In today’s business world, often companies simply cannot stay domestic and expect to maintain and increase their markets.  A company must initially decide if it is beneficial to go international, then define its international marketing policies and objectives to create an effective promotional campaign.

The Decision Whether to Market Internationally

            A global industry is defined as “an industry in which the strategic positions of competitors in major geographic or national markets are fundamentally affected by their overall global positions” (Porter, 1980, p. 275).  Though some U.S. businesses would prefer to eliminate foreign competition through restrictive legislation, a more effective way to compete is to continuously improve products and to contemplate marketing abroad (Kotler, 2000, p. 366).

            There are several factors that attract m

International marketing techniques are very often the key to success or failure when a business expands into the global marketplace.  Thus, considerations regarding language and culture must be taken into account when designing an international marketing plan.

One option is for a company to use the exact same marketing campaign in all countries, varying only the language, name or colors.  However, sometimes the translation does not effectively further the company’s message.  For example, when Coors translated its slogan “turn it loose” into Spanish, it was interpreted by many as “suffer from diarrhea” (Kotler, 2000, p. 383).

            When companies design international marketing campaigns, the major issues to contemplate are price and the promotional process. 

            Yet, before deciding to market internationally, there are several risks that must be contemplated.  For example, according to Kotler, a company may not adequately understand foreign customer preferences and could potentially fail to offer a “competitively attractive product” (2000, p. 367).  A frequently mentioned example of this type of blunder is when Hallmark cards introduced their greeting cards in France.  Hallmark did not take into account that the French dislike syrupy sentiment and prefer to write their own cards (Kotler, 2000, p. 367.)  Another example is when Coca-Cola had to remove its two-liter bottles from the market in Spain after learning that few Spaniards owned refrigerators with sections large enough to accommodate the large bottle (Kotler, 2000, p. 367).

An alternative to translation is to use the same theme internationally, but to vary the copy for the local market.  For example, a Camay soap advertisement that showed a beautiful woman bathing was seen differently in different countries – in Venezuela, a man was seen in the bathroom; in Italy, only a man’s hand was sh

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