Page 212 - Marketing the Basics 2nd
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204 Marketing: the Basics
less enviable position of not having people naturally seek them out on the Web. They will still find that if they do well in their particular niche, word will spread and some foreign potential customers will find you out on the Web. Having content on your site that is relevant to the keyword search queries people type, or buying pay- per-click ads will increase your site’s visibility. Then the question is how do you service them? The great thing about the Web that it knows no barriers, other than language, and it can be accessed from anywhere in the world that has a computer and an Internet connection. Once foreign orders start what will you do? Reject them outright or allow them if they accept delivery in your home country only? If you want to take advantage of them you almost certainly need to do what Lands’ End did: set up national or at least regional centres to service them and adopt your product to their language and culture. I say language and culture because although the UK shares the English language with the US and Australia, you still need to use some different words, for example petrol rather than gas, but also a good marketer will use local expressions, local icons, etc., to effectively sell in that particular market.
LICENSING
Licensing is a simple and relatively easy way to get involved in international marketing. The licensor issues a license to a foreign company to use a manufacturing process, trademark, patent, trade secret, or some other item of value for a fee or royalty payment. The licensee gains product expertise, a well-known product or brand, or some other knowledge or right it would be expensive to obtain, while the licensor gains entry into a new market with little risk. There are, like anything in life, strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses are very real and must be taken account of. The licensor has less control over the licensee than it does over its own employees. And if the licensee is quite successful the firm has given up considerable profit and may have created its own competition when the contract ends. One way to avoid this is do what Coke does and provide a key proprietary ingredient or part vital to the product. However, the best strategy is for the licensor to be an innovation leader, keeping ahead of the pack thus having the licensee to continue to be dependent on the licensor.































































































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