CHAPTER 3
The Dimensions of International Marketing SHEAR THE SHEEP, BUT — DUTCH PROVERB
DON’T FLAY THEM.
is millennia in age and prodigious in size. Like the preceding aphorism, the best of this wisdom is the result of clear-headed observation filtered through common sense. Keeping marketing in perspective requires the practitioner to look both backward at the forces that shaped today’s markets and forward to where those forces are propelling new prospects. Many marketeers fail to realize that much of the groundwork and research have already been laid for them; they’re best advised to view the future by standing on the shoulders of those who preceded them. “Don’t reinvent the wheel, put new tires on it” is a common saying in marketing, one that admonishes the listener to learn from history, not repeat it before moving forward. This chapter will give the reader essential background for understanding the complexity and scope of international markets.
MARKET WISDOM
Defining Market Conditions: Money Talks Human beings have always traded among themselves, with each side of a trade believing they stood to gain by the transaction. Originally goods were traded for other goods (my two chickens for your pail of milk) in a process called bartering. Eventually, goods were traded for services (my two chickens in exchange for your medical recommendations). Much of what went on in the marketplace was (and still is) a matter of perception. I believe your pail of milk is of greater value to me than my two chickens and therefore I’m willing to relinquish the chickens. You, of course, believe the opposite. Money soon came along to replace the barter and it became a medium of exchange. Money also created a wider range of bargaining options (it’s very difficult to make change with a live chicken). Money originally had some intrinsic value (gold, silver, copper); it gradually came to serve as a promissory note for the delivery of goods and services. Once everything was “priced” in terms of money (rather than chickens or milk), a new burden of proving value was placed firmly on the seller. The buyer had a set value for money and the seller had to prove that a product was worth that monetary value. Although there were extreme cases where buyers had to convince sellers that money has value (e.g., war-ravaged economies), the marketplace demanded (for the most part) that the seller do the convincing and the buyer the believing. Sellers would bring products to market hoping to attract buyers equipped with money. This was the birth of marketing,
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