Approach of Global Marketing| Karriem A Muhammad Global marketing is defined as the process of fix the marketing design of your company to modify to the conditions of other countries. Of course, global marketing is more than selling your product or service all over. It is the full process of planning, creating, positioning, and Improve your products in a global market. Big businesses usually have offices overseas for countries they market to. Currently, with the propagation of the internet, even small businesses can reach consumers anywhere in the world. If a business chooses not to enlarge internationally, it can face domestic competition from international companies that are stretching their international presence. The presence of this competition almost makes it a requirement for many businesses to have an international presence. There are many benfits of global marketing, when it is done right.
First, it can improve the success of your product or service. This is because the more you grow, the more you learn, and the faster you learn, you become more effective at producing new product or service contrbution. Second, you are able to have a strong competing advantage. It is easy enough for companies to be competing in the local market. But there are very few companies who can do so on the worldwide field. Hence, if you can compete in the worldwide market and your competitors cannot, you have become a strong force in your industry! Third, you increase consumer attention of your brand and product or service. Through the internet, consumers can keep track of your progress in the world. Finally, global marketing can reduce your costs and increase your savings. In focus on other markets, you can attain economies of scale and range by standardizing your processes – not to mention the savings that you get when you leverage the internet!
Global marketing can indeed work, drive team work and economies of scale whilst preserv specific local needs and cultural considerations.However, as with most marketing approaches, the key to success is a balanced approach. Not all marketing activities can or should be driven from the centre. Here are some tips for a balanced and successful global marketing approach…… Recommendation 1: Clarify what is driven globally and what is managed locally A global marketing approach does not mean the absence of local, market-specific plans and ambitions. These should, in fact, be integral. Global marketing will typically set the framework and parameters within which local marketing operates, whilst giving in-market teams the freedom to control local success levers. Some areas of marketing that add themselves to being led at a global or central level include branding and brand guidelines, strategic marketing planning and budgeting, largescale marketing drive, social media strategy and guidelines, research strategy, and global PR.
Other areas best managed locally include local outspace action and more diplomatic operation, local social media channels and PR leadership, local cooperative and events, etc. Markets need to have some control over the local channels that contribute to driving their success. In practice, it might be useful to divide your markets into layer. A tiered market will help you identify land that might drive the highest probable returns. It also allows top category markets to access bigger budgets, giving them freedom; for example, research into local users’ behaviours to inform product development. Global and local areas of assets may differ from company to company. However, it is critical you define the areas clearly to avoid friction and inability. Take the time to do this directdon’t wait until issues start proceeding. Recommendation 2: Understand local market needs and develop a collective approach Too often, operating globally is seen as an excuse to avoid spending time understanding local experience, customer needs and behaviours, as well as successful and less successful marketing approaches. And yet, it is obvious that a US-based customer is likely to be very different from a customer located in India or SEA. Their lives, cultures, and needs are different, so it makes sense they will participate very differently with your products or services. For a global model to work, global teams need to develop an understanding of local markets and provide a close relationship with local marketing teams. Gone are the days when global campaigns and design were applied in a blanket fashion across all international field- it simply doesn’t work. Globally defined action and plans need to factor in a degree of resilience to cater for cultural differences. A community meet-up, social media competition, or treasure-hunt based campaign might vibrate well with some markets, and not at all with others. Celebrity approval or participation will only work with … well, actual celebrities. And an Indian celebrity is unlikely to be known in France or Japan. Privacy laws can be very different from country to country too. So, if you are in a global marketing role:
Research the markets and take the time to get to know the international teams you will be working with. Trust them to be the authority on local customs and users. And advantage their knowledge to make your global plans and campaigns a success.
Recommendation 3: Develop and socialism a global marketing plan early (seek feedback) So, you have established key relationships, researched local markets, and defined global marketing plans which you think contain local needs where required.
That’s a great start, but don’t wait for the campaign to begin to validate your assumptions. Socialise these plans with your international teams as soon as possible, explore their feedback and ensure that there are no proper issues to prevent your plans from working in certain markets. A dedicated approach will give you time to adjust and revise your plans in the event of a problem. It will also allow you to get buy-in from your local employee. And, after all, a huge part of the success will rest on their shoulders during execution. Recommendation 4: Manage campaigns like an army operation – plan fiercely As the time for your campaign to kick-off approaches, there are a few key elements to consider to help it succeed; starting with outstanding project planning.
Appoint a global campaign manager - with responsibility for all communication and coordination around the campaign. Make sure his/her overall liability is understood by all. Failing to do this will result in cross-communication, misunderstandings and missed result. Plan fiercely – make sure deadlines, responsibilities and product are clear to everyone involved. Plan your campaign’s official launch at a time and date that works for all the countries in the campaign. And, at every step of the way, get all parties to confirm when product have been completed so you can stay on top of the project at a global level. Consider time-zones - your timelines must reflect these so all important materials are ready all together across all markets. And don’t forget to factor in time for translation, legalisation reviews and iterations. Communicate - plans, deliverables and expectations across different channels and multiple times. Touch base with in-country teams regularly to provide backing and advice and to stay on top of the campaign as it unfolds.
Recommendation 5: Make sure you track and adjust in real time Running a campaign in multiple markets means you will have to be particularly disciplined about tracking results. The campaign manager is a good person to coordinate this. Here are a few suggestions:
Define key metrics and goals at the start of the campaign at both global and market level. Get buy-in from in-market teams on these targets. Share these metrics early and share them all. Seeing how each market contributes to the overall success of the campaign might help drive a bit of healthy competition! Review metrics weekly with the team, preferably on a call or video call, and take actions to address under-performance. These discussions should be active andactive, allowing all local teams to chip in and contribute. This is also a good opportunity to best practice across markets.
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