BSBMKG606Manage international

marketing programsLearner Guide

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BSBMKG606Manage international marketing programs

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents................................................................................................................................3

Unit of Competency............................................................................................................................7

Performance Criteria...........................................................................................................................8

Foundation Skills...............................................................................................................................10

Assessment Requirements................................................................................................................11

Housekeeping Items..............................................................................................................................12

Objectives.............................................................................................................................................12

1. Formulate international marketing objectives................................................................................13

1.1 – Select viable international marketing opportunities and develop objectives consistent with the organisation's capabilities and resources..............................................................................................14

Viability.............................................................................................................................................14

What are your costs going to be?.....................................................................................................14

Conduct a SWOT or a PEST analysis..................................................................................................15

Developing objectives.......................................................................................................................16

Activity 1A.........................................................................................................................................17

1.2 – Identify measurable international marketing objectives consistent with organisation's strategic direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for international market.........................................18

Measurable international marketing objectives...............................................................................18

The nature and extent of goals for international market..................................................................18

Activity 1B.........................................................................................................................................19

1.3 – Formulate strategic objectives and related key performance indicators by product, service, country or international grouping, and overall.....................................................................................20

Key performance indicators..............................................................................................................20

Product..............................................................................................................................................20

Service...............................................................................................................................................20

Country or international grouping....................................................................................................21

Overall...............................................................................................................................................21

Activity 1C.........................................................................................................................................22

1.4 – Develop a risk management strategy to manage contingencies, and ensure marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational requirements.........................................................23

Risk management strategy................................................................................................................23

Identification of risks.........................................................................................................................24

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Controlling/preventing risks..............................................................................................................25

Monitoring risks................................................................................................................................26

Activity 1D.........................................................................................................................................27

2. Determine international marketing approach................................................................................28

2.1 – Research international marketing opportunities and determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or services..................................................................................................29

Research international marketing opportunities..............................................................................29

Determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or services.......................29

Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model Australian Guidelines for Electronic Commerce.........30

Australian Government Policy Framework for Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce........32

Australian Standards and international standards............................................................................32

Anti-discrimination legislation and ethical principles........................................................................34

Consumer laws..................................................................................................................................35

Extra-territoriality provisions of the Trade Practices Act now Competition and Consumer Act 2010..........................................................................................................................................................36

Foreign investment limits..................................................................................................................38

Labour laws.......................................................................................................................................38

Legal aspects of bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements..........................................................39

Privacy laws.......................................................................................................................................41

Taxation laws....................................................................................................................................42

World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution system............................................................42

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) International Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce..........................................................42

Activity 2A.........................................................................................................................................44

2.2 – Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches.................................................................45

Evaluate options................................................................................................................................45

Activity 2B.........................................................................................................................................47

2.3 – Select a marketing approach to meet marketing objectives, international market conditions and consumer preferences..........................................................................................................................48

Select a marketing approach.............................................................................................................48

SWOT or a PEST analysis...................................................................................................................49

Activity 2C.........................................................................................................................................50

3. Determine operational structures..................................................................................................51

3.1 – Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences, and identify compatible marketing structures..............................................................................................................................................52

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Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences......................................................................52

Identify compatible marketing structures.........................................................................................53

Activity 3A.........................................................................................................................................54

3.2 – Identify options for operational marketing structure and rank them for strengths and weaknesses in servicing international markets.....................................................................................55

Options for operational marketing structure....................................................................................55

Ranking options.................................................................................................................................56

Activity 3B.........................................................................................................................................58

3.3 – Choose operational structure that best fits international market and product or service...........59

Choose operational structure...........................................................................................................59

Activity 3C.........................................................................................................................................60

4. Manage international marketing performance...............................................................................61

4.1 – Communicate international marketing objectives across the organisation to suit culture, customs, levels of knowledge, experience and needs of personnel......................................................62

Communicate international marketing objectives............................................................................62

Activity 4A.........................................................................................................................................63

4.2 – Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors involved in all elements of marketing effort............................................................................................................64

Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors.................................................64

Belbin's team roles............................................................................................................................64

Roles in marketing.............................................................................................................................66

Activity 4B.........................................................................................................................................67

4.3 – Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel responsible for each element of marketing mix work together to meet organisation's marketing objectives.........................................68

Communication strategies................................................................................................................68

Cross-cultural communication and negotiation styles relevant to the country/ies where international marketing activities take place....................................................................................69

Activity 4C.........................................................................................................................................71

4.4 – Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards areas of greatest potential for the organisation..........................................................................................................................................72

Directing the marketing effort..........................................................................................................72

Activity 4D.........................................................................................................................................73

4.5 – Manage integration of marketing, promotional and any sales activities in accordance with international marketing objectives.......................................................................................................74

International marketing objectives...................................................................................................74

Integrated marketing........................................................................................................................74

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Promotional and sales activities........................................................................................................74

Economic, social and industry directions, trends and practices........................................................75

Industry product and service knowledge..........................................................................................75

Activity 4E.........................................................................................................................................76

5. Evaluate and improve international marketing performance..........................................................77

5.1 – Monitor product, pricing and distribution policies in relation to market changes, objectives of marketing plan and organisational requirements.................................................................................78

Monitor product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies................................78

Activity 5A.........................................................................................................................................79

5.2 – Monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met............................................................................................................80

Marketing metrics.............................................................................................................................80

Statistical and data evaluation techniques to measure marketing performance..............................81

Activity 5B.........................................................................................................................................83

5.3 – Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and objectives.................................................84

Analyse marketing outcomes............................................................................................................84

Review marketing objectives and outcomes.....................................................................................85

Activity 5C.........................................................................................................................................86

5.4 – Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause and effect, and use to improve international marketing performance...................................................................................................87

Performance gap analysis.................................................................................................................87

Improving marketing performance...................................................................................................87

Activity 5D.........................................................................................................................................88

5.5 – Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their potential impact on international marketing objectives.......................................................................................................89

Analyse changes in market phenomena............................................................................................89

Activity 5E.........................................................................................................................................90

5.6 – Document review of marketing performance against key performance indicators in accordance with organisational requirements.........................................................................................................91

Document review of marketing performance...................................................................................91

Activity 5F..........................................................................................................................................92

Skills and Knowledge Activity............................................................................................................93

Major Activity – An opportunity to revise the unit................................................................................94

References............................................................................................................................................96

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Unit of CompetencyApplication

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to formulate, assess, strategically manage, evaluate and improve international marketing programs.

It applies to experienced individuals who are required to manage a team and are responsible for evaluating international marketing opportunities, setting marketing objectives and determining approach and operational structure for an organisation marketing internationally.

No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

Unit Sector

Business Development – Marketing

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Performance CriteriaElementElements describe the essential outcomes.

Performance CriteriaPerformance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element.

1. Formulate international marketing objectives

1.1 Select viable international marketing opportunities and develop objectives consistent with the organisation’s capabilities and resources

1.2 Identify measurable international marketing objectives consistent with organisation’s strategic direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for international market

1.3 Formulate strategic objectives and related key performance indicators by product, service, country or international grouping, and overall

1.4 Develop a risk management strategy to manage contingencies, and ensure marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational requirements

2. Determine international marketing approach

2.1 Research international marketing opportunities and determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or services

2.2 Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches2.3 Select a marketing approach to meet marketing objectives,

international market conditions and consumer preferences

3. Determine operational structures

3.1 Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences, and identify compatible marketing structures

3.2 Identify options for operational marketing structure and rank them for strengths and weaknesses in servicing international markets

3.3 Choose operational structure that best fits international market and product or service

4. Manage international marketing performance

4.1 Communicate international marketing objectives across the organisation to suit culture, customs, levels of knowledge, experience and needs of personnel

4.2 Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors involved in all elements of marketing effort

4.3 Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel responsible for each element of marketing mix work together to meet organisation’s marketing objectives

4.4 Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards areas of greatest potential for the organisation

4.5 Manage integration of marketing, promotional and any sales activities in accordance with international marketing objectives

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ElementElements describe the essential outcomes.

Performance CriteriaPerformance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element.

5. Evaluate and improve international marketing performance

5.1 Monitor product, pricing and distribution policies in relation to market changes, objectives of marketing plan and organisational requirements

5.2 Monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met

5.3 Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and objectives

5.4 Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause and effect, and use to improve international marketing performance

5.5 Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their potential impact on international marketing objectives

5.6 Document review of marketing performance against key performance indicators in accordance with organisational requirements

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Foundation SkillsThis section describes language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills incorporated in the performance criteria that are required for competent performance.

Skill Performance Criteria Description

Reading 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 5.3-5.5

Researches, analyses and consolidates a range of complex textual information from a variety of sources to identify key details and determine relevance to strategic organisational requirements

Writing 1.3, 1.4, 4.1, 4.3, 5.3, 5.6

Uses clear and accurate language and structures information logically to convey priorities and critical strategic information

Prepares a range of reports using appropriate format, terminology and conventions specific to purpose and audience

Oral Communication

4.1 Clearly and effectively conveys and elicits information in verbal exchanges

Uses active listening and questioning skills to clarify understanding

Numeracy 5.2 Performs calculations and uses mathematical problem-solving techniques to analyse numerical and financial data

Navigate the world of work

1.2, 1.4, 4.5, 5.1, 5.6 Monitors adherence to organisational policies and objectives and considers own role for its contribution to broader goals of work environment

Interact with others

4.1, 4.3 Recognises importance of taking audience, purpose and contextual factors into account when making decisions about what to communicate with whom, why and how

Fosters a collaborative culture within own sphere of influence, facilitating a sense of commitment and cohesion, and highlighting and using the strengths of all involved

Get the work done

1.1-1.3, 2.1-2.3, 3.1-3.3, 4.2-4.4, 5.1-5.5

Uses logical planning processes, and an increasingly intuitive understanding of context, to identify relevant information and risks, and to identify and evaluate alternative strategies and resources

Makes a range of critical and non-critical decisions in relatively complex situations, taking a range of factors and constraints into account

Recognises potential of new approaches to enhance work practices and outcomes

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Assessment RequirementsPerformance Evidence

Evidence of the ability to:

Document and presento international marketing objectiveso selected marketing approacho creation of operational structure

Effectively manage international marketing activities Monitor and evaluate international marketing performance, and make any necessary adjustments

as required Formulate suggestions on how marketing activities could be affected in future.

Knowledge Evidence

To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the individual must:

Outline relevant Australian and international standards, models policies and guidelines, including those covering:o environmental matterso human rightso labour relationso packagingo risk managemento electronic commerce

Identify and explain key provisions of relevant legislation and codes of practice affecting aspects of marketing operations

Explain the role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Identify and describe key features of the country or countries being considered for market entry or

penetration, including:o cross-cultural communication and negotiation styleso global and country specific economic, social and industry directions, trends, practices and

techniques.

Assessment Conditions

Assessment must be conducted in a safe environment where evidence gathered demonstrates consistent performance of typical activities experienced in the business development – marketing field of work and include access to:

Office equipment and resources Organisational strategic and marketing plans, and other relevant documents.

Assessors must satisfy NVR/AQTF assessor requirements.

Links

Companion volumes available from the IBSA website: http://www.ibsa.org.au/companion_volumes

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Housekeeping ItemsYour trainer will inform you of the following:

Where the toilets and fire exits are located, what the emergency procedures are and where the breakout and refreshment areas are.

Any rules, for example asking that all mobile phones are set to silent and of any security issues they need to be aware of.

What times the breaks will be held and what the smoking policy is.

That this is an interactive course and you should ask questions.

That to get the most out of this workshop, we must all work together, listen to each other, explore new ideas, and make mistakes. After all, that’s how we learn.

Ground rules for participation:

o Smile

o Support and encourage other participants

o When someone is contributing everyone else is quiet

o Be patient with others who may not be grasping the ideas

o Be on time

o Focus discussion on the topic

o Speak to the trainer if you have any concerns

Objectives

Discover how to formulate international marketing objectives

Know how to determine international marketing approach

Learn how to determine operational structures

Understand how to manage international marketing performance

Comprehend how to evaluate and improve international marketing performance

Gain the skills and knowledge required for this unit.

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1. Formulate international marketing objectives

1.1. Select viable international marketing opportunities and develop objectives consistent with the organisation's capabilities and resources

1.2. Identify measurable international marketing objectives consistent with organisation's strategic direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for international market

1.3. Formulate strategic objectives and related key performance indicators by product, service, country or international grouping, and overall

1.4. Develop a risk management strategy to manage contingencies, and ensure marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational requirements

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1.1 – Select viable international marketing opportunities and develop objectives consistent with the organisation's capabilities and resources

ViabilityWhen selecting whether to pursue a marketing opportunity, you need to determine whether it is viable. In other words, does the cost-benefit ratio and return on investment (ROI) rate as worthwhile?

You need to consider things such as:

Monetary cost of the marketing opportunity

Time cost of the marketing opportunity

Risk factors

Competition in internal market

Current market share

Estimated impact of marketing opportunity

Relation of marketing opportunity to your organisation's goals.

What are your costs going to be?Costs will vary depending on your marketing opportunity; they may include:

Market research

Sales force spending

Advertising

Price promotions.

You need determine whether your costs are fixed or variable. If you have variable costs, it can potentially make marketing strategies less risky, as costs are only reflective of success, whereas fixed costs will need to be paid regardless.

What benefits may your marketing strategy produce? Are these in line with your organisation's international marketing objectives?

How do the benefits compare to the risks involved? Do they justify the risks or is there too much at stake for the risks involved? What is the likelihood of these risks becoming realities and how would your company be affected if your marketing efforts flopped?

Effective assessment of these factors will help you determine whether the timing to market in international territory is right and whether the return on investment (ROI) is sufficient enough. It may be the case that you should wait until another time when economic conditions are more favourable or when there has been proven success by similar companies in the market you are looking to enter.

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It may also be the case that you need to wait until a time that your company is in a more favourable financial position, so as the impact of a failure may be less of a concern (i.e. you can afford to take risks).

Conduct a SWOT or a PEST analysisThese can be used to help determine the viability of marketing opportunities, by analysing different factors that contribute their potential success.

SWOT analysis

Strengths – the advantages you have over the competition for your opportunity.

Weaknesses – the internal disadvantages you have compared to your competitors.

Opportunities – current external trends that are waiting to be utilised/taken advantage of.

Threats – external factors which may cause a problem and negatively affect your business.

PEST analysis

Political – laws, global issues, legislation and regulations which may affect your business presently or in the future.

Economic – taxes, interest rates, inflation, the stock markets and consumer confidence all need to be considered.

Social – the changes in lifestyle and buying trends, media, major events, ethics, advertising and publicity.

Technological – innovations, technology access, licensing and patents, manufacturing, research funding, global communications.

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Developing objectivesAnother vital aspect of entering into an international marketing opportunity is to have clear objectives.

These give you benchmarks against which you can measure your success and help you determine which operational processes need to be actioned in order to achieve your goals.

Objectives must be measurable in order to be useful and should be specific as to what you intend to achieve.

For example, "increase sales by 50 per cent in the next year" is a much more useful objective than just "increase sales".

SMART objectives

For effective objectives to be created, it is good practice to create them based on the mnemonic of SMART.

Specific – state exactly what you want to achieve

Measurable – quantifiable and measurable

Achievable – realistic in the current market

Relevant – related to organisational objectives

Timed – have deadlines for achievement.

Objectives may also relate to the following areas:

Retention of current customers

Purchase increases from current users

Convincing new customers to purchase your product(s)

Increasing market share

Maintaining brand identity

Creating a new brand identity.

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Activity 1A

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1.2 – Identify measurable international marketing objectives consistent with organisation's strategic direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for international market

Measurable international marketing objectivesAs mentioned in 1.1 of this unit, marketing objectives should be SMART:

Specific – state exactly what you want to achieve

Measurable – quantifiable and measurable

Achievable – realistic in the current market

Relevant – related to organisational objectives

Timed – have deadlines for achievement.

Measurable objectives must be consistent with the organisation's strategic direction. This means that they must comply with the actions required to achieve the organisation's overall strategy.

Examples of measurable objectives include:

Retaining 90 per cent of current customers

Increasing purchases from new customers by 25 per cent

Increasing market share by 10 per cent.

The nature and extent of goals for international marketWhen venturing into an international market, you must be clear about your goals – you cannot simply expect the same methods to work internationally and to obtain the same results.

Therefore, you need to set different strategic objectives for your international markets and think about what you can realistically achieve.

Factors to consider in the international market include:

The differing needs of consumers

Existing competition

Trade barriers/protectionist arrangements

Free-trade arrangements

State of the economy

Risk factors.

Consider whether the international market you are entering is emerging or developed – this will affect the state of resources and the demand for your product, as well as existing competition and the market share you can expect.

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Activity 1B

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1.3 – Formulate strategic objectives and related key performance indicators by product, service, country or international grouping, and overall

Strategic objectives and key performance must be formulated according to product, service, country or international grouping, and overall.

In other words, you should have separate strategic objectives and key performance based off each of these factors, rather than trying to cover them all in one set.

Key performance indicatorsKPIs are quantifiable measurements from which you can assess performance against – for example, having a certain percentage of income from returning customers. They are aligned with the company's overall goals and highlight the areas that are vital to success – for example, if the goal is to raise profit, then the KPIs will be those that measure profit and fiscal matters e.g. shareholder equity, pre-tax profit etc. You would need to look at the sales reports and see if you are meeting the targets regarding them. If not, you may need to readjust the strategies within the marketing strategies.

An important thing to establish from the beginning is which factors you will use as KPIs and in what terms you will measure these, as you will have to keep them consistent throughout the future, in order to validate any kind of comparison.

When creating strategic objectives and key performance indicators, consider the following points:

Product What type of product are you marketing?

How does it differ to other products on the market?

How is it similar to other products on the market?

How many can realistically look to sell?

Service What type of service are you marketing?

How does it differ to other services on the market?

How is it similar to other services on the market?

How much can realistically look to sell?

How can you quantify the service?

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Country or international groupingInternational grouping may include:

Cultural groupings

Geographical groupings

Online virtual communities

Political groupings

Trade groupings.

Think about the following:

What are the needs of different countries/international groupings?

Are there any political barriers?

Are their existing free trade agreements?

How will you account for transport costs?

How will you reach international customers?

What technology opportunities/barriers exist?

Overall What can you expect to turnover in an international territory, compared to domestic?

How will you measure overall? (i.e. total sales increase)

What is a realistic overall and how will this change due to marketing?

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Activity 1C

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1.4 – Develop a risk management strategy to manage contingencies, and ensure marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational requirements

Risk management strategyA risk management strategy is required to manage contingencies and ensure marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational requirements.

This will ensure you can measure and analyse any risks associated with your marketing strategies, so you can determine whether they are worth the potential gain of your strategy.

Risk factors may include:

Available technology – do they/you have the appropriate technology to produce/use your product? How costly is this technology and will this impact on your pricing strategy?

Communication systems – what methods of communication are available to market your product/service with? Are they the best mediums that allow you to communicate with consumers and entice them?

Corruption risks

Cultural factors – is the culture compatible with the values and uses of your product/service?

Financial stability

Language factors – will you be able to effectively communicate with overseas partners? Do your product names and messages translate accurately?

Legal and regulatory requirements – do these incur extra charges or prohibit you from implementing your normal business strategy?

Legal risks in selling goods and services online to the international market

Logistics – how will you get goods/services from their point of manufacture to consumers? Is there a risk that they could be damaged/compromised in the process?

Political stability

Resource availability, sustainability and management

Resource capability and capacity

Telecommunications infrastructure

Trade barriers – tariffs, taxes, regulations

Transportation systems – what are the costs? What methods are available? Will the product/service be damaged in transit?

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Work factors – what work is involved? Who will do it? How much will it cost?

Risk management strategy may include:

Risk analysis

Risk assessment and prioritisation

Risk identification

Risk maintenance

Risk treatment and controls

Risk evaluation

Risk monitoring

Monitoring risks

Making adjustments to risk treatments and controls.

Your organisation will likely have its own risk management strategy that incorporates aspects of the above.

Broadly, we could categorise risk management into the following three categories:

Identification of risks

Controlling/preventing risks

Monitoring risks.

Identification of risksThis involves the following:

Risk analysis

Risk assessment and prioritisation

Risk identification

In order to identify risks you will have to carry out research based on current marketing ventures by yourself or competitors.

Are your risks controllable or uncontrollable? How much impact will the risks have (if they become a reality)? What are the benefits of the processes that carry these risks? Are they worth it?

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Controlling/preventing risksThis involves the following:

Risk maintenance

Risk treatment and controls

Risk evaluation

One you have identified risks, you then need to determine whether they are predictable, controllable and whether they are internal or external.

External risks that are uncontrollable include:

Government regulations

Bribery

Protectionist arrangements

Bankruptcy of investors

Political unrest

Cost fluctuations

Competitor actions

Operational regulations

Currency fluctuations

Inflation

Taxation

Environmental impacts

Societal impacts.

Internal risks that are controllable include:

Technology advancements

Technology malfunctions

Product design problems

IP and patent rights

Contractual difficulties.

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For these controllable risks, you need to make sure that you keep on top of them. For example, having a legal team review your IP and checking that infringements are not made can ensure that you don't encounter more costly complications down the line.

Monitoring risksThis involves the following:

Risk monitoring

Monitoring risks

Making adjustments to risk treatments and controls.

Monitoring risks is important, so that they are kept under control and that any new ones that present themselves are dealt with as early as possible. If you ignore the risks or assume that your current risk control procedures will work infinitely, you are likely to discover this in an inadequate approach.

Risks, especially those that are uncontrollable, need to be monitored as things like regulations, taxes and trade agreements change – these can majorly affect the costs and profits of your business.

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Activity 1D

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2. Determine international marketing approach

2.1. Research international marketing opportunities and determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or services

2.2. Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches

2.3. Select a marketing approach to meet marketing objectives, international market conditions and consumer preferences

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2.1 – Research international marketing opportunities and determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or services

Research international marketing opportunitiesIn order to research international marketing opportunities, you will need to use a variety of methods:

Surveys

Focus groups

Trial runs

Analysing secondary research

Conducting primary research.

You need to find out all the relevant and obtainable information you can that relates to the international marketing opportunity.

This includes things like:

The current/future state of the economy

The needs of the consumers

The products of your competitors

The strategies of your competitors

Risk factors

Market analysis techniques

Whether the market is emerging or developed

Technology factors.

Determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or servicesThere are two methods you can use to go about the promotion of products and services – global or customised strategies.

Global strategies use a blanket strategy for all international markets, rather than adapting to suit the individual nuances of each one.

Conversely, customised approaches adapt the promotion techniques to suit the individual needs of each different target market.

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The following table shows the advantages and disadvantages of each approach:

Promotional approach Advantages Disadvantages

Global Cheaper to plan and implement

Consistency of message

Strategies can be implemented quicker

May not be suited to particular markets

Messages can be "lost in translation"

Harder to track the success of approach in different markets

Changes to strategy may have differing effects of markets

Customised Differences in each market are accounted for

Easier to track the success of approaches

Feedback from strategies is applicable to each different market

More expensive to plan and implement

Inconsistency of message

Strategies may take more time to implement

In your research, you will also need to become familiar with regulations, guidelines, laws, standards and any other factors that may affect how you operate both in Australia and internationally.

These include:

Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model Australian Guidelines for Electronic CommerceThis model sets consumer protection standards in e-commerce, providing the industry and businesses with a code of conduct for dealing with online consumers – a few of these guidelines are based upon legislative requirements.

It replaced the Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model on March 17, 2006.

The guidelines can be accessed at: http://archive.treasury.gov.au/documents/1083/PDF/australian_guidelines_for_electronic_commerce.pdf

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The Australian Government Treasury also published the following checklist for businesses, regarding e-commerce:

Does your business follow ‘fair business practices’?

Do consumers need specialised software or hardware to trade with you?

Have you taken reasonable steps to ensure the goods and services you supply are accessible to people with a disability?

Is all advertising material clearly identifiable, so it cannot be confused with other content?

Are procedures in place to ensure that any marketing messages you send do not constitute spam?

Have you taken reasonable steps to avoid entering into transactions with minors?

Can consumers easily find all key information about your business, including contact details?

Are contract terms for purchases clear, accurate and easily accessible by consumers?

Have you taken appropriate steps to protect consumers’ privacy?

Have you provided consumers with payment mechanisms that are easy to use and offer appropriate security?

Have you clearly explained to consumers the security and authentication methods you use so they can assess any risks?

Do consumers have easy access to, and clear information about, dispute resolution procedures?

Are consumers informed about any specific laws or jurisdiction applicable to transactions with your business?

Source: archive.treasury.gov.au/documents/1083/PDF/ecommerce_factsheet.pdf

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Australian Government Policy Framework for Consumer Protection in Electronic CommerceThis framework deals with consumer protection in e-commerce, with the government building a holistic consumer protection environment.

The vision sets out that Australians will be at the forefront of global commerce, in terms of online consumption and trading – it details a strategy on how to achieve this.

The principles set out are:

Balancing the needs of consumers and businesses

A dual responsibility of industry and government

International cooperation

Technology neutrality.

It also identifies the key issues that need to be addressed for a safe and efficient online environment:

Privacy – protection of personal information

Payment – secure online payment methods

Information – providing accurate and adequate information to consumers

Jurisdiction – for consumer contracts

Redress – compensation readily available and respective in amount.

There is an initiative to establish a group of experts to advise the Minister for Financial Services and Regulation on all of the above issues.

Australian Standards and international standardsEnvironmental matters

Environmental protection laws will apply depending on the nature of your business. Federal, state and local governments administer the environmental protection laws in Australia jointly, via bilateral agreements.

The Department of the Environment deals with approval and assessment of national environmental and cultural concerns, as well as administering Acts concerning:

Importing

Fuel quality

Hazardous waste

Heritage

The sea.

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Environmental legislation can be accessed (national and state) at: www.business.gov.au/business-topics/business-planning/environmental-management/Pages/environmental-legislation.aspx

Human rights

There are national and international conventions on human rights, preventing torture and cruel/degrading/inhuman punishment or treatment of other humans.

These include:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Convention against Torture

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Convention on the Rights of the Child

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

How this affects your business will mostly involve the sources of labour you use and the treatment of employees in foreign territories.

Labour relations

This involves things like minimum pay rates, the minimum age of work, dismissal and your general treatment of employees.

It is governed and regulated by the Department of Commerce in Australia and more information can be found at: www.commerce.wa.gov.au/labour-relations

Packaging

There will be certain packaging details that you need to comply with, including:

Packaging style for certain goods

Labelling

Enclosed documents

Declaration of contents

Sustainable materials

Size and weight of packages.

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Risk management

This may involve and concern things such as:

Workplace health and safety (WHS)

ISO 31000:2009.

Full details on risk management principles for Australia can be found at: www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/COV_216905_Risk_Management_Fact_Sheet_FA3_23082010_0.pdf

Anti-discrimination legislation and ethical principlesIn Australia, the following anti-discrimination laws apply:

Age Discrimination Act 2004

Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986

Disability Discrimination Act 1992

Racial Discrimination Act 1975

Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

You must follow these laws when doing marketing research and when implementing your campaigns. You cannot discriminate against individuals based on characteristics like age, gender, disability and race and you must afford everyone equal opportunities.

Full details about these Acts can be found at www.humanrights.gov.au

EEO law states that employers must provide workplaces that are free from discrimination. This applies to existing employees and potential employees for your marketing efforts.

Exact legislation can vary in different areas of Australia; you must ensure that you are familiar with your local stipulations.

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EEO – an overview:

You must create and maintain an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment

You must not treat employees or potential employees better or worse on the grounds of:

o Age

o Sex

o Race

o Marital status

o Family status

o Disability

o Gender

o Culture

o Etc.

EEO also protects:

o Workplace rights

o Industrial rights

o Unfair dismissal.

Consumer lawsThe Australian Consumer Law (ACL) came into effect on January 1, 2011.

The ACL includes:

A national unfair contract terms law covering standard form consumer contracts

A national law guaranteeing consumer rights when buying goods and services

A national product safety law and enforcement system

A national law for unsolicited consumer agreements covering door-to-door sales and telephone sales

Simple national rules for lay-by agreements

New penalties, enforcement powers and consumer redress options.

Source: www.consumerlaw.gov.au

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It applies in all States and Territories and to all Australian businesses, for all transactions that have occurred since January 1, 2011. The full text is set out in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, in Schedule 2.

You will need to also find out consumer law for the countries of your potential markets.

Extra-territoriality provisions of the Trade Practices Act now Competition and Consumer Act 2010Fair trading laws are designed to protect consumers and promote fair trading and competition on the part of businesses.

The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 replaced the Trade Practices 1974. It promotes fair trading and competition for businesses, as well as protecting the consumers their products are aimed at.

It covers the following:

Dealings with suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, customers and competitors

Industry codes of practices

Product safety

Unfair market practices

Product labelling

Price

Industry regulation (e.g. gas, electricity, airports, telecommunications).

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is in charge of enforcing the Competition and Consumer Act.

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Extraterritorial provisions

Section 5 of the Competition and Consumer Act covers application of the Act to conduct outside of Australia:

(1) Each of the following provisions:

(a) Part IV;

(b) Part XI;

(c) the Australian Consumer Law (other than Part 5 3);

(f) the remaining provisions of this Act (to the extent to which they relate to any of the provisions covered by paragraph (a), (b) or (c)); extends to the engaging in conduct outside Australia by:

(g) bodies corporate incorporated or carrying on business within Australia; or

(h) Australian citizens; or

(i) persons ordinarily resident within Australia.

(1A) In addition to the extended operation that section 46A has by virtue of subsection (1), that section extends to the engaging in conduct outside Australia by:

(a) New Zealand and New Zealand Crown corporations; or

(b) bodies corporate carrying on business within New Zealand; or

(c) persons ordinarily resident within New Zealand.

(2) In addition to the extended operation that sections 47 and 48 have by virtue of subsection (1), those sections extend to the engaging in conduct outside Australia by any persons in relation to the supply by those persons of goods or services to persons within Australia.

(3) Where a claim under section 82, or under section 236 of the Australian Consumer Law, is made in a proceeding, a person is not entitled to rely at a hearing in respect of that proceeding on conduct to which a provision of this Act extends by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section except with the consent in writing of the Minister.

(4) A person other than the Minister, the Commission or the Director of Public Prosecutions is not entitled to make an application to the Court for an order under subsection 87(1) or (1A), or under subsection 237(1) or 238(1) of the Australian Consumer Law, in a proceeding in respect of conduct to which a provision of this Act extends by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section except with the consent in writing of the Minister.

(5) The Minister shall give a consent under subsection (3) or (4) in respect of a proceeding unless, in the opinion of the Minister:

(a) the law of the country in which the conduct concerned was engaged in required or specifically authorised the engaging in of the conduct; and

(b) it is not in the national interest that the consent be given.

Source: www.treasury.gov.au

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Foreign investment limitsIn Australia, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (FATA) is the legislative framework that governs foreign investment limits.

It also means that foreign investors (private) are required to obtain government approval before acquiring anywhere upward of 15 per cent of an Australian business valued above $248 million.

More information on Australian foreign investment limits can be found at: www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook44p/AustForeignInvest

You will also need to find out the investment limits for the countries of the potential markets you are looking to enter, as this can possibly affect the scale of your business.

Labour lawsThis governs the relationship between employers, worker, governments and trade unions.

In Australia, the Fair Work Act 2009 governs labour laws and it covers:

Hiring and firing of employees

Discrimination against applicants

Offers of employment

Employment contracts

Benefits/entitlements

Wages

Superannuation

Long service leave

Taxation

Terms and conditions

Workplace health and safety (WHS)

Records

Notice requirements

Redundancy

Unfair dismissal

Termination payments

Litigation.

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In addition to this, there are ten national employment standards:

Hours of work

Request for flexible working arrangements

Annual leave

Personal/carer's leave

Compassionate leave

Community service leave

Public holidays

Unpaid parental leave

Notice of termination and redundancy pay

Fair Work Information Statement.

You will also need to know the labour laws of the countries for your potential markets, so as to know how you will deal with employees in the countries you are trading in.

Legal aspects of bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreementsAs well as knowing what the bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements that Australia holds with other countries are, you need to know the legal aspects of them.

These may include:

Article 13, Un charter

Article 24 of GATT.

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The United Nations UN Charter Article 13 states:

The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of:

a) promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification

Source: www.un.org/aboutun/charter

Article 24 of GATT states:

[…] the provisions of this Agreement shall not prevent, as between the territories of contracting parties, the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area or the adoption of an interim agreement necessary for the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area; Provided that:

(a) with respect to a customs union, or an interim agreement leading to a formation of a customs union, the duties and other regulations of commerce imposed at the institution of any such union or interim agreement in respect of trade with contracting parties not parties to such union or agreement shall not on the whole be higher or more restrictive than the general incidence of the duties and regulations of commerce applicable in the constituent territories prior to the formation of such union or the adoption of such interim agreement, as the case may be;

(b) with respect to a free-trade area, or an interim agreement leading to the formation of a free-trade area, the duties and other regulations of commerce maintained in each of the constituent territories and applicable at the formation of such free-trade area or the adoption of such interim agreement to the trade of contracting parties not included in such area or not parties to such agreement shall not be higher or more restrictive than the corresponding duties and other regulations of commerce existing in the same constituent territories prior to the formation of the free-trade area, or interim agreement as the case may be; and

(c) any interim agreement referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall include a plan and schedule for the formation of such a customs union or of such a freetrade area within a reasonable length of time.

Source: www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/gatt47_c.pdf

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Privacy lawsYou need to be able to protect customer data and respect the relationships you have – if you fail to do this, they can likely move to your competitors.

Privacy is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), which regulates the handling of personal information.

As of March 2014, the following privacy legislation amendments came into effect:

Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012

Privacy Regulation 2013

Credit Reporting Privacy Code.

You can read more about the privacy law reform at: www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/privacy-law-reform

There are 13 Australian Privacy Principles that apply to the handling of personal information, contained in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act:

1. Open and transparent management of personal information

2. Anonymity and pseudonymity

3. Collection of solicited personal information

4. Dealing with unsolicited personal information

5. Notification of the collection of personal information

6. Use or disclosure of personal information

7. Direct marketing

8. Cross-border disclosure of personal information

9. Adoption, use or disclosure of government related identifiers

10. Quality of personal information

11. Security of personal information

12. Access to personal information

13. Correction of personal information.

Full information on the Privacy Act and its terms can be found at www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/the-privacy-act

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Taxation lawsYou need to know the taxation laws of Australia and countries of your potential markets, so as to know what charges may be imposed on imports and exports.

These may include:

Fuel taxes

Payroll taxes

Goods and services taxes

Capital gains tax

Customs duties

Corporate taxes.

World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution systemThe World Trade Organisation (WTO) has a dispute resolution system that allows disputes over breaches of business agreements. It exists to provide judgement based on rules, as opposed to power relationships.

It uses the Dispute Settlement Understanding to enforce the practical application of trade agreements between two or more parties who are members of the WTO.

Full information on the dispute resolution system can be found at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s2p1_e.htm

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) International Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic CommerceThese came into effect on December 9, 1999 and exist to ensure an equal level of protection for consumers when purchasing online to in a store. It concerns business to consumer transactions and helps remove uncertainties in the buying and selling processes.

They help ensure online consumer protection without needing barriers to trade to do so; they are reflective of existing legal protection for standard commerce.

They require emphasis on the need for co-operation among governments, businesses and consumers.

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The aims of the guidelines are as follows – to encourage:

Fair business practices

Fair advertising practices

Fair marketing practices

Clear information on the identity of a business, what it sells and any terms of conditions for transactions

Transparency in the confirmation of transactions

Secure payment methods

Timely, fair and affordable dispute resolution/redress systems

Privacy protection

Education for businesses and consumers.

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Activity 2A

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2.2 – Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches

Evaluate optionsOnce you have all of the available options for marketing approaches at your disposal, the next step is to evaluate them for their advantages and disadvantages; ultimately, you need to decide which approach will reap the best return on investment (ROI).

Two key factors that need to be considered when evaluating marketing approaches include your budget and the financial viability of the proposed approaches.

Marketing approaches may include:

Customised

Global

Online

Product or promotion adaptation

Product or promotion standardisation

Segmentation by criteria which are:

o behaviouristic

o demographic

o end use

o geographic

o operational

o psychographic.

The following table shows the advantages and disadvantages of each approach:

Marketing approach Advantages Disadvantages

Global Cheaper to plan and implement

Consistency of message

Strategies can be implemented quicker

May not be suited to particular markets

Messages can be "lost in translation"

Harder to track the success of approach in different markets

Changes to strategy may have differing effects of markets

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Customised Differences in each market are accounted for

Easier to track the success of approaches

Feedback from strategies is applicable to each different market

More expensive to plan and implement

Inconsistency of message

Strategies may take more time to implement

Online Cheap to implement

Can be integrated into overall marketing strategy

Increases the range of people who view your product

Allows use of multiple formats e.g. video, text, audio

Allows virtual store to be created

People may ignore online approaches

Highly competitive environment

Product or promotion adaptation

Products match the market

Consumers are offered something new

Can take advantage of new technologies

Requires constant investment

Focus may be split across different adaptations

Product or promotion standardisation

Can focus more on a single product/promotion

Allows convergence of all research

Consumers may lose interest after a period of repetitiveness

Segmentation by criteria

Allows each criteria to be targeted individually

Allows you to meet all of the consumers' needs

Time consuming

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Activity 2B

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2.3 – Select a marketing approach to meet marketing objectives, international market conditions and consumer preferences

Select a marketing approachNow you have evaluated all of the available marketing approaches, the next step is to select the most appropriate one. Therefore, it has to meet the marketing objectives, international market conditions and consumer preferences.

This information should have been determined by your market research and, by meeting these criteria, you can ensure that it will be the most effective for your purpose.

What are your marketing objectives? How will your marketing approach help achieve this?

For example, if the objective is to increase purchases from new customers by 10 per cent, your marketing approach needs to implement actions that either help or specifically achieve this objective. If the marketing approach only focuses on retaining existing customers, it is clearly not conducive to achieving the aforementioned marketing objective.

How does your marketing approach meet international market conditions?

International market conditions are those things that exist externally in the market you are entering.

For example, who are your competitors and how many are there? What threats do they pose to your company and marketing efforts?

What is the growth rate of the market you are entering? Are your objectives realistic in the current state of the market?

Do your marketing objectives comply with consumer preferences?

Is your product compliant with what consumers want in the present? Is there an actual market and will your marketing efforts appeal to these new consumers?

Can your projected growth rates realistically be met? This will depend on the consumer demand for your product and your marketing approach in the international area you are entering.

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SWOT or a PEST analysisAs, discussed in 1.1 of this unit, you can use a SWOT or PEST analysis to determine the viability of marketing opportunities. You can use the information gained from SWOT and PEST analyses to help determine whether your marketing approach meets the meets marketing objectives, international market conditions and consumer preferences.

SWOT analysis

Strengths – the advantages you have over the competition for your opportunity.

Weaknesses – the internal disadvantages you have compared to your competitors.

Opportunities – current external trends that are waiting to be utilised/taken advantage of.

Threats – external factors which may cause a problem and negatively affect your business.

PEST analysis

Political – laws, global issues, legislation and regulations which may affect your business presently or in the future.

Economic – taxes, interest rates, inflation, the stock markets and consumer confidence all need to be considered.

Social – the changes in lifestyle and buying trends, media, major events, ethics, advertising and publicity.

Technological – innovations, technology access, licensing and patents, manufacturing, research funding, global communications.

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Activity 2C

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3. Determine operational structures

3.1. Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences, and identify compatible marketing structures

3.2. Identify options for operational marketing structure and rank them for strengths and weaknesses in servicing international markets

3.3. Choose operational structure that best fits international market and product or service

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3.1 – Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences, and identify compatible marketing structures

Evaluate business culture and consumer preferencesBusiness culture refers to the typical behaviour, norms and values of a particular area of business.

This will affect things like:

Ethics

Etiquette

Values

Beliefs

Working styles

Habits.

When you enter international markets, the business culture will vary, just as typical culture will. It is important that you recognise the business culture and adapt your approach to conform to it. If you fail to do this, it can cause misunderstandings and impact negatively on your marketing success.

Consider embarking on cultural sensitivity educational programs before you enter a new international market. Little things, like how you address someone or major areas such as belief systems are important to know in order for your product and marketing efforts to be accepting by the consumers you are trying to target. You must conform to what the consumers want and meet their needs. This also applies professionally, for when you are building business partnerships.

For example, let's look at Chinese consumers:

Frugal retired – they are usually uneducated and grew up in tough political and economic times. They don't spend much and react differently to changes in prices.

Wealthy retired – while they have more disposable income, they are often frugal; however, they are less sensitive to price and value quality more. Their spending is likely to rise in the next decade; however, their children may buy healthcare and entertainment products for them.

Frugal forties – they grew up during the Cultural Revolution and early Chinese reforms. They have a mix of traditional and modern values, working respectable jobs but saving most of their income to take care of their families.

Wealthy forties – they have slightly higher incomes but the same backgrounds as the frugal forties. Therefore, as well as saving for their families, they have disposable income to spend on quality products. Over the next decade, they will have less childcare responsibilities and even more disposable income to spend.

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Thirties – they save less than the older generations, spend more and use online shopping also. They are after quality and value, rather than the cheapest items. These consumers are likely to be the most important for the next decade, as they buy for themselves and their families.

Twenties – they don't save income and mostly spend their income on electronics, entertainment and other trends. They shop online and look for products in line with their "image". They are subject to impulse purchases and favour high quality and convenient products.

New generation – they are "Westernised" and have similar values to those in the Western hemisphere. They are open to new products but usually have little to no income – however, they influence their parents' purchases. They can be effectively targeted by social media. They are usually aged under 20.

Migrant workers – these are usually quite frugal and buy only necessities, sending extra incomes to their families in rural areas. Their disposable income is expected to rise in the future, as they receive city household registration status. They are normally aged between 25-40.

Rich – there are over one million with over $1.5 million (and increasing). They are concentrated in large urban areas (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong). They are usually business owners, managers and entrepreneurs and usually pursue the best quality products, with less concern on price. They particularly value high-end imported products. They are usually aged between 20-60.

From this example, you can see that it is logical to target the consumers who most accurately fit the description of your product. You want to target people who desire your product/service and who have the disposable income to purchase it.

Identify compatible marketing structuresOnce you know the business culture and consumer preferences for the potential international market, you then need to match them with compatible marketing structures.

So, if we again use the example of Chinese consumers, we would see that a compatible marketing structure for the new generation would be to use social media and online marketing, as these are the platforms that they use most frequently.

Online marketing strategies would also likely be successful for the twenties and thirties markets.

However, you can see that the vast majority of the markets in China are after quality goods, so if your product/service is cheap and you try to market this as a selling point, you are likely to have a limited consumer base.

It is important to market, irrespective of the other qualities your product/service may have, the qualities that your consumers value the most, as these will make your efforts more successful. So, for China, if your product is actually cheap but the quality of the materials and construction is superior to other similar products, market on the base of quality rather than price.

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Activity 3A

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3.2 – Identify options for operational marketing structure and rank them for strengths and weaknesses in servicing international markets

Options for operational marketing structureYou need to identify the options for the operational marketing structure, as you will need to pick which ones will be most effective and essential in your chosen market.

Operational marketing structure may include:

Export operation – this is where goods produced in one country are shipped to another, for sale. The revenue from the sales is then transferred back the country of production and counts for that organisation's gross output.

Global organisation – this is where countries join together to create an agreement. Examples of this are the free-trade agreements that remove trade barriers between countries and allow them to trade on an equal footing with domestic organisations.

Joint venture – this is where businesses join together to develop a new product/service by combining investment. This is a finite operation that lasts for the duration of the product/service's creation.

Licensing – you can license patents, trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property and other designs to others. This is where you grant them permission to use them in exchange for a fee (usually a small percentage of the sales price). Companies will often both use a grant licenses.

Multi-national organisation – this is any organisation that operates out of more than one country, but managed from one "native" country. This allows the organisation to pursue other markets as well as base its production/operations wherever quality labour is cheapest.

Online business operation – this is where a business is operated on the internet, as opposed to in person.

Overseas branch – this is where companies have a registered office for their company in an international territory. This allows operations for that territory to be run from that location, rather than across borders.

Strategic alliance – this is where two or more parties agree to pursue shared objectives, while still remaining independent businesses. The idea is that the benefits from the alliance are greater than those from individual pursuit. They can share resources such as knowledge, intellectual property, distribution, manufacturing, funding, equipment and even products.

Subsidiary company – this is where the company is either completely or partially (over 50 per cent) owned by another parent company. This company has a controlling interest in the operations of the subsidiary.

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Ranking optionsOnce you have identified the available operational marketing structures, the next step is to rank them for of strengths and weaknesses, regarding how they service international markets.

Strengths and weaknesses may include:

Accessibility

Distribution channels

Financial factors

Manufacturing capability

Market capability

Potential profit factors

Research capability

Resource commitment

Risk control.

The following table outlines examples of the strengths and weaknesses of the operational marketing structures previously discussed:

Operational marketing structure Strengths Weaknesses

Export operation Greater profit potential

Increases market size

Harder to monitor quality

Taxation costs for exportation

Global organisation Less trade barriers

Can compete equally with domestic competitors

Domestic markets may suffer

May experience resentment/rejection from domestic market

Joint venture Pooling of resources

Shared opinions/expertise

Decisions must be jointly made

Licensing Don't need to manufacture and create original patents

Easy money for no extra work (if supplying them)

Can cost more long-term (if using them)

Can lose USP factor of your product (if supplying them)

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Multi-national organisation Greater profit potential

Cheaper labour

Can lose national identity

Online business operation Cheap to operate

Can target more consumers

Little paper costs

Highly competitive

Need to train in software applications used in conducting international electronic commerce

Overseas branch Allows monitoring of international market more closely

Improves customer service potential

Costs to set up

Strategic alliance Greater chance of success

Shared knowledge/experience

Possible quicker achievement of objectives

May lose individuality

Have to share resources and IP

Subsidiary company Can use connections and investment of parent company to grow

Decisions can be overruled by parent company

You must use the strengths and weaknesses analysis to then rank the structures in terms of viability, so you have a clear decision on which ones to pursue for your product. You must have a clear goal in terms of what you want to achieve when determining rankings and weighting of criteria.

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Activity 3B

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3.3 – Choose operational structure that best fits international market and product or service

Choose operational structureNow you have ranked the operational structures based on strengths and weaknesses, you must use this information to choose the one that best fits both the international market and product/service you are marketing.

You will usually choose the highest ranked options, as your system should be geared towards meeting your objectives.

Think about the operational structures of successful competitors in the international market you are entering – what can you learn from them? What structures yield the greatest return on investment (ROI)?

Who is your product/service aimed at? Do they react differently to different types of marketing? Will your structure reach them effectively?

Think of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing an online operation versus an overseas branch. Which will allow you to cost-effectively market and produce your product/service?

If you go down the e-commerce route, it is essential that you are fully trained in e-commerce software applications and have technology skills to use the necessary equipment also.

Think of your current market share? Do you have the resources and reputation to establish yourself in an international market alone or would you benefit from the help of other established partners?

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Activity 3C

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4. Manage international marketing performance

4.1. Communicate international marketing objectives across the organisation to suit culture, customs, levels of knowledge, experience and needs of personnel

4.2. Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors involved in all elements of marketing effort

4.3. Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel responsible for each element of marketing mix work together to meet organisation's marketing objectives

4.4. Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards areas of greatest potential for the organisation

4.5. Manage integration of marketing, promotional and any sales activities in accordance with international marketing objectives

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4.1 – Communicate international marketing objectives across the organisation to suit culture, customs, levels of knowledge, experience and needs of personnel

Communicate international marketing objectivesOnce you have determined your international marketing objectives, you then need to communicate them to the personnel in your organisation, to ensure you are all striving for the same things.

The way you communicate these to personnel will depend on their levels of knowledge, experience and their specific needs.

Communication strategies may include:

Emails

Newsletters

Meetings

Memos

Personal interviews

Mission statements

Graphs

Charts

Tables.

The methods of explanation will differ depending on personnel's existing knowledge and experience. You may be able to assume certain existing knowledge and use specific terms; alternatively, you may have to explain things more basically.

Also, consider what people need to know. There is no point explaining everything in intricate detail to all personnel, as much of this information will be of no use to them and be a waste of their time and yours. By all means, give them a brief overview of the entire marketing campaign, so they can see the overall picture and how their role fits into achieving the company objectives, but don't go into the insignificant things.

For example, if you have a sub-team dedicated to market research – tell them what questions they need to answer and how this relates to any marketing objectives in particular.

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Activity 4A

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4.2 – Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors involved in all elements of marketing effort

Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractorsIn order for any team to function effectively, you need to be able to have specific roles and people assigned to them. This helps ensure that all of the required activities are carried out by those with the relevant skill and knowledge sets, as well as developing accountability for the success of these individual tasks.

Roles are positions that team members assume or what they do in a particular activity/operation. They can be formal (assigned) or informal (unassigned). Formal roles are essential for team success and must be completed to achieve objectives; if there is a lack of clarity, tasks will likely not be completed to expected standards. Informal roles are usually self-assumed due to particular personalities and standings within the group – natural strengths and weaknesses will come to the forefront in a team. Be aware that the effects of informal roles can both be positive and negative in their effects.

Responsibilities refer to specific tasks that they are required to do to complete the activity/operation. People are held accountable for their responsibilities.

Be aware of Belbin's team roles when assigning roles and responsibilities to staff and contractors:

Belbin's team rolesThis theory was created by Dr Meredith Belbin, and outlines nine 'team roles' essential to the success of a team. A team role is defined as "a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way."

The nine team roles are:

1. Plant

2. Monitor evaluator

3. Co-ordinator

4. Resource investigator

5. Implementers

6. Completer finishers

7. Teamworkers

8. Shapers

9. Specialist

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1. Plant

They are creative and good at problem-solving – they help stimulate fresh directions for the team, when they may be stuck or starting anew.

2. Monitor evaluator

They provide the voice of logic – their judgements are impartial and they ensure that decisions are made for the greater good of the team, without bias.

3. Co-ordinator

These people have a strong focus on the team's objectives, assigning other team members work according to their strengths and the team's needs.

4. Resource investigator

They research competing teams and ensure that the rest of the team's ideas and work is applicable to the outside world.

5. Implementers

These people plan strategy and make sure the team is working as efficiently as possible.

6. Completer finishers

Mostly used towards the end of a task, these people polish off the work and ensure it meets all the required standards. They have high attention to detail and provide scrutiny for other people's work.

7. Teamworkers

They help the cohesiveness of the team and make it "gel" – they are versatile and will chip in with the required workload to make sure everything gets done.

8. Shapers

These people challenge the others in the team to move forward – they provide the drive and the motivation to help the team achieve its potential.

9. Specialist

This is someone with specialist skills and knowledge in a key area – it is highly valuable to have an expert in a particular field.

Balance

The key to a successful team, according to Belbin, is that every team has all of the above members; however, they can't be too few or too many in number, or else it will have adverse consequences. For instance, without plants, you may struggle to generate new ideas or directions; with too many plants, you face spending too much time coming up with ideas and many less effective ideas are allowed discussion time. Without shapers, you will take longer to complete tasks and have no clear direction – making the finished product average, at best; with too many of them, there is an internal power struggle and people argue over direction.

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Roles in marketingThese may include:

Role Responsibilities

Branding/advertising Branding and logos; image distribution (advertising)

Field marketing Create/increase product demand; support for trade partners

Market intelligence Collect and analyse market data (customers and competitors)

Product management Testing, creation and shipping of product to deadlines; collects, analyses and utilises customer feedback

Product marketing Gathers information on the market; devises strategy to get products to market

Telemarketing Support marketing campaigns via technology and communication

Channel marketing Support for third party partners; communication, generating demand and education about products

Corporate communications Public relations (PR); promotion of organisation

Strategy Creates marketing strategy; measures marketing performance

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Activity 4B

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4.3 – Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel responsible for each element of marketing mix work together to meet organisation's marketing objectives

Communication strategiesCommunication strategies should ensure the people responsible for the individual elements of the marketing mix can work together effectively – this will determine whether the organisation's marketing objectives are met or not.

Marketing mix may include:

Distribution

Level of service

Pricing

Product or service variables such as:

o design

o quality

o range

o safety features

o technical features

Promotion.

Communication should be open and honest – if information is withheld from certain personnel, it can cause conflict and prevent them from performing their roles effectively.

So, if we take examples from the marketing mix above, we can see that those responsible for pricing and promotion must work together as the team responsible for promotions need to know how much they can lower the price without negatively affecting profits.

Those responsible for distribution must be able to communicate with those in promotions (if distribution needs to be increased to certain locations to cope with demand) and personnel responsible for product or service variables (to determine if there are things like breakages and fragility of products that need to be considered in distribution).

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Cross-cultural communication and negotiation styles relevant to the country/ies where international marketing activities take placeAs well as knowing the state of the market in an economic sense, you need to know the social factors that will impact your ability to succeed in an international market.

One of the most important aspects of a successful business is the effectiveness of communication. In a foreign market, you will need to consider the cross-cultural communication and negotiation styles you will use.

Different cultures attach varying meaning to language, both verbal and non-verbal. You will need to be aware of the language styles and meanings behind things like gestures, so as to not be misinterpreted or to misinterpret the communication styles of the people you are dealing with in the foreign market.

For example, depending on the country there may be differences in meaning associated with:

Pauses

Gestures

Bargaining

Eye contact

Length of response

Pitch and tone of voice

Negotiating styles

Different countries have varying negotiating skills; many of these can be found in the form of charts at: www.businessinsider.com/communication-charts-around-the-world-2014-3?IR=T

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As a summary:

Canadians, compared to Americans, tend to be more low-key and inclined to seek harmony, though they are similarly direct.

English tend to avoid confrontation in an understated, mannered, and humorous style that can be powerful or inefficient.

Germans rely on logic but "tend to amass more evidence and labour their points more than either the British or the French."

Spanish and Italians "regard their languages as instruments of eloquence and they will go up and down the scale at will, pulling out every stop if need be to achieve greater expressiveness."

The Nordic countries often have entrenched opinions that they have formulated "in the long dark nights," though they are reasonable conversationalists. Swedes often have the most wide-ranging discussions, Finns tend to value concision, and most Norwegians fall somewhere in between.

Swiss tend to be straightforward and unaggressive negotiators, who obtain concessions by expressing confidence in the quality and value of their goods and services.

Hungarians value eloquence over logic and are unafraid to talk over each other.

Bulgarians may take a circuitous approach to negotiations before seeking a mutually beneficial resolution, which will often be screwed up by bureaucracy.

Poles often have a communication style that is "enigmatic, ranging from a matter-of-fact pragmatic style to a wordy, sentimental, romantic approach to any given subject."

The Dutch are focused on facts and figures but "are also great talkers and rarely make final decisions without a long 'Dutch' debate, sometimes approaching the danger zone of over-analysis."

Chinese tend to be more direct than the Japanese and some other East Asians; however, meetings are principally for information gathering, with the real decisions made elsewhere. People from Hong Kong negotiate much more briskly to achieve quick results.

Indian English "excels in ambiguity and such things as truth and appearances are often subject to negotiation."

Australians tend to have a loose and frank conversational style.

Singaporeans generally take time to build a relationship, after which they can be shrewd negotiators.

Koreans tend to be energetic conversationalists who seek to close deals quickly, occasionally stretching the truth.

Indonesians tend to be very deferential conversationalists, sometimes to the point of ambiguity.

Israelis tend to proceed logically on most issues but emotionally on some.

Source: www.businessinsider.com

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Activity 4C

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4.4 – Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards areas of greatest potential for the organisation

Directing the marketing effortIt is important that your efforts in the marketing process are directed in the areas that offer most potential benefit for your organisation.

This means identifying and focusing on your target market. This can be done through effective market research and concept testing.

You will need to delegate your team and resources in the areas that will yield the greatest cost-benefit ratio.

Decide on the objectives of your marketing campaign – are you trying to gain new customers, retain the loyalty of existing ones, promote a new product or advertise the brand, for example? This will affect how you direct your marketing campaign and allocate your budget.

Do you need to conduct lots of market research or can you use your existing research to base your efforts upon?

What mediums of advertising will you use and why? In what proportions?

What methods of market research will be most effective regarding your budget and time constraints? Will you use primary or secondary research?

What analytical methods are you going to use with your research data and how will you summarise the information? How will you then use this information?

You will also need to research and comply with legislation, codes of practice and national standards with your marketing processes, as this will avoid complications further down the line.

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Activity 4D

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4.5 – Manage integration of marketing, promotional and any sales activities in accordance with international marketing objectives

International marketing objectivesThese are based upon your company's overall mission statement and aims. They are more specific, in that they usually deal in quantifiable figures and specific sections of the organisation.

So, for example, a strategic marketing objective may be to increase the profits of X (a brand, a product line) by Y (a certain date).

What are your company's international marketing objectives?

Integrated marketingThis is a holistic approach to communication in marketing, where it is consistent both online and offline. This means that the message is clear and ensures that spending is optimised towards the approach that is most effective.

So, for example, rather than focusing all of your marketing effort on, say a TV advertisement, you could diversify into creating a billboard advertisement, a website linked to the advert, a blog with search engine optimisation. These other mediums could be used as a continuation of the original TV advert, rather than being replicas of it. This encourages the audience to seek out more information on the product you are marketing and become active in the campaign, rather than passive observers. This will, in turn, increase your overall visibility to the audience and help them better understand the message you are trying to convey.

Therefore, when managing the marketing process, you will need to determine which forms of media you will utilise and how they will all inter-relate to one another.

Promotional and sales activitiesThese are aimed at boosting sales (usually in the short term) and can be things like:

Reducing prices

Offering additional rewards with a purchase

Multiple purchase deals

Low cost subscription services (for a limited period)

Free gifts

Coupons/vouchers

Loyalty programs.

You can also strategise by directing where sales and promotions take place. For instance, you will place your merchandising displays in the most visible places to your audience, where they are most likely to trigger a purchase of your product/service.

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Point-of-sale displays, increased shelf space and bolder displays can influence customers to buy your product over your competitors'.

You can send marketing teams to stores/locations where your product/service is sold, to provide demonstrations and expert advice to potential customers and boost sales.

You can also target the trade itself and offer them discounts and benefits to stocking and selling your products/services – this will likely increase their efforts to promote them to customers.

To decide which sales and promotions strategies to use, you need to have clear objectives to determine which will best achieve them.

You need to think about the long-term effects of sales promotions, for example, while reducing prices may attract more sales, it also reduces the profit margin; you need to be sure that the overall profit increases by attracting sufficient new customers during this period.

This is why sales promotions are usually more effective for new products and more risky for existing ones.

Economic, social and industry directions, trends and practicesYou will need to take notice of economic, social and industry directions, trends and practices when planning your marketing strategy, as these will help you determine what will be most successful.

Economic, social and industry directions will help you determine customer needs and what strategies are currently selling and not selling. From this, you can determine what is more likely to be successful. You may also spot a gap in the market or decide to take a risk on a strategy that is different to current trends in order to stand out.

Industry product and service knowledgeIn order to successfully market a product or service, you will need to know the industry it resides in and how it works.

This will help you identify the following:

Strengths of the product/service

Weaknesses of the product/service

Comparisons to similar products/services in the industry

Industry trends

Cost of production

Profit margins

Selling strategies and trends

Past trends

Upcoming products.

What do you know about your industry and the products and services you are marketing?

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Activity 4E

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5. Evaluate and improve international marketing performance

5.1. Monitor product, pricing and distribution policies in relation to market changes, objectives of marketing plan and organisational requirements

5.2. Monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met

5.3. Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and objectives

5.4. Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause and effect, and use to improve international marketing performance

5.5. Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their potential impact on international marketing objectives

5.6. Document review of marketing performance against key performance indicators in accordance with organisational requirements

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5.1 – Monitor product, pricing and distribution policies in relation to market changes, objectives of marketing plan and organisational requirements

Monitor product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policiesYou must monitor your organisation's policies with regard to products, distribution, pricing and marketing communication, in order to ensure they comply with market changes, marketing plan objectives and organisational requirements.

If you fail to do this, it can result in your strategies becoming out-of-date with trends and objectives, making them less effective than if they are adapted and regulated according to set standards.

Monitoring processes may include:

Comparisons against competitors

Meetings to discuss product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication

Email contact

Telephone contact

Regular performance analysis of marketing strategy.

So, if the market changes, you will have to review your product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies to see if they still satisfy customer demand and are sufficient for their intended purpose.

What are your organisational requirements for your marketing strategy? How do the product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies of your organisation comply with these? How do they relate to your marketing plan objectives? How would a market change affect them?

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Activity 5A

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5.2 – Monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met

You will need to monitor your overall marketing progress against performance targets – this will ensure that activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met.

The methods of monitoring you can use are marketing metrics and statistical and data evaluation techniques.

Marketing metricsThese are used to measure the success of marketing against performance targets, to ensure that they are being met.

There are four main types of metrics used, which are:

1. Consumption

2. Sharing

3. Lead generation

4. Sales.

Consumption

This basically is used to measure how many people have consumed the content you put out. It can be measured in terms of viewing figures, purchases, downloads, traffic increases etc.

Sharing

This refers to how your content is shared with other consumers. In the modern day and age, this is measured by tweets (Twitter), likes (Facebook), Google shares, LinkedIn shares etc.

All of these sharing metric components can usually be measured under one analytics program, such as PostRank or Google Analytics.

Lead generation

This measures how many consumers of marketing media will actually investigate your product/service further. This is often measured by things like requiring consumers to register to view your website's content, or to join email lists, or by cookies on websites.

In other words, this helps you determine the cost-benefit of your marketing strategies.

Sales

This involves how many content consumers will turn into actual customers – this is very important in measuring the success of your marketing strategy.

You will need to link content consumption to profitability for each customer i.e. what media of yours did customers consume before making a purchases, how long can you expect their custom and how much money can you make from them?

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You will need to have a customer and prospect database to measure these metrics and ensure that they are synced with each other, to allow allocation of profitability to each piece of media consumed by the customer.

Using these metrics, you can then analyse whether your marketing strategy is effective, in terms of activity, quality, cost, and time requirements. It will allow you to identify which strategies are yielding the most profit, so you can reallocate your resources to these and not waste investment on outputs that have a low cost-benefit ratio.

Statistical and data evaluation techniques to measure marketing performanceWhen analysing your marketing progress against performance targets, you can analyse the data in two ways – descriptive and inferential.

Descriptive data analysis

This is where you describe the results from your marketing progress, giving you a summary of what has been gathered. For example, it could tell you how many people liked and disliked a particular concept, using the quantitative data gathered.

It uses visual representations of figures (e.g. charts, graphs, tables) and calculates averages (e.g. means, medians modes).

It can incorporate qualitative data, to include the interpretation of the data and responses. This information can then be grouped into categories, based on these qualitative summaries.

Inferential data analysis

This is where statistical methods are used to make judgements about certain issues related to the marketing progress. For example, it allows you to determine whether certain types of customer differ from one another. This can be used to identify whether different demographics hold different core values. It requires careful construction of surveys and requires participants to rate issues on a scale.

Note that quantitative data is essential for inferential data analysis in most cases.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

These are certain measurements or benchmarks that help you determine whether marketing performance is meeting your objectives e.g. increasing sales, generating new customers.

KPIs should be geared towards measuring outcomes from the consumers' perspective and be measurable and comparable. They should encompass all of your marketing activities, so that you can gain a holistic perspective of your marketing activities and achieve a fair analysis.

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Return on investment (ROI)

This basically deals with measuring profits against investment. You obviously want a positive return on investment in order for a marketing campaign to have been successful. This, after all, is the overall purpose of marketing.

You basically measure it by subtracting the money invested from the amount of money gained for the period of marketing.

However, be aware that making $1 profit is a positive ROI, but you wouldn't really consider that to be satisfactory, in reality. Therefore, you need to set a ROI benchmark, for the minimum amount of profit that your organisation would consider a success. This will be based on the amount of time spent on marketing and your position within the industry.

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Activity 5B

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5.3 – Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and objectives

Analyse marketing outcomesAfter you have completed a marketing campaign, you need to analyse the outcomes of it to determine whether it was successful.

The first place you should start is to look at your international marketing objectives – did you achieve them? What were the contributing factors to your success/failure and were they controllable?

You need to then revise your methods for future marketing campaigns to ensure you learn from any feedback and analysis you have gathered. The idea is that, during your next marketing campaign, you can make the process more effective and efficient.

Consider things such as:

Profit increases (as a result of the marketing campaign)

Allocation of resources

Effectiveness of individual marketing strategies

Customer feedback

Trader feedback

Cost-benefit ratios

Time invested in campaign

Short-term benefits

Long-term benefits.

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Review marketing objectives and outcomesThe creation of marketing objectives is not a finite process and should be a cyclical one of improvement. In other words, you should apply continuous improvement processes to marketing objectives.

Ask yourself if the marketing objectives are still in tune with aspects such as economic, social and industry trends.

Will your marketing objectives for your next campaign be the same? Will you chase the same demographic or will you attempt to break new ground?

Are marketing objectives reasonable within the given timeframes? Are the benchmarks appropriate to the context in which in you are assessing them?

Once you have reviewed marketing objectives, there are various resolutions you may come to:

Use the same marketing objectives but manage improvement by changing the actions required to achieve them

Change the objectives to fit the current context – this may require readjusting benchmarks

Change the marketing objectives completely.

The types of metrics you use need to be reviewed also – are they measuring the aspects of the marketing plan that you need to measure? Do they offer a way to measure your objectives?

To refresh your memory, there are four main types of metrics used:

1. Consumption

2. Sharing

3. Lead generation

4. Sales.

Which of these metrics categories are most relative to your marketing objectives? How does your organisation currently measure and analyse these metrics? What other ways can you think of to measure and analyse these metrics?

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Activity 5C

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5.4 – Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause and effect, and use to improve international marketing performance

Performance gap analysisPerformance gap analysis helps identify the areas of an individual that are lacking in comparison to competitors (regarding performance). The standards you measure against are benchmarks for acceptable performance – see previous information on key performance indicators (KPIs). It will help identify what additional skills and knowledge may need to be gained in order to ensure employees meet company benchmarks. It may also identify any additional resources that are required to help achieve KPIs.

Performance mapping

This involves making a performance map to display the behaviours of those who are successful in a particular role. This then sets a series of benchmarks for behaviour that you can compare others to in this role, helping you identify where others are deficient. You need to create different performance maps for each role in your marketing team.

Performance mapping can also be extended to cover your entire marketing operation – you can analyse other successful marketing companies to create a performance benchmark that you can then compare your efforts to.

Improving marketing performanceOnce you have analysed success and performance gaps, the next stage is to use this information to address any areas for improvement.

This may involve any of the following actions:

Additional training

Performance monitoring

Acquiring extra resources

Re-explaining the international marketing objectives and how to achieve them

Disciplinary procedures

Mentoring

Additional skills and knowledge assessments

Bringing in external coaches.

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Activity 5D

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5.5 – Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their potential impact on international marketing objectives

Analyse changes in market phenomenaMarket phenomena come in a variety of forms and will shift as new technology and trends emerge.

Market phenomena will vary depending on the industry you are dealing with – some of them can be explained, while others appear somewhat unpredictably. You will need to analyse the changes that are explainable and determine why they have happened – use this information to then predict future market phenomena (to a degree).

You must also identify and document the market phenomena changes' impact on international marketing objectives.

For example, if a trend is developing for a certain style of advert, you may want to incorporate this style into your marketing campaign. First, though, you need to analyse this trend to check that it is actually successful from a profit perspective.

It may be also that you need to alter your strategic objectives to fit the changes in market phenomena, so that they are achievable and in line with current trends and the rest of the industry.

Be aware that market phenomena changes are usually reflective of the needs of the customers – therefore, it makes sense that you follow them.

Make sure you document your analysis of market phenomena changes and their impact on international marketing objectives. This will allow you to refer back to them at a later date when you are reviewing your international marketing objectives.

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Activity 5E

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5.6 – Document review of marketing performance against key performance indicators in accordance with organisational requirements

Document review of marketing performance You will need to document your review of marketing performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) in accordance with your organisation's requirements. This will ensure that documentation is standardised and easy to access and interpret for future use. It will also deal with documentation formats i.e. electronic or manual.

The following guidelines are applicable to the completion of documentation:

Ensure documentation is written in the active voice rather than the passive, as this gets the message across more directly and helps with concise writing.

Documents should be:

Concise

Objective

By exception

Appropriate in language (no slang, unless recording direct speech)

Include only necessary information.

Concise documentation

This means including the right amount of information – not too little or too much. You need to get to the point in as few words as possible; use appropriate words, sentence structures and avoid frivolous information that is not relevant.

Objective documentation

This involves only including the facts in documentation and no opinions or bias affecting what is recording. Subjective information is based on assumptions and feelings and will not accurately portray the incident.

Ensure documentation is dated, so it can be filed chronologically and used in accordance with other documents relative to the same time period.

What are your organisation's requirements for documentation? What things need to be documented? Are there standard reports for performance against KPIs? Do certain visual representations (graphs, charts etc.) need to be included?

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Activity 5F

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Skills and Knowledge Activity

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Nearly there...

Major Activity – An opportunity to revise the unit

At the end of your Learner Workbook, you will find an activity titled ‘Major Activity’. This is an opportunity to revise the entire unit and allows your trainer to check your knowledge and understanding of what you have covered. It should take between and 1-2 hours to complete and your trainer will let you know whether they wish for you to complete it in your own time or during session. Once this is completed, you will have finished this unit and be ready to move onto the next, well done!

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Congratulations!

You have now finished the unit 'Manage international marketing programs'.

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References

These suggested references are for further reading and do not necessarily represent the contents of this Learner Guide.

AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines: http://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/COV_216905_Risk_Management_Fact_Sheet_FA3_23082010_0.pdf (accessed 4.12.14)

Australian export and import laws: http://www.austrade.gov.au/Invest/Doing-business-in-Australia/Investor-Guide/Running-a-business/Understanding-Australian-business-regulation/Australian-export-and-import-laws (accessed 4.12.14)

Communication patterns around the world: http://www.businessinsider.com/communication-charts-around-the-world-2014-3?IR=T (accessed 4.12.14)

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade (accessed 4.12.14)

Extended application of Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to conduct outside Australia: http://www.treasury.gov.au/Access-to-Information/InformationPublicationScheme/Guidance-on-obtaining-Ministerial-consent-to-rely-on-extraterritorial-conduct-in-private-proceedings (accessed 4.12.14)

Foreign investment limits: http:// www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/ BriefingBook44p/AustForeignInvest (accessed 4.12.14)

Labour relations: http:// www.commerce.wa.gov.au/labour-relations (accessed 4.12.14)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) International Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce: http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/consommateurs/oecdguidelinesforconsumerprotectioninthecontextofelectroniccommerce1999.htm (accessed 4.12.14)

World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution system: http:// www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s2p1_e.htm (accessed 4.12.14)

Understanding Chinese consumers: http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/understanding-chinese-consumers/ (accessed 4.12.14)