The Importance of Branding

According to Diana Rowland, president of Rowland & Associates, Inc., a training firm in San Diego, California, author of Japanese Business Etiquette: A Practical Guide to Success with the Japanese (Warner Books, 1993) and co-author of International Excellence: Seven Breakthrough Strategies for Personal and Professional Success (Kodansha America, 1996), "Global competition is too great to "wing it" when you go abroad. Savvy business people learn about the specific cultural differences for each country where they do business. And the differences are significant."

Take McDonalds for instance. This brand is recognizable worldwide. Their global success is attributed to the fact that they consider several factors before infiltrating a country. This is so because there are factors operating in domestic mix that differs or is not applicable in another.

To be competitive, marketing the product internationally should take into consideration several factors that could play a role in the success of the product. These factors include: country's culture, resources found in that target country, current marketing situation, existing competition for McDonalds products, environmental forces operating in that country, cultural influences such as family, state, church, school and media. The 4P's is essential in coming up with international marketing concepts - product, price, promotion and placement.

An example of this situation is the fact that McDonalds may sell a lot of burgers in the United States but this could not be true in China. Since Chinese prefer to eat chicken more than beef. Necessary adjustments then should be adopted before penetrating international market.

Other factors important in international marketing are: language, culture and religion.

Language and cultural blunders inevitably lead to deals that go awry resulting in lost opportunities. The areas of cross-cultural and language training are essential to conducting international business and marketing strategies.

The development of branding is one way of remaining competitive in the global scene. There are many examples of branding that has operated successfully with similar images that are designed to be culturally generic, such as Pepsi-Cola in United States and Japan. Market placement of goods refers to the methods which define the sectors where the goods need to get delivered to or identifying segments of potential customers. International and local trade laws obviously affect the marketing strategy of a business as these could set limits in the approach they used.

To succeed globally, a business requires an amalgamation of factors - effort, money and time. The multinational company should consider the fact that the international market is four times larger than the U.S. market. Learning how to maintain competitiveness in the international market also enables the business to acquire necessary rudiments to keep their advantage at the local market. To be successful, the best strategy for a business is to weigh risks against the possible benefits.