The development of an international marketing strategy: the case of an it company

AHHOТАЦИЯ

Целью данного исследования является анализ способов разработки успешной международной стратегии маркетинга для IТ-компании. Существует ряд моделей и методов для создания маркетинговой стратегии. В статье рассматриваются некоторые популярные модели разработки маркетинговых стратегий. Исследования проводится для IТ-рынка на примере американской компании Intermedia. В настоящее время компания рассматривает возможность расширения выходы на новые рынки Австралии, Китая и некоторых странах Восточной Европы. Кроме того, менеджмент делает первые попытки международных экспансий. Тем не менее, маркетинговая стратегия для расширения сих пор не была объявлена, что означает, что есть некоторые затруднения в подготовке окончательного плана. Для проведения анализа будут использованы следующие методы, такие как анализ маркетинговой литературы, отчеты IТ-рынка, интервью с экспертами и анализ маркетинговых материалов компаний - конкурентов для выделения плюсы и минусов нынешней маркетинговой стратегии Intermedia. Результаты исследований предполагает рассмотреть основные препятствия развитию компании на внешних рынках, а так же эффективные методы, которые могут быть использованы для разработки международной стратегии в IТ-компании.

Marketing strategy overview

The globalization process stimulates companies to change the regular marketing approach due to the rapid changes happening in the world economy (Lim, Sharkey &Kim, 2003). Nowadays, more companies are looking for an opportunity for international expansion; this turns marketing from a sales tool to the element of strategic planning required for any company, especially an international one (Lambin, 2007). It means that the role of a marketing strategy becomes dramatically important for being successful on different markets and expanding operations overseas (Bodimeade, 2003). The research is focused on Intermedia , an America-based IT company that has been present on the market since 1994. The main research question is: «What are the key success factors of an international marketing strategy of an IT company? » The author of the research proposal formulates a hypothesis that one of the key factors of a successful marketing strategy for international company is a cultural awareness and flexibility of a business model.

Grewal and Lilien recommend to use flexible models that are not connected with some specific database. The example of such model is the BRANDAID model. The elements of the model are: manufacturer, retailers, consumers, and general environment. Wind and Lilien recommend to use the PIMS model (profit impact of marketing strategy). Using the PIMS model a company can evaluate ROI (return on investment) to analyze the relevance for investing in a new market and calculate predicted ROS (return on sales).

Major trends of an IT market

Haratashvilli admits that in 2012 and 2013 the Russian IT market also showed some positive trends. The author highlights the fact that international companies that operate on the Russian market are currently focused on hardware and software production.Although, it is expected that the new regulations might constrain the IT market and eliminate the opportunities for global providers to deliver their services to the Russian customers.

Methodology

A number of methods are used to collect and analyze the research data. First of all, the review of literature on marketing studies related to the strategic planning is performed. Several modern theories and approaches are selected for the analysis of the future results of the research. Also, factor analysis is used to establish the key success factors of an international marketing. These dimensions can be used to evaluate the pros and the bottlenecks of the existing marketing strategy of Intermedia. The next step is the review of the global IT market and specifically in Russia. The review is based on the existing marketing reports, analytical reports, and articles. With the third step, the review of the commercial offers from Intermedia and other IT providers is performed. The collected information is analyzed using the method of cluster analysis. It helps to define the major differences and similarities between the services of Intermedia from services of other providers. Later, the interview with the marketing expert from Intermedia is performed. The data is analyzed using both the correlation and the hypothesis analysis. Moreover, forecasting can be implemented to outline the future marketing trends for Intermedia on the international markets. The last step is to consider the practical implementation of the result with the development program for Intermedia.

Expected and preliminary findings

It is supposed that any company entering new markets can face the obstacles connected with the local culture, customs, laws, and competition. These factors indicate that an accurate planning is required before a company starts its operations in a new country. Also, it means that a marketing strategy is very important. However, the cases of Google and Dell expanding to China show that the proved strategies can fail and that each new country requires a new strategy and a new sales approach ( IBM Center of Management research , 2006). Due to that, the company should perform a deep analysis to create a successful strategy and understand the trends of a new market, opportunities, and threats. Smith advices to establish a partnership with some of the local representatives in order to adapt to a new business culture. What is more, the integrated approach to the marketing in the company is preferred. Intermedia is a company which has capacities for future growth and development. With over 20 years of presence on the US market, Intermedia has earned a good reparation. The business model that the company runs in the US has given the opportunity for the top management to open a company branch in the UK. Currently, the company has a plan to expand operations to three different locations: Eastern Europe (including Russia), Asia (China, India, Malasya, Indonesia), and Australia. These countries have different market dynamics, show different growth and development. According to Kondratiev and Kolesnikov, the Asian IT market becomes one of the most appealing markets for international providers. This fact can cause a dramatic growth of the competition in this region (Hills & Sarin, 2003). It means that if Intermedia does not change the business model and does not develop a new marketing strategy for each of the new target locations, the existing business model can fail or partly fail on the new markets ( IBM Center for Management research , 2006).

CONSLUSION

To sum up, marketing strategy it is not only a tool to manage corporate finance or sales. In the global framework of economy marketing strategy it is a part of company planning which helps to establish The author of the research paper believes that the proposed models can be useful and can be introduced to the top management of the company to increase the opportunity of successful performance on the new markets and eliminate losses.

RESUME

The purpose of this research is to analyze the ways to design a successful international marketing strategy for an IT company. There is a number of models and methods to work out a marketing strategy, however they are not being widely used. This paper reviews some of the popular studies of marketing strategies. The research is focused on an America-based IT company – Intermedia. Currently, the company is considering the opportunity to expand the operations into new markets in Australia, China and some of the countries in Eastern Europe. Also, the top management is making the first attempts to enter new markets. However, the marketing strategy for the expansion is still not being announced, meaning that there are some difficulties in preparing the final expansion plan. The following methods such as the analysis of the marketing literature and IT industry reports, an interview with the experts, and the analysis of various marketing materials are used to outline the pros and cons of the current marketing strategy of Intermedia. The results of the research are supposed to consider the main obstacles on foreign markets and outline effective techniques that can be used to develop an international strategy of an IT company. Also, the plan of the development is to be proposed, which can support Intermedia on the new markets.