Chapter 9 – International Communications Doole, Lowe and Kenyon International Marketing Strategy

Learning Objectives Appreciate the nature and role of communications in implementing international marketing strategies Understand the challenges faced in the successful management and effective integration of international marketing communications Be able to explain the use of the elements of an international communications strategy, including corporate identity, products and services promotion and the development of relationships with customers Identify the use and the limitations of the communications tools in international marketing Recognize the value of integrating the communications to meet the requirements of different audiences offline and online

The role of marketing communications

The role of marketing communications (cont.)

The fundamental challenges for international marketing communications Inconsistency of messages conveyed to customers (by staff at different levels from different countries and cultures) Different styles of presentation of corporate identity, brand and product image (from different departments and country business units which can leave customers confused.) Lack of coordination of messages (e.g. press releases, advertising campaigns) Differences in fields of perception of sender and receiver (e.g. the way the massage is understood by receivers. Do not use technical terminologies)

The fundamental challenges for international marketing communications (cont.)

The fundamental challenges for international marketing communications (cont.) Counterfeiting (e.g. it may suffer damage to its image if customers believe the low-quality goods supplied by the counterfeiter are genuine) Parallel importing (e.g. communicates contradictory messages that do not reflect the image of the brand and thus confuse consumers) Competitors, governments or pressure groups (e.g. Companies such as Shell, Coca-Cola, KFC and McDonald’s have suffered following criticism of their lack of concern for the environment or animal rights.)

International marketing communications strategy Increasing market share at the expense of local/international competitors Identifying new potential customers Obtaining a specific number of responses to a promotional campaign Reducing the impact of competitors in the market Increasing the value of the corporate brand and the product image Helping to establish the position or re-position the product or brand Increasing awareness levels especially in new country markets Changing consumers’ perceptions or products, brands or the firm

International marketing communications strategy (cont.) The primary difference between push and pull marketing lies in how consumers are approached. Read [Link] In push marketing, the idea is to promote products by pushing them onto people (e.g. set up point-of-sale displays). For push marketing, the idea is to establish a loyal following and draw consumers to the products. Examples are Porsche which no longer need to advertise, as consumers come to them.

The marketing communications tools Personal selling and word of mouth Exhibitions and trade fairs Trade missions Advertising TV advertising Press advertising Use of agencies and consultancies Financial Specialist knowledge Creative input External perspective

The marketing communications tools Sales promotions Direct marketing (e.g. database marketing, Facebook, WhatsApp marketing etc.) Communicating with a wider range of stakeholders Corporate identity Sponsorship and celebrity endorsement Public Relations What main tools do you employ to promote the drink or food that you want to sell in the UK market?

Developing profitable, long-term marketing relationships The concept of relationship marketing Maintain and build existing customers by offering more tailored and cost-effective business solutions Use existing relationships to obtain referral to business units and other supply chain members that are perhaps in different parts of the world and not currently customers Increase the revenue from customers by offering solutions that are a combination of products and services Reduce the operational and communications cost of servicing the customers including the work prior to a trading relationship. How can a firm increase customer loyalty? Please note that 100% customer satisfaction does not guarantee that customers will repurchase from the firm. One importance marketing strategies is to develop ‘switching cost strategy’ that make customers difficult to switch to other companies. Can you name a company which has developed good ‘switching cost strategy’?