I. Four product concepts for entering the international market
1. The concept of the whole product. The product studied by marketing is the whole product. The concept of holistic product includes three aspects, namely, entity product (also called core product), formal product and extended product. Basic products are the basic demand utility of products; Regular products refer to the physical appearance of products, including quality, characteristics, styles, packaging, trademarks, brands, etc. Extended products are various service guarantees based on the commodity characteristics of the products themselves. The product values of marketing are the needs of consumers, and the overall concept of products embodies the idea of taking users as the center. Because of this, international marketing scholars should consider all aspects of products in the marketing process to meet the needs of customers in consuming countries, otherwise they may make mistakes in the use of strategies.
2. The concept of product mix. The so-called product structure refers to the organic composition of all products operated by an enterprise, or the quantitative proportion of various products. International marketing requires each country or enterprise to determine its business scope and product structure according to the needs of the international market and its own resources and technical conditions, which is a problem that any country must solve when facing the international market. If a country can't make full use of its advantages (seek advantages and avoid disadvantages) and determine the export structure of its products according to the international market situation, it can't make use of the international economy to carry out its own construction and development. Therefore, marketers must know what products to export are their strengths and what products to shorten and develop are beneficial to them.
3. The concept of product cycle. The process from appearance to disappearance of products in the market is the market life cycle of products. As far as products of the same nature are concerned, the life cycle of large-scale products is different from that of large-scale products and certain brand products. From a country or an enterprise, the products provided to the international market are generally products of a certain product or brand, which requires product operators to consider not only the business cycle of their own products, but also this product and the cycle of this product. The marketing strategy of an enterprise must adapt to this cycle change of products and conform to the internal relationship between various product cycles, which is the key to the sustainable survival and development of enterprises in the dynamic market.
4. Create groundbreaking ideas. The international market is not only a new field of marketing, but also the broadest place for competition and innovation. No creation, no future. As far as the enterprise's own conditions are concerned, pioneering spirit is its greatest potential spiritual strength. Operators in the international market must use more brains, always keep a clear head, be brave in innovation, constantly adopt new scientific research achievements and technologies, constantly open up new production and service fields, and constantly produce unique and novel products, so as to win customers, influence the market, open up the market and create the market, and make themselves invincible in the international competition.
Second, the strategy of products entering the international market
1. Inherent product strategy. It is an inherent product strategy to directly enter the international market with the original products of a country or enterprise. The range of products using this strategy is limited, and not any inherent products can be sold abroad. All products that can be directly sold abroad generally have some kind of demand. The following three types of products can be used in this strategy; Traditional products, such as Jingdezhen porcelain, French wine and American Coca-Cola; Mineral products and some raw materials, such as oil and coal; Some products that sell well in the domestic market. This strategy is very attractive because it greatly facilitates marketers, for example, without additional research and development and reducing costs.
2. Product change strategy. This is a product strategy based on the idea of changing the overall product elements. The demand in the international market is very different from that in the domestic market, and many products must be changed in some ways to meet the demand in the international market. Of course, which part of the whole product and how to change it depend on the international market situation, which is why this strategy shows high flexibility in the "personalization" of the product in the changeable international market. General product changes focus on the following five aspects:
Functional changes. This is a product change that can provide more benefits for consumers. Such as air-conditioned cars.
Changes in appearance. This is mainly to change the color of the style. The reason for the change is because of the special conditions and different cultural environments in the countries where the products are used. Such as the size of kitchen utensils, the color and style of clothes.
Changes in packaging. The change of packaging is directly related to the natural conditions of the place of sale and the transportation distance between the two places, but international marketing places special emphasis on packaging, because the customs and consumption levels of the consuming countries are more important.
Changes in trademarks, brands and labels. In addition to different cultural requirements, the laws of consumer countries also stipulate changes in this regard. For example, Canada requires that trademarks must be written in English and French. From the marketing point of view, the design of trademark image must be artistic and attractive, and echo with personalized packaging and products.
Changes in services. Do a good job in product service (such as warranty, spare parts supply, etc.). ) is very important to ensure product sales. As a part of the whole product, good service can enhance users' purchasing confidence, improve product reputation, open the market and expand sales.
3. Opportunity traction strategy. This is a product development strategy oriented to market opportunities. This strategy requires international marketers to set up an "omni-directional antenna", just like the antenna of a radar rotates 360 degrees in the sky. In the case of reflected waves in any direction, the potential market of products in the surrounding environment can be determined, and then products can be provided accordingly. There are five main forms of this strategy:
Create new products and create new trends.
Provide products according to or create new consumption forms.
Find out the products and markets that are neglected or poorly served by foreign companies, and provide products.
Seize the opportunity of changing consumption characteristics and provide products.
Study competitors' products and then provide your own products.
4. Juli development strategy. After new products are produced according to strict management procedures and enter the market, enterprises will not make minor changes to this product project, but will accumulate improved thinking methods and apply them to the design of the next generation of new products.
At present, the life cycle of products has been greatly shortened. The newly developed products in the United States will withdraw from the market in 2 ~ 3 years, and some products in China will lose their original market position in 3 ~ 5 years. Therefore, in the shortened product life cycle, it is extremely important for enterprises to maintain the relative stability of products. From the consumer's point of view, a newly listed product, announced by the enterprise management that the product has been improved, will leave the impression of immature design and unreliable quality among customers, and people will wait for the comprehensive improvement of the product. For enterprises, frequent changes to some parts of products will increase the production and management costs of enterprises, bring trouble to the production department, and even have to withdraw from the market before the enterprise has recovered its costs and reasonable profits. Not only that, enterprises will also delay the development of the next generation of new products because they are too distracted at ordinary times. Obviously, under the new situation, it is very wise for enterprises to give up trivial or flashy small changes and concentrate on big changes. Using this strategy is not only beneficial to enterprises, but also beneficial to consumers.
5. Specialized product strategy. This new product strategy does not advocate the development of ordinary popular products. This strategy can not only design and put into production new products in time to meet the needs of emerging markets, but also fully reflect the viewpoint of market segmentation. General products are produced in large batches, with few varieties and large market, which is convenient for enterprises to produce, but their adaptability is poor. Once eliminated in the competition, they will suffer huge losses. Therefore, under the condition of new technological revolution, it has become a trend to shift from general products to special products internationally.
At present, there are many generalized products in China, which is a phenomenon corresponding to the actual economic level and consumption level of China, but some popular products have begun to lose market. Quite simply, this product is too difficult to meet the demand, forcing consumers. Over time, customers with improved consumption and customers with different demand preferences will demand some specialized products. Therefore, when some enterprises produce general products, they should think about developing specialized products. Some new enterprises should focus on specialized products from the beginning.
6. Follow-up strategy. This is a strategy for enterprises to focus on developing new products just developed by an enterprise. In modern society, due to the establishment of market information system and various information networks, it is not difficult for advanced manufacturers to make great efforts to learn new products. Therefore, the advanced may not be very successful, but the followers benefit a lot. Followers can save a lot of research expenses, shorten the development time, keep up with the advanced level in time, and even surpass the founder.
Take Sony Corporation of Japan as an example, it ranks among the best in the world in household appliances. However, due to fierce competition, its new products are often popularized quickly, so the benefits are getting less and less. Take the video recorder as an example. 1983, its profit dropped sharply. However, the famous IBM is a successful follower. It is a latecomer in two important products: CPU and microcomputer. This situation can make backward enterprises focus on imitation, introduction and learning, rather than the most advanced products.
This strategy has more practical significance for our country. It can be said that it is in line with China's national conditions, and this strategy should be the first if China wants to catch up with the advanced world level in the shortest time. This is not against originality and invention. Originality and invention are bigger strategies. Enterprises with abundant capital can focus on this, and the country should concentrate on getting ahead in some important aspects.