Standardization Vs Customization In Global Marketing Strategy

Key Sections of Quelch and Hoff’s Article

(1) Be it product strategy, promotion strategy, pricing strategy, or distribution strategy, if there is an important issue that permeates our course it is whether firms should standardize or customize their global marketing strategy. Thus, we once again revisit the issue of standardization-customization in Quelch and Hoff’s article “Customizing Global Marketing.”

(a) IDENTIFY, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN each of the various sections of Quelch and Hoff’s article “Customizing Global Marketing” in SUBSTANTIVE DETAIL.

(b) Do you agree or disagree with the authors’ premise? If so, why, if not, why not? Explain your answer in SUBSTANTIVE DETAIL.

(c) Does this article deal PRIMARILY with marketing PROGRAM standardization or marketing PROCESS standardization? What is the difference between marketing program standardization and marketing process standardization? In your discussion, explain how is this article different from those discussed earlier on the issue of standardization-adaptation? Either way, explain your position in SUBSTANTIVE DETAIL. (You may conduct additional research and use external sources of information to explain your answer, but be sure to cite ALL your sources of information after each answer.)

(2) The concept of standardization and customization applies to all aspects of Promotion Strategy.

(a) Define ALL the components of promotion strategy, i.e., advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, and direct marketing. Can all these components be standardized or do they need to be customized in devising a global promotions strategy?

(b) Are there any promotion strategy components (advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, and direct marketing) that are more “standardizable” for consumer or industrial products? If so, identify and explain which one(s).

(c) Based on the HBS cases you have analyzed so far, IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE the process of 2 firms (identify the name of the firms as well) that use a direct personal selling strategy in its various country markets. (You may conduct additional research and use external sources of information to explain your answer, but be sure to cite ALL your sources of information after each answer.)

1(a) This article actually aims to analyze relationship amid the strategies and tactics of standardization as well as adaptation plus acceptance of the marketing mix plus the performance in the global context. The current sort of writings recommends that global as well as tailored tactics are not unavoidably mutually exclusive plus that they could be used within tandem to harvest the maximum advantages 

The article has several sections and deals with facts like

Dimensions of the global marketing(Cluley, 2014)

All the elements of actual marketing mix in the global context

Path towards attainment of aims of standardization as well as customization

Analysis of the actual way towards this direction

Thus, aims of the article are to carry a study of attaining all the advantages and benefits as well as demerits of standardization and customization of firms and enabling them to serve global market (Jakobs, 2008). The study also pertains role of strategies of actual standardization as well as adaptation of marketing mix plus performance in a global context

(b) I do not agree with the author’s premises because I personally feel that firm must not standardize and rather customize the marketing programs and also processes for attainment if better results in the global market. This is for the reason that:

Debate on Standardization vs Customization

Globalization is very complex phenomenon and also is contested regarding its description, extent plus implications, as well as thus in terms of most suitable response to this

Globalization actually is transforming real way in which some products get marketed globally. Some firms also implement an international strategy that also uses comparable communicational messages plus themes to market same product all around the globe(Larsen, 1997)

Consumers belonging to different countries demand products which differently reflect their likings, tastes and preferences and cultural plus political and legal as well as economic ecologies affect customer preferences plus industrial purchasers worldwide

In international marketplace marketing procedure is same as the one carried out in the home market, and only with vital modifications any firm can attain share in international market and these modifications can be costly and time taking as well (Napper, 2010)

(c) The article primarily deals with marketing process standardization.

Marketing Program Standardization	Marketing Process Standardization
Focuses on multinational firm’s prospect to move worldwide and standardize all of their programs and characteristics	It deals with standardization of the process of marketing only and not other aspects at all.
It deals with and aims to make a standardize program for undertaking the works which would work for all the branches of the firm all over the world	It is about standardized marketing loom that can actually be used globally
This type of tactics assures all the works of operation and finance and all other functions going in the same way in all the branches all over the world.	This form of marketing tactics assures to work all across several different cultures as well as nations towards promotion of a particular type of product.

 
Source:(Michell, 1979)

This article and study is different from all previous researches done in this filed in several ways.

The main purpose of this study is actually twofold otherwise can be said that it emphasizes on dual aspects at the same time

 It has aimed to examine standardization of all the global marketing tactics by all the exporting firms of developing nations and has at the same time analyzed and identified underlying dimensions and edges of marketing and develops a proper corresponding aim for real standardization of very all the elements of marketing program.

As a little extension, this study has also linked global marketing standardization for the firms’ export and higher intensity. In many sections a brief proper review of standardization literature also are presented plus the research questions are also advanced.

Next, research design plus methodology also are well described(Noguchi, 2008)

The analysis as well as findings is presented along with a loom and orientation towards global marketing right from a very less developed nation to developed ones

There are several cultures in different nations and coping up with these dissimilar cultures is not an easy task.

Standardization is very difficult in different culture and societal effect and also firms face several difficulties in this task. Also any mistake in the process can lead the firm towards failure.

2(a) Advertising- it is the interaction and communication relayed right from firm to persuade the audiences towards purchasing their goods and services. Such a communication is generally via several forms of actually paid media like television and radio commercials, as well as print ads plus billboards as well as more newly, product placement (Quelch and Deshpande, 2004)

Sales promotion- It is amongst the five elements of promotional mix. Sales promotions in reality are set of those marketing activities which are undertaken for boosting up the sales of product otherwise service. There exist two basic forms of the sales promotions and they are trade plus customer sales promotions.

Public relations- It is also called PR and relates to the exytent to which h the firm related itself to the needs and demands of consumers and degree to which it satisfies its consumers.

Personal selling- Personal selling takes place where individual salesperson actually sells any product, service to any client.

Direct marketing- It is that channel-agnostic type of advertising and promotion which permits businesses as well as nonprofit firms to communicate directly to customer, along with advertising tools and techniques which  can also include messaging, email, consumer websites, and online display as well as database marketing(Ronkainen and Czinkota, 2002)

Of course it is possible to customize all the above elements according to the nation and culture and place where they are to be used

(b) There are elements that can be extra Standardizable for industrial goods and services and they are:

• Public relation- It is something that can be built in a standardized manner for every firm all over the world. Public throughout the world needs and demands full satisfaction and through fulfilling all their needs and wants plus demands the firms can attain better results. PR can be same in every nation because reputation of firm in one nation also affects its reputation in other nations. Whereas personal selling and direct marketing are facts that needs to be adjusted as per the nation’s culture and social acceptance as well as beliefs and values of people living there, PR can be standardized because reputation in all the nations can be made similar if the firm likes to do so.
• Advertising also can be to extent standardized though not to the degree to which PR can be. Advertising contains advertisements and these can be actually similar for similar nations.

(c) US-based firm of Information Technology named Dell Inc. and also India’s large and chief vacuum cleaner as well as water purifier firm named Eureka Forbes are said as pioneers within filed of direct marketing. Their strategy for direct marketing helped the firms to gain market leadership and good position in both of their respective industries and sectors. Dell is also very successful because of its direct selling replica and has also attained good market share due to it’s a pioneering strategy. Yet in mid-2000s, few analysts even criticized the firm Dell for fixing itself to its direct selling business model. As per these critics, such a business model had made the firm very successful and dropping of such model will actually harm the firm in long run. By dropping this model the firm might lose its effectiveness thereby lose its actual competitive edge. Both the firms use direct marketing strategy for attainment of better results in the market. 

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Larsen, Hanne Hartvig. Cases In Marketing. London: Sage Publications, 1997. Print.

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