2024年5月27日
Six strategic points of global marketing! Make your global expansion go smoothly!
With globalization and the weakening of the Japanese economy, more and more companies are expanding their business areas from Japan to overseas.
However, since it is difficult to achieve results simply by implementing Japanese business overseas, it is important to deepen one's knowledge of "global marketing.
Overview of Global Marketing
Key Points of Global Marketing Strategy
The above points will be explained in an easy-to-understand manner.
What is global marketing?
Global marketing is one of the business skills required to promote sales in different countries or regions, and is essential in today's globalized business world.
Especially in Japan, where the population continues to decline, it will become more and more popular as more and more companies implement it because they can gain more profit by looking overseas.
The reasons why global marketing is important for global business are summarized below.
Optimize entry into new markets for better results
Reduce dependence on specific markets and diversify risk
Enhance competitiveness by increasing global visibility
The most important of these is "optimize entry into new markets.
Needless to say, expanding from Japan to overseas markets will increase business opportunities, but it is not as easy as simply introducing Japanese-style services and products.
Culture
Buying behavior
Economic conditions
Business customs
Laws and regulations
Since these factors are completely different from those in Japan, it is necessary to specialize your business to the relevant country.
If overseas expansion fails, it could result in significant losses. Therefore, it is imperative to "minimize risk" as well as "maximize profit" through global marketing.
Six Key Points of Global Marketing Strategy
First, we have dealt with an overview of global marketing, and now we will summarize the key points of a global marketing strategy.
Determination of target countries through market analysis
Localization
Product strategy formulation
Pricing
Promotion through websites and SNS
Compliance with business customs and regulations
Each of the above six points will be explained in this section.
Determination of target countries through market analysis
The first step in global marketing is to determine target countries based on market analysis.
How to determine target countries is very important, and in general, the "segmentation" method is very effective.
Segmentation is the process of analyzing and classifying the characteristics of customers in a market.
Products that provide a sense of security and trust are more likely to be accepted.
Easily satisfied with attention to detail
Very sensitive to high and low prices
Therefore, if you want to reduce resources and risks associated with overseas expansion, it is better to target markets with similar characteristics to those listed above.
Conversely, if you already have a specific country in mind, it is important to segment that country as finely as possible.
Region and climate
Population composition
Income
Education
National character
Segmentation based on the above perspectives will yield good results.
Localization
Once the target country has been determined, the next step is localization.
The image of localization is taking a product or service sold in Japan and adapting it to the target country.
The following is a summary of the points that need to be localized.
Product or service specifications
Product or package design
Service name and brand name
Advertising methods and text
Response to employees
It is important to note that this is not "just a translation process.
Since the climate, culture, religious beliefs, and all other aspects are different from Japan's, simply translating a Japanese product or service will not be accepted by users.
And here, too, the results of the aforementioned segmentation can be utilized.
By understanding the behavior of consumers in the target country in detail and adapting the product or service accordingly to the target country's specifications, you will be able to achieve better results.
Product Strategy Development
While every company has a different product or service to sell, it is very important to determine in advance what the product strategy will be.
There are two broad categories of product strategy: standardization and localization.
Standardization is the introduction of a product or service to the global market in its original form.
A simple example is Apple's iPhone, which is sold everywhere in the world as the iPhone.
Of course, there is minimal localization, such as language settings, but there are no differences in hardware.
And localization is the opposite of standardization, and refers to the process of bringing a product or service largely in line with the target country.
The advantages of both are summarized below.
Method | Advantages |
Standardization | Gain economies of scale Brand image can be enhanced |
Localization | Flexible response to market needs Brand image can be tailored to each country. |
Which one to choose depends on the nature of the product or service, but basically, it is important to "strike a balance.
McDonald's is a good example of a company that has achieved a good balance between standardization and localization.
McDonald's has greatly reduced costs by "standardizing" the manufacturing, distribution network, and sales methods for its main products such as hamburgers and fries, regardless of country.
On the other hand, the menu items offered are boldly "localized" to show the individuality of each country.
Furthermore, by expanding its business around the world, the company has succeeded in uncovering new "foreign to domestic" needs, such as "wanting to try Japanese teriyaki.
In this way, renowned global companies have skillfully incorporated "standardization" and "localization" to suit their products, so it is important to consider how to balance the two.
Pricing
Pricing is often a blind spot in global marketing.
If pricing is set incorrectly at the initial stage, it can lead to a major opportunity loss.
Generally, pricing should be based on one of the following
Value-based
Market-based
Which one should be chosen is a case-by-case basis, but basically, "Japanese products" are highly valued around the world.
Therefore, if you can take advantage of the brand "Japanese company" as the nature of your product or service, setting prices on a "value-based" basis that takes "Made in Japan" into account will be profitable
On the other hand, economic conditions in global markets can easily fluctuate due to the following factors
Foreign exchange rates
Inflation, deflation
Economic policies
Therefore, be prepared not only to set prices once, but also to set them flexibly thereafter according to the situation.
In particular, since the yen has been depreciating significantly in recent years, you must always be aware of exchange rate risk when expanding overseas.
Promotion through websites and SNS
Promotion" is an essential part of global marketing.
How should promotion, which is the foundation of modern business, be incorporated into global marketing?
The important points are summarized below.
Use of websites with multilingual SEO
Operation of social networking accounts used locally
Tie-ups with popular local influencers
The two basic routes are "website" and "SNS," and both must be effectively utilized.
The characteristics of both are summarized below.
Method | Characteristics |
Web site |
|
SNS |
|
Regardless of the method used, it is important to provide high quality content to users as international competitiveness continues to increase.
Therefore, it will be necessary to establish a system that can flexibly respond to local needs, such as assigning native personnel in charge of promotions.
Compliance with Business Practices and Regulations
Lastly, we will discuss compliance with "business customs" and "laws and regulations.
Compliance is extremely important in modern business, and no matter how high quality your products and services are, if you have compliance issues, you will be shut out of the market.
Below is a summary of points to be observed in global marketing.
Points to be observed | Details |
Business practices |
|
Laws and Regulations |
|
Religion |
|
The above are only a few examples, but in terms of "business practices," for example, "quick decision-making" tends to be more important in the U.S. than in Asian countries such as Japan and China.
Asian countries tend to be more cautious and view business from a medium- to long-term perspective, and if you cannot adapt to this gap, you may not be able to smoothly expand your business overseas.
Also, in terms of "religion," it is necessary to understand in advance that during the Islamic "Ramadan" period, business activities during the daytime are restricted.
Conclusion
By implementing global marketing, it is possible to quickly expand a business area that was previously limited to the domestic market.
Naturally, there are a myriad of points to be aware of and consider, so be sure to take the points outlined in the article into account.
Careful advance preparation and strategy will maximize the results and minimize the risks of global marketing.
SNS Share!!