business
Although it is important to consider the diferent models of expansions when deciding to go into a
new market, new country or even new geographical area of the world, it is also essental to consider
the demands and preferences of customers in those areas. Across the world, there are diference
and adaptatons that must be made in order to satsfy local tastes and needs. Businesses trading
internatonally should consider the impact of these adaptatons and the extent to which they need
to make changes. Changes can incur an additonal cost that might be essental to trade in a new
market. Adaptng your product to meet the needs of an overseas market is a considerable
undertaking and will likely require a substantal investment of tme and money.
Car manufacturing is a good example of re-engineering a product as some countries have lef-hand
drive cars and others, like the UK, have right-hand drive cars. A car manufacturer operatng in the UK
would need to re-engineer their products in order to produce an appropriate car. Another example
is that in some countries, certain food additves, dyes or ingredients are not permited, and it is
important that changes are made for local customers.
Therefore, when launching a product into foreign markets frms can use a standard marketng mix or
adapt the marketng mix, to suit the country they are carrying out their business actvites in. Basic
marketng concepts tell us that we will sell more of a product if we aim to meet the needs of our
target market. In internatonal markets this will involve taking into consideraton a number of
diferent factors including consumerss cultural backgrounds, religion, buying habits and levels of
personal disposable income. In many circumstances a company will have to adapt their product and
marketng mix strategy to meet local "needs and wants" that cannot be changed.
A great example for this would be McDonalds. They are a well-known global company, however,
their burgers are adapted to local needs. In India where a cow is a sacred animal their burgers
contain chicken or fsh instead of beef. In Mexico McDonalds burgers come with chilli sauce. This
shows why McDonalds have so much success around the world, they adapt to their customers needs
in every part of the world, and that is why it has such a big impact and success in the internatonal
market.
As with internatonal product decisions an organisaton can either adapt or standardise their
promotonal strategy and message. Advertsing messages in countries may have to be adapted
because of language, politcal climate, cultural attudes and religious practces. For example, a
promotonal strategy in one country could cause ofence in another and cause anger among those
from that country. Every aspect of promotonal detail will require research and planning one
example is the use of colour. They colour red means lucky in China and is worm by brides in India,
whilst white is worn by mourners in India and China and brides in the United Kingdom. Many
organisatons adapt promoton strategies to suit local markets as cultural backgrounds and practces
afect what appeals to consumers.
The place element of the marketng mix is about distributng a product or service to the customer, at
the right place and at the right tme. Distributon in natonal markets such as the United Kingdom will
probably involve goods being moved in a chain from the manufacturer to wholesalers and onto
retailers for consumers to buy from. However, in an overseas market there will be more partes
involved because the goods need to be moved around a foreign market where business practces
will be diferent to natonal markets. An example of this would be in Japan, where there are
approximately fve diferent types of wholesaler involved in the distributon chain. Businesses will
need to investgate distributon chains for each country they would like to operate in. They will also
need to investgate who they would like to sell their products and services to businesses, retailers,