Fishing the Global Market for Higher Returns

Pools of motivated customers exist in the market and companies that can find them are able to tap their customer pools to create higher returns on marketing investment. Access to new customers rests in market research and treaties that open these markets for revenue generation.

Market research allows a company to determine who is most likely interested in their product and where they can find them. A thorough research approach should also include the types of media needed to reach your target market. In the international environment this can take significant time but can improve performance. 

Certain customers will be interested in your products/services more than others. Knowing who they are makes the entire sales process easier as they come to the company “hot”. An organizational will then need to know how to reach them and the marketing mediums that have the highest rates of return. 

Treaties help ensure that trade can actually be conducted. If there is no treaty it may be unlawful or expensive to conduct business in certain countries. Solidly designed treaties provide American companies’ access to new customers but also protect the products/services companies offer. 

Fishing the global market requires a willing partner in government along with intensive market research. Business pushes for expansion of reach and government opens the door. Knowing where the hungriest fish are and having the boat to get there is great but then using the right bait and hook can lure them into biting.  Fishing trips should start with a little research.

Targeted Marketing or Brand Awareness? Which Works Better Online?

Online marketing has travelled a long way over the last decade and now supersedes traditional advertising media in the majority of channel categories. The online advertising world is not yet fully developed and will transform over time to include higher capabilities. A paper by Attia (2014), discusses how metrics will need to change to ensure the current click-through model is replaced by more holistic measurements. Successful campaigns have been built by adding brand image to the overall marketing plan. Is targeted marketing or brand management better?

Click-Through is the most common method of online advertising but people have become sensitized to the marketing channel. The rate uses a simple formula like Clicks/Impressions X 100 =Click Through Rate (CTR). As more people click on an impression (showing of ad) the rate moves up and is considered effective.   

When customers become desensitized to click-through ads, pop up banners, etc. they begin to ignore the display ads making them less effective in attracting their attention. As effectiveness and cost drop advertisers will view the ads as less important, putting pressure on the market to develop new channels. 

The author argues that companies may increase their effectiveness if they use a matrix of measures and focus at least some of their attention on brand awareness. Brand awareness occurs when customers understand the brand and can recall information about it. Such awareness is often calculated by polling whether or not people remember the brand. 

Trends are showing that brand management is increasing and needs better methods of marketing. Online brands are difficult to measure without an appropriate battery of marketing metrics. A single channel with a single metric skews the brands actual place and success in attracting customers. 

The study successfully explains that single channel marketing focused only on drawing immediate purchases is slowing down due to the growth in the Internet. Companies can build brand images by using both online and offline advertising. The totality of different marketing metrics is a stronger predictor of performance than a single click-through measurement. As an organizations builds its online marketing campaign it should keep in mind that brand is important in attracting visitors beyond click models. 

Attia, K. (2014). The shift from online performance to more holistic brand efficiency measurement and the need for standardized online ad formats. Journal of Brand Strategy, 3 (1).

Developing the Global Marketing Mindset

Global marketing is a new business necessity as global integration leaves few localities untouched by outside market influence. Developing global managers and moving them into organizations where they are most useful can help in the development of stronger marketing decisions. Research by Moeller and Harvey (2011) highlight the need to develop the “global mindset” among managers and use that mindset to compete on international markets. 

Before discussing the benefits of globally oriented managers it is first beneficial to understand what the “global mindset” is. According to Rhinesmith, the global mindset is, “the ability to scan the world from a broad perspective always looking for unexpected trends and opportunities that may constitute a threat or an opportunity to achieve personal, professional or organizational objectives” (1993, p. 24). They are able to overview the global environment and understand larger trends and move to specific knowledge adaptation when necessary. 

Those with “global mindsets” do something a little differently than local managers. They use something called the reference point theory. Similar to the process of socialization, acknowledging and understanding reference points, those with the global mindset can use multiple strategic reference points when transitioning into culturally, economically, and politically foreign environments (Fiegenbaum, et. al. 1996). In other words, they have gained enough knowledge in their lives to bounce around different cognitive models to see problems from varying cultural perspectives. 

The ability to scan wide swaths of information, dig deeply into areas of interest, and use multiple perspectives to solve problems obviously has advantages for organizations that must market, distribute, and operate on multiple continents. According to Gupta and Govindarajan (2004), it provides organizations with the benefits to forecast trends in the market, gain sophistication in analysis due to diversity of perspective, integrate best practice knowledge, and coordinate across functional activities and borders. 

The global mindset is developed through experiencing other cultures and gaining of environmental knowledge. This comes from studying concepts, understanding others points of view, being aware of your surroundings, and being creative in problem solving. Some personalities strive for understanding greater breadth of information while others do not. When managers have gained cultural experience and knowledge they can put that to strong use in solving complex global problems in logistics, marketing, human resource management, and many other areas. 

Fiegenbaum, A. et. al. (1996). “Strategic Reference Point Theory,” Strategic Management Journal, 17 (3), 219–35.

Gupta, A. & Govindarajan, V. (1991). Global Marketing Strategy and Organization. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Moeller, M. & Harvey, M. (2011). Inpatriate marketing managers: issues associated with staffing global marketing positions. Journal of International Marketing, 19 (4). 

Rhinesmith, S. (1993).  A Manager’s Guide to Globalization. Alexandria, VA: Richard D. Irwin.