INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY

“The real Voyage of Discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes” –

When we speak of voyage to the unknown; seeing the land for the first time is quite exhilarating. True! But the real essence of the place is not their tourist spots or their delicacies rather the people who are native to the land – their individual attributes that foster their simple yet unique culture. Culture is something that does not die away, it is something that grows within us and flows through us. It has always been called, the way of life for an entire society. As such, it includes norms of behaviour, manner of dressing, language, and belief system (religion and tradition). Dealing with culture is a big issue with marketers since it is inherent and most often difficult to understand. There are instances wherein, people from different cultures may feel uncomfortable in each others presence without exactly knowing the reason why. It is an essential aspect for a businessman to learn the diversity of cultures in venturing foreign business. Comprehending cultural differences is an own advantage, one will know the do’s and don’ts in doing business in the foreign land thus, avoiding future litigations that is due to misconception or ignorance of foreign culture.

There are several cultural lessons to be learned, for an example in a Muslim tradition; the dog is considered a “dirty” animal, so portraying it as "man’s best friend" in an advertisement is counter-productive. Packaging, seen as a reflection of the quality of the "real" product, is considerably more important in Asia than in the U.S., where there is a tendency to focus on the contents which "really count." Many cultures observe significantly greater levels of formality than that typical in the U.S., and Japanese negotiator tend to observe long silent pauses as a speaker’s point is considered (, . no date). It is also important not to stereotype when one is observing a culture since there are often significant individual differences within cultures. However, there is a strong inclination for one to stereotype cultures as being one way or the other.

In 1997, , a Dutch researcher was able to interview a large number of IBM executives in various countries, and found that cultural differences tended to center around four key dimensions: (1) individualism vs. collectivism – individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and immediate family. Like the U.S., Autralia is an individualist society. Australia will tend to say what they think, and be quite forthright in their opinion and attitudes. Collectivism pertains to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in – groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. (2) Power distance – it refers to which members of an organization accept that power is distributed unequally throughout the organization. High Power distance is seen in Japan. (3) Masculinity vs. femininity - expected gender roles in a culture. Feminity refers to gender roles overlap, nurturance; stress on equality, solidarity, and quality of work life. Manager’s uses intuition and strive for consensus, conflict resolution by compromise and negotiation. Example of which are Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Netherlands. The masculinity refers to the distinct gender roles and Assertiveness. Stress on equity, competition, and performance. Managers are expected to be decisive and assertive – men are assertive and women are tender. Conflict resolution is done by fighting out over issues, examples of which are Japan, Italy, Mexico and America. (4) Uncertainty avoidance – pertains to how comfortable people feel towards ambiguity and risk. People feel threatened by vague state of affairs and have created beliefs and institutions to avoid such conditions. In low uncertainty avoidance it is categorized as having low time consciousness, high tolerance of deviant and innovative ideas, low stress due to few rules and people can appear quiet, easy – going, indolent or lazy who are capable of taking risks. This can be seen in Singapore. However, high uncertainty avoidance is more on tome conscious; low tolerant of deviant ideas therefore is resistant to change. People can appear busy, emotional and aggressive and / or active that is likely to have higher stress and risk adverse. Countries that belong to this category are America, Korea and Japan. Moreover, a fifth dimension was added later, “long term vs. short term orientation” which focuses on the differences between East Asian countries and the rest of the world (, . 2006). For an instance U. S. managers like to see quick results compared to the Japanese managers are known for take a long term view, often accepting long periods before profitability is obtained.

            The dimensions of Hofstede is one of the many important tools in managing business in the foreign land, this must be also taken in consideration since they each dimensions represents their relationship to real cultural variables that has been established through research and testing.

            Let’s say that a company in Hong Kong would like to engage in international business in Japan, means to say that the firm from purely domestic is now exporting goods in ad hoc basis – that is, each country may be entered sequentially, but with relatively little learning and marketing efforts being shared across countries. The main target here is Japan’s market. However, Japan’s culture is entirely different from Hong Kong in every aspect. We could say that cultural diversity is indeed a problem but not a hindrance. The better, if not the best way to settle differences is learning their culture.

            Japanese business culture is wrongly interpreted as the biggest obstacle to starting business in Japan for many foreign companies thinking of entering the Japanese market is too risky. It is not risky that has to be dealt with; it is ensuring excellent service, quality of the products and reliability – that is the key strategy in making regular successful business. That means having sufficient well-substantiated confidence in your ability and your team's ability that you can make commitments to a Japanese customer or partner and guarantee being able to deliver on those commitments on the promised dates. Making an assurance and failing to deliver on it is the secret of failure in Japan even more so than it is in any other market. Japan’s business culture is that consumers and corporate buyers here tend to be unusually loyal to suppliers; assuming of course the suppliers consistently return that loyalty with excellent service, quality and reliability. Japanese market consumers and companies tend to comprehensively and exhaustively assess and investigate products prior to purchasing and when first doing corporate business in Japan, the time taken by Japanese companies to evaluate, test and benchmark products prior to making a decision is highly frustrating to the foreign investors. This also applies with the Japanese consumers they do a ‘pre – purchase evaluation’ before the actual purchase. One reason for this is with regards to the consumers is that there is a lack of living space wherein consumers old not want unwanted purchases for the lack of space to store it. Unlike, in the U.S. or European countries wherein, they do lots of unwanted purchases due to the reason that they have a lot of space to fill in.

            The Japanese market is one huge rumor-mill which can near-bankrupt a company within weeks (, . 2006). The lack of living space is of course linked to Japan's population density - averaging 870 people per square mile nationwide but in Tokyo soaring to an incredible 34,747 people per square mile (13,416 people per square kilometer) as of September 1, 2003. What’s the connection of population density to Japan as a rumor mill? Well, if one particular customer seen a strand of hair in his food. Resulting to definite dissatisfaction of the customer thus, he will leave the restaurant and as he pass along the way mentions his experience to about 20 – 30 people and those 20 – 30 people would mention the same experience ‘till the whole neighborhood would know about it. What can be learned from this? Simple! It only dictates that Japanese market requires high standard on quality, reliability and service.

            It is also known that the Japanese market is a brand conscious market; from head to toe for daily wear, accessories and in the cars they buy. They prefer branded tags such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Chanel and european cars are well – accepted by the Japanese market. The main determinant of the Japanese market is the female gender unlike in West wherein the male audiences are anticipated. Therefore, if a company would like to be appreciated in the Japanese market they not only have reliable service, good ethics and best service but also, they must have established brands that as a factor would definitely attract the market. Since, it’s the female who are the primary consumer; one way to charm them is by designing an item which is specifically for women.

Japanese business etiquette is more formal - especially so at a first meeting when the exchanging of the infamous Japanese business card is almost ritualistic (Accept a Japanese business card with respect, using hands, saying 'Thank you' or 'Hajimemashite' as you do so). They took much importance on business card due to the reason that if one does not give importance to their business card it is also a sign that they are not well – received or not relevant and that will be marked in their memory. Politeness, sensitivity and good manners are the pillars of Japanese business etiquette (, . 2006). Many foreigners confuse the service aspect of Japanese business culture noted above as being simply a part of Japanese social culture, i.e. people are just being polite. However, some nationalities have misinterpreted these “politeness” of the Japanese. For example, a business meeting that his hosted by the Japanese that could be worth $2,000 may mean something to the investors however, in the mind of the Japanese they wont purchase the product nor do business with them, still they make it to appoint that they are polite enough to entertain these investors. There are important points remember during business meetings that is to dress formally (Do not wear black suit, white shirt and black tie because that is funeral attire); always arrive 10 minutes early for a meeting, more if the meeting will be with senior executives; It is good Japanese business etiquette to take lots of notes - it indicates interest and Japanese are trained during induction to note down everything at meetings. If you forget a discount that you promised in an early meeting, even a year later the Japanese side will show you the note they made at the time and personal etiquette is highly valued. These are some examples provided by Chris Bawd: (1) one must not blow ones nose in public, (2) do not grab your host's hand when first meeting and give it a hearty shake - many Japanese seldom shake hands and can be so uncomfortable doing so as to avoid meeting again. (3) Never pat a Japanese man on the back or shoulder. (4) Never make derogatory remarks about anyone, including your competitors and own employees. (5) Always smile, be pleasant, be willing to learn, ask a lot of questions about your customer's company (and none about his/her private life) (6) Remember to carry your Japanese business cards (2006). Preferably, double-sided Japanese business cards printed with the Japanese language side being custom designed using the same elements as the English side.

In summary this paper talks about the importance of studying different cultures in the context of business matters. Here, we have studied the business culture of the Japanese market wherein, we have learned that they are quite particular with quality service and product; and most importantly, it is reliable at any cost. In capturing the female consumers the company that shall invest in the Japanese market must note that they brand conscious and must be very innovative enough in designs that shall enthralled the female market. It was also stressed out the importance of politeness or generally, proper etiquette in conduct or in the manner of dressing since, they have high regards with position and ranks. It is also advised that the company that shall do business with the Japanese would be patient enough since, they are also quality conscious that it will take them longer periods before making a decision. Therefore, if one knows the Japanese at heart it is likely that their business will boom (as well as in other countries).

 

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