International Marketing Strategy

Objectives

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of international marketing strategy, more specifically, how to design, develop and deploy effective and efficient marketing programs on a multi-market or global scale. It covers three topics:

(1) international expansion, including objectives, business model, company readiness, market selection and entry mode;

(2) global marketing, including the particularities of the marketing function (i.e. consumer understanding, segmentation, targeting, positioning, branding, marketing mix and organisation) in companies operating in multiple markets and/or considering cross-border expansion; and

(3) market dynamics, including the role of emerging markets as source of both sales growth and new global companies, the characteristics of companies that are born global and/or manage to establish a dominant global presence, as well as future perspectives for globalisation. Furthermore, in order to grasp a concrete view of the topic, students work in groups to develop a global marketing program (e.g. market-entry plan) for a company of their choice.

General characterization

Code

2339

Credits

3.5

Responsible teacher

Antonio Marinho Torres

Hours

Weekly - Available soon

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

English

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

A. Case Studies
• Paillasse International SA: Global Market Selection. Ivey (W17198).
• Colgate-Palmolive: Staying Ahead in Oral Care. HBS (9-311-120).
• Wendy’s: A Plan for International Expansion. Ivey (W18477).
• Uber and the Sharing Economy: Global Market Expansion and Reception. WDI
(W04C79).

B. Notes and Articles
• Ghemawat, Pankaj (2001). Distance Still Matters: The Hard Reality of Global Expansion. HBR (R0108K).
• Holt, Douglas; Quelch, John; Taylor, Earl (2004). How Global Brands Compete. HBR (R0409D).
• Hennessy, Julie; Leininger, Eric; Meagher, Evan (2012). Global Brand Management. Kellogg (KEL696).
• Christensen, Clayton; Ojomo, Efosa; Dillon, Karen (2019). Cracking Frontier Markets. HBR (R1901F).
• Kerr, William (2016). Harnessing the Best of Globalization. SMR (SMR574).

Teaching method

This course is delivered through a three-pronged approach:

(1) theory: concepts and frameworks on international expansion, global marketing, and market dynamics provide a shared basis for a structured understanding of the topic;

(2) case studies: group reports, presentations and class discussion of relevant case studies and other examples enable a more concrete view of the topic; and

(3) group project: development and presentation of a global marketing program (e.g. market entry plan) for a company chosen by each group enable a hands-on approach to the topic.

Evaluation method

A. Individual Assignments
• Final exam 40%
• Class participation 10%

B. Group Assignments
• Group Project 40%
• Case-Study Report 10%

Subject matter

1) Introduction
International Expansion
• Why to expand? (objectives)
• What to expand? (business model)
• When to expand? (company readiness)
• Where to expand? (market selection)
• How to expand? (entry mode)
2) Case study 1
Global Marketing (Part 1)
• Consumer insight across markets
• Multi-market segmentation and targeting
• Multi-market positioning and branding
3) Case study 2
Global Marketing (Part 2)
• Marketing programs across markets (4Ps)
• Marketing organisation across markets and cultures
4) Case study 3
Market Dynamics (Part 1)
• Into emerging markets (strategies for MNCs)
• Out of emerging markets (global challengers)
5) Case study 4
Market Dynamics (Part 2)
• Born global (digital businesses)
• Global dominance (corporate giants)
• The way forward
6) Group project presentation
    Conclusion.

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: