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Global Orientation: Growing Company Competitive Advantage
Paula M. Burke
Southern New Hampshire University
Image Credit: Yahoo
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Global Orientation: Growing Company Competitive Advantage
In the 1990s, U. S. companies began an innovative strategy to internationalize their
products and services. To globalize is to seek out a large foreign audience to grow a strong
competitive advantage. Several important events pave the way for this evolving process of
globalization. These historical events include the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union,
advances in telecommunication and business strategies for emerging market growth. Companies
are always seeking out locations for cheap labor and land to reduce costs for goods and services.
American businesses forge forward to increase competition by crossing national borders for
pricing, promotion, product and distribution (Cateora, Gilly, Graham, 2013, p. 25). The demands
of the customer and what their needs are is a strong component for international commerce and
shareholder value. Marketers harness sales strategies to build a universal brand equity with many
of their customers. Through the reduction of trade barriers and acceptable regulatory practices
many organizations are gaining competitive superiority on a global economy of scale.
Companies such as Samsung and Costco understand competitive advantage is based on image,
support and high quality products. Best marketing practices are dependent on the customer and
their love for the brand.
Before the 1990s, the U.S. and other countries traded goods and services but are
constrained by trade barriers and the cyclical volatility of the U.S. dollar (Cateora, Gilly,
Graham, 2013, p. 32). The support and consensus for more countries to join the marketplace is
viewed as favorable but with continued issues in trade barriers and tariffs. This rise of the
multinational corporation (MNCs) is not completely accepted by the U.S. public forcing a need
for change to restructure industries for a “getting lean and mean” corporate mindset (Cateora,
Gilly, Graham, 2013, p. 27). Businesses in the U.S. value opportunity and opening relationships
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with trading partners is a high value proposition. The passing of the NAFTA treaty and other
trade agreements is vital to changing the way a business can trade and market products. The
initiation of an open dialogue and technology advances is the key component to the development
of global market reach. This phenomenon is facilitated through a universal form of
communication called the Internet. This paradigm shift offers a convenient experience with
virtual web stores allowing many companies to sell directly to customers in a more flexible 24/7
time frame. Businesses are looking for new ways to grow their product line. Communication is
retrievable in many diverse languages offering customers more access to products and services
with the push or click of a computer button. The global orientation is underway and how
marketers play out this plan is critical to their competitive dominance.
There are three strategic factors that define global orientation and its ability to achieve
awareness. The first centers on the issue of adapting to a new country culture. This marketing
strategy is best achieved by getting to know the citizens and their culture that will influence their
desire for a product or service (Cateora, Gilly, Graham, 2013, p. 23). How a company interacts
with their customers is the basis for a long-term relationship for the brand. The second factor is
how a company perceives its main objective of organic sales growth by understanding the
specific countries’ product needs based on their environment and supply chain. What works in
Korea is not necessarily going to be a similar distribution plan for India. Learning about the
country before pursuing expansion is paramount. Lastly, the final factor assists the marketer to
view the business as a more universal market with limited marketing segmentation. This is not a
country touch-point but more of a internal marketing strategy such as a social media network that
will be more global in content not directed to one group or nation. A universal message begins to
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take place in diverse parts of the world to recognize the brand, setting the stage for higher global
brand awareness.
There are successful companies worth noting that have utilized their global awareness
strategies to rank with high brand recognition. To illustrate this point, Samsung, the electronics
manufacturer offers a strong marketing mantra of support, service and customer preferred
imaging (Kiley, 2014). Their marketing strategies in global development are primarily focused
on the customer and their needs. Samsung has universal tactics that utilize a market driven
culture. This is based on their mission to be the best digital lifestyle product manufacturer. The
business seeks out the complete market that is a home, business and mobile environment (Kiley,
2014). Samsung is crafty in their testing of their designs as they go out to locations and create
focus groups. The goal is to test their new phones or flat screen monitors out with their customer,
as this visible imaging is a best source for information for product likes and dislikes. Samsung
looks to gauge these studies to evaluate profitability. The marketing team at Samsung utilizes
benchmarks that include average price index (API) and brand attitude studies (BAS). These
analytics assist in offering an accurately priced product demanded by the customer. Samsung’s
reputation as a leader in electronics is about obtaining a customer and empowering them to
remain loyal by falling in love with their product for long-term brand identity.
Another company that is expanding into a global mindset is the company, Costco. Costco
understands that the number one way to stay competitive is to know your customer, deliver big
value not just with lower prices but treating the customer as an investment. In an aggressive
global growth strategy, Costco is pushing further into the Australian market to add more stores
(Moskowitz, 2014). Their initial entry into the country is not well received as Walmart had the
lion share of customers. Overtime, through tax benefits and more brand recognition programs
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they do show an increase in profitability with faster growth than Walmart. Customers are very
satisfied with the quality of the merchandise and their revenue in 2014 reached $110 billion,
opening stores in Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom (Motley Fool, 2014). Costco has a very
loyal fan base, as their brand promise to customers is trustworthy.
In summary, the emergence of technology and the reduction of trade barriers enabled
companies to grow globally with respectable profitability. The marketing strategies centralize
around the customer and meeting their needs provides long-term success in a global market. The
global orientation of bringing awareness to a country is shown through studying the culture and
the people in the region to get better aware of their demands and what types of products are
needed. Companies that are successful like Samsung and Costco work to elevate their customers
to feel important and promise them the best brand for their money.
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References
Cateora, P., Gilly, M., Graham, J. (2013). International Marketing. (16th ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Image Credit: Globalization Image. (2014, November 23). Retrieved from
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=Globalization+images
Kiley, D. (2014, November 23). Business Week Online video views. Retrieved from
http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/videos/BW/Flash/SeoulSuccess.html
Moskowitz, D. (2014, January 4). Costco expands its global reach. Retrieved from
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/04/costco-expands-its-global-reach.aspx
Motley Fool. (2014, November 17). How Costco plans to blow past $100 billion in sales.
Retrieved from http://www.nasdaq.com/article/how-costco-plans-to-blow-past-100billion-in-sales-cm414765
Wasserman, E. (2010, February 1). How to build an international brand. Retrieved from
http://www.inc.com/guides/build-an-international-brand.html