultural norms (Doyle and Stern 2006).
In contrast to the standardized approach, concentrated marketing is aimed to reach a few of the market segments. The marketing mix pivots on planned, focused, and controlled marketing activity dedicated to the satisfaction of customer wants and needs of a particular target group. It embodies a master marketing plan and the development of operational plans in each of the areas, such as the sales program, advertising program, and market development program (Fill, 1999). The benefit of this strategy is that it helps small producers and marketers to reach the specific market segment at a low cost. The typical example of concentrated marketing is Guinness (a UK-based brewery). The company creates marketing campaigns aimed to reach a particular market segment (Doyle and Stern 2006).
Similar to concentrated marketing, differentiated marketing allows companies to reach two or more market segments and develop unique services or products for these segments. Businesses strive to develop the most profitable mix by combining ingredients to produce a total system that conforms to market forces. In designing marketing programs, the prime consideration should be given to the entire mix rather than arty one segment of it (Hollensen, 2007).
Marketing success depends on integrating the various elements rather than solely on making decisions about separate marketing activities. The benefit of this approach is that it allows a company to develop a separate mix for each product or segment. Mercedes-Benz and Toyota’s luxury models use differentiated marketing to reach a particular target market (Doyle and Stern 2006).
In contrast to standardized marketing, it is difficult to apply concentrated and differentiated marketing strategies to both global and local markets. Thus, these strategies require that the marketing mix will be dynamic. It must be adjusted to the changing forces of the market. Also, the mix for different companies making the same product will vary. Successful standardized marketing requires recognition and authority at the top decision-making level. Marketing programs must be carefully planned and based not merely on knowledge of internal corporate affairs, but also on knowledge of external environments (Kotabe and Helsen 2003).
This approach suggests that a business should be seen from the customer’s and consumer’s standpoint. All-encompassing, this concept of marketing enters the enterprise at the beginning of the production cycle, is coordinated with all the phases of the business, and permeates all its areas (Paley, 2006). In contrast to standardized and concentrated marketing, differentiated marketing is limited in its scope and requires high marketing costs.
For global marketers, the development of a standardized marketing mix is a complicated task. It is almost synonymous with marketing planning since it is concerned with the integration and coordination of all the information required to plan an optimal marketing mix. (Paley, 2006). It is the approach to the establishment of an effective mix that becomes important, rather than the achievement of scientific laws or mathematical models that will guide marketing management to a supposed optimum policy (Kotabe and Helsen 2003).
The three approaches are variable and complex, open rather than closed, adaptive, externally oriented, and competitive. Such factors as continued economic growth, increased disposable income, vigorous domestic and foreign competition, accelerating technology, automation, population decentralization, expansion, and innovation will spur the appearance of this new marketing form. Although mass production has been hailed as the key to our high standard of living, a large part of the economic revolution has been the change in marketing.
Bibliography
- Doyle, P., Stern, Ph. 2006, Marketing Management and Strategy. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 4 edition.
- Fill, C. 1999. Marketing Communication: Contexts, Contents, and Strategies 2 edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Hollensen, S. 2007, Global Marketing: A Decision-Oriented Approach. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 4 edition.
- Kotabe, M., Helsen, K. Global Marketing Management. Wiley.
- Paley, N. 2006, The Manager’s Guide to Competitive Marketing Strategies. Thorogood.