Introduction
Understanding the mechanisms of marketing requires not only the study of theoretical materials, practical participation but also the analytical analysis of experts’ articles in this field. It is because “what makes international marketing so much more complicated than domestic marketing are the various uncontrollable factors that companies have to encounter in international markets”(“Global Marketing Session 1,” slide 3). The purpose of this paper is to analyze theses on the development of the global marketing mindset.
Cultural Awareness as the First Step
The author of the article claims that in order to achieve a global mindset successfully, the development of cultural awareness is necessary as one of the first steps. This concept implies two terms, namely cultural education and language erudition. It can be stated that the author is right because studies show that these two approaches are effective.
According to Norman and Ogbuehi (2019), “Chrobot-Mason (2012) found that diversity training was linked with being able to deal more effectively with diversity issues and interracial conflict in the workplace” (p. 181).
It is also worth noting that the practice of international marketing for several years strengthens the formation of the global marketing mindset of franchisors and other market-related professions (Galhanone et al., 2019). Regarding linguistic erudition, marketing in both native and foreign languages is equally valid (Bailey, 2017). However, some insurmountable cultural barriers may still exist because their source is consumers, not producers.
Controversial Personalization and Localization
Personalization plays an essential role in the cultivation of the international marketing mindset. The second critical statement of the author is that personalization through localization contributes to the cultivation of competent international marketing skills (Ibrahim, 2018). However, one does not agree here with Marina Ibrahim. As in the case of language erudition, the decisive factor in this topic is consumer perception. Different representatives of foreign cultures react differently to localized goods and services, and those that contain elements of the native language (Agrawal et al., 2018).
It suggests that the implementation of localization is variable in nature and is not required in some cultural areas of international marketing. It is also important to note that global digital corporations are increasingly resorting to localized marketing policies (De Mooij, 2019). It can be stated that localization is more acceptable and useful for service-oriented markets.
The Impact of Customer and Employee Engagement
The third thesis of the article is that for a full understanding and implementation of the concept of global marketing and mindset, customer and employee engagement is crucial. The author of this analysis agrees with the third statement. The study shows that customer engagement is useful because it affects the psychological sphere of the consumer, therefore, developing strong cognitive bonds between the brand, product or service and the client (Harmeling et al., 2017).
Employee engagement is also significant because it affects such professional indicators as various types of workplace relations as well as workers’ job satisfaction (Lee & Ok, 2016). Consequently, marketing engagement affects not only economic indicators such as profit, but also the productivity of the enterprise and the workplace climate.
Conclusion
This work discusses the key points of Marina Ibrahim’s article on the global marketing mindset. The author of the analysis agrees with the thesis on cultural awareness and the importance of customers’ and workers’ engagement but criticizes the personalization paragraph. In general, it can be concluded that Marina Ibrahim’s article is reliable and informative, but several described aspects are superficial, lacking a presentation of various nuances.
References
Agrawal, R., Narayanan, S., & Vishwadeep, R. (2018). Impact of ad personalization on CTR-findings from online ad campaign of an international hotel group. In 2018 Global Marketing Conference at Tokyo (pp. 712-713). Tokyo, Japan: Global Alliance of Marketing & Management Associations.
Bailey, M. K. (2017). Bilingual (Spanish-English) marketing as a catalyst for cultural awareness: The effect on parents in the toy market. Web.
De Mooij, M. (2019). Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. SAGE Publications Limited.
Galhanone, R. F., Rocha, T., Spers, E. E., & Rodrigues, F. (2019). The influence of corporate global mindset on international franchising. RAUSP Management Journal, 55(2), 161-175.
Global Marketing Session 1. (n.d.). PowerPoint slides.
Harmeling, C. M., Moffett, J. W., Arnold, M. J., & Carlson, B. D. (2017). Toward a theory of customer engagement marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(3), 312-335.
Ibrahim, M. (2018). 3 keys to a global marketing mindset. Web.
Lee, J., & Ok, C. M. (2016). Hotel employee work engagement and its consequences. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 25(2), 133-166.
Norman, M. V., & Ogbuehi, A. (2019). Cultural competence: The missing piece of relationship marketing. In AMA Proceedings (pp. 176-185). Kennesaw, GA: Kennesaw State University.