What is marketing activities?

What are the elements of international marketing environment affecting marketing activities in a foreign country?

• Answer:

  Domestic marketing A marketing restricted to the political boundaries of a country, is called "Domestic Marketing". A company marketing only within its national boundaries only has to consider domestic competition. Even if that competition includes companies from foreign markets, it still only has to focus on the competition that exists in its home market. Products and services are developed for customers in the home market without thought of how the product or service could be used in other markets. All marketing decisions are made at headquarters. The biggest obstacle these marketers face is being blindsided by emerging global marketers. Because domestic marketers do not generally focus on the changes in the global marketplace, they may not be aware of a potential competitor who is a market leader on three continents until they simultaneously open 20 stores in the Northeastern U.S. These marketers can be considered ethnocentric as they are most concerned with how they are perceived in their home country. exporting goods to other countries. International marketingIf the exporting departments are becoming successful but the costs of doing business from headquarters plus time differences, language barriers, and cultural ignorance are hindering the company's competitiveness in the foreign market, then offices could be built in the foreign countries. Sometimes companies buy firms in the foreign countries to take advantage of relationships, storefronts, factories, and personnel already in place. These offices still report to headquarters in the home market but most of the marketing mix decisions are made in the individual countries since that staff is the most knowledgeable about the target markets. Local product development is based on the needs of local customers. These marketers are considered polycentric because they acknowledge that each market/country has different needs. Multinational marketingAt the multi-national stage, the company is marketing its products and services in many countries around the world and wants to benefit from economies of scale. Consolidation of research, development, production, and marketing on a regional level is the next step. An example of a region is Western Europe with the US. But, at the multi-national stage, consolidation, and thus product planning, does not take place across regions; a regiocentric approach. It should be noted that most companies that self describe their organization as multinational really are not entirely multinational. In fact, the definition of the multinational corporation itself is somewhat suspect. Simply calling a company a multinational corporation is not enough. A company must make adjustments to the ways it perceives its role in the international market place so that it might reap the rewards the multinational environment. Essentially there are three responses or behaviors that the multinational corporation can use in the international market place. These three orientations that a multinational corporation have been described as ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric. In ethnocentric company the culture of the home country pervades the organization. In the polycentric organization the host country begins to play more of a role but the company still treats each individual country unit as a some what disparate group with only a very small information flow back to headquarters. In the most mature stage of multinational development, geocentric, the company has truly started to act globally. The company can now begin to reap the benefits of the multinational economy. The somewhat parasitic nature of the previous types of multinational system are now replaced with the give and take of international relationships that involve the all important two way communications flow.