Global Marketing Professor

Global Marketing Insights | GlobalMarketingProfessor.com

Domino’s Pizza

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Domino’s Pizza started off by its innovating home delivery service that people in the United States loved. In order to grow its brand, Domino’s turned to international markets. Domino’s kept many things the same as they did in the United States with a few different touches.

Domino’s Pizza decided to stick to its traditional business model of pizza delivery and take-out orders throughout all of its stores worldwide. This is what Domino’s prevailed at and gave them a leading position in the market. However, when Domino’s went international and focused more on research and development, they realized that each country and culture perceives pizza in a different light. Does everyone perceive pizza to be quick and easy? Some countries and cultures believe it to be more as a fast food convenient place, some believe it to be more upscale, and some people believe it to be an occasional holiday outing. Due to this, Domino’s now has more tables available at their stores; however, the luxury of having servers serve and clean up afterwards is not the case. People are required to serve themselves and clean up afterwards.

Domino’s adapts and adjusts their products in the various markets it operates in. As mentioned, Domino’s has added more tables into their stores to please the needs and wants of consumers in other countries. They also adapted to certain taste preferences that people in different countries prefer. By adapting to consumer preferences, Domino’s is able to provide consumers in each country the pizza and experience they want. For example, take a look at the marketing mix of India compared to the US. In India, there are about 3 or 4 different toppings that are available solely in Domino’s stores in India to fit their taste preferences. Since the majority of people in India are Hindu, a majority of the pizzas offered at Domino’s in India are vegetarian. They also offer oregano spice mix packets rather than Parmesan cheese packets in order to attract the Indian culture. Also, the marketing and advertising in India is different as pizza in India is not viewed as daily fast food, but rather more of a once a week, special meal. Also, the Domino’s stores in India are located in highly populated areas such as shopping malls to create more buzz and attraction while in the United States, Domino’s stores are not in highly populated areas. While in the United States deliveries are made by car, in India, Domino’s, uses mopeds for delivery. In the streets of India, there is lots of traffic and to complete a quicker delivery, mopeds seemed to be the better option for Domino’s.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dalebuss/2013/03/09/dominos-global-growth-feeds-pizza-chains-growing-success/

https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-dominos/

 

How to Market to a International Consumer Through Social Media

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Social media is a powerful tool that marketers can utilize to reach consumers across the globe. However, many companies are unsure of how to properly execute a global social media strategy or are not even sure where to start! Read my step by step guide to how to execute your social media strategy below:

Clarify The Brand Message
Before you develop this content for your international social media strategy, you need to determine your brand personality in order to deliver a clarified brand message.

In all of your social media posts, the posts should be written in a consistent tone that aligns with the voice of your brand. No matter which voice you decide is the best fit for your brand, it is most important to keep the tone consistent in all of your social media posts. In creating the copy for your social media posts, strive to keep the wording clear and concise. The consumer who is viewing the post should be able to precisely identify what your product or service is and be able to distinguish the value in what you are trying to advertise. You may also need to translate the language of your posting and consider revising the messaging depending on what country you are trying to market to.

Gather The Assets
On social media, the best way to create a desire for your brand is through your content. Make sure that the photos and videos that you are choosing to post on social media specifically cater to the target demographic of the country you are promoting your product in. Make sure to thoroughly research the characteristics of your target country and what type of advertising is most effective in that country or market.

When forming your content, choose photos and videos that are interesting and attention-grabbing. For example on Instagram, the photos stream looks the most professional when the content follows a certain “theme”. whether it be by color scheme, composition, subject matter etc. Whether your company decides to hire photographers and videographers or take photos with your iPhone – make sure that you are delivering quality content that is consistent with your brand.

You can also choose to curate content by using stock photos, but be wary of this technique. Especially if you are trying to take your company global, it is vital to your social media marketing strategy to incorporate original content that specifically highlights your product or service.

Create Content Specific To Each Target Market

It is crucial to understand not only the demographic characteristics of your target audience but also to understand where your international customers are spending their time online. Are you targeting an adult audience who consumes their information on Facebook, college students who are on Instagram, or preteens who are on Snapchat?

Choosing the right social network to reach your target audience is critical to the success of your international social media marketing campaign. It is also important to determine what content resonates with your audience. Would your target demographic be more likely to read an informative blog post, or rather a 30-second video? This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should limit your social media campaign to one platform, however, it is beneficial to determine which platforms you should focus on over others and which platforms are most likely to deliver the best results.

Engage With Your Audience

Engaging with your international audience through social media is key to maintaining a strong and successful customer reputation management. Your business must present itself well to its customer, make them feel engaged, comfortable, and trust in the credibility of your company. Once your company has delivered its campaign on social media, keep up with the posts and engage with your audience directly on the post. See what people are saying and deliberate what the best feedback would be. Keep up with how many views or “likes” the posts are getting and compare it to either competing posts or other campaign posts your company has run in the past. You always want to improve with each campaign and make sure each new campaign is even more successful than the first.

I hope you find this helpful in creating your international social media strategy!

What is the cause for record retail space closing?

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90 million square feet. That is the amount of retail space that has already closed in 2018 and we are not even half way through the year. To put that number in perspective 2017 was the record setting year for retail closure and the total number of square footage closed for the whole year was 105 million square feet. What is worst is that CoStar is estimating more retail closures on the way. A large part of this is attributed to the bankruptcies and financial troubles of large retail chains like Bon-Ton, Sears, and Toys R Us.

Source: CoStar

Experts and insiders in the retail industry attributes this phenomenal to the rise of internet retailing specifically to the success of Amazon. While the rise of e-commerce is part of the reason why big chain retailers are struggling, it is not the only reason nor is it the most important reason. Currently e-commerce only make up around 9.1% of the total retail market in the US and 10.1% of total retail market in the world. This means that all of the senior management who complain to shareholders that Amazon is destroying their companies are simply looking for excuses rather than trying to coming up with way to improve performance. One example of the company that has adapted to the retail trend is Best Buy. It has introduced its own channel of online retail while at the same time improved customer interaction during store visits.

A much more logical reason for the retail failures might be that this is a correction of retail space because there are simply way too much retail space per capita in the US.  According to a Cowen and Company, the U.S. has 40 percent more shopping space per capita than Canada, five times more the the U.K., and 10 times more than Germany. This high level of retail space is not sustainable in the long run and with consumers more careful with their spending habit coming out of a recession, it should not be a surprise that all of these large retailers are going out of business.

Another possible reason for retailers closing shop might be the financial structure of these chains. Both Toys R Us and Sears are both high profile LBOs that have struggled financially to pay of debt. These LBOs are typically highly leveraged by borrowing senior and subordinated debts that have high interest rates. These interest rates cut into the profitability of the stores and the private equity firms who initiated these LBOs have very little retail experience.

In the near future, the outlook for brick and mortar is very grim. However there are opportunities that exist for smart and sophisticated retailers as they can pick up the slacks left behind by the big chains who have closed up shop.

 

Global Market Intelligence

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In this growing competitive market in the new era with so many technological advances taking place, it is essential for the organizations to keep a track of their competitors in the market. This has proven to be a critical part of the business operations that are placing now and this phenomenon is known as global market intelligence. There are many different ways in which the market intelligence data can be collected. The data obtained from this process is very crucial for the company as it helps them in developing effective strategies and take designs that are important for their success. According to a survey conducted the important for market intelligence as highlighted as 52% predicted that it helps in making a more established status of the company in the market.

A very easy way of collecting the data is the “market intelligence software” which is used by many organizations to transform their data which is about the accounts into information that is important and useful or the sales team to analyze deeply. It is also seen that the market intelligence systems are placed in this way so that they able to crunch the data in order to sanction the superior logistics department along with the operations and tactical decision making. The practice of collecting the market intelligence data has expanded a lot and it is because of the fact of the benefits that the organizations have gained because of it.

According to researches and surveys it is also found that the Global market intelligence by 2020 will be such that it will become very easy for the small companies to jump into big market with their analysis and decision making techniques due to market intelligence techniques. The information that is collected through this method can be used to improve the business models as well as projections of the companies to design their future strategies accordingly.

The easiest way to collect the market intelligence is to visit the website of your competitive companies, analyze the information that is published regarding the number and types of their potential and target customers, what types of marketing strategies they are using in order to stay at the top of competition and other developments that they are making. The customer feedback is also another way in which the business can improve their service and product that they are offering which is also a part of market intelligence.

References:

GIA. (2014). Market Intelligence Trends 2020. Retrieved from Global Intelligence Alliance White Paper website: https://www.m-brain.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/11480.pdf

Amazon Launches International Shopping Experience on Mobile App

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After CEO Jeff Bezos’ 100 million Prime member reveal on Wednesday, Amazon hopes to add to that number with an international focus.

Thanks to a new “International Shopping” feature on the Amazon Shopping App, customers from various locations around the world can now shop for approximately 45 million products from the online giant’s U.S. store. Image result for amazon international shopping

“We are always innovating on behalf of our customers, and with today’s launch, we are making the shopping experience on mobile devices even better and more convenient for our customers who live outside the US,” said Amazon’s VP of Amazon Exports and Expansion Samir Kumar on Tuesday. “The International Shopping experience solves this customer need and makes it simple to browse, shop, and ship…”

Through the mobile app platforms on Android and iOS devices, customers from over 100 countries will be able to join the 1-Click Order world. They can choose from five languages: English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, German, and Brazilian Portuguese, and pay with 25 different currency types.

The ease and efficiency of the global purchase focus is part of Amazon’s plan to grow continued sales overseas. International customers simply have to download the app and they will be integrated into the International Shopping experience, with their location automatically determined by their mobile device. If  they already have the app on their phones, then they can select the appropriate selection in “Country & Language” settings to determine what is available to be shipped to their respective countries.

Anyone who has shopped while abroad or ordered online from a brand not located in the U.S. knows how frustrating the details of international purchasing can become. Amazon has anticipated these challenges and will include information such as pricing, shipping costs, and import duty estimates for customers to include in their payment estimates. The company will also be working closely with global delivery services so that packages will not be held up in customs and delay arrival.

Image result for amazon international shopping

 

Interestingly, the International Shopping feature is only available at this time on mobile browsers and apps. Amazon’s push to target more global e-commerce sales may explain the decision, as international customers shopping on mobile platforms before the feature launch were most frustrated by the numerous website navigational steps needed to determine global availability of items to their home country.

Amazon has made a great effort to infiltrate the global market with its tech and digital products as well. The Prime video streaming service is now available in 200 countries, along with a Fire TV stick made exclusively for international customers. The popular home assistant Echo is now sharing the voice of Alexa and her assistance in 28 countries.

Overall, Amazon’s goal with the International Shopping experience is a simultaneous approach to the American and global marketplace. By allowing worldwide customer to purchase products from the U.S. store, the company is in a comfortable position to increase sales in domestic and international markets while further solidifying one of its four principles of business: long-term thinking.