International Marketing

In marketing, there are those who satisfy needs and those who create wants

Juan Carlos Castillo, American Academic

 What brands do you know that are marketed internationally? Think of

one brand in each of these categories which is marketed internationally.

Cars Clothing Cosmetics Electrical equipment Soft Drinks

 Answer these questions for each brand you listed above.

1. What is its country of origin?

2. What is its brand image?

3. What is the target market/segment?

4. What sort of advertising campaigns does the brand use? (Are they

standardised or adapted to local markets?)

5. What is the current slogan?

 What are the most famous international brands in your country? What
sort of image do they have:

a) at home,

b) abroad?

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 Complete each group of word partnerships (1-5) with the correct word
from the box.

Brand Customer Market Marketing Product

1. ___________________________ mix
strategy
plan

2. ___________________________ adaptation
penetration
segmentation

3. ___________________________ placement
portfolio
feature

4. ___________________________ profile
retention
base

5. ___________________________ positioning
identity
extension

 Choose the correct word partnership from each group in Exercise A to

complete these definitions.

1. When entering a new market, a SWOT analysis

(strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) is conducted on a product,
service or company before deciding on a ___________________________.

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 2. It may also be necessary to carry out a STEP analysis
(sociological/technological/economic/political) of a new geographical
market in order to decide if changes are to be made
for___________________________

3. The USP (unique selling point) is the ___________________________which makes

it different from its competitors.

4. Part of building up a ___________________________is analysing the buying habits

of consumers.

5. ___________________________is how a product is placed (up-market, mid-market,

budget) in relation to rival products.

 Look at these groups of words and phrases. Find the odd one out in each
group.

1) a) growing market b) developing market c) expanding market d) declining market

2) a) questionnaire b) focus group c) promotion d) survey

3) a) market sector b) market research c) market segment d) market niche

4) a) international market b) overseas market c) domestic market d) worldwide market

5) a) launch a product b) introduce a product c) bring out a product d) withdraw a product

6) a) special offer b) free sample c) discount d) slogan

7) a) retailer b) distributor c) wholesaler d) exporter

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 DISCUSSION. Discuss these questions.

1. What are some of the problems companies may face when they try to
internationalise a brand? (For example, brand names)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are some of the advantages/drawbacks of standardised global

advertising?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do some brands/products fail in other countries? Can you give any
examples?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Give an example of an expanding market in your country.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Give some examples of products or services which are targeted at niche

markets.
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_________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Diego Della Valle: Italian atmosphere is central to
Tod's global expansion

By Vincent Boland

It is not too difficult, in the high-ceilinged elegance of Palazzo Della Valle on the
Corso Venezia in Milan, to be seduced by the charms of a certain kind of Italian
lifestyle. Here is the headquarters of Tod’s Group, which has become a
powerhouse in the marketing of that vision to the World's wealthy and
discerning.

The atmosphere is deliberate: where some Italian fashion houses have

expanded ever further into the realms of celebrity and glamour, Tod's is
anchored as firmly as it can be to its family roots and its traditional, hand-made,
century-old heritage.

Its signature products - shoes and bags - are made of leather, a raw material
that has remained almost unchanged since it was first discovered. A new
advertising campaign will take the company back to basics, with a focus on
Italian families and their lifestyles - actual Italian families, however rich and
privileged - rather than on celebrities.

‘The Italian lifestyle is in our DNA, and in our group, we believe in our DNA,'
says Diego Della Valle, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Tod's Group.

This image is especially important in new markets, such as China and India, he
says. In common with other luxury-goods makers, he is intent on capturing
consumers in those markets who aspire to the same sense of the Italian lifestyle
as do customers in more mature markets. 'A luxury goods company has to have
control of its image,’ he says. ‘For Tod’s, the thing is to communicate this
tradition, the generations of work that have gone into our products. For us, it’s
an absolute priority.'

To achieve it, one must put quality before quantity, and one must maintain the
group's traditions even as it globalises, which it has been doing fairly
relentlessly in the past decade.

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The challenge is to marry tradition with modernity in a way that not all Italian
luxury-goods and fashion producers have managed. Tod’s has done it, Mr Della
Valle says, by maintaining one key vision: 'we’re a luxury-goods company, not
a fashion company.’

This distinction between fashion and luxury is central to Mr Della Valle's global
ambitions. The two have different product and ought to have different
strategies, he says. The competitors he admires most, he says, are Louis
Vuitton, Hermes and Chanel.

Mr Della Valle says that the goal in the next five years is 'to complete the
globalisation of Tod's, for which he has been laying the groundwork. I’d like
Tod’s to be much bigger than it is now, without diluting the brand,' he says.

He expects China and India to account for as much as 25 per cent of revenues
by then, because the growth potential is much higher than in more traditional
markets. 'There is a much bigger appetite for luxury goods in those markets
than in mature markets, and day by day more people are coming into this
market.’

But as for China as a competing producer, Mr Della Valle is sceptical about its
ability to produce luxury goods. ‘It lacks the structure of small companies, the
tradition, the concept of excellence that Italian luxury goods producers have
inherited and which they must maintain as a competitive advantage,’ he says.
‘“Made in Italy" doesn’t necessarily mean expensive goods,’ he says. ‘It means
excellent goods.’

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 READING. Answer these questions.

1. What do the following have in common: Gucci, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Louis
Vuitton, Christian Dior, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Prada, and
Yves Saint Laurent?

2. Which countries tend to make the world's most desirable luxury brands?

3. What would you buy if money was no object?

 Complete this table with the information from the article.

Tod's group HQ - where?

Key products

Chairman

Competitors that Chairman admires

New markets

Objective in next five years

 Read the article again and correct this summary.

Tod's Group wishes to convey the charms of the Italian lifestyle to the world's

rich. To do this, it focuses on celebrity and glamour, and its new advertising

campaign will feature Italian celebrities. The Chairman says he wants to expand

into India and China to capture consumers there who appreciate the Italian

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lifestyle. To enter such big markets, Tod's will need to think about quantity as

well as quality.

Tod's is primarily a fashion company and needs to be much bigger. China and

India have more possibility for growth than Tod's traditional markets. The

Chairman is worried because China will be able to produce luxury goods more

cheaply. In future, Tod's will look to lower production costs by manufacturing

in low-cost countries.

 Match words from each column to make word partnerships. Then

check your answers in the article.

1. Competitive a) Markets

2. Traditional b) Markets

3. Raw c) Advantage

4. Mature d) Materials

5. Global e) Ambition

 Discuss these questions.

1. What products do you know that rely on their heritage and cultural
background?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

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 2. In a recession, do you think companies such as Tod's should
manufacture in low-cost countries rather than at home? What are the
advantages and disadvantages of this?
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3. Would you ever buy a fake luxury product?

_________________________________________________________________________________
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4. Do you agree that designer luxury goods are always higher quality than
non-designer goods?
_________________________________________________________________________________
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 Find noun phrases in the article which have similar meanings to these
phrases.

1. A programme of activities over a

period of time with the aim of
________________________________
persuading the public to buy a
product (paragraph 3)

2. The person who has the highest

________________________________
position in a company (paragraph
4)

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3. The makers of clothes, shoes, etc.
________________________________
in new and changing styles
(paragraph 7)

4. An organisation that makes

expensive things bought for
________________________________
comfort and pleasure, not for basic
needs (paragraph 7)

5. Possibility for future development

________________________________
and expansion (paragraph 10)

 Cross out the word in each group which does not make a compound
noun with the word in bold.

1. marketing campaign / budget / leader / strategy

2. market leader / survey / check / sector

3. product market / range / features / launch

4. advertising campaign / exchange / agency / slogan

5. brand awareness / loyalty / image / contract

6. sales figures / conditions / forecast / targets

7. price promotion / rise / product / range

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 Write the words in each of these noun phrases in the correct order.

1. advertising impressive campaign really

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. customer department new relations

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. competitive mobile highly market phone

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. successful product incredibly launch

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. customer base loyal

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6. thorough extremely report sales

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7. brilliant absolutely campaign global

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8. competitive increasingly marketing environment

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