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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-100-billion-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

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