Global marketing facts for kids

Global marketing is about selling products and services to customers all over the world. It means thinking about how different countries are similar and different, and using those ideas to reach goals everywhere.

It's also a way of studying how businesses manage to sell their products, solutions, and services to people in their local area, across their country, and internationally.

When a company does international marketing, it uses marketing ideas in more than one country. This can happen by selling products to other countries (exporting), working with a company in another country (a joint venture), or investing directly in a business in that country. International marketing helps companies create the right mix of product, price, place, and promotion for each country. It involves using existing marketing plans, tools, and strategies for selling abroad, and also adapting things like products, prices, and promotions to fit local cultures and needs. This includes using local websites and social media.

Internationalization and international marketing help a company grow by sharing its value across borders. This leads to learning, making things better, and becoming more efficient because they can produce and sell more goods at a lower cost.

The way companies traded around the world has changed a lot over time. New technologies and stronger relationships between businesses have made these changes stick. Instead of just thinking about their home country, companies now look at the whole world as one big market.

Marketing at Home: Domestic Marketing

Domestic marketing is when a company focuses its selling efforts only within its own country. It uses strategies to help customers buy products or services in their local market.

Companies doing domestic marketing get to know their own country very well. They understand things like local laws, the skills of their workers, the natural resources available, and rules about safety, jobs, and owning businesses.

These local markets follow the laws and rules of that specific country. Domestic marketing plans are usually made at the company's main office in its home country.

Selling Worldwide: Global Marketing

Global marketing means companies understand what customers need in different places. They often use similar products or solutions worldwide but also change them a little to fit local tastes. This helps them find a good balance between keeping costs low, being efficient, and making sure products feel local.

Global marketing and building a global brand (a well-known name or symbol) go hand-in-hand. Building a brand involves looking at both the visible things a company has (like factories) and the less visible things (like its good reputation). This includes studying what customers want, what competitors are doing, and what the company itself stands for.

The 7 Ps of Global Marketing

To succeed in global marketing, companies often think about seven key areas, sometimes called the "7 Ps."

Product: What You Sell

Every product or service needs to meet a certain standard of quality. For example, a toy must be safe and fun to play with. Companies decide what features their product will have and how it will look.

Price: How Much It Costs

The price of a product changes based on how much it cost to make, who the company wants to sell it to, and how many people want it compared to how much is available. Different pricing strategies are used, often to make a product seem more fancy or more affordable. The price can also be different in various countries.

Place: Where You Sell It

Place refers to where customers can buy the product. This is also called distribution. How products are distributed depends on what competitors are doing and what makes sense for the product. For instance, you might not see vending machines for Coca-Cola in every culture. In some countries, drinks are sold in large quantities at warehouse stores, which is different from how they are sold in other places. Where a product is sold also depends on its image. A very expensive product wouldn't be sold in a discount store.

Promotion: Spreading the Word

Promotion is all about letting people know about a product. This includes advertisements, people talking about the product (word of mouth), news stories, and special offers. It can also involve contests or prizes for customers. The goal is to make sure people know about the product and want to buy it.

People: The Team Behind the Brand

The people who work for a company are often its most important asset. Things like honesty, good leadership, caring about the community, and wanting to make quality products are reasons why customers stay loyal to a brand. These values guide how employees interact with customers and each other.

Processes: How Things Get Done

The ways a company creates and delivers its products and services are very important. Good processes (like how an order is taken or how a product is made) help improve the quality of what customers receive. They are like the invisible steps that make everything run smoothly.

Physical Evidence: Seeing is Believing

Physical evidence refers to the tangible parts of a service or the way a company presents itself. For example, a bank's physical buildings used to show how strong and trustworthy it was. Today, with the internet, many services are online, like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Even online companies need to show they are real and trustworthy before customers will buy from them.

Why Companies Go Global: Advantages

Global marketing can bring many good things for a company:

• Making more for less: Producing and distributing products on a large scale can lower costs for each item.
• Lower marketing costs: Sometimes, a single marketing campaign can work in many countries, saving money.
• Stronger brand: A company can become more powerful and well-known around the world.
• Consistent image: The brand looks and feels the same everywhere, making it easily recognizable.
• Quick ideas: Good ideas can be shared and used quickly across different countries.
• Similar marketing: Using similar ways to market products in many places.
• Building relationships: It helps companies build connections outside of just their home country.
• Helping other businesses: Global companies can encourage smaller, local businesses to start up to support their needs.
• Benefits of online marketing: Using the internet for marketing (eMarketing) can be more effective than traditional methods.

Challenges of Global Marketing: Disadvantages

However, global marketing also has its difficulties:

• Different customer needs: People in different countries want and use products in various ways.
• Varied reactions to marketing: What works in one country's advertisement might not work in another.
• Different competition: The types of competing brands and products can be very different from country to country.
• Legal differences: Laws and rules can vary greatly, and some might conflict with a company's home country laws.
• Missing resources: Some countries might not have the necessary systems or businesses (like good roads or specific types of stores), meaning new ones might need to be created.
• Different rules for business: How businesses operate and get things approved can be different.
• Product placement issues: Where and how products are sold might need to change for each market.
• Cultural misunderstandings: Different customs and ways of thinking can lead to confusion or make a brand seem wrong.

Learn More

• Advertising
• Advertising research
• Globalization
• International marketing
• Marketing
• Marketing research
• Nation branding
• Visual marketing