International Marketing: Standardisation and Adaptation Strategies of Unilever

International Marketing
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Standardisation/ adaptation..........................................................................................................3
Key trends affecting the operations of the company in target market and of competition..........3
Market focus, product and service including reasons for company’s international strategy
development.................................................................................................................................4
Key decisions in the strategy development.................................................................................5
Global challenges that the firm faces...........................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
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INTRODUCTION
International marketing is defined as the application of principles of marketing in order to
satisfy different needs and requirements of individuals residing across national borders. It is done
to undertake the activities of marketing in another nation (Felzensztein, and et. al., 2014). This
report is based on Unilever which is one of the leading global consumer goods organisation that
offers variety of products to customers. The company is headquartered in London, England,
United Kingdom and was established in year 1929.
Standardization is referred as the ability of organisation to utilize standard marketing
internationally. Adaptation includes modifying product to mitigate local requirements as well as
customs. This report covers standardization and adaptation of international marketing strategy of
company including their pricing, product, communication and distribution strategies. It also
includes key decisions in strategy development and the global challenges that organisation face.
MAIN BODY
Standardisation/ adaptation
In international marketing, marketers need to come up with decision regarding wether to
standardise the goods or to modify existing goods which is a challenging decision for them. This
decision impacts the company in terms of production, procurement, research and development
expenses, organisational structure, finance, marketing mix etc. The standardization approach
focuses on similarities between markets that trying to take benefit of similar aspirations of
consumers regardless of its similar marketing infrastructure and origin while implementing
strategies (Gnizy and Shoham, 2014). The advantages for Unilever of adopting the strategy is
that it is one of the global advertising strategy, reduces message confusion, develop strong global
brand image, increased efficiency. At the other hand, the adaptation approach focuses at country-
specific markets in which measures are adapted to the difference in the business setting.
Adoption of this strategy will be beneficial for the company in terms of strengthen competitive
position, computing successful in market etc.
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