International Marketing Strategies: Think Global, Act Local Approach

This essay delves into the principle of 'Think Global, Act Local' within the context of international marketing, emphasizing the importance of tailoring marketing strategies to suit specific geographic audiences while maintaining a consistent global brand. It discusses how globalization, technological advancements, and the internet have transformed business practices, enabling organizations to expand globally with innovative services and effective marketing. The essay highlights the necessity of considering local market differences, including standards of living, political systems, and cultural nuances, when adapting marketing, pricing, and packaging strategies. It also addresses the challenges of entering new markets, such as varying customer needs, cultural misunderstandings, and administrative competency, advocating for cross-cultural awareness training and the strategic use of local resources and knowledge to ensure successful market entry and global market leadership. Desklib provides access to similar resources and solved assignments for students.

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International marketing
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Think Global, Act Local
“Think Global, Act Local” is a principle that urges people and organizations to reflect on
how their actions impact the globe (Hauser, Hendriks, Rand, and Nowak, 2016). The slogan
pertains to people and companies watching how their dealings impact the things around them
such as economy, environment, politics, poverty, international laws, development and so forth.
Currently, many organizations are analyzing how their activities affect various societal issues.
Their approach in dealing with the issues is extremely important to the image of their company.
Acting locally is a call on people and corporations to be no longer passive subjects rather to
become active participants of what is being done by and for them. In marketing, the slogan
implies how the marketing strategy is tailored to suit each geographic audience while retaining a
global trademark.
Formulating a global company vision helps in achieving the primary goal of the business
which is maximizing profit in the most effective way through expanding the market intensively
across countries and continents (Lillie, Baer, Adams, Zhao, and Wolf, 2018). Nevertheless, the
framework any organization adopts should be flexible, because different markets vary on the
grounds of standard of life, political system, religion of the people, culture, and the like. These
variations find their reflection on consumer requirements, expectations, behavior and other
related aspects.
The ways in which companies are conducting their businesses has dramatically changed
due to globalization along with other factors like the advancement of technology and the
escalating role of the internet. In today’s world any organization with an innovative service,
product, effective marketing strategy and right price has a chance to grow globally, generate
revenue and employ a big workforce. However, the differences associated with a particular

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market have to be put into consideration when determining the approach in various markets in
terms of marketing, pricing, packaging and other aspects.
Many international organizations thirst for new geographic markets. However, home
success and technology do not assure a winning entry into new markets. The assumptions and
experiences of the company do not apply in an unfamiliar market (Cord-Landwehr, and Lenzner,
2015). To open those doors strategic and localized marketing is necessary. New market entrants
should build strategies, rethink marketing approaches, adjust pricing models, modify products,
and adapt distribution and sales programs. In a new market, it can prove difficult to find the
resources needed to tackle these issues if you do not have a well established network of contacts.
All this may lead to missteps and delays.
To successfully enter a new market, organizations need assistance to be plugged into the
local resource network and to gain a visibility of the new market. Engaging a locally based firm
can help in obtaining the resources, services and knowledge that will enable the business to be
established. Such firms can help in acquiring hands-on sales and marketing personnel to execute
the strategy (Khalid, Kilic, Christoffersen, and Purushothaman, 2015).
Regardless of the company size, international marketing and export development arise as
challenges. The organizations should direct their focus on understanding the customer just like in
the domestic markets. If they do this, they will correctly decide which elements of the plan to
adapt, develop a appropriate promotional strategy and respect local cultures (Haley, and Haley,
2016). Local resources, knowledge and presence go a long way in enabling a successful market
entry. You can build everything by yourself or join hands with someone that has what you
require to jump-start your launch and speed up your company.

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Businesses can successfully think globally and act locally through developing programs
and organizing training aimed at enhancing the level of cross-cultural awareness of the personnel
(Leimgruber, 2018). It is important that every member of the labor force involved in the foreign
operations should compulsorily take part in these programs. The programs ought to be systematic
in nature.
Giving preference to local people in new markets in terms of making appointments in
administrative positions positively aids in the penetrating of the foreign area. Such a strategy
provides detailed information about the differences and characteristics of the local market that
will help in the formulating the adaption initiatives (Johnson, Becker, Cummins, Estrada,
Freeman, and Hall, 2016).
Formulation of a proactive rather than a reactive approach in terms of perceived and
actual customer preferences and needs enables corporations effectively “Think Globally, Act
Locally”. The task may be challenging to complete, but it can assist in attaining market
leadership for the corporation in the global arena if it efficiently conducted. Currently, most
businesses try to identify the consumer needs and manufactures products to meet them.
Nonetheless, trend-setting organizations mould the need in prospective customers for the
services and products they are offering.
Organizations face challenges in their endeavor to execute the approach “ Think
Globally, Act Locally”. The main challenges are varying needs of customers in new markets,
misunderstanding on cultural grounds and low levels of competency in administration involved
in the foreign activities of the corporation (Nicolini, 2016). However, many companies utilize
the benefits of globalization although the degrees of utilization may differ depending on how

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well they adapt to local differences. Done right the approach can set off deliberations with
partners, land initial clients and establish a sales pipeline.
Adopting the same strategy to all markets can lead to contradictions, customer
misunderstanding and ultimately to failure of the organization in the particular market. A “Think
globally, Act Locally” approach is vital for companies planning foreign market expansion.
Nonetheless, some aspects of marketing are universal –deliver compelling value, listen to the
client, articulate consistent and clear messages, etc. the key however is to execute locally,
keeping in mind the expectations, requirements and needs of every market you endeavor to enter
(Ursin, Myskja, and Carson, 2016).

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References
Cord-Landwehr, A. and Lenzner, P., 2015, August. Network creation games: think global–act
local. In International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (pp. 248-
260). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Haley, U.C. and Haley, G.T., 2016. Think Local, Act Global: A Call to Recognize Competing,
Cultural Scripts. Management and Organization Review, 12(1), pp.205-216.
Hauser, O.P., Hendriks, A., Rand, D.G. and Nowak, M.A., 2016. Think global, act local:
Preserving the global commons. Scientific reports, 6, p.36079.
Johnson, L., Becker, S.A., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A. and Hall, C., 2016. NMC
horizon report: 2016 higher education edition (pp. 1-50). The New Media Consortium.
Khalid, M.S., Kilic, G., Christoffersen, J. and Purushothaman, A., 2015, April. Barriers to the
Integration and Adoption of iPads in Schools: A Systematic Literature Review based on the
philosophy of" think global, act local.”. In Global Learn (pp. 58-67). Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Lillie, T.A., Baer, J., Adams, D., Zhao, J. and Wolf, R.C., 2018. Think global, act local: the
experience of Global Fund and PEPFAR joint cascade assessments to harmonize and strengthen
key population HIV programmes in eight countries. Journal of the International AIDS Society,
21, p.e25125.
Nicolini, D., 2016. Knowing in Organizations: A Practice-Based Approach: A Practice-Based
Approach. Routledge.

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