Introduction:
Rapid globalization, companies keen to spread out internationally companies is faced by a very critical question of whether to standardize or to adapt its product or services. Global marketers have been trying to conclude with a particular answer to this great dilemma. Over the years as modern industry has developed, to standardize or to adapt has become a very important defining decision for the marketers. Each has its own pros & cons but to choose the right is a tough choice to make, it needs a thorough analysis and understanding of the market and only then a decision could be arrived .This essay will critically try to understand and analyse the various arguments of standardization and adaption so as to arrive at which is more appropriate in the modern international marketing scenario.
Discussion
Standardisation refers to the concept of keeping one standard product or a service across different markets with the belief that the same product or service can be marketed across countries without any significant change or modification. Many of the global companies use this strategy across their product lines as over the time, with growing trade and international relations across globe, the ‘one world, one product’ strategy looks promising.
Adaptation is described as “the mandatory modification of domestic target market dictated product standards – tangible and/or intangible attributes – as to make the product suitable to foreign environmental conditions” (Medina & Duffy, 1998).Adaptation or Localization as it may be said is more a concept of changing or modifying the standard version of a product or service to suit the market requirements. Product adaptation involves modifying the product elements to meet the market...
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Today, many companies enter the global market, and some companies have become extremely successful in the global marketplace and others still struggling. In Theodore Levitt’s article “The Globalization of Markets”, he states that a well managed corporation focuses on selling standardized products with high quality and low priced instead of focuses on selling on customized products with high cost. Levitt defines the differences between multinational corporation and global corporation, and adopts many specific examples to proves his view. He defines the multinational corporation who operates in many countries and adjust its product based on the taste of specific region. This will result in a high cost to produce the product because company have to input more resource into each individual product. However, global corporation sells similar product worldwide at relative low cost. According to Levitt, the cultural differences are becoming more and more “homogenized”; therefore, becoming a global corporation will lead to the successful of the company in the global market.
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We propose a branding strategy which takes into account the brands capabilities and competencies, strategies of competition brands and the outlook of consumers experience in their respective societies. As an international brand there is the challenge of staying connected with local customers. We will overcome this by adapting marketing strategy to local needs using a variance of standardized marketing mix and an adapted marketing mix.
The adaptation of the major business strategy to all the markets where the company’s products are presented.
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The same can be said about a localization strategy. Localization may give a firm a competitive edge, but if it is simultaneously facing aggressive competitors, the company will also have to reduce its cost structure, and the only way to do that may be to shift toward a transnational strategy. This is what Procter & Gamble has been doing. Thus, as competition intensifies, international and localization strategies tend to become less viable, and managers need to direct their companies toward either a global standardization strategy or a transnational
The proponents of standardization approach in international marketing views the globalization trends as a facilitation of technological uniformity, greater level of similarity, and higher convergence of consumer preference, taste, and needs. The growth of international communication channels also facilitate the standardization including th...
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Overall, McDonalds are able to reach customers all around the globe and they market their products inexpensively. According to Naim (2001, p. 1) it is acknowledged that, “McDonald 's is a global brand, but we run our business in a fundamentally different way that ought to appeal to some critics of globalization. We are a decentralized entrepreneurial network of locally owned stores that is very flexible and adapts very well to local conditions. We offer an opportunity to entrepreneurs to run a local business with local people supplied by a local infrastructure. Each creates a lot of small businesses around
a company can familiarize itself with cultural nuances which may impact the design, packaging or advertising of the product. Moreover, traveling abroad allows one to locate and cultivate new customers, as well as improve relationships and communication with current foreign representatives and associates