Standardization/Adaptation of Marketing Solutions in Companies Operating in Foreign Markets: An Integrated Approach
Standardization/Adaptation of Marketing Solutions in Companies Operating in Foreign Markets: An Integrated Approach

Summary/Abstract: Analysis of the change of marketing solutions in the process of internationalisation of a company reveals that the formation of marketing strategy in international markets is an evolutionary process and decisions made during that process differ based on the stage of international development of the company. As activities evolve, companies encounter a critical choice: to standardize or to adapt strategic marketing solutions. The use of competitive advantages acquired during unique multinational operations is the main success factor when forming a marketing strategy in the global market. Until now most research claimed that in order for a company to be successful in foreign markets, it should evaluate its marketing solutions and experience and to choose one strategy – standardization or adaptation – when pursuing its aims. But researchers still do not agree on the definitions of standardization/adaptation and analyse these strategies from different aspects of these strategies. Research shows, that standardization of marketing solutions determines the use of the same marketing mix in the whole global market, but standardization is often of no use to companies because of differences of language, culture, consumer preferences, laws and rules, marketing infrastructure and competition structure in different countries. Complete adaptation of marketing solutions is also not useful because in such case companies cannot use advantages provided by scale economy, marketing knowledge and information acquired in other markets. But adaptation helps companies to evaluate and effectively use cultural differences of foreign markets as well as separate products, their properties and possibilities of usage. The newest research shows that changes of the global market influenced by globalization changed also the solutions of international marketing: seeking for successful international performance companies do not have to choose one extremity, and companies that can combine several alternatives may satisfy needs of consumers of the global market and pursue their aims more effectively. The objective of the global marketing strategy is to find an optimal combination of integration and rationalisation of operations and solution systems in a global market. Therefore this work tackles the polemic of standardization/adaptation of marketing solutions in the internationalization process of firms’ activities, analyses research on standardization and adaptation of marketing solutions/evaluates perspectives of integration of these strategies.

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