La seguridad y la policía

One needs to study two interrelated aspects of global bank marketing strategy. The first issue is whether the bank can provide the needed/required banking services to its varying target markets. Second, whether the bank's available resources can match the current needs and expectations of its clients (target markets). Hence, "it becomes of paramount importance for global banks (that are) interested in serving their customers on a world scale to structure their marketing decision variables in (an effective) way to their global operations and bank-client relationships" (Kaynak, 1986). The essential element of this

"match making" process between the needs of bank clients and the offerings of global banks, as highlighted by Kaynak (1986), is the development of a positioning strategy.

It is found in literature that there are three different communication strategies that can be implemented in global marketing communication; the first is the standardization strategy, the second is adaptation strategy, and the third one is to develop a mix between these two strategies. Global communications face a common problem which is whether to send the same messages to different countries (standardized communications) or modify messages in order to meet the needs of the local markets (adapted communications). Several arguments exist for and against standardization and adaptation.

Table 5.1 Marketing Communications Strategies versus Standardization Strategy versus Adaptation Strategy

Standardization Strategy Adaptation Strategy

Using similar or identical marketing communications across countries.

Marketing communication messages are changed from one country to another to better suit the requirements of individual markets.

*Source: adapted from Pickton and Broderick (2005).

It can be seen through Kaynak's (1986) that different societies require different banking practices which demand various forms of services. Countries or even areas of countries at different levels of development with regard to the monetary system will lead to different banking systems and practices. Banks may follow different routes in their globalization efforts.

Arguments for Marketing Adaptation

Focusing on variation and assuming that each market is unique by its system, regulations and character is the base of adaptation proponents' argument. Therefore each market needs a different and unique marketing strategy with which to be targeted (Clark, 1990). A study conducted by Hite and Fraser (1998) on a sample of five hundred business companies revealed that only eight percent of the respondents transmit standardized marketing communication messages. Cateora and Graham (2002) agree that adaptation is a primary issue in international marketing, and that it should be employed in each and every aspect of international marketing regardless of the size or importance of the issue. Such process needs to be conducted by marketers who possess local knowledge and ability to contain differences that may cause misunderstanding.

However, Fill (2002) recognizes many arguments supporting the adaptation process in international marketing communications. One example lies in customer needs which may differ and vary in intensity, as a result, a standardized message in a universal advertising campaign that is targeted at potential customers with different experiences, abilities, and learning levels may not suit the local markets. Another example is the needed infrastructure to support the delivery of standardized international messages which can vary across countries, and the issue of management of marketing communications in a certain market which depends heavily on the local economy, culture and political conditions, which can be accepted in one country but not in another. Also, messages can be modified by local craftsmen to become more suitable for local customers, but on the other hand, standardized

messages can endanger the local management due to its lack of ownership, therefore modified messages can be more effective and motivating.

Arguments for Marketing Standardization

Standardization proponents such as Levitt (1989), argue that many markets, especially those in industrialized countries, become homogenized segments and they expect that this will continue to happen around the world by adopting a single marketing strategy. The organization can benefit from economies of scale by cutting expenses and saving time of developing a strategy for each targeted market.

Standardization supporters list some of their counter adaptation arguments. One of these arguments is that buyers have several similar characteristics in many product categories, the psychographic typologies that are developed by advertising agencies for their clients prove this thought, and brand images have universal meaning. Another argument is that local campaigns are often described as weak and include poor quality because of lack of experience and financial resources, standardized campaigns provide control over the messages and allow the exploitation of opportunities for competitive advantage through shared competencies. Another issue is the impact of media and technologies on people which is increasing, therefore standardized messages provide strong brand image for some products. Also, standardized messages can eliminate the responsibility placed on local managers where they should produce creative marketing communication ideas, and thus concentrate on managing the promotion campaign. In addition to the costs of packaging, media, and advertising messages which can be huge; standard messages can help in dividing the costs to several markets, in addition to that, adapted messages may not provide consistent and harmonized messages through different markets (Fill, 2002). Global organizations were also able to market standardized products in many countries, so why can’t they use standardized marketing communications in different countries (Monye, 2000).

Pickton and Broderick (2005) listed some of the advantages and disadvantages of standardized marketing communications. These are listed in the following table (table 5.2).

Table 5.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Marketing Communications worldwide basis and introduce products quickly into various world markets

- A consistent international brand and/or company image

- Simplification of coordination and control of marketing communications programs

- Few products lend themselves to global marketing communications

- Differences in culture, market, economic development; consumer needs and usage patterns; media availabilities; legal

Pickton and Broderick (2005) enumerate four strategies for companies operating globally.

The first is the global strategy which is based on cultural similarities rather than cultural differences; organizations use this strategy if the cultures are similar between countries.

The second is the global niche strategy which is based on targeting culturally similar groups in different countries, for example students in different countries may have similar needs and values. As for the third strategy, it’s the multinational strategy in which organizations are based on adapting the marketing communication strategy based on cultural differences. And the fourth strategy is the customization strategy in which organizations develop the marketing communication strategy based on recognizing the differences between cultures and also taking into account the differences between individuals in the same culture; this strategy goes further in adaptation as marketing communications may be adapted on individual bases.

Mixed Global Communication Strategy

A compromise strategy between global and local marketing communication strategies, which is known as a flexible globalization strategy, has been increasingly adopted by global companies. The flexible approach requires the establishment of a global overall strategy and allows the local executives to implement it according to their local knowledge and experience (Assael, 1995).

In an attempt to highlight the characteristics of the global market, Hornik (1980) suggests that these characteristics include standardized communications that must be considered in the case where markets are similar. Another suggestion was that cross-culture communication requires special attention and added skills to be able to adjust to the foreign markets. Also, cultural characteristics must be examined carefully in order to avoid any receivers’ misconception of the promotional messages, and socio-economic, ethnic and other subcultures can exit in many different countries; here a standardized message can be suitable for targeting those segments in the global market (O'Leary, 2007).

Although there are supporters of both the standardization and adaptation approaches, Monye (1997) recognizes that organizations must not take one of those approaches for granted, instead, using any approach should be based on the needed promotional activities in each individual case. Moreover, Duncan and Ramaprasad (1995) explain that the use of standardized campaigns depend on the degree of differences between cultures, where cultural differences are smaller standardization is used, while little cultural differences allow huge standardization of marketing communications.