International Marketing Assignment Sample

Introduction - Future Trends in International Marketing: Embracing the 4Es for a Post-Pandemic World Assignment Sample

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Identification of key trends in the future that need to be taken into account by international marketers for identifying as well as running the business in the International market is the topic of this report. International marketing can be defined as the application of various marketing principles to satisfy the varied wants as well as needs of different people living across borders (Sheth, 2020). For this, marketers need to be up to date with the ever-changing marketing environment, apart from having analytical and creative minds. Marketing should be done suitably for running a successful business. Getting through to modern days customer is highly difficult which requires the company's to adjust with the future trends. If a company can identify these trends ahead of others, then it gains a competitive advantage. The pandemic of 2020, has changed a variety of aspects of the business and marketing world. These key trends and the future of international marketing will be discussed in this report. Solutions to these trends will be provided through a discussion of an appropriate marketing theory. Secondly, a reflective essay will be written regarding the analysis of the future marketing trends and a suitable action plan. 

International marketing and future implications

A business's every decision is impacted by the international market and these are regularly highlighted on media. Leading financial and strategic business decisions to affect not only the ROI of the business but also their business's brand image. The forces which shape the global market are ever-changing that causes internal as well as external pressure to governments, peoples, and business, and its demands are eventually turning it into major new trends which are shaping the international market of the future (Cateora, et al., 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the marketing plan and many new trends have emerged which will be discussed in the following. 

Future Consumers: Generation Alpha - Generation Alpha refers to the highly formally educated, technologically sound, and wealthiest generation ever. They are the first generation who is entirely born in technology (Jha, 2020). With new technological advancements such as self-driving cars, AI and several other solutions at the doorstep generation alpha has been seen to be paying more attention towards self-care, personal growth, development, etc. Hence, they can be identified as potential customers of the modern age. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – AI has been in the market for a while. Marketers regularly deal with it, through various tools which they use. AI is used by them in various tools such as analytics, content, email marketing, etc. Artificial Intelligence is an inbuilt part of the engines which runs these tools, filters, decides, and finally suggests a solution (Vaishya, et al., 2020). Parallel to this the consumer is provided with more and more AI-driven solutions within the conversational interface that remind, guide, help, and provide them with personalized products or solutions It's very common these days. 

The transformation from 4Ps and 4Es – The theory of 4Ps of marketing is a well renowned and popular theory. It involves Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. However, after the pandemic, they are not effective anymore. Hence, The theory of 4Ps of marketing should be discarded and 4Es of marketing need to be welcomed. These 4Es of marketing are Engagement, Exclusivity, Experience, and Emotion. It should be noted that customer doesn’t only buy the product, but the emotions and experience also. Emotional branding is the main aspect that helps a business to gain a competitive advantage. Brands which are successful not only offer physical products and services but also emotions, experiences, and story which resonates. 

Monitoring the digital media and analytics of the goldmine insights - Regardless of whether the business is of electronics, web application, or tombstone carving, every type of business needs to show its online presence. There is much business that operates through the online mode. Their customers are online too. This means that a major portion of their conversations regarding their brands as well as products happens online. Hence, proper monitoring of digital media is vital for understanding the emerging online presence of various businesses after the pandemic. 

Building of One-to-one relation - In the past One-to-many marketing model was very suitable. It was an easy process. Marketers performed in-depth research regarding the target group and defined a persona and major characteristics. The conversions rates in this model were not highly impressive, but they worked. Due to growth in digital media, this model changed slightly. However, in modern times distinguishing a brand among others requires acquiring loyal customers. Also, a one-one relation should be built with these customers as they require a personal approach and individual service in all aspects. If a business can show that it cares about its clients then strong firm relations can be built with them and the customers can be kept with the brand. 

International marketing Theory of the 4Es of marketing 

The theory of 4Ps of marketing was proposed in 1960, and it became the most well-known marketing framework throughout countries for about half a century. However, recently there have been major changes in a business environment and so the 4Ps of marketing are less useful. Moreover, after the pandemic, the business aspects have changed significantly and this 4Es of marketing model is useful. This involves Experience, Exchange, Everywhere, and Evangelism (Konhäusner, et al., 2021). Modern customer doesn’t just expect to be sold a service or a product. The experience that comes with the purchasing of the product helps them to relate to the brand and feel emotional about the product. Hence the product in 4Ps has transformed into Experience in 4Es. Secondly, Price has transformed to Exchange. Until very recently, the main factors which drove the price of a product were production cost, scarcity, or prevision. But nowadays physical products can always be found at a lower price, although the product quality may be questionable. Hence the customer suffers in this complexity and so educating and accompanying them through the process becomes critical in driving their purchase decisions. Next, in present times we have entered a highly immediate era. The brands should be able to anticipate, capture and drive the mood of the customer their will to consume anytime at anywhere. To be successful, having a physical store is not enough. Modern marketing utilizes the strategy of omnichannel marketing that allows the customer to reach the seller, whether it be online via social media or to a physical location. Finally, the last E of the 4Es of marketing is Evangelism (Okpighe, 2020). According to much literature, recent fluctuations in the behavior of the customers are directly related to how they meet brands. This means that brands are no longer the only source of information. The customer is provided with information from several sources including blogs, social networks, and forums. Informing as well as seducing the customer is no longer the only role of promotion. It also involves providing the customer with a positive, consistent message which is aligned with brand experience. And brand value. Although traditional means of advertising are still operational, the way of effectively reaching the customer has transformed entirely.

Reflective essay

In this part, reflective writing will be provided regarding the identification of future trends that must be taken into account by International marketers to do business in the international market. Reflective writing is a significant process that helps to relate a personal experience with the research topic (Adeani, et al., (2020). The process of analyzing an experience in a retrospective manner helps to identify what and why something happened. In this report, I have used Gibb's reflective cycle to analyze the research topic and provide a suitable action plan.

Gibb’s cycle of reflection is undoubtedly the most widely used reflective model. I have come to know that this leads the user to various stages so that he or she can make sense of his or her experience. This reflective model was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988. This model has 6 main stages through which I have been able to write the reflective essay regarding the research topic (Dressler, et al., 2018). The first stage of Gibbs's reflective model is Description. This answers several questions regarding the research topic including what and how it has happened, Reasons for it to happen, who were present during the situation, and how the situation was dealt with. In this report, I have found that the business environment is changing rapidly in recent times. These have had significant effects on marketing. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has further added to these changes. Hence, new trends have appeared in international marketing and the older marketing techniques have become slightly obsolete. I have gained knowledge that the second stage of Gibb's reflective model is Feelings. This part signifies that an individual is free to share his or her thoughts and experience regarding the topic (Sekarwinahyu, et al., 2019). It specifically answers the questions of how I felt at the time of the situation, discussion of my feelings before and after the incident, and whether other people were involved during the situation. I have felt that the COVID-19 Pandemic has highly altered the marketing of the environment. New trends in International marketing are appearing due to this and will further appear in the future, which needs to be suitably identified. Only after proper identification of these trends a suitable action plan can be suggested. 

The 3rd stage in Gibb’s reflective model is Evaluation. Here I have learned that the researcher needs to suitably examine a particular situation and evaluate the things which have worked in favor or against the particular situation (Hussein, H. (2018). In this report, I have observed that identification of key future trends in International marketing is very important and have evaluated five major trends. These are Future Consumers: Generation Alpha, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the transformation from 4Ps and 4Es, monitoring the digital media and analytics of the goldmine insights, and building of One-to-one relations. The next stage in the reflective model is Analysis. This is where the researcher is provided with a chance to analyze all the aspects that happened in a particular situation. I have carefully analyzed all the five major trends in the future of International marketing and have found that each of these trends should be addressed suitably by businesses to gain a competitive advantage. The Fifth stage in the model is the conclusion part. I have found that the different existing International marketing models which were operational till now such as the 4Ps of marketing and the One-to-many marketing have become obsolete after the pandemic and so a new International marketing theory is required to overcome this. The final stage is the action plan. After, careful analyzing I have found that letting go of the 4Ps marketing model and welcoming the 4Es model will be suitable for addressing the future trends in international marketing. 

Conclusion

Identification of key trends in the future that need to be taken into account by international marketers for identifying as well as running a business in the International market is the topic of this report. Marketers within a business need to be up to date with the ever-changing marketing environment, apart from having analytical and creative minds to survive in the International market. Marketing should be done suitably for running a successful business (Samiee & Chirapanda, 2019). Getting through to modern days customer is highly difficult which requires the company's to adjust with the future trends. If a company can identify these trends ahead of others, then it gains a competitive advantage. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a variety of aspects of the business and marketing world. These key trends and the future of international marketing have been thoroughly discussed in this report. Solutions to these trends have been provided through the discussion of an appropriate marketing theory. Secondly, a reflective essay has been written regarding the analysis of the future marketing trends and appropriate action plan. 

Reference

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