This Ebook – The Nuts and Bolts of Export Marketing is the first part of a series on ‘Nuts and Bolts’ of Exporting. This 300 page, content rich ebook is an in-depth study in the Marketing Fundamentals to succeed in an Export business or in taking your product into international markets. Lessons learnt by leading International Marketing Guru - Phillip Kotler and Internet Marketing Guru – Cory Rudly are passed over to you in a manner to ‘plug and play’ in real life situations. The book can be used as an off the shelf manual to guide your company as it seeks to enter export markets.
Some critical areas covered are Export country Assessment, Taking your business online, Marketing Intelligence, Brand Building and Developing a Value preposition, The Marketing Mix (4 P’s) Planning and Organizing export markets, Evaluating and Controlling Export markets, Market Segmentation, Positioning and much more.
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Read below a brief on how to take your products into targeted export markets.
Selecting and preparing your product for export requires not only product knowledge but also knowledge of the unique characteristics of each market being targeted. Market research conducted and foreign representatives contacts should give your company an idea of what products can be sold and where. However, before the sale can occur, the company may need to modify a particular product to satisfy buyer tastes or needs in foreign markets.
The extent to which the company will modify products sold in export markets is a key policy issue to be addressed by management. Some exporters believe the domestic product can be exported without significant changes. Others seek to consciously develop uniform products that are acceptable in all markets.
If the company manufactures more than one product or offers many models of a single product, it should start with the one best suited to the targeted market. Ideally, the firm chooses one or two products that fit the market without major design or engineering modifications. Doing so works best your company. company:
Deals with international customers that have the same demographic characteristics or the same specifications for manufactured goods;
Produces a unique product that is sold on the basis of its status or foreign appeal; or produces a product that has few or no distinguishing features and that is sold almost exclusively on a commodity or price basis.
Questions to Consider:
What foreign needs does the product satisfy?
What product should the firm offer abroad?
Should the firm modify its domestic-market product for sale abroad? Should it develop a new product for the foreign market?
What specific features, such as design, color, size, packaging, brand and warranty should the product have?
What specific services are necessary abroad at the pre-sale and post-sale stages?
Are the firm's service and repair facilities adequate?
Product Adaptation
To enter a foreign market successfully, a company may have to modify its product to conform to government regulations, geographic and climatic conditions, buyer preferences, or standards of living. The company may also need to modify its product to facilitate shipment or to compensate for possible differences in engineering and design standards.
Foreign government product regulations are common in international trade and are expected to expand in the future. These regulations can take the form of high tariffs or nontariff barriers, such as regulations or product specifications.
Market potential must be large enough to justify the direct and indirect costs involved in product adaptation. The firm should assess the costs to be incurred and though it may be difficult, determine the increased revenues expected from adaptation. The decision to adapt a product is based partly on the degree of commitment to the specific foreign market; a firm with short-term goals will probably have a different perspective than a firm with long-term goals.
Branding, Labelling, and Packaging
Consumers are concerned with both the product itself and the product's supplementary features, such as packaging, warranties, and service. Branding and labeling products in foreign markets raise new considerations.
A company may find that building international recognition for a brand is expensive. Protection for brand names varies from one country to another. In some developing countries, barriers to the use of foreign brands or trademarks may exist. In other countries, piracy of a company's brand names and counterfeiting of its products are widespread. To protect its products and brand names, a company must comply with local laws on patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
Servicing
Of special concern to foreign consumers is the service the company provides for its product. Service after the sale is critical for some products. Generally, the more complex the product's technology, the greater the demand for pre-sale and post-sale service. Therefore, there is pressure in some firms to offer simpler, more robust products overseas thereby reducing the need for maintenance and repairs. U.S. suppliers who rely on foreign distributors or agents to provide service backup must take steps to ensure an adequate level of service. These steps include training, periodically checking service quality, and monitoring inventories of spare parts.
Get this ebook for only $124.95. Click here to see Table of Contents. Click here to purchase.
