Question

Internet Extra: Food products firms and fast food restaurants are examples of companies that standardize some elements of the marketing mix, and customize others. For example, Kraft sells its products in several markets around the world. In some markets, Kraft sells virtually identical products, in others, products have been adapted to meet local needs.

Pick a few products and look at how they are sold in other markets. Are product names the same? What differences do you see in product packaging? Are there differences in the products themselves? What do your answers tell you about Kraft’s international marketing strategy?

Answer 1

Product 1: Tide

This is a product that is sold in US by P&G at premium prices. The same product has been sold as economic product in markets like India, china etc. When considering the quality, formula, product name, packaging etc there are no differences.

Product 2: Burgers of “Mc Donald’s”

The organization makes use of meet in their burgers all around the world. They introduced shrimp burger in the market Japan considering the local taste preferences. They introduced the name shrimp in the product name “Shrimp Burger” for gathering the public attention while he packaging, remained the same in order to maintain the brand image of the product. Here it can be seen that they have made changes in the product itself to generate a local appeal.

While marketing the products globally, the product name and packaging are kept similar to generate product identification and recognition. This is the strategy adopted by the organization Kraft to generate a brand image and recognition. In some cases, some changes are to be made on the product itself to meet the local needs.