International marketing and foreign branding

Foreign branding can be defined as the advertisement of products and services by use of foreign sounding names.  Most brands use American styled-names or plain English in countries which don’t speak English. A good example is that most fashion brands and cosmetics use Italian styled or French names in countries which speak other languages other than English (Paul Chaoa, Gerhard Wührerb & Thomas Weranib 2015). The sole purpose of using foreign branding is so as to enhance the different perceptions of the features of some products. Most organizations have employed the method of using foreign brand names in order to promote the sales of their products by inducing perceptions which are of higher quality. This also heightens the social status for the brands (Henseler, Ringle and Sinkovics 2009).

There exist some instances where there is use of foreign branding. These include: an ice cream brand which is named Haagen-Dazs and was established by rose mattus and Reuben, who knew that Denmark maintained a positive image in the United States and it was widely known for its dairy products. There’s also a German chocolate candy which is named Merci. Merci means thank you in French. There are products which are renamed in order to avoid offending people from different backgrounds. For example, Bic, which was initially called Bich (Ho Yin Wong 1983).  The producers renamed it so that they could prevent it from being pronounced wrongly by English speaking countries, who would pronounce it as bich. This would in turn offend some people (Subhash 1989).

The country of origin, which is similar to the country of departure, is the country in which the products are produced, manufactured, or grown. The rules of origin differ under various international treaties and national laws. In the world today, almost one-quarter of customers make purchasing decisions on the basis of information regarding the country of origin.

International marketing can be defined as the usage of principles of marketing in different countries by organizations which may be across the national boarders or companies which are located overseas. In international marketing, the most attention is put to the decisions made, identification of the market and lastly, the targeting process internationally (C Kohli 1997).  It can also be defined as the process which involves the pricing of the products, the planning and execution of the conception, and the distribution of goods and services so as to ensure satisfaction of the customers and realization of the organizational objectives (Vargo and Lusch, 2004).

Consumer Disidentification arises when two parties experience a conflict between the attributes that define them and the attributes that define the organization. Consumer Disidentification is good for the marketers. Marketers can use Consumer Disidentification as a competitive advantage. In order for the marketers to retain customers and win over customers, they may start explicit propaganda in regards to their competitors and go an extra mile to showcase their competitor’s ill behaviors. Both foreign and domestic marketers use the Consumer Disidentification information since it aids in creating and establishing new target markets (Craig and Douglas, 2005).

Consumer Disidentification (CD) originates from issues such as, social environment, personal perceptions and values and environmental issues. Examples of social CD are Toyota, nestle and Samsung while examples of cultural CD include pork and alcohol. CD may be brought about by consumer factors such as the social class, the perception of the customers in regards to the quality of the product, and the dire need for status (France 1994). International marketing leads to the success of the organization as the target market is widened.

Reference list

Subhash, C 1989, ‘Standardization of international marketing strategy: some research hypothesis’ available from: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1251525?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21106110666991. [23 april 2015]

J Henseler, CM Ringle, and RR Sinkovics, 2009, THE USE OF PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES PATH MODELING IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING, Irwin, Sydney.

SL Vargo and RF Lusch, 2004, Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing, academic press, London.

CS Craig and SP Douglas, 2005, International marketing research, academic press, London.

M Czinkota and I Ronkainen, 2012, International marketing, Blackwell publishers, California.

France, L 1994, ‘Foreign branding and its effects on product perceptions and attitudes’ available from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3152198?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21106110666991 [23 April 2015]

C Kohli, 1997, branding consumer goods: insights from theory and practice, oxford press, CA.

Paul Chaoa, Gerhard Wührerb & Thomas Weranib V, 2015, ‘Review of Marketing Communications’ available from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02650487.2005.11072913#.VTjJs1eZ-M8. [23 April 2015]

Ho Yin Wong, 1983, ‘Multiple roles for branding in international marketing’ available from:     http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02651330710760982 [23 April 2015]