why international marketers fail 2013

The essence of International Marketing series.

Most common mistakes in International Marketing

or… Why International marketers fail.

by Lev Mikulitski

So, you’re trying

to expand your

company globally.

And despite

everything you do…

the business is not

moving into the right

direction.

It’s the right time to re-examine

all your activities, perhaps you’re

making all this terrible mistakes.

Mistakes to avoid

in International marketing.

1

You don’t really care

about your “partners”. You are “pushing sales” instead of

building long term value partnership.

It’s a

WIN WIN WIN GAME

or loss! Think about how your partners will

benefit from you selling them.

2

Unqualified man

responsible for building

your company’s brand. Not all “good man” can handle

an international business development.

It requires more. Much more.

Management is

everything! You should put your best man to

handle it and you should measure

your every move.

3

Total disconnection

and ignorance. You don’t really know what is

going on out there.

Collect data as much as you can.

You can’t go there without sufficient market research.

4

You’re saying that you want

to conquer the world. But this is just talking, talking

and talking. ZERO doing.

Make sure your

ambition match

your efforts. If you declare that you want to go

globally, you’ll have to behave as one.

5

You assume you’re

a world star, just like in

your home market. Nobody really know who you are or

why they should have you at home.

Your no#1

challenge should be

building brand

awareness. Don’t expect that everybody knows

who you are and what you’re good at.

Most of the time they will not!

6 You use the same

product/market “strategy”

every way you go. You recycle ideas instead of thinking

about new ones.

One size

does not fit all! Don’t copy paste the same penetration/product

strategy every place you go.

Different places = different game rules.

7

To many middlemen involved in

selling your products. What makes it most of the time not attractive

in terms of the final price to consumer.

Seek the shortest

and efficient path to the

consumer! It will enable the most attractive

pricing strategy.

8 You expect your channel

partners will pay for building

your brand. From your point of view,

marketing is a bad word.

It is your baby.

If you’re not willing

to invest in it,

no one will do

it for you. If you’ll put your costs on your channel

partners, they simply stop be your ones.

9 You truly believe

you know everything. And you’re not willing to learn from

your competitors or other markets.

The world is changing all the time,

embrace the change.

Learn from your

competitors and from

other markets all the time.

And one last thing:

International marketing

is NOT ABOUT SELLING

like a trader on a Turkish Bazaar…

10

BUT creating sustainable

consumer demand through effective

brand building activities.

The essence of International Marketing series.

Most common mistakes in International Marketing

or… Why International marketers fail.

by Lev Mikulitski