International marketing is the performance of business activities designed to plan, price, promote, and direct the flow of a company’s goods and services to customers in more than one nation for profit. The core concepts of international marketing are the same as those of national marketing; the difference is in the environment. Competition, legal restraints, government controls, weather, fickle consumers, economic conditions, technological constraints, infrastructure concerns as well as cultural and political situations render the international marketer’s task both more complex and more interesting. In short, distance matters.
The course begins with an examination of key aspects of the international marketing environment: culture, politics, emerging markets, and multinational market groups. Emphasis then shifts to the 4Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion, and place; assessing how international marketers adapt these fundamental tools of marketing to the complexities of the international environment. The conceptual links between marketing techniques and international markets are analysed through the planning function. Students develop a thorough appreciation of the interrelationship between international environment, marketing techniques, and planning by bringing all the concepts together in the form of a complete international marketing plan.