International Communications Four major difficulties Typical Marcoms (Marketing Communications) tools International communications plan Tactical decisions Organising and co-ordination of advertising effort Personal selling

Four Major Difficulties The message may not get through to the intended recipient The message may reach the target audience but may not be understood (or may be misunderstood) The message may reach the target audience and may be understood but may not induce the recipient to take action desired by the sender

The effectiveness of the message can be impaired by noise, or the effect of external influences such as competitive advertising etc Warren G. Keegan (1995)

Media Spending Outdoor - important in Japan and South Korea - exposure in large cities Cinema - Argentina and India where films are popular pastimes Print - high literacy rates e.g France, Germany, and Sweden Radio - lack of opportunity in Europe with government ownership Television - Strong in USA, Asia, and South America

Advertising exposure Awareness Knowledge Liking/Attitude Preference Repeat purchase/loyalty Trial The Hierarchy of Effects

International communications plan How do marcoms objectives help to achieve the international marketing objectives? Think through various scenarios e.g. PR, sales force Decide upon specific objectives Decide how you will organise e.g. selection of agencies

How important is creativity? How much standardisation are we seeking to achieve? What is the overall communications budget? What is the balance of expenditure between the elements of the promotions mix? The main elements of the promotions mix need to be specified Detailed tactical plans need to be written

Timings and schedules need to be worked-out Methods of evaluation and control need to be established Develop contingency plans Learning will lead to need plans for the future Phillips, Doole and Lowe (1994)

Tactical decisions TV commercials are sandwiched together in a string of commercials within one station break in Brazil National coverage can mean using as many as different media Specialised media reach small segments of the market only In Germany, TV scheduling for the entire year must be arranged by 30th August

In Germany, no guarantee that commercials intended for summer viewing will run in that period In Vietnam, advertising in newspapers and magazines will be limited to 10 % of space and 5 % of time, or three minutes and hour on radio or TV Cateora and Ghauri (1999)

Organising and co-ordination of advertising effort Domestic agency familiarity/trust/relationship/knowledge no international experience Appointing local agency (local to the market) understand local cultures/relevant contacts/experience Centralising the effort Saatchi & Saatchi claimed to be the first global advertising agency - one sight, one sound, one sell

Personal selling Generally the marcom thrust where wages are low Philip Morris in Venezuela employs 300 sales people and assistants Linguistic pluralism exists e.g India Business etiquette lateness is inexcusable in Hong Kong but is expected in India banquets and frequent toasts in China

Negotiation strategies where bargaining varies between cultures staffing the sales force personal selling through intermediaries government sponsored trade missions international trade fairs consortium selling (airports/hospitals/etc)