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differs from country to country. Norway, Belgium, France, Canada and the US do not allow cigarettes and alcohol (except beer in the US and Canada) to be advertised on television. Most developed countries have some restriction on ads for children. Saudi Arabia does not want advertisers to use women in ads (makes you wonder how they advertise bras).
Sales promotion is another key communications tool which varies in use and effectiveness. Several European countries have laws preventing or limiting sales promotion tools such as discounts, rebates, coupons, games of chance and premiums.
Another thing to consider is taste. In some parts of the world, misogynist-type messages are still permissible, in others they are not. Groupe Bull, a French IT company, used to own a subsidiary in the US that sold high-speed printers. The CEO, who was not American, recently returned from a visit in Europe with a promotion video to be shown to all their prospective clients in America and as a promotional tool at trade shows. The video featured an attractive woman wearing equally attractive clothing stepping into a sports car, and while driving at fast speeds would change gears in a suggestive manner. Mixing printers and sexual imagery crossed the line of what America considers good taste.
Finally, personal selling approaches may have to change as well. The typical North American no-nonsense, let’s get down to busi- ness approach may not go down well in much of Europe and Asia where building a relationship is critical. Think of Japan, where a no is rarely heard but often subtlety suggested, a ‘bull in a China shop’ approach is not well received.
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It would be very elegant and simple to have one price for the world, but for good reason, it rarely ever occurs. Firms marketing internationally, especially bigger multinationals, face several critical issues when dealing with price, price escalation, transfer pricing, dumping charges and grey markets.
When firms sell abroad they face price escalation. A Dior scarf may sell for $200 in France but $300 in Tokyo. Is this the customer being ripped off? Most likely not. Dior has to add the cost of