When you decide to travel to a foreign country than you do proper research and are extra careful as you are going away from your home, similar is the case with companies which are planning to sell their products globally because companies cannot sell their products without doing proper marketing in international markets. International marketing refers to that marketing which is not limited to the domestic boundaries of the country in which company is formed rather it is stretched across numerous countries of the world. International marketing is done by big companies which have a presence over several countries so as to capture maximum market share, in order to understand more about this concept one should look at various important features of international marketing –
International Marketing Features
Expensive
The first and foremost feature of this type of marketing is that it is very expensive because companies need to have a separate marketing department for different nations and besides company has to make a different marketing campaign for different nations which again results in the outflow of funds. In simple words, a small company cannot think of doing worldwide marketing as it is very expensive and only big companies having sufficient capital can think of doing this marketing.
Different Approach to Different Cultures
Another characteristic of this marketing is that marketing campaign cannot be the same for all countries as different culture requires a different approach on the part of the company as same marketing campaign cannot be successful everywhere. Hence, for example, an advertising campaign showing non-vegetarian food in good light can be successful in those nations where people have no problem with non-vegetarian food but same advertising campaign can be a disaster for a company in a country where people hate non-vegetarian food. In simple words, the company needs to have a flexible approach where it can modify its marketing campaign according to the culture of the nation in which it is marketing its product or service.
Extensive Research
Another feature of this marketing is that it requires extensive research on the part of the company about the different markets and different culture in which it is planning to do marketing as without doing research international marketing is similar to going for warzone without having necessary ammunition and result will be company incurring losses due to company doing marketing campaign without proper research.
Rules and Regulations
Companies doing domestic marketing does not have to worry too much about government rules and regulations as there are fixed rules which companies have to follow but when it comes to international marketing different countries have different rules and regulations and that is the reason why companies doing marketing globally have to keep in mid various rules and regulations of countries and then do marketing accordingly as any lapse can lead to long and expensive legal battle between the company and government of the country in which the company has violated rules while doing marketing.
Brand Ambassadors
In the case of domestic marketing one brand ambassador who can be a famous celebrity is enough but when it comes to international marketing companies will need to have different brand ambassadors for different countries. Hence, for example, an American company brand ambassador will be different in American markets than that of markets like India or China as the company will need to have a famous celebrity of India or China rather than a famous celebrity of America.
As one can see from the above characteristics of international marketing is that it is a very specialized and expensive exercise and that is the reason why companies looking to expand as well s consolidate their position globally should only undertake this marketing otherwise it can be a loss-making exercise.