What are the Obstacles to Successful Global Marketing?

Written on Tuesday, 27 November 2012 by Jan Dejosse in Sales & Marketing
Tags: Global Marketing, Marketing Localization

It’s no secret that creating and executing effective marketing programs are more difficult than ever. While challenges exist for companies of all types and sizes, large global enterprises face a particularly complex set of demands.
Earlier this year, SapientNitro (a division of Sapient) released research results that provide an interesting perspective on the marketing challenges faced by global enterprises. The firm published three articles summarizing their findings, and the first article in the series focuses on the obstacles to successful global marketing.
SapientNitro identified five major obstacles that marketers in global enterprises must confront.

Disruptive Technologies

This challenge refers to the rapid proliferation of communications channels and devices that alter how enterprises engage with potential buyers. Such technologies include social networks, mobile commerce, tablet computers, and smartphones. The proliferation of these technologies has three implications for enterprise marketers. First, it means that senior marketers must become knowledgeable regarding these technologies. Second, the level of investment required to adapt to these technologies can place increased pressure on marketing budgets. And third, many of these technologies require a new approach to marketing, where one-to-one communication replaces traditional one-to-many marketing.

The Connected Customer

According to SapientNitro, global enterprises are facing a new class of consumers – people who are more educated and technology-savvy and who are accustomed to buying and sharing what they want when they want it. These “new” consumers are highly resistant to traditional advertising/marketing, and they use multiple sources to learn about products or services they may be interested in buying.

New Localization Challenges

In the SapientNitro research, 75% of surveyed marketers said that tailoring marketing campaigns for local audiences is moderately or extremely challenging today, and over a third believe it will become more difficult in the future. The problem is that today’s potential buyers are both local and global. They expect local relevance in marketing, but because of the pervasiveness of the Internet, they also have increased visibility into marketing programs intended for other regions or markets. Therefore, global enterprises must localize marketing and maintain a brand message that is consistent globally.

Lack of Multi-Channel Marketing

Most marketing executives recognize the importance of multi-channel marketing, but in the SapientNitro research, 37% of marketers said that they don’t believe their marketing activities are fully integrated across digital and traditional channels. SapientNitro argues that this obstacle presents three distinct challenges for global marketers. The first challenge is the need to ensure consistency across numerous devices, platforms, and regions. The second is to execute multi-channel marketing at an acceptable cost, and the third is to allow local marketers the right level of flexibility.

Organizational Silos

The final obstacle identified by SapientNitro is the continued existence of organizational silos inside the marketing department and the fact that marketing and IT still operate in their own silos. The relationship between marketing and IT is particularly important because so many of today’s marketing tactics rely heavily on technology. In the SapientNitro research, 53% of marketers strongly agreed that coordination (within the marketing department and with other business functions) is much more challenging today than just three years ago.
What do you think are the greatest marketing challenges for global enterprises?