Get Paid

Before you consider entering into the international market, do as much research as you can. It is a whole new world outside the U.S., and it is very easy to make a fatal mistake. The following are just some of the marketing areas that must be considered.

The market entry requirements or barriers to entry. Social or religious limitations that may affect your business. For example, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas had to rebuild its multi-million dollar entrance that was a tiger’s mouth, because it was offensive to Chinese customers.

International demographics will undoubtedly be much different from your domestic market. You also need to know the exact market size and be able to conduct effective international market segmentation and international positioning.
This will require you to know the current market, market statistics, and market history.

You must have affordable media strategies for consumer or business-to-business marketing. You need to know about the licensing requirements. You have to find appropriate and affordable channels of distribution within the foreign market that can deliver your product where and when you want it delivered.

You may not have protection of intellectual property in foreign markets (copyright, trademark), and that could be a costly problem. You must carefully examine your product or service to
determine whether there is a profitable international market. Your calculations of cost of goods sold or cost of sales,
pricing, and revenue potential must be accurate in the international market.

Consider whether there are available or a lack of local resources. Also, can you secure enforceable contracts with customers, vendors, and distributors in the foreign market. You need to consider stfing, training, and labor laws in the area. For example, there are very strict labor laws in Europe which make it very difficult to terminate an employee.

You must prepare and effective marketing collateral and global
branding strategy. For example, GMC had to change the name of the car named NOVA in Mexico, because NOVA translated
to “no go.” Obviously, that was not a good name for a car.

Learn about international distribution agreements that must comply with foreign laws. Find out if you will need to localize you product or service to make it marketable in the foreign market. Localization is often required in U.S. markets also. For example, Wal-mart had to build horse barns for its store located in the Amish district of Pennsylvania so that Amish customer had a safe place for their horses and wagons while they shopped.

There are other local customs, cultural idiosyncrasies, and mannerisms that must be observed in foreign business. Otherwise you may offend people, and they will not want to do business with you. These cultural diffences will probably be apparent in the negotiating styles. There may even be cultural differences about shaking hands or making eye contact. Also, many other cultures know about American history, and they are insulted if you know nothing about their history.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS