Global Strategy Marketing Essay

Introduction

Globalization refers to the increased interconnection of the world through improved cultural exchange and trade (Hirst, Thompson, & Bromley, 2015). Many national companies have established their operations across borders, making them be referred to as multinational corporations rather than national firms. Globalization has resulted in increased production of services and goods, greater global economic dependence, and the free flow of services, goods, and capital. It is worthy to note that even though globalization has been instrumental in creating more wealth in most developing nations; it has not succeeded in bridging the gap between poverty-stricken countries and the rich counterparts. Due to globalization, firms adjust their marketing strategies so as to adapt to diverse conditions experienced in other countries. The act of market strategy adjustment is referred to as global marketing (De Mooij, 2013). This paper seeks to describe globalization of marketing and markets, the four discourses of globalization, and examination if globalization is evil or good.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Globalization of Marketing and Markets

By definition, global marketing strategies (GMSs) are tactics that involve countries belonging to different regions in the globe and are tailored towards coordinating marketing efforts of a given firm in markets of these different countries (Rao-Nicholson & Khan, 2017). It is worthy to note that a global marketing strategy does not cover all the countries in which a firm operates. However, the strategies should apply to several countries across the region. Typically, a marketing region is divided into the Asian region, the Pacific region, the Africa region, the North America region, the Middle East region, the Europe region, and the Latin America region. It is prudent to understand that a regional marketing strategy coordinates all marketing efforts in a single region. GMS results into uniformity in packaging, promotional appeal, and branding in a given region.

GMS has various components associated with it such as similar advertising messages, synchronized product introductions, uniform packaging, coordinated pricing and sales campaigns, identical brand names, and standardized products. Boone and Kurtz (2013) elucidate that these components ensure an integrated marketing communication which ensures consistency, thus positive revenue benefits as a result of spillovers between the countries involved and unique message reinforcement. However, it is imperative to note that GMS's most important driving force is the scope and scale of cost advantages associated with having a uniform marketing strategy such as unnecessary duplication elimination, savings on same-size and multilingual packaging, quantity discount, utilization of same marketing and promotional materials, and so on. Normally, local markets are not always similar and adoption of GMS attracts resistance and negative sentiments from country managers. This is because the existing local operations have to adopt new global strategies. In this regard, it is worthy to note that GMS is a top-down management level in which the executives at the company's headquarter pass down implementation ideas to the country managers (Keegan & Green, 2015).

Four Discourses of Globalization

Cultural Discourse

Different countries have cultural practices that are distinct. De Mooij (2013) explains that this implies that different countries have different traditions, norms, religion, beliefs, and values which make global marketing challenging. In this regard, firms which have international operations need to understand this cultural diversity in order to gain a competitive edge in the corporate market. Particularly, it is paramount to understand cultural differences between the African region and the West as the two regions have totally different cultures. It is imperative to note that culture influences free trade policies, localization, advertising, international negotiations, consumer behavior, brand effectiveness, business relationships, and international marketing among others which subsequently affects global marketing (Crane, Kawashima, & Kawasaki, 2016).

Cultural globalization involves foreign culture infiltration into the local market. However, it is essential to understand that even though cultures adapt and borrow global features, individual cultures still retain their distinct characteristics or features. The unique features necessitate firms to develop global marketing strategies in a bid to make their products acceptable to their customers around the world. Several dimensions of culture exist which include individualism versus collectivism dimension, power distance, short versus long-term alignment, masculinity versus femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. Societal cultures influence these dimensions and they depict cultures of various global firms. These dimensions are necessitated in the formulation of global strategies so that products can appeal to customers across cultural inclinations (Crane, Kawashima, & Kawasaki, 2016).

Due to cultural variations, there exist no preferred choices for global market strategy. Instead, there are combinations of both local and international strategies aimed at converging cultural elements. For example, multinational corporations prefer using advertising strategy that has higher standardization in the European Union as compared to the Asian market because of regional-based differences. Culture values are commonly applied in Chinese and American adverts. According to Burgenmeier and Mucchielli (2013), European Union multinational corporations prefer GMS while firms based in North America and Asia prefer local strategy.

Economic Discourse

Economic globalization entails economic interdependence of countries as a result of the flow of products, capital, services, and so on across the border of different countries. As a matter of fact, economic globalization involves economic life aspects such as finances, labor force, markets, and production processes. Most countries are specialized in the production of particular products. This means that they have to depend on other countries for the products that they do not manufacture. The result of this interdependence is the creation of economic globalization between countries in which individual countries produce and sell their excess products to other countries (Rodrik, 2014). Economic globalization is evident among the European Union countries as individual countries are specialized in a given line of production such as energy, clothing, food, and so on. Economic globalization enables the thriving of multinational corporations. These corporations have to develop global marketing strategies to make their products appealing to the target market. It is, however, worthy to note that there are various factors that impede adoption of a global marketing strategy that spurs economic globalization among countries. These factors include wage or price control, devaluation, unemployment levels, money supply, interest rates, GDP trends, and inflation rates. A good global marketing thus involves analyzing each factor and developing a favorable marketing strategy that will ensure that the products sell across different countries.

Technological Discourse

Technological changes and advancements affect global marketing strategies that a multinational corporation adopts for its products and services in different countries. Monahan (2013) notes that technological advances have transformed the way multinational corporations trade their goods, organize production, develop new products, and invest their capital, and so on. It is vital to note that sophisticated technology has enabled the instantaneous flow of communication regarding the condition of the market in different countries. The conditions include customer preferences, cultures, and market demand among others. Advanced technology in manufacturing has enabled the production of high-quality products that are acceptable in the international markets. Technology has enabled improvement of the sea and air transport which has facilitated the movement of goods and people to international markets, which has led to the improvement of global markets. Rapid technological innovations have enabled the formation of a global market which has enabled the creation of competitiveness among firms.

According to Hashim (2015), technological advancement such as communication facilitates interaction between competitors and customers in the marketplace which increases integration of global operations. In particular, e-commerce has enabled multinational corporations to effectively market for the products across the globe at a minimum cost. It is prudent to note that e-commerce and other technological advances have brought challenges that have threatened the success of global market strategies. Hackers have brought down useful market data that have made multinational corporations to incur massive losses.

Political Discourse

Political globalization refers to a situation in which multiple nations come together to develop solutions for various issues that affect them. The ramification for this is an improved economy as well as the formation of a strong bond between countries. This enlarges the market for multinational corporation products. Political globalization is prudent as far global marketing. Other than improving the economy, political globalization enables the creation of a free market that is free from trade embargos. This consequently leads to increased trading activities between two or more countries. However, it is vital to understand that political globalization results in loss of authority in countries. Political instability can also derail global trade between countries as well as loss of property.

Globalization as a Force of Good or Evil

There have been arguments about globalization in the contemporary world. The advocates for globalization have highlighted various reasons that support it as a force for good. Likewise, antagonists of globalization have given dissenting views why it is an evil in the society. Basically, it is important to pinpoint that globalization has many advantages than its disadvantages. Globalization provides wide choices for people. Through globalization, many products are availed in the market as foreign companies are able to export their products to different companies. This increases choices for consumers as they are able to select a product from the list of available alternatives in the market. Another importance of globalization is that it improves quality because wide choices result in increased competition in the corporate market. For this reason, as competition intensifies, firms resort to quality products to gain a competitive edge in the market. It is also essential to understand that globalization results in technological advancements which are used to produce quality goods that appeal to customers (Popa, 2014).

Globalization improves the economy of countries as it enables outsourcing of jobs and services. For instance, multinational companies set up branches in other countries because of factors such as relatively cheap labor and favorable government policies among others. Gurgul and Lach (2014) pinpoint that this creates employment opportunities for people of countries in which these branches are established. Created employment opportunities enable communities to have better living standards as well as generate revenue to the government which in turn lead to economic improvement. Moreover, globalization enables the spread of knowledge through technological globalization such as the use of the internet. Many online platforms have been developed that enables sharing of knowledge and innovations for a better and improved world.

Despite these advantages, there a...