THEINTERNATIONALMARKETINGPLAN 133
MARKETING CAPSULE •
1.Internationalmarketinginvolvesthefirminmakingone
ormoremarketingdecisionsacrossnationalboundaries.
2.Thedebatebetweenstandardizationversuscustomization
oftheinternationalmarketingstrategyis unsettled;best
toconsiderona case-by-casebasis.
3.Therearemany reasonstoenteraninternationalmarket
ledbylargemarketsizeanddiversification.
TradeIntermediaries
4.Therearealsoseveralreasonstoavoidenteringinterna-
tionalmarkets,includingtoomuchredtape,tradebarri-
ers,andtranspOitationdifficulties.
5.Thestagesofgoinginternationalareasfollows:export-
ing,licensing, jointventures,directinvestment,U.s.com-
mercialcenters, tradeintermediaries,andalliances.
Smallmanufacturerswhoareinterestedinbuildingtheirforeignsalesareturningtotrade
intermediariestoassisttheminthesaleanddistributionoftheirproducts.Theseentrepre-
neurialmiddlementypicallybuyu.S.-producedgoodsat15%belowa manufacturer'sbest
discountandthenreselltheproductsinoverseasmarkets.Thesetradeintermediariesaccount
forabout10%ofallU.S.exports.^9 Thetradeintermediaryprovidesa valuableserviceto
smallcompanies,whichoftendonothavetheresourcesorexpertisetomarkettheirprod-
uctsoverseas.Thetradeintermediarieshavedevelopedrelationshipswithforeigncountries;
theserelationshipsaretime-consumingandexpensivetodevelop.
Alliances
Heineken,thepremiumDutchbeer,isconsumedbymorepeopleinmorecountriesthan
anyotherbeer.toItisalsothenumber-oneimportedbeerinAmerica.MillerandBudweiser,
thetwolargestAmericanbeerproducers,haveenteredintoglobalcompetitionwithHeineken,
partlybecausetheAmericanbeermarkethasbeenflat.Theyaredoingsobyformingalliances
withglobalbreweriessuchasMolson,Corona,andDosEquis.Heinekenhasrespondedto
thechallenge,heavilypromotingproductssuchasAmstelLightandMurphy'sIrishStout.
HeinekenhasalsobegundevelopinganalliancewithAsiaPacificBreweries,themakerof
TigerBeer.
TheInternationalMarketingPlan
It shouldbeapparentbynowthatcompaniesandorganizationsplanningtocompeteeffec-
tivelyinworldmarketsneeda clearandwell-focusedinternationalmarketingplanthatis
basedona thoroughunderstandingofthemarketsinwhichth ecompanyisintroducingits
products.Thechallenge,then,ofinternationalmarketingistoensurethatanyinternational
strategyhasthedisciplineofthoroughresearch,andanunderstandingandaccurateevalu-
ationofwhatis requiredtoachievethecompetitiveadvantage.Assuch,thedecisionsequence
ininternationalmarketing(seeFigure6.1)ismuchlargerthanthatofdomesticmarkets.
AsnotedinthenextIntegratedMarketingbox,it isalsomorecomplicated.
