Response to Kelcy's Post

This is in response to Kelcy's question: "If any company markets their product internationally, do you think the company will flourish no matter what?"

I believe that it can be very important for a company to market internationally, if they are ready for it. Marketing internationally involves a lot of time, money, and effort on behalf of the entire company. Certainly marketing to an international audience can be very beneficial in that more customers are reached, more profit can be made, exchange rates can work in your favor, etc. There are many great benefits that can come from international marketing. I don't believe, however, that a company will flourish no matter what if they market their product internationally.

A company can make many mistakes in marketing, as seen in class with Euro Disney. In order for a company to make their product available to international markets, a lot of research must be done. If a company does not study the culture, the people, and even the language, many mistakes can be made and the company may actually offend some people or fail in that given country. This is obviously the opposite effect that the marketers want, and as a result, the company may not succeed. Also, there may be no demand for a product that a company makes in particular countries or regions. For example, there is probably not much demand for North Face jackets in Africa and other hot, dry regions. So, if a company does its research and studies the culture and believes that that there is a market for their product, they may be successful, but they will not indefinitely flourish. Do you agree that a company must take these steps to be successful?

E-marketing

E-marketing is completely revolutionizing the way marketing is being done. With recent advancements in technology and with virtually everyone in the entire country using the internet on a daily basis, e-marketers are finding it easier and easier to get the word out about their products. Out of the 4 P's of the marketing mix, I believe that the place and promotion factors are impacted the most by the advent of e-marketing.

The place factor has been greatly impacted by e-marketing because any and every product is available nearly instantaneously. The distribution factor should have products available at the right time at the right place and in the right quantities. Since the global market is so highly integrated now, customers looking at products will be able to see exactly how much of a product a company has, when it is able to be shipped, when it will arrive at the customers' house, etc. Also, e-marketing has benefited companies with inventory control. Companies such as Wal-Mart have instant inventory systems in which, as soon as a product is sold in a store, the information to order a replacement is already in China and will ship domestically extremely quickly. This allows companies to always have the correct amount of any given product, whenever the customers want it.

Promotion is probably the most affected factor by e-commerce as companies can target market their product(s) on any website that they would like. This allows companies to market to only the customers they believe will buy their product, hence saving thousands of dollars a year and avoiding marketing to customers who are unlikely to buy that product being advertised. Companies are also able to publish information about their products such that customers can do research and find out background information about the company or product, or simply look at the features a product has. Since a customer who visits a firm's website is interested in the products that that company has to offer, the company can highlight the products it wants to sell the most.

I believe that e-marketing is one of the most useful tools that marketers can use, and as a result, they can target market their customers like never before, all while saving thousands, if not millions, of dollars a year. With all these new forms of internet marketing, what do you think we will see in the next few years? What new ways can marketing managers take advantage of e-marketing?