International Marketing – will it be beneficial for your Company?

Over the past 40 years the number of multinational corporations in the world’s fourteen richest countries has gone from 7,000 to 24,000.

While many companies have marketed internationally for years, more and more companies are looking to enter the arena of global competition.

In today’s business world, often companies simply cannot stay domestic and expect to maintain and increase their markets. A company must initially decide if it is beneficial to go international and then define its international marketing policies and objectives to create an effective promotional campaign.

The Decision Whether to Market internationally is a difficult and complex one. A global industry is defined as “an industry in which the strategic positions of competitors in major geographic or national markets are fundamentally affected by their overall global positions”.
Though some U.S. businesses would prefer to eliminate foreign competition through restrictive legislation, a more effective way to compete is to continuously improve products and to contemplate marketing abroad. There are several factors that attract more and more companies into the global marketplace, for instance, global companies that offer superior products for lower prices can threaten a domestic company’s market. This is often a force that attracts companies to enter the global marketplace.

There are several risks that must be contemplated before deciding to market internationally. For example, a company may not adequately understand foreign customer preferences and could potentially fail to offer a “competitively attractive product”. A frequently mentioned example of this type of blunder is when Hallmark cards introduced their greeting cards in France. Hallmark did not take into account that the French dislike syrupy sentiment and prefer to write their own cards. Another example is when Coca-Cola had to remove its two-liter bottles from the market in Spain after learning that few Spaniards owned refrigerators with sections large enough to accommodate the large bottle

Another risk that companies face when contemplating marketing products internationally is that the company might not adequately comprehend the foreign country’s business or social culture. This can lead to ineffective dealing with foreign nationals, which can hurt product sales. For example, in some Asian cultures it is extremely rude to touch someone on their head. In Arabic countries it is considered unacceptable to point the bottoms of one’s feet at another person. In many Latin American countries, it is proper to cultivate a friendly personal relationship before doing business. Consequently, many companies simply choose to market to neighboring countries because they understand these countries well. Therefore, it is not surprising that the United States’ largest foreign market is Canada and that Swedish companies frequently choose to expand internationally only within Scandinavia.

Despite the many challenges in the international business market, companies selling in global industries can successfully internationalize their operations if they follow a structured marketing approach.

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Related Information of Interest:

Celebrity Gossip: What's The Attraction?
Have you ever found yourself enthralled by what goes on in the personal lives of celebrities? Well, you aren’t alone. A huge percentage of people all over the world look forward to opening up their magazine of choice and reading about what the famous are up to. In what new ways has Tom Cruise embarrassed himself? Has Britney Spears given birth yet? Are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sleeping in separate beds? For some reason, many humans find these things to be interesting.

But you have to ask yourself, why is it that people are entertained hearing about celebrity gossip? If Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are having marital troubles, what makes it more interesting than your neighbors regular fights? Is it because the celebrities have more money, and therefore anything that happens to them is more important? After all, if I want to hear about marital troubles, I don’t have to look very far.

Celebrity gossip is a huge business. The photographers can earn literally thousands of dollars just for taking a picture of a celebrity. The magazines scrape together every little bit of info the can to come up with the newest rumors. The magazines are released to grocery store checkouts across the nation, and are quickly snapped up by shoppers eager to hear the latest.

The Celebrity is really an interesting phenomenon. Society has idolized people who are hardly more good-looking or charismatic than the average person. And individuals have followed this trend, and begun to be interested by the celebrity gossip that is everywhere. But when put into perspective, few people can come up with the true reason they are interested by it. So, ask yourself why you really enjoy reading the gossip magazines. If you can’t come up with any valid reason, perhaps it’s time to rethink your priorities.

We know that it doesn't make any sense, but Celebrity Gossip is still fun, right? So visit our Celebrity Gossip Forum ;-)

Marching Along
1. In England, until the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752, March was considered what month of the calendar year?
A. First
B. Fourth
C. Eighth
D. Last

A. First
QQ: In England, until the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752, March was considered the first month with the legal year beginning on March 25.

2. What animal is honored on March 1?
A. Pig
B. Horse
C. Cow
D. Chicken

A. Pig
QQ: March 1 is National Pig Day. It was started by Texas art teacher Ellen Stanley in 1972 to honor and give thanks to our most intelligent domesticated creature.

3. Also known as St. David's Day, what country holds March 1 as its National Day?
A. Ireland
B. England
C. Wales
D. Scotland

C. Wales
QQ: March 1, St. David's Day, is the national day of Wales. St. David was the founder and first abbot-bishop of Menevia, now St. David's in Dyfed, South Wales. The day is commemorated by the wearing of daffodils or leeks. Both plants are traditionally regarded as national emblems.

4. What organ of the body is honored the third week in March?
A. Heart
B. Skin
C. Lungs
D. Brain

D. Brain
QQ: The third week of March is Brain Awareness Week in support of brain disease and research.

5. What favorite food is honored in March?
A. Soup
B. Eggs
C. Steak
D. Noodles

D. Noodles
QQ: As legend has it, noodles were first made by 13th century German bakers who fashioned dough into symbolic shapes, such as words, birds and stars. These "nudels" were then baked and served as bread. March national noodle month.

6. According to Roman mythology, Mars is the God of War. He was also regarded as what?
A. Father of Rome
B. Destroyer of Rome
C. Founder of Rome
D. Builder of Rome

A. Father of Rome
QQ: One of the most important Roman deities, Mars was regarded as the father of the Roman people because he was the father of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome. Although his original nature and functions are obscure, Mars was identified by the Romans with the Greek god of war, Ares. The month of March was named for Mars.

7. The week of March 20-26 is designated to honor what childhood pastime?
A. Chewing Gum
B. Bubbles
C. Slinky
D. Yoyo

B. Bubbles
QQ: March 20 to 26, 2004, is "National Bubble Week," the week for kids of all ages to celebrate the fun and enchantment of bubbles. The first-ever Bubble Week was in 2000 and was initiated by Oddzon, makers of Koosh Bubbles. The event was created to herald the first day of spring -- the unspoken first day of the bubble-blowing season.

8. March has its own insect, the March ____. What is it?
A. Bee
B. Moth
C. Beetle
D. Fly

D. Fly
QQ: There are about 119,500 known species of flies and they make up the fourth largest insect order, after the beetles, butterflies and moths, and bees and wasps.

9. What piece of foul weather gear is honored in the month of March?
A. Raincoat
B. Galoshes
C. Rubber boots
D. Umbrella

D. Umbrella
QQ: March is national umbrella month As a shade from the sun, the umbrella is of great antiquity. It is only more recently we have come to see the umbrella as protection from rain.

10. What favorite snack food is honored in the month of March?
A. Corn chips
B. Popcorn
C. Peanuts
D. Cheese curds

C. Peanuts
QQ: March is National Peanut Month. National Peanut Month had its beginnings as National Peanut Week in 1941. It was expanded to a month-long celebration in 1974.

You can enjoy more trivia created by Deanna Mascle at A Trivia Break, The QuizQueen, and Trivial Topics. Submitted with Article Distributor.

Delicious Christmas Cookies Recipes
Keep your kidsbusy during Christmas break baking cookies to give as Christmas gifts. Below are some common Christmas cookies that arenï¿½t too hard to make and are great for Christmas sharing.

Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are classics that will melt in your mouth. You can roll the dough out and use Christmas shaped cookie cutters or simple roll the cookies into balls and then roll the balls in a festive topping like crushed almonds or coconut. These cookies are easy and fun to make.

Youï¿½ll need the following:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 pound unsalted butter
pinch of salt

To make the cookies mix the ingredients well and then roll out to ï¿½ inch thickness and use cookie cutters. Or make small balls out of them and roll the balls in nuts or coconut. Place on a greased cookie sheet and then flatten lightly with the bottom of a glass

Bake at 300ï¿½ F. for around 20 to 25 minutes.

Secret Kiss Cookie

These fun cookies have a chocolate kiss treat inside!
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 bag chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped (7 ounces)
powdered sugar

Cream the butter, vanilla, and sugar. Blend in the flour. Wrap a tablespoon of the dough around a chocolate candy kiss. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350ï¿½ for approximately 15 minutes until the dough has set but is not brown. Then while still warm, roll each cookie in powdered sugar.

The recipe above makes about 2 to 3 dozen cookies.

Thumbprint Cookie

This is a colorful and fun cookie that kids love to make with a thumbprint.

2 1/2 cups flour ï¿½ add more if dough is too thin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla
Chopped nuts
Jam

Use an electric mixer and beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Then add sugar and flour, vanilla and almond extract, blending well. Chill the dough for 2 ï¿½ hours then form it into small balls and roll them in the nuts. Place the balls on a lightly greased cookie sheet then make an indentation with your thumb and fill it with jam. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until firm and light brown on bottom. Bake at 300ï¿½.

Marianne Jackson is a staff writer at Christmas Gazette and is an occasional contributor to several other websites, including Family Review.

Being A Responsible Fisherman
Being a responsible fisherman today includes important responsibilities. It is more that obeying all fishing and boating laws and regulations. It must include be respectful to other people, landowners, and other fishermen. We all must respect the natural and safeguard it as a future resource. Our actions today affect our fishing world for our kids and grand-kids. I know that I would like future generations to enjoy the sport of fishing as much as I have in my life.

We must all be ethical and respectful angler. Some basic things to think about:
· Respects other anglers
· Respects others that use the same resources (lakes, rivers, etc.)
· Respect the land owners
· Practices catch and release when not consuming fish (no senseless killing)
· Does not litter or pollute
· Knows and follows all fishing laws and regulations
· Continually improves his/her skills
· Shares experience and knowledge with others
· Positively promotes fishing
· Sets the example
· Enjoys Fishing!!!

While I am not the best fisherman or even in the class of professional fishermen, I do enjoy fishing. It is something that I am passing on to kids, even to kids not belonging to me.

By being ethical and responsible in our fishing, this sport can be around for generations for everyone to enjoy. Be involved and proactive in promoting this sport. Join local and regional fishing websites to gain information and knowledge. It is also another way to be involved.

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