Explain the different marketing decisions, i.e. product and brand, pricing, promotion and distribution (place) and understand how they are interlinked, describe the marketing research process, and develop an awareness of consumer behavior.
The global and local marketing strategy of Mcdonald’s as explained in the video by Lynch (2010) highlights the importance of understanding consumer behavior to achieve a competitive advantage. The video has taught me a very important lesson about the promotion and distribution from the point of view of Mcdonald’s when it has to meet the local demands in different regions of the world even if they don’t necessarily comply with its global vision. For example, Muslims only eat Halal meat and Indians don’t eat beef due to religious restrictions. Therefore, Mcdonald’s instead of keeping one single strategy throughout the globe prioritized consumer behavior which provided its sustainable advantage over its competitors.
Moreover, the marketing and promotional strategy of the company is also very effective as it provides full ownership to the local franchise to formulate promotional material according to local trends. This signifies the importance of market research and the effective utilization of resources to fill the market gap. In this way, I learned a very important marking lesson from the video.
Explain why legality is only the first step in behaving ethically, describe management’s role in setting ethical standards, and corporate social responsibility, and distinguish between compliance-based and integrity-based codes of ethics.
This video is a part of a speech by the founder of Apple Steve Jobs (Belfiore, 2014). Steve describes the importance of corporate values and corporate social responsibility for any company which has a global vision. Steve has provided examples of different companies especially Nike to illustrate why focusing on social responsibility is more important than just looking at financial indicators. In marketing, it is always important to make an emotional connection with the customers which Nike has done very effectively. This also highlights the role of top management to set ethical standards and corporate social responsibility.
In the words of the founder of one of the largest brands in the world, “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do” (Belfiore, 2014). By saying this, Steve Jobs has indicated how much he values persons who are motivated and enthusiastic and why he wants to provide the opportunity to add value in society through his company. Thus, this teaches that business all around the world should also prioritize their social and ethical values which is in fact the learning outcome of the course.
Explain the growing importance of global markets and the roles of comparative advantage and absolute advantage in global trade, list and explain the strategies used in reaching global markets, and the role of multinational corporations in global markets.
Wolters World (2012) has explicitly described the 5 ways to enter the global market i.e. export, franchise, strategic alliance, joint venture, and direct investment. Considering the course learning outcome which is focusing on strategies to reach the global market, the video has provided me with a detailed description of these possible ways along with the level of risk and control associated with each other. The main point that is described in the video regarding all strategies is that firms who take full control of their investment and profit as in the case of direct investment in another country, also bear the most risk. Conversely, in the case of a strategic alliance, both control and risk are distributed equally among firms operating together. Thus, this description has improved my understanding of such strategies.
Moreover, Wolters World (2012) has given practical examples of McDonald’s and Sony to elaborate his points which further increases the knowledge of the strategies. This also highlights the growing importance of global markets where major brands and companies are competing with each other. Thus, the video is very useful to understand the different strategies to reach a global market which also highlights the importance of this mission.
References
Belfiore, M. (2014). The Best Marketing Advice EVER By Steve Jobs | Apple Motivation & Inspiration [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEVBvN8Q6Q
Lynch, R. (2010). McDonalds Global and Local Strategy.flv [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6coDUDCJ10
Wolters World. (2012). Global Market Entry Strategies Explained [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSyYo4ph3hM
