International Marketing Is Really No

International marketing is really no different form the study of domestic marketing. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

I am in agreement with the statement that international marketing bears close resemblance with the study of domestic marketing. This is because International marketing is nothing but the marketing across geographical boundaries and it ascribes to the strategy, process, and implementation of activities relating to marketing on the global turf. International marketing can be defined as any marketing activity involving the sale of goods and services of a particular nation in another nation dependent on the regulatory guidelines framed by that nation. The 1990s ushered in the strategic concept of marketing which is regarded as the important evolution of traditional concept of marketing thought; that changed the attention of marketing from customer or the product to a more broad-based one i.e. customer in the perspective of the extensive external environment. In order to be successful, marketers must be aware of his customer in a perspective inclusive of competition, government policy and laws, and the more extensive economic, social and political macro forces shaping the evolution of the markets. Translated to the concept of international marketing, this might imply working with the home-country trade negotiators of government and other officials and industry competitors in order to get access to a target-country market. (Introduction to International Marketing, n. d.)

It would just be wrong to declare that domestic and international marketing are similar in nature but not in scope, implying that international marketing is just domestic marketing on a much broader scale. Domestic marketing entails a set of uncontrollables which emerge from the domestic market. International marketing is far complex since a marketer experiences two or more sets of uncontrollable variables emanating from several countries. The marketer must deal with different culture, legal, political, and monetary system. The varying environment within the framework of which the marketing plan is executed might at times rule out consistent marketing strategies across nations. (Onkvisit; Shaw, 2004, p. 5)

International marketing refers to the system of identifying the goods and services which the customers outside home country desire and subsequently supplying them at the appropriate price and quality. Taken from this viewpoint, international marketing is almost identical to domestic marketing. Now we shall make a comparison between domestic and International markets. Environmental factors that are controllable and uncontrollable render international marketing intricate as compared to domestic marketing. Domestic marketing is inhibited by controllable as well as uncontrollable factors, the first one comprising price, product and promotion and the latter including economic, legal, political, and competitive forces. The domestic marketing manager must comprehend each of these controllable and uncontrollable factors in an objective manner and emerge with the correct marketing strategies. From the level of complexity, international marketing is far more complex as the marketer encounter a lot of forces that are uncontrollable from different countries. The marketing mix of a company is required to be changed to align with different environments. The changing environments might make uniform marketing strategies across nation redundant. For instance, McDonald's even though popular for its American symbols and benchmarks, has become flexible in foreign shores. (Aswathappa, 2006, p. 284)

Understanding the value of foreign markets as also local customs, the company tailors its menu across geographical regions. While assuming any marketing function, the job comes to be more intricate in international marketing. Considering, pricing for example, in domestic marketing, the price fixation is a complex work. Pricing is increasingly complicated in international markets due to the added issues connected with tariffs, dumping laws, inflation, and currency conversion. Besides, problems surface in international advertising also. A lot of companies experience the problem of language translation while releasing ads in foreign markets. Problems might also crop up while choosing media in foreign markets. Sometimes, the media used in the domestic market might not be obtained in foreign markets immediately. In domestic marketing, language translation might not appear to be an issue, save in nations such as India known for its plural culture. Problems crop up while selecting an agency to make and put the advertisements of the company. Along with the development in multinational corporations, increasing number of multinational agencies has also emerged in the scene. The question remains to assign the work either to a local agency or a multinational agency. However, a domestic marketing manager is not bothered about these problems. (Aswathappa, 2006, p. 284)

In international marketing, transactions happen almost regularly between governments, semi-governments companies. For example, companies such as Boeing deal with industrial markets exclusively. The marketing mix of a company functioning in international markets is established by the factors that are beyond the control within each country's markets and the 4Ps comprising the marketing mix. In case there is a considerable extent of overlap, then scanty need is present to change it. Hence the company's marketing mix is needed to be interconnected with the sets of variables that are beyond the control in the external environment in order to achieve the optimum outcomes. The concept of international marketing can be comprehended in a better manner when the differences between similar concepts like domestic marketing, foreign marketing, comparative marketing, international trade and multinational marketing are looked into. (Srinivasan, 2005, p. 1)

Domestic marketing implies marketing practices inside marketer's native land. From the viewpoint of domestic marketing, procedures outside the home market are foreign marketing. To put it differently, foreign marketing includes the domestic operations within a foreign country. To take an example, an Indian company regards marketing in India as domestic marketing and marketing in the U.S. As foreign marketing. In case of a U.S. company, the reverse is true. International marketing is involved with the micro level of marketing applying the company as the unit of analysis. In international marketing, the company performs its marketing task across international markets. It encompasses the marketing mix in tune with the market and develops subsidiaries. (Srinivasan, 2005, p. 4)

2) the three decades of changes and the most important phenomena driving international and global marketing:

The last thirty years has witnessed a metamorphosis within the international marketing scenario. The advent of globalization marked the entry of companies across various geographical borders that raised the level of competition fiercely. Not to be left behind the amazing growth of local brands, a lot of whom ape their global competitors establishes that distribution, for instance, is target that can be achieved when it becomes a part of an integrated market-driven strategy. The keen competition among the multinational companies themselves also shows a "me-too" niche marketing strategies fueled by duplication instead of local market responsiveness, and it is a demonstration of defective execution of the original market entry approach of market penetration. (Arnold, 2003, p. 28)

This has given rise to the dictum that every multinational companies must follow: Think Global, Act Local. Over the years, marketing started off with its transactional approach i.e. The 'exchange of goods' for a 'price in return' to evolve into mass marketing approach which initiated with the groundbreaking concept of 'building profit through volumes'. The other business paradigm of maintaining high prices and margins was prevailing in the period prior to mass marketing and has increasingly become the characteristic of 'market segmentation' noticed in the majority of the developed markets in the present era. In these developed markets, marketing strategies were initiated with fragmenting demand into concise segments and developing products and brands narrowly targeted at those segments which are just the reverse of mass marketing. As against this, mass marketing was founded around good but rather simple products with limited ranges and low rates of obsolescence. (Arnold, 2003, p. 28)

Perhaps the most significant influence on international marketing arena has been the birth of the Internet that has played the role of a business enabler and the emergence of a separate form of business on its own right i.e. e-business as opposed to traditional business. The concept relating to "business without boundaries" has attained significance because of internet. And this has put 'customer service' at the forefront of the value chain. For marketers, the significance of having an Internet mindset has grown drastically and they realize that the world has changed drastically. Due to this, the customer is presently more in control of his purchases and has immediate access to product information and to other competitors also. (Customer Service, new marketing in the Internet age, 2008)

Internet technologies have ushered in a powerful force that propels the world in the direction of converging commonality. It has revolutionized communication, transport and travel having far reaching impact on marketing in general and international marketing in particular. This has spawned a new commercial reality which is the coming of age in the global markets for standardized consumer products on an unprecedented scale. Companies that have been arming themselves to this new reality are immensely benefiting from huge economies of scale on all fronts, be it production, distribution, marketing and management. By converting these advantages into reduced world prices, they are able to wipe out competitors. Technology is helping in the globalization of world economy in more ways than one with the effect that consumers almost everywhere want global products regardless of whether they live in Los Angeles or remote Africa. The forces driving globalization are (i) flow of information (ii) flow of people (iii) Technology: helping economies of scale with cheaper transportation makes global sourcing possible (iv) Globalization is helping attain lower cost as huge investments are needed for new product development and strategic alliances need global markets to deliver enough demand. (International Marketing in the Internet Age, n. d.)

Companies exploiting the potential of the Internet in the process of internationalization are able to capture international transactions and operational efficiencies in communication. The Internet has given these companies the capability to have an international presence of its brand. Apart from that companies felt the need of a web presence as a central element in their operations and all companies were completely on the Internet medium for routine and strategic processes as downtime is never tolerable for businesses and customers in international markets. This implies, because of the enormous geographical separation between the company and the customer dependency is ubiquitous on the Internet to facilitate international trade, the Internet has come to occupy a central place in the process of internationalization of businesses. Besides, the Internet has lent small companies the capability to generate international market development which they would not have possibly done in the absence of it. These companies were keen on the development of virtual markets as opposed to generation of international markets. This is because the more profitable markets are international, for instance, the U.S. And UK. All the companies which used the power of the Internet for international market development discovered market reputation and confidence were central in cashing on the market development opportunities. (Matthews; Healy; Wickramasekera, 2005, p. 3)

This tend to bring into the limelight the significant importance gradual evolutionary segment of internationalization. The Internet has been playing and will continue to present a basically different environment for international marketing and new paradigms will have to be evolved in order to consider the internationalization processes in an electronic age. This will need the presentation of a significant new research endeavor to enhance our comprehension of Internet-enabled international marketing, particularly the degree to which the "Net" offers a low-level of "gateway" towards international markets in relation to Small and Medium Enterprises -- SMEs. (Hamill, 1997, p. 310)

Latest forms of developments with regard to the mass communication arena, global and regional media like the Cable & Satellite and DTH help build an environment in which some of the segments of the population across the world share a common arena of expectations, share a common field of symbols, display similar affinity with regard to services as well as products, and a general need to enhance their living standard. For example, quickly dispatched across global media in no time. The proliferation of organized retail has been a radical change in the last several years fueling changing customer expectations. With the expansion of retail chain, they include the 'best forms of practices' with regard to the new stores. They encompass modern practices relating to merchandising as also product mixes which react to local tastes and mirror the company's need for attaining economies of scale while purchasing from suppliers. (Douglas, 1999) major part of the impact on international marketing comes from four dominant trends. These are (i) growth of the World Trade Organization -- WTO and regional free trade zone like the NAFTA, EU etc. (ii) the emerging trend of developing nations like Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe welcoming the free market system. (iii) the domineering impact of the Internet and other global media companies (iv) mandate for companies in order to properly manage resources. International marketing has assumed immense importance as (i) companies can no more ignore the effects of internationally marketing (ii) competition no more come just from the domestic companies (iii) to sustain profitability and growth margin of the past, companies have to look forward to other methods of marketing of their products and services. Here the main difference is the consideration between marketing in the domestic market and also in the international one. The concepts are the same with the ultimate goal is to make profit. The difference lies in that, in case of international marketing all environments are required to be considered at the time when the marketing plan is developed and executed. Besides, considerations have to make regarding the legal climate, governmental controls, climate & weather, cultural beliefs and behavior of buyers. (the Scope and Challenge of International Marketing, n. d.)

In international marketing from a marketing perspective, a lot of companies often sidestep the most governing principle of marketing which is that a company must begin by analyzing the market and thereafter only then take decision on its offer as regards marketing programs as also brands and for earning profits and not for operations is concurrently looking after patterns at the national level in the economy or that of the government, as also decisions relating to marketing like the availability of collection of products or the standard of pricing. However in case of marketing with the nation, on the other hand, it is these decisions that are taken care of by separate specialists. (Arnold, 2003, p. 17)

The various popular modes for international market entry adopted are 'piggybacking' under which they embark on their internationalization in an opportunist manner by means of a variety of arrangements as they entail taking advantage of a channel to an international market instead of selecting the country-market in a greater conventional manner. The most common type of piggybacking is the internationalization by serving a customer who is more international compared to the vendor company. Hence, a customer places an order, delivery, or service in more than a single country, and the supplier in turn starts selling internationally with a view to retain the customer and raises its penetration of the account. This is seen as a common occurrence in the case of business-to-business companies and technology oriented start-up companies. One more entry is the 'franchising' mode in international market. As the business format and often the operating models and guidelines are fixed, franchising is narrow in its potential to adapt which is an important consideration in applying this mode of entry at the time of entering new country markets. A good example is McDonald which operates in several countries. Nevertheless, the format and maybe the brand are internationally consistent, but some customer facing elements such as service personnel or individual menu choices can be customized according to local tastes. (Arnold, 2003, p. 21)

The various popular modes for international market entry adopted are 'piggybacking' under which they embark on their internationalization in an opportunist manner by means of a variety of arrangements as they entail cornering the benefits of a channel to a global market instead of type of piggybacking www.phptr.com/articles/article.asp?r=65.5638382043268&svr=3&lang=en_us&p=101588&seqNum=2&rl=1is (Arnold, 2003, p. 22)

However, franchising suffers from a disadvantage of taking over the franchised brand or asset as per the preference of the regional markets. Another method is the 'licensing' method of entry into international markets which is applicable in case of companies having

(Arnold, 2003, p. 22)

An important question raging in global marketing management is formation of a separate proficiency manufacturing the products to facilities in foreign shores. (Saykiewicz, 2006, p. 2)

In the process of outsourcing, the companies are delegating their valuable intellectual properties like design molds, specification, trade specialties to thousands of contractors across the world. Present international market challenges and configuration of resources and the management of business dealing throughout the borders of the nation. (Saykiewicz, 2006, p. 3)

The overall goal

(Saykiewicz, 2006, p. 3)

Of late, matters associated with international marketing strategy have raised increased concern. Till date, nevertheless, major portion of the discussion has concentrated on the particular decision instead of wider strategic matters. The innate complexity and dynamic characteristics of formulation of strategy in international markets have often been overlooked. Nevertheless, a company's strategic thrust and important decisions will undergo a change when it extends its operations in foreign shores. The procedure of internationalization therefore entails a company passing through consecutive stage, each featured by a novel strategic challenge and decision priorities. The past deliberations as regards international marketing strategy have, nevertheless, tended to concentrate on the primary stages of entry into international markets. Sometimes, the viewpoint of a newcomer in international market is adopted. (Aliber; Click, 1993, p. 221)

As a result, focus has concentrated on decisions as the choice of nations to enter, the mode of operation to adopt or the degree to which product or positioning can be benchmarked, or must be espoused for various country markets. Importance on initial international market entry and concerns of standardization were relevant during the 1960s and 1970s when a lot of companies, if the U.S. Or of other national origin, possessed only restricted experience in international markets. Currently, nevertheless, a lot of companies have already restricted operations in several countries. As a result, the issues which they encounter are more intricate compared to those encountered by companies thinking of initial foreign market entry. While calculating the course for future growth, the costs of expansion into new nations are required to be evaluated with those of expansion inside the present matrix of country operations. (Aliber; Click, 1993, p. 221)

In the internationalization of marketing, as in case of all substantial changes in marketing practice and thought, new ideas travel through three stages in becoming accepted and grounded. The first stage is that of identification when a new idea is perceived prior to recognition of its full nature. The next stage where conceptualization happens when definition occurs as the concept gains specialized form and meaning. In the third stage, assimilation and integration happens into the established body of thought. The extension of marketing practice transcending national borders has of late been comparative and international as applied to marketing. The term 'foreign trade' has come to known as international marketing as methods originated domestically were applied to marketing external to the nation. (Bartels, 1968, p. 60)