Introduction
The export environment is a very competitive market environment in modern business. Yashin (2004, p. 311) observes that just the way consumers differ depending on the market, so do the brands available for them to choose from. This means that it is not an easy task to identify the brand that an individual or a particular segment of the market wants, that is as the market position widens, defining a unique position for a brand becomes complex as the market widens and grows big. To make the scenario worse, often the desired position will always be occupied by another brand, hence requiring a newly established brand to have a unique communication strategy.
Body
It is rumored that immediately after the battle of Waterloo, the meeting between the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon led to Wellington telling Napoleon , “you fight for power, we fight for honor,” and Napoleon replied, “yes, one always fights for what one does not have” (Anholt, 2000, p. 33). Yes, one always needs to learn the skills he or she lacks since skills that are learned automatically in a particular part of the world must just be learned in another region or country. This is why it would be important for a company intending to export its produce to assess several factors in order to establish whether the said product will be positively received in that particular part of the world.
One of the major criteria to consider is the cultural paradox. According to Pepper (2004, p.67), “the way people think and perceive is guided by the framework of their own culture, and that local market are people while global market s are products”, i.e. one can talk of global products and not global people, global brand and not global motivations for buying the products. Thus it is important to establish the cultural perception of such products to be exported, for example whether the product is culturally acceptable in the intended market.
Firms intending to venture into an international market must be ready to focus on the orientation of the traditional investment criteria in that particular country, and that the government activities of marketing painting the destination as attractive should not be emphasized over this traditional investment approach (Kaynak, 2008, p. 129). For example, a city may decide to adopt cultural exchange program, however, the impact on its desirability as an export destination may not be as much as workforce quality and quantity, access to markets, transportation, and distribution infrastructure. Since selection of the market is so crucial, it’s always important for a prospective exporter to analyze the entire local community consumption criteria (p. 130).
Another complicated area that a prospective exporter must analyze is the pricing criteria. According to Kaynak, an incorrect pricing policy can easily lead to total failure in the international market (2008, p. 133). Setting up an export price should be preceded by a concise study of the international marketing criteria of different competitors in those markets. This would allow for a substantial knowledge of the pricing criteria for these regions.
Today, the global automotive industry operates in a global market that has emerged considerably competitive. With such companies as Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and DaimlerChrysler all competing for the global market, it is very critical to establish a proper marketing strategy for specific brands for the successful sales. It is noted that the acceleration of the automotive industry globalization is due to the establishment of overseas facilities and mergers between giant automakers. The general decline in the car industry sales in 2008 as a result of macro regulation and the overall economic meltdown. This meant that the prospective car buyers became conscious of the projected decline in income, thus making them put off plans to purchase cars.
The Chinese market is a very critical market that needs adequate strategy in getting inroads into its market. As observed by Yasin, (2006, p. 44). Chinese market relies heavily on the cost of car use as the deciding factor in the car purchase (p. 46). It is said that Chinese government has started encouraging the development of energy-saving products. Auto industry-related consumption policies are expected to be introduced and put to practice. Thus safety, less fuel consumption, and environmentally friendly compliant cars will be the priority in the Chinese market in future, since these factors will have to guide the research and development (R&D) of the motor industry in China in 2010 (49). Furthermore, Yasin states that policies such as consumption and fuel tax will be used to encourage the purchase of cars with low emissions. Additionally, packing fees, and traffic conditions will also determine the market consumption of the auto industry (p. 50)
To develop a successful market in China, the auto industry should focus on the independent branding as this is lacking in China presently, especially for the passenger cars (APEC, 2008, p.3). It has been predicted that in the next few years, China will develop and encourage auto enterprises to focus on development strategy that is based on independent branding, research, and development. It is therefore expected that the Chinese government is likely to take some specific measures such as tax reduction policies and introducing fiscal subsidies, that is likely to benefit enterprises that have independent branding, and research and development.
In an attempt to revitalize the car industry, the Chinese government has adopted a strategy that will offer incentives for the new energy-saving cars, subsidies for those purchasing cars in the rural areas, government car procurement, an “old-car-for-new-car” scheme, car loans and merger (APEC, 2008, p.10). This is likely to change the consumption criteria of the auto products hence bring a new dimension towards the new auto industry markets.
Conclusion
Different countries have different people with different preferences, different cultures and different governments with different policies. This is an indication that a product can be sold globally but cannot be marketed using one criterion. If a company has interest in exporting any product to any country, the company has to assess some factors to ensure success of sales hence the success of the company. As mentioned in the paper, these factors are; the cultural paradox, the orientation of the traditional investment criteria and the pricing criterion.
In Chinese market for example as discussed, the cost of car use is the deciding factor for a car to be purchased. The government has influence in this due to the need for environmental conservation and reduction of expenses on fuel. There is also the lack of independent branding which if exploited can lead to success in the automotive industry. This paper has discussed some important factors an exporter should consider in order to export products globally and has also handled the case of China automotive industry market giving an explanation of how success can be obtained in such a market.
References
- Anholt, S. (2000). Another one bites the grass: Making sense of international advertising. New York: Wiley, p. 5.
- Callebaut, J., et al. (1994). The naked consumer. Antwerp, Belgium: Censydiam Institute
- Pepper, T. (2004,). Building a bigger star, Newsweek, Issue 52. Pages 12-27
- Kaynak Erdener, (2008). Strategic global marketing- issues and trends, New York, Sage Publishers
- Yasin, Tony (2006). Integrated marketing communications, Chicago, Palmhorse Printers
- APEC , (2008 )”Effective Automotive Policies and Barriers to Growth” Joint Industry Report for Automotive Dialogue