The Europe marketing concept suffers greatly from two opposing attitudes : total amnesia regarding European history in favour of data completely deprived of context, and the claim that diverse histories and cultures are a radical obstacle to the building of Europe. In fact, a simple comparison with the United States shows that linguistic, religious, historical, cultural, racial, geographical and climatic obstacles can be avoided if the nation concerned stems from a universally-rooted popular plan. However, Europe is not a popular project. It is an idea forged by a cultural and economic elite which has no real substance for the average citizen. Furthermore, for the more powerful nations. Europe still has to compete with other extra-European interests, a phenomenon less apparent and of lesser concern to the other nations. Europe must therefore shift from its present mentality of economic utopia to its real sociocultural identity. This sociocultural reality is often difficult to observe and manage for the marketing world which opts for either global, reducing attitudes, atomising or even hegemonic ones, fed by specialists on foreign countries. One of the obstacles to our understanding of Europe stems form the typologies and grids which were actually created to describe Europeans. In spite of their fascination and use they have never been more than an amnesic projection of one culture onto another. The real marketing future in Europe must be built by drawing from the diversity and wealth of real cultures, by learning to understand them and by sticking to similar concepts and messages. This task may be trickier and more In this context the "European via de vivre" may well recreate new divides and bring out new barriers hidden by two centuries of nationalism. But this transformation is also a chance to see the European map redrawn to represent, at last, something for one and all within, and for those outside Europe.
The Europe marketing concept suffers greatly from two opposing attitudes : total amnesia regarding European history in favour of data completely deprived of context, and the claim that diverse histories and cultures are a radical obstacle to the building of Europe. In fact, a simple comparison with the United States shows that linguistic, religious, historical, cultural, racial, geographical and climatic obstacles can be avoided if the nation concerned stems from a universally-rooted popular plan. However, Europe is not a popular project. It is an idea forged by a cultural and economic elite which has no real substance for the average citizen. Furthermore, for the more powerful nations. Europe still has to compete with other extra-European interests, a phenomenon less apparent and of lesser concern to the other nations. Europe must therefore shift from its present mentality of economic utopia to its real sociocultural identity. This sociocultural reality is often difficult to observe and manage for the marketing world which opts for either global, reducing attitudes, atomising or even hegemonic ones, fed by specialists on foreign countries. One of the obstacles to our understanding of Europe stems form the typologies and grids which were actually created to describe Europeans. In spite of their fascination and use they have never been more than an amnesic projection of one culture onto another. The real marketing future in Europe must be built by drawing from the diversity and wealth of real cultures, by learning to understand them and by sticking to similar concepts and messages. This task may be trickier and more In this context the "European via de vivre" may well recreate new divides and bring out new barriers hidden by two centuries of nationalism. But this transformation is also a chance to see the European map redrawn to represent, at last, something for one and all within, and for those outside Europe.
Two of the many themes that have dominated ESOMAR's thinking in recent years provide the text of this paper. The first is the necessity of absorbing the lessons of marketing and developing research products and brands to add value to the analysis and interpretation of expensively collected data in order to raise both the status and profits of a largely undervalued industry. The second theme stems from the first and that is that research must increasingly be directly useful in the conduct of commercial activities. The European Single Market and the consequent emergence of the need for European (if not global) brands provides a perfect opportunity for research professionals to demonstrate both innovation and utility. Although I am deeply suspicious of the over zealous pursuit of branding to research 'products' - a subject I would like to develop in more detail in another paper - I am obviously wholeheartedly in favour of research that meets users' needs and is developed from the user's perspective rather than the producer's perspective. We are entering a period when for the first time European brands will be systematically planned, drawing on the same sorts of disciplines with which we have planned national brands. J. Walter Thompson pioneered an advertising planning philosophy, the basic concepts of which are now, in one form or another, a part of most multinational agencies' thinking, whether they acknowledge the origins or not. Therefore it is appropriate to begin a dialogue with research suppliers looking at the kinds of research products being produced in terms of their utility in the development of European brands. This paper - or, more accurately, 'think piece' - opens this dialogue by looking at consumer segmentations
What are the specific events and decisions that actually occur in the identification, design, and implementation of joint ventures involving Western enterprises and East European enterprises? To answer this question a case study research program is presented in this article. Detailed flow diagrams of the interactions of people, key events, and decisions involving two international joint ventures in Hungary are presented. The joint ventures examined include the start of a new fast food restaurant chain in Hungary (major participants: McDonalds and Babolna) and a large-scale retail furniture store (IKEA and Butarker). The decision processes described are similar in execution to the Bounded rationality model of decision making, for example, as predicted by the model some search occurred but was limited to collecting information to evaluate the idea of the joint venture; no search occurred to develop a pool of candidates for the proposed joint venture partners. The paper concludes with some strategic insights for guiding the identification and evaluation of joint venture opportunities in Eastem/Central Europe.
This paper is in three parts. The first part examines the problem of establishing a common basis of comparison between consumer attitudes and behaviour in different cultures. It discusses the various forces which contribute to cultural differences in consumer behaviour, and shows that altitudinal and behavioural factors are an inadequate basis for comparison. It concludes by putting forward the case for consumer motivations as a better basis for Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation, and by describing Young & Rubicam's 4C's system of consumer classification. Part 2 reviews the methodological implications of this approach, and reveals the intrinsic inadequacies of the the more familiar statistical approaches to international psychographic segmentation. It illustrates the many reasons why similar answers to similar questions in different cultures should not be treated as being equivalent, and which therefore render these statistical methods invalid. In their place it recommends a procedure which puts greater emphasis on achieving constant meaning of questions in all countries than on employing an identical questionnaire. Finally, using alcoholic drinks as an example, in Part 3 it demonstrates how, by following this approach, it is possible to create a robust framework for analysing cultural similarities and differences in a market, and thereby for co-ordinating the international marketing activities of a brand.
The paper presents a new hypothesis about how people perceive and relate to branded goods and services. It also describes some recent research that demonstrates how this hypothesis translates into reality. The findings are particularly relevant to international marketing people grappling with the problems of co-ordinating brand communications activities across borders, while coping with the pressures of updating, stretching, refining or reinforcing such brands in today's competitive environment.
The challenge for European researchers in the 1990s is to meet the requirement for information which is truly global in scope, but which retains a clear focus on local markets and issues. The imminence of the Single Market is merely accentuating the need of international companies for integrated research services which span European and global markets. This is particularly TRUE of continuous marketing information, with manufacturers and retailers demanding databases which enable them to evaluate international brands and markets across conventional national borders. To be truly effective, these databases must be supported by common analysis tools which facilitate the assessment of international marketing strategies in many countries. However, for the present - and the immediate future - local market conditions will continue to have a profound influence. This paper will argue that the development of international services must take place in an environment which also addresses the differing requirements of local market places and the complex behaviour of an increasingly fragmented consumer base. The paper is divided into three main sections. In the first, we will examine the paradoxical trends towards both global and micro marketing, together with the new information demands which each is creating. The second part will use case history material to explore the role which global marketing information can already play in supporting local and international marketing strategy. Finally, we will discuss the ways in which the marketing information industry can and must harness new technology to serve the changing global market place.
This paper analyzes the similarities across countries in the way consumers respond to new product ideas, then describes a technique that can successfully screen new product ideas around the world.
MIRBIS has almost thirty people (25 from USSR and 5 from Italy) working on different business lines: 1) Training top and middle Soviet public administration and company management. 2) Economic research aimed at finding new development strategies for Soviet Industrial enterprises. 3) consultant services with the aim of promoting the exchange of economic, technical and scientific information; and encouraging cooperation between companies of the Soviet Union, Italy and other countries in order to provide western operators with an integrated approach to soviet society and its institutions. In two years of existence MIRBIS has already trained almost 120 industry top managers coming from many Soviet Republics. In particular the industries covered have been: car production; light mechanics; chemical; banking and Mining. In the short future the business development will be focused on adding new activities inside the three business lines mentioned above. As far education is concerned it is starting ad experimental course on industrial policy exclusively devoted to local administrators. Furthermore we are planning to start a master course program. In the service business MIRBIS has already set up an agreement with TASS News Service for the realization of a weekly digest of practical Business information of which. Number Zero is already available. The entire range of activities carried out by MIRBIS in the Soviet Union are the results of research which was done in order to learn the real requirements of Soviet Union in the field of management training. As in any other kind of activity, both in manufacturing and in the service industry MIRBIS activity is based on a well identified business-idea and on a resulting business definition. The ultimate goal, therefore, is to enable soviet industrial enterprises to operate on international markets, promote cooperation between Soviet companies and western enterprises and to stimulate the setting up of mixed companies.
The objective of this seminar is to clarify the key issues that face companies in the Single European Market, to analyze how this perspective influences their strategies, and to determine the new needs for information and consultancy which researchers should be prepared to cope with. We have designed it in the hope that it provides for a four-fold exchange of views : between companies from economic sectors exposed in various mays to 1992 ; between the different company functions the most likely to see their policies affected by 1992 ; between company managers, consultants, and the European Commission.
In this report, differences in how Japanese products are seen are studied based on an international comparative survey in light of the above problem, and 4 viewpoints are offered as an idea for the breakthrough of Japanese companies for globalisation.
In a day where economic activities have become global in nature and information has become synchronized world wide, product development and marketing of automobiles likewise will need to be handled on the basis of a global concept. It is necessary to make the best use of limited managerial resources and turn out a product to meet global requirements. From the initial stages of product planning, the parties responsible for planning will need to observe the markets in various nations and districts and to clearly identify the "differing elements" among the markets and the "common elements" which remain unchanged regardless of whichever market. In the following discussions, we shall be reporting on results of our research which was conducted in comparing the values and concepts regarding autos among users in the European, the U.S. and Japanese markets. The thinking of users in the Japanese market has become similar the users in Europe and the United States and thus, the overall degree of similarity has increased. But at the same time , there are certain elements such the cultural, racial and historical characteristics where differences clearly remain. Clearly, there is the need to assume a global perspective yet achieve a full understanding of the market keeping in close touch with local conditions, not limited only to autos, but the culture and day to day living. This is the posture that is a vital element in planning of products.