Marketing Across Cultures - Essay Example

Marketing Across Cultures Each company has the following course of actions. It first establishes a target market, and then based on the characteristics of this target market; it designs its marketing strategy (Trotman, pp. 20-45, 1969). Thus, the marketing mix that the company employs while selling their product or service, is highly dependent on the relevant target market. This means that as one moves from marketing in one culture, to marketing in a different culture, one changes the marketing mix to adjust to the differences in the culture. With this manipulation of elements, a firm can achieve its objectives in the market that it targets. The elements of the marketing mix are “product, price, promotion, and place, also referred to as the four Ps” (Bennet, pp. 44, 2009). The firm does not manipulate all of these elements to a significant degree every time it is marketing across cultures. However, the selections of elements, which require manipulation, are only possible in the light of the characteristics of the culture. For this reason, examples, such as the ones stated below, can help to elaborate this fact. The management of the marketing effort is also highly affected by the differences in the cultures of the firms different target markets. The four functions of the marketing management are analysis, planning, function, and control (Maister, pp. 133, 1997). The degree of importance which management gives to each function is dependent on the characteristics of the market that the firm targets. For example, the characteristics of a market existing in one culture may emphasize the importance of planning above all the other functions, while a market in another culture may necessitate the control function to be the one the firm invests in the most. Again, the true affect of the culture on the marketing management, can only be understood through in depth analysis and examples. According to a case study, which studied international marketing by shedding light on Ikea’s operations in Shanghai, they learned that “the company must think globally and act locally in hope of building long-term customer relationships and capturing customer value. In marketing decisions, culture does not hold an ultimate status but still calls for due attention as much as other factors, such as the marketing environment and the company’s strategic plan” (Pan, pp. iii, 2005). This is an example of such a case, were marketing across several different cultures has led to a difference in the marketing elements employed, and will thus be useful in understanding the phenomenon. The author of the case study, before delving into discussion about the marketing mix, mentions how, on the surface, the store of Ikea Shanghai looks very similar to the stores that this company has in other countries and cultures. It is not until one pays close attention to detail, that one can realize the true differences there are in the Ikea store in China and in other countries. Similarly, one can deduce that the strategic management that a multinational company does is on a global scale, following the rules it abides by in any part of the world. Whereas the local marketing strategies are designed locally, depending to the target market and culture of the country of operation (Doole and Lowe, pp. 218-225, 2008). Product: One of the elements in the marketing mix, which is majorly affected by the culture to which it is being employed in, is the product itself. As the company moves from culture to culture, it finds that the tastes and demands they find in their consumers vary. This implies that the products, which are marketed to each of these cultures, must be different in certain ways, as one standard product will not gain popularity in a culture in which the customers do not find the product relevant. For example, a company, which produces electronics, may not be able to sell air conditioners to a country that has a very low temperature around the year. The same air conditioners may be very popular in warmer countries, due to their high quality or brand name, but in the cold country, it will result in an unsold stock. It is thus important for any company that is marketing across cultures to keep in mind the relevance of the product in that culture. Another example could be taken from the case study of IKEA, where it is mentioned how the whole range of flooring materials was missing from the product range being offered in China. The 8,900 products offered in IKEA Shanghai, were in fact less than the 10,000 products offered in the stores in IKEA Sweden (Pan, pp. 25, 2005). This again proves how it does not matter if the product is of high quality, and is proven popular in one culture. Its success in another culture can only be determined locally in the latter culture, and the company cannot expect a product, which is not used or appreciated in that culture, to make profits in that culture. While a company may not be able to produce a different product to serve each different culture, it may find helpful to its separate the different products it offers as a whole, to exclude those that it does not expect to sell in a certain culture, when operating in that culture. This course of action can be greatly helpful when it comes to avoiding losses due to storage space being occupied by stock, which is not in demand (Yoo, Donthu and Lee, pp. 195-211, 2000). This can often be a major expense for companies, which have a limited amount of storage space, or for those companies, which pay a high rent for the storage space they use. If they use this space to store goods, which may not be requisitioned frequently, it can be a burden on the company. This is, however, an avoidable cost, if the company analyzes beforehand, about which products to keep in store and which products to avoid keeping in store, when operating in a country with a certain type of culture (DeMooij and Demooij, pp. 204, 2010). This would also help the marketing aspect of the company, as it would make the firm more successful also. This is because if it chooses to store and offer only those products, which it considers relevant to the culture, then it will run a higher chance of selling all the products it has available. This would incidentally mean that the company is a success, if it manages to have its stock sold out through its sales. It is thus very important for a company to assess the products from its product range, for those that will and those that will not be relevant to the culture, in order to realize product acceptability there (Gestland and Seyk, pp. 39, 2002). Another decision related to product, which is vital in the marketing mix is the variations of the existing products, as well as the new products the company offers in any of its range of products (Zhao, p. 93, 2009). Introducing brand new products to a market are a great way of capturing market share and attaining the approval of the customer, each of which will help the company achieve its objectives in that target market. These new products, although expensive to provide for a very large market, can be provided to a few specific markets, in order to make an impression. Again, here it is important to remember that such a course of business has to be treated as a careful investment. This is because it will cost the company a large amount to introduce brand new designs in any product range. Thus, it must ensure that this new product is likely to be successful in the culture they introduce it as well. A cheaper alternative could simply be to modify the already existing products so that they meet the requirements of the new culture Cornell University (Kim, 2003). It must ensure however, that the modification is not in vain, and that the product would not have been just as popular in its previous design. Promotion: The other marketing mix element, which out of the four Ps requires attention when marketing across different cultures, is promotion. While the other elements, such as pricing and place are also very significant in this equation of marketing, this one deserves special attention because it forms the reason why many people are even aware of the product at hand, which will consequently decide the success or failure of the business in achieving its objectives. The promotion a company must do for its product is very closely bound to the culture of the customers, and thus has to be highly sensitive to the language and cultural reasons. The firm must ensure that it looks at all the different aspects in relation to promotion, which in collection are also known as the promotion mix or the communication mix (Trehan and Trehan, pp. 42, 2010). It includes advertising, public relations, sales promotions, personal selling, and tools used for direct marketing. These numerous instruments are tools, which a company uses, in order to attract and retain customers, by attaining value in their eyes, and by making the brand popular amongst them. The reason that promotion is such an important aspect of a company’s marketing strategy is that it is directly linked to the reputation and the image that the firm builds of it, and thus, it needs to be very efficient and effective in this role. The company’s reputation can define the success or failure of a firm, in several instances. Therefore, it needs to use the promotional tools to send a clear-cut message about what the company is and how it plans to serve its potential customers (Gillespie, Jeannet and Hennessy, pp. 405, 2010). The reason why promotion is important while marketing across cultures, is that it helps build a foundation of trust and brand loyalty in cultures, which are new to the firm. It also helps a firm use its good will, which is the accounting term for quantifying a firm’s good reputation. The company can transfer this goodwill, through effective promotion from areas where the firm is popular, to an area where the firm is relatively new and unknown. This saves a lot of time as well as money, which would otherwise be required to build up a good reputation in the industry and market. Managing the Market Effort: A firm must make rigorous use of all the four functions of marketing effort when entering a market that has a new culture. It must first analyze the industry and the target market, so that it is able to come up with the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, which is then able to give the firm an idea about the environment its operating in, and which areas it need to focus on (Armstrong, Armstrong and Kotler, pp. 250-325, 2007). Next, the company will plan its course of actions through a marketing plan. Through this, it will figure out the most effective way of building value in the eyes of the customer. This is important when working across different cultures, as each culture might require a different approach for this. Then the firm will implement these plans, and finally control its actions. It is important to note that the company must at all time, stress the importance of addressing the sensitivity of all the above-mentioned factors in global marketing, to the staff it employs. The whole team must be aware of the important factors and the essential tasks to be done, as well as why they need to be done. Only then can it function as a complete, efficient, and successful team. References Armstrong, G. M., Armstrong, G., and Kotler, Philip. 2007. Marketing: An Introduction. Pearson Prentice Hall. Bennet, A. G. 2009. The Big Book of Marketing. McGraw-Hill Professional. De Mooij, M. K. and De Mooij, Marieke. 2010. Consumer Behaviour and Culture: Consequences for Global Marketing and Advertising. SAGE. Doole, I. and Lowe, R. 2008. International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, Development, and Implementation. Cengage Learning EMEA. Gestland, R. R., and Seyk, G. F. 2002. Marketing Across Cultures in Asia. Copenhagen Business School Press DK. Gillespie, K, Jeannet, J, Hennessey, H. D. 2010. Global Marketing. Cengage Learning. Kim, H. 2003. A Study of Apparel Design Process. Springer. Maister, D. H. 1997. Managing the Professional Service firm. Simon and Schuster. Pan, Y. 2005. “Marketing Across Cultures: A case study of IKEA Shanghai.” Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies, Lund University. Retrieved on March 25, 2011: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/marketing-across-cultures-a-case-study-of-ikea-shanghai Trehan, M, and Trehan, R. 2010. Advertising and Sales Management. FK Publications. Trotman, E. F. 1969. The Marketing Mix: Managing the Marketing Concept. Education for Management, Inc. Yoo, B, Donthu, N., and Lee, S. 2000. “An Examination of Selected Marketing Mix Elements and Brand Equity.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Volume 28; pp. 195-211. Zhao, Y. 2009. Nostalgic marketing and its working mechanism in three cultural groups: Canadians, Chinese, and Chinese immigrants to Canada. ProQuest. Read More