5. Steps in Developing Global Marketing Strategies

This chapter focuses on the process of designing global marketing strategies. Specifically, we take an in-depth view at three key choices every company has to make when developing a global marketing strategy, namely, “where to compete,” “how to compete,” and “what we need to compete.” We also briefly discuss the “organizational purpose” as a central boundary condition that drives these three questions and comment on the “management system” that supports and monitors strategic choices. The “where to compete” section deals with product, customer, distribution, and value chain choices within a selected geographic market. In terms of “how to compete,” we discuss the merits of alternative competitive strategies, such as low cost, differentiation, or a combination of both. Next, the “what we need to compete” section focuses on the resources and capabilities that are required to deliver the strategic choices of a company and discusses one of the most influential approaches to corporate strategy, namely, the Resource Based View of the firm. We finish with some remarks on the role of corporate management systems, which support and monitor strategic choices. In this context, we also point out that the availability of real-time metrics has made measuring the impact of marketing strategies easier in the era of digital marketing.