Marketing communication: principles and practice

INTRODUCTION
Deregulation, including the abolition of trade barriers, together with
accelerating changes in communication and computer technology have
reinforced the movement towards the globalization of business in an inte-
grated market. Increasingly, producers compete in an international market,
while markets themselves are becoming transnational. Germany and Japan
have overtaken France and the UK as economic leaders, while the European
Union matches the USA as an economic power. Latin America is putting
forward vibrant economies. The four tiger economies of Singapore, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, and South Korea, along with China, India, and Indonesia are
accelerating. The world’s focal point of economic weight and performance
is shifting. There is no longer an East separated from the West. 
Technological advances have rendered national boundaries more open.
While states retain sovereignty, governmental authority is eroding. The
corporation is colonizing more of our lives, although not everyone lives 
in the world of media communication. In 1992, for example, annual sales
of General Motors and Exxon each exceeded the gross national products of
Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Norway, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Egypt. Travel to
almost any city and you will be able to find a McDonald’s outlet and pervasive
Coca-Cola advertising. Foreign cultures and lifestyles are exposed through
transnational media. Money and information now flow around the globe.
Corporations are buying, selling, and investing in the growth regions –
without having to relocate people. Consumer buying patterns are changing,
so that Nike wearers have more in common with each other than with their
parents or cultural background. Global marketing is heading towards
homogeneous buying patterns. Thinking globally requires understanding
markets in terms of sources of demand, sources of supply, and methods of
management and marketing.
Corporations may operate at one or more of several levels of cross-cultural
business. The following categorizations are based on the work of Bartlett and
Ghoshal (1991):
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