International Marketing Intelligence Sufficient & reliable information is pre requisite for proper decision making be it domestic business

s or international marketing. t includes collection, processing, analyzing, & interpretation of all types information from all available sources, to aid business management in making international marketing decisions. Proper business intelligence is essential to make all strategic decisions in international marketing such as International marketing decisions Market selection decision Entry & operating decisions Marketing mix decisions Organization decisions Information Required: The areas of information in international marketing are International marketing decisions related information. Market selection related information Product related information Price related information Promotion related information Distribution related information Competition related information International Marketing Decisions Related Information It is a critical decision as to go global or to enter international market. This requires different types of information to take the decision . The information like prospects of foreign markets, competition, and other characteristics of foreign markets as compared to domestic market. Market Selection Related Information: There are number of factors that are required for the selection of market. The general factors include political & legal factors, economic stability, currency stability, government policies regulations, etc.

Market selection also requires specific information about the product or industry concerned like demand trends, government rules, competitive situations etc.

Product Related Information: This includes consumer taste & preference, about product like unit size. quantity, shape, colour, product form packaging etc, mode, time, frequency, & rate of consumption, purpose .use of products etc. Price Related Information This includes prevailing price range, price trends, margin, pricing practice, price elasticity of demand, & role of price as strategic marketing variable. Promotion Related Information: For formulating the promotional strategies data on aspects like media availability & effectiveness, customs practices of the people in the concerned market competitive behavior, etc are required. Distribution Related Information: This information includes channel alternatives & characteristics, relative effectiveness of different channels, customs, & practices of trade power & influence of channel members. Competition Related Information: A company also needs information about the competitive environment that includes extent of competition, major competitors, relative strengths, & weakness of competitors, strategies, & behavior of competitors. Sources of Information: There are two sources of information such as Internal External An internal source includes sales &cost records, employees information/knowledge, &any other data available with organization. An experienced company may have great deal of information internally, but in case of companies, new to international market may rely on external sources. External sources include sources of both primary &secondary data. A company needs to collect primary data when secondary available is not adequate or reliable.

Market Analysis: Marketing opportunities exist in all countries regardless of the economic development. An assumption that only developed countries offer more market potential is a misconception. A particular market may seem attractive initially, due to the size in terms of number of consumers or their purchasing power. Sometimes an under developed country may provide a better returns on investment because competitive expenses can be significantly less when expensive marketing techniques are not necessary.

In assessing market, opportunity there is no single ideal criterion. A marketer must therefore employ a set of criteria that is relevant market opportunity under consideration, GNP/Capita, income& personal consumption. Most countries are unlikely to meet all such requirements effectively. Eg, Canada, less population density & ranks high in per capita income. Gross National Product (GNP) Gross national product (GNP) is a measure of the values of all the goods & services produced by the nation. It measures the size of economy. Although a higher GNP is generally regarded as an indicator of a better market, GNP alone does not accurately reflect market potential. eg. Indias GNP is $1.7 trillion is much higher than Austrias$134 billions; yet the larger number does not necessarily mean that India is a better market. Considering GNP together with population can derive a better indicator. By dividing a countrys GNP by its population, the result achieved is the GNP/Capita, which measurers market intensity. This is a measure of degree of concentrated purchasing power, which is a measurer of richness of a market. In case of India & Austria the GNP/Capita Austria has $17,000 as compared to $1,300, which belong to India, thus Austria is more attractive than India.

Population: Another general indicator of market size is population of the country it is a good indicator of market opportunity for necessities. Like GNP, a larger population generally indicates a more attractive market. eg. Switzerland & Bangladesh. Switzerland population is much less than Bangladesh, which indicates that Switzerland is not an attractive market but GNP/Capita reveals different picture. It is inadequate to assess markets by relying only on each countrys total population without considering its land area. It is important to consider the factor of population density. Total population indicates the overall size of the market; population density indicates the ease in reaching that market. As the population in certain area is more concentrated, the efficiency of distribution & promotions also increases. Personal Income: Another indicator of countrys wealth is the personal income of the citizens. Income can reflects the degree of attractiveness of a market because consumption generally rises as income increases. In case of underdeveloped countries having low incomes people have good buying power since they have relatively low cost of living& people have adequate disposal income.

One problem with per capita income is assumption that everyone gets equal share of nations income. To have clear picture of economy marketer should look at distribution of income. When income is evenly distributed across the population segments, a firms product is likely to be suitable for all individuals