Can You Standardize

International Marketing
Strategy?.
Saul Sands, Ph.D.
Hofstra University

One of the most widely discussed developments of the past decade has
been the emergence of multinational companies as important competitors
in an ever-growing number of industries. As trade barriers in Western
Europe and elsewhere diminish, more and more companies are finding
attractive opportunities for expansion in countries other than their tradi-
tional home markets. For some of these companies, operations abroad
have become so extensive and complex as to require significant changes in
organization and operating methods. The problems confronting manage-
ment in a truly multinational company are clearly different in degree, if
not in kind, from those of purely national firms.
From the standpoint of the multinational marketer, the differences
between nations overseas are great. In the past, these differences generally
led a U.S. company to view its marketing strategy in each country as a
strictly local problem with a unique local solution. However, in recent
years the experiences of a growing number of multinational companies
suggest that there are potential benefits to be realized in standardizing
various elements of marketing programs used in different countries.

91979, Academy of Academy Science, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Spring, 1979, Vol. 7, No. 2, 117-134
0092-0703/79/0702-011752.00

117
118 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

"LOCALIZED" M U L T I N A T I O N A L MARKETING STRATEGY

In a literal sense, multinational standardization would mean the offer-

ing of identical product lines at identical prices through identical distribu-
tion systems, supported by identical promotional programs, in several dif-
ferent countries. At the other extreme, completely "localized" marketing
strategies would contain no common elements whatsoever. Obviously,
neither of these extremes is feasible or desirable. Currently, most
multinational companies employ marketing strategies that are much closer
to the "localized" end of the spectrum than to the "standardized" end.
Why is this the case?
For one thing, differences simply reflect customary ways of doing busi-
ness which have evolved in an earlier period, when national boundaries were
more formidable barriers than they are today. But even if tradition did not
play a role, it must be recognized that other obstacles to standardization
of marketing come into play.
More importantly, differences in national income levels, tastes, and
other factors have traditionally dictated the need for individualized local
products and corresponding tailor-made marketing programs. The great
majority of companies still operate on the premise that each national mar-
ket is different and must therefore be provided with. its own distinctive
marketing program. For example, George Weissman, president of Phillip
Morris, Inc., has concluded that "until we achieve one world, there is no
such thing as international marketing, only local marketing around the
world." (Adler, 1968)
Wind, Douglas, and Permutter (1973) have suggested that the concept
of the world as one big market (geocentric approach) has been greatly
overrated. They believe instead that the polycentric (subsidiary overseas
acts independently of the parent) or regiocentric (region acts autono-
mously) approach is preferable.
Tom Sutton (1974) executive vice-president of J. Walter Thompson,
pointed out that the "people are alike" theory has become a dangerous
oversimplification. The hitherto equalizing effect of affluence and establish-
ment of international standards of consumption, he pointed out, may well
boomerang as customers search for differences through consumption.
The prevailing view, then, appears to be that marketing strategy is a
local problem; marketing strategy would differ from country to country,
and the design of strategy should be left to local management in each
country.
 SANDS 119

A quick look now at some of the considerations making for "localized"

multinational marketing strategy:

National Identity
National identity can influence the purchases of buyers, and many
manufacturers use advertising geared to exploit this buying pattern. An
example of this can be seen in the United States, where many manufac-
turers are making use of a "Buy American" approach to advertising, and
statements such as "Made in America by Americans" in their packaging
and point-of-purchase promotion.
Two surveys conducted by S. Watson Dunn (1976) point to a resurgence
of national identity in Western Europe. For the marketer this raises the
question whether the European consumer will increase preference for
products made in his own country. Professor Dunn avers that multination-
al marketers who can figure out how to reflect national identity in their
ads will progress the most in the next decade.

National Tastes and Preferences

The history of international business provides a spate of examples of
trying to cross national borders with an existing product, even for such
apparently similar countries as the United States and Canada.
A. H. Malcolm (1977) mentions that Japan is the second largest market
for cosmetics in the world, but U.S. companies find this to be an especially
difficult market. Selling skin colors does not sit well with the Japanese
who believe that suntans are ugly. Bath oils are difficult to promote to
people who bathe communally.
Phillip Morris, Inc., for example, tried unsuccessfully to convert Cana-
dian smokers to one of its popular American cigarette brands. The Cana-
dians apparently would rather fight than switch; they preserved their tradi-
tional preference for so-called "Virginia-type" tobacco blends.
Marketing executive Paul Griffin cited several failure stories in a talk
before the Primary Club of London in 1972 (Dunn, 1976):
9 Maxwell House, billed as "the great American coffee" spent a potful
to find out that Germans have little respect for "American coffee."
9 Procter & Gamble found that Crest's fluoride appeal meant little or
nothing to the English public.
Dunn (1976) finds that the very success of some of the past multina-
tional marketing campaigns may well have contributed to the rise of
120 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

national tastes. One finds resentment at the sameness of the Coca-Cola

campaigns, the sameness of the McDonald's stores, the sameness of the
Holiday Inns and Howard Johnsons. The more people think marketers put
them together in one big mass, the more they try to prove they are differ-
ent.
The different uses of products in other countries can be important to
international marketers. For instance, beer is thought of to be an alcoholic
beverage in many countries. But in the Mediterranean lands it is more akin
to the soft drink class (Adler, 1976). Chocolate provides another example.
In France, chocolate is used mostly in cooking. In Italy, chocolate is
served as a snack to children, a slab of chocolate is placed between two
slices of bread and a sort of sandwich is created. Germans, who appreciate
the taste of pure chocolate, find both of these other usesquite unappeal-
ing. In Britain, products like Jell-O are preferred in solid-wafer or cake
form. Germans usually buy salad dressing in tubes.
According to A. Stridsberg (1974), corn on the cob in England is an
hors d'oeuvre; oatmeal and cornflakes are desserts in northeastern Nether-
lands, northern Germany, and Scandinavia; Vicks VapoRub is used in trop-
ical areas primarily as a mosquito repellant.
Business Week (1976) suggests that one "beware when bearing gifts in
foreign lands-and watch it when it comes to the color:
Brazil: Purple is a death color. Scotch is more popular than
bourbon.
England: Apparel and soap are considered a bit too personal.
White lilies suggest death, but other flowers are okay.
France: Yellow flowers suggest infidelity. Do not give cutlery.
Hong Kong: White is for funerals, but red is popular in all Chi-
nese-speaking areas.
Italy: Red roses are for your favorite woman. Generally you
don't give handkerchiefs.
Mexico: Yellow flowers are a sign of death.
Russia: Knives and forks are a friendship-cutter.
Saudi Arabia: Give nothing to another person's wife, and don't
give anything alcoholic.
Taiwan: Knives may wound a friendship. Don't give a clock
because the word for "clock" sounds like the one for
"terminate."
West Germany: If you give cutlery, ask for a coin in payment
so you won't cut the friendship. A gift of red roses to a
woman means you really care for her."
 SANDS 121

Examples of this kind suggest that to attain maximum sales in each

country, a multinational company should offer products which are tailor-
ed to that country's preferences at least, if not its needs and customs, and
should not try to convert the consumers to something "foreign." The suc-
cess of the Volkswagen in the United States can be taken as an example of
an import which catered to the needs of the American market.

Language Problems
Advertising copy, instruction manuals, directions, packaging labels and
so "forth must be translated into the language of the particular country.
Often translation is not so simple. For example, a German toilet paper
called 'Tempo' had to be renamed for sale in France because of the trans-
lation of its name. In French 'Tempo,' translated 'Tampon,' is quite a dif-
ferent product (Dichter, 1975). "Come Alive with Pepsi" in some lan-
guages means "Come out of your grave," and "Body by Fisher" in Flemish
and Japanese means "Corpse by Fisher". Cigarettes are called 'fags' in
Australia, a term which would not be deemed proper if used in American
advertising. To complete the catalogue of translation bloopers, is Chevro-
let's Nova a good brand name? In Spanish, no va means "It doesn't go."

"STANDARDIZED" MULTINATIONAL
MARKETING STRATEGY

Notwithstanding the formidable array of hurdles to more uniform mul-

tinational marketing practices, the case for some degree of standardized
marketing strategy is far from hopeless. Indeed, the experiences of some
multinational companies in recent years suggest that there may indeed be
something to be said in favor of a more standardized multinational market-
ing strategy.
A survey conducted by Ralph Z. Sorenson and Ulrich E. Wiechmann
(1975) produced these results regarding the extent to which companies
standardize marketing programs among European subsidiaries: The compa-
nies surveyed showed a high propensity to standardize at least part of their
marketing programs across frontiers. The degree of standardization varied
among different product classes. Marketing programs, by and large, it was
felt, could not wholly be standardized, but the process o f marketing plan-
ning could be standardized across frontiers.
122 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

At this juncture, one might raise the issue: Why think at all about stan-
dardizing marketing efforts across national frontiers? The answer is single-
minded, namely that there are circumstances and conditions in which stan-
dardized marketing approaches are superior profitwise to the purely local
approach. The examples which follow show that a marketing strategy that
is uniform across national boundaries stems from one of two sources:
First, a company may perceive a threat or problem, the solution to which
is a standardized multinational marketing strategy, or; second, the firm
may simply perceive an opportunity for greater profit in a standardized
multinational strategy than in a purely local approach. In any event, once
an opportunity or problem is perceived, then the standardized multina-
tional marketing may be a solution. Whether or not the standardized or the
local strategy should be chosen rests solely on the probable payoffs and risks
of each alternative; the firm is never free from estimating payoff and risk.
Profit, whether potential or realized, is a function of the difference
between costs and revenues. Thus, by making this or that element of the
marketing program uniform throughout many or all national markets, the
multinational firm will hope to increase profits through a reduction in
costs or an increase in revenues, or both. Cost reductions accrue to the
firm directly through economies of scale. At the same time, a marketing
action that reduces costs may have the simultaneous effect of increasing
revenues. Alternately, a standardization of marketing elements across
national borders may have the effect of increasing revenues more than in-
creasing costs, so that net profit grows.

Opportunity fop Standardization Created By

International Travel
If all buyers lived incommunicado behind their respective borders, there
would be no point in w6rrying about consistency of product, promotion,
etc., across national frontiers; only diplomatic couriers and border guards
would ever notice any differences in such elements of a marketing pro-
gram. In reality of course, this is not the case. The most visible type of
cross-border flow is international travel by tourists and businessmen. Espe-
cially in Europe, with its relatively high income levels and short distances,
the number of people visiting other countries reached flood proportions in
the 1960's, and the trend has continued somewhat in the 1970's through
dampened by the recession. If the German tourist in Spain sees his accus-
tomed brands in a store, he is likely t o buy them during his visit. More
 SANDS 123

important, his re-exposure to the products and their advertising may

strengthen his loyalty back home or, at least, curb the temptation to try a
competitive brand.
Some multinational companies have moved toward standardization of
multinational marketing programs in an effort to capitalize on the oppor-
tunities presented by international travel. Executives of these companies
believe that standardization of product, sales and customer service, brand
name and package, and generally the "image" projected to customers is a
positive means of increasing consumer awareness of their product, thereby
hopefully boosting sales and profits.

Standardization As A Solution To Problems

Of A Multinational Customer
During the 1970's a compelling argument for standardization in market-
ing strategy emerged-the needs of the multinational customer. Increasing-
ly, both customer and industrial goods manufacturers find themselves
selling to companies which themselves operate on a multinational scale.
Industrial users, retail chains, and wholesalers with operations in several
countries may buy centrally; even if they do not, personnel in one country
often have experience in other countries, or communicate with their coun-
terparts in those countries. In either case, there is strong pressure on the
seller to offer similar prices, products, and services to all markets.
In certain industries, trade and professional associations exert pressure
toward standardization similar to that exerted by multinational customers.
Engineers, chemists, doctors, computer programmers-these groups and
many others hold conferences, publish journals, and exchange ideas on an
international basis. One result is that companies selling products to profes-
sional and technical groups often find it advantageous to standardize their
offerings.

Standardizing The Product

Because of social mores, custom, or simply need, certain products just
do not sell in one market as they do in another. Clearly, there is little need
for portable heaters at the equator or for car air-conditioners at the South
Pole. Many needs are not as easily seen though. A few years ago a U.S.
cigarette manufacturer tried to market a ffdter cigarette in an Asian
country, but failed. The appeal that ffilter cigarettes reduced the risk of
cancer apparently did not work. It was later found that the average male
124 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

life expectancy was 29 years - far below the age one is normally affected
by cancer (Glos and Baker, 1972). Many products fail for similar reasons.
Yet, more often than not, by offering the same basic product in several
markets with some variations in functional and/or design features, a manu-
facturer can frequently achieve longer production runs, spread research
and development costs over a greater volume, and thus reduce total unit
costs.
According to Philip Siekman (1964), the "Italian Invasion," a lesson of
mass production economics through standardization which was first
demonstrated by Henry Ford, was dramatically retaught on a multinational
scale during the 1960's by the Italian household appliance industry.
In the mid-1950's, total combined Italian production of refrigerators
and washing machines was less than 300,000 units; there were no strong
Italian appliance manufacturers. In 1955, only 3 percent of Italian house-
holders owned refrigerators, and around 1 percent owned washing
machines.
Starting in the late 1950's, several companies began aggressive programs
of product development and marketing. Ironically, some of the Italian
entrepreneurs were firnply applying lessons learned from America. One
member of the Fumagalli family, owners of the appliance firm, Candy, had
been a prisoner of war in the United States and brought back the idea of
"a washing machine in every home."
The Italian appliance firm installed modern, highly automated equip-
ment, reinvested profits, and produced relatively simple, standardized pro-
ducts in great numbers. By 1965, refrigerator output was estimated at 2.6
million units, and washing machine output at 1.5 million units. Much of
this volume was sold in Italy, and home ownership of the two appliances
rose to 60 and 23 percent respectively. But the Italian companies were
aggressive in export marketing too; by 1965 Italian-made refrigerators
accounted for 32 percent of the total French market and for 40 to 50 per-
cent of the Benelux market. Even in Germany, the home of such electrical
giants as AEG, Bosch, and Siemens, the Italian products attained a 12 per-
cent market share. The export pattern of washing machines had followed
that of refrigerators; by 1965 Italian exports had accounted for 10 to 15
percent of market sales in most other Western European countries (Mar-
keting in Europe, 1966).
The success of the Italian appliance industry was a painful lesson for
the traditional leaders-American, British, and German-as well as for the
smaller French companies that had previously had tariff protection.
 SANDS 125

Whirlpool Corporation, which acquired a French refrigerator plant in

1962, subsequently leased the facility to a French competitor. Even Frigi-
daire decided, in mid-1967, to close down its refrigerator production in
France.
To compete with this "Italian Invasion" in appliances, other established
manufacturers began working to develop standardized lines of appliances.
An interesting example was the introduction of a new line of automatic
washing machines by Hoover Ltd., the market leader of the United King-
dom. Hoover's previous automatics, introduced in 1961, were designed
primarily for the British market. The company's "Keymatic" models fea-
tured an exclusive "pulsator" washing action, a tilted steel drum, and hot
water provided by the home's central hot water heater.
In contrast, most European manufacturers, including the Italian pro-
ducers, offered front-loading, tumble-action washers with stainless drums
and self-contained water heaters. Either because these features were better
suited to continental needs, or because so many sellers promoted them, or
perhaps both, Hoover saw its position in major continental markets gra-
dually decline.
When Hoover management set out to design a new product line, begin-
ning in 1965, it decided to look for a single basic design that would meet
the needs of housewives in France, Germany, and Scandinavia, as well as in
the United Kingdom. A committee including representatives of the conti-
nental subsidiaries and of the parent company, Hoover Worldwide Corpo-
ration (New York), spent many weeks finding mutually acceptable specifi-
cations for the new line (Siekman, 1964).
The result, which went on sale in the spring of 1967, was a front-load-
ing, tumble-action machine, closer in concept to the "continental" design
than Hoover's previous washers, but with provisions for "hot water fdl"
and enameled steel drums on models to be sold in the United Kingdom. By
standardizing most of the key design elements in the new machine, Hoover
was able to effect substantial savings in development costs, tooling, and
unit production costs.
In addition to production cost savings, standardized product appear-
ance seems to have had an impact on consumer buying habits in Europe. A
quote from Fortune illustrates this point: "refrigerators have begun to
look more alike as national tastes in product design give way to an inter-
national 'sheer-line' style." (Siekman, 1964).
In a study concerned with the international life styles of women,
Douglas and Urban (1977) conclude that food products, cleaning pro-
ducts, household products, and products related to home-centered roles
126 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

are more likely to require adaptation to local markets, whereas products

purchased by minority segments are often good candidates for standar-
dized marketing strategies. Such products include stereo components,
health foods, and cosmetics.

Standardizing The Package

In some industries, packaging costs represent a significant part of total
costs. Here, too, standardization may offer the possibility of savings.
Charles R. Williams, author of many articles on multinational marketing,
cited the case of a food processor selling prepared soups throughout Europe
in eleven different packages: He observed: "the company believes it could
achieve a significant savings in costs and at the same time reduce consumer
confusion by standardizing the package." (William, 1967)
The two major soft drink manufacturers (Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola) in
the United States (and the world) provide excellent examples of the poten-
tial gains and advantages of standardizing packaging.
Both companies market soft drinks on a world-wide basis, yet the
packaging is basically the same. While the language in which the name of
the product does, in fact, differ in various countries and/or geographical
areas around the world, the two producers have a standard shape for their
products' bottle. This being the case, one could almost speculate that the
bottles may be used as international trademarks for both Coca-Cola and
Pepsi-Cola.
In addition, the use of a standardized package, as illustrated above, pro-
vides siginficant cost savings. In the case of the soft drink manufacturers
(Coke and Pepsi), packaging costs are especially crucial, since the cost of
the container (exclusive of labeling) represents more than 50 percent of
the total cost of the finished product (Heller, 1966).

Standardized Price
There is a very strong incentive for multinational marketers to standar-
dize (or equalize) their prices. The policy of price standardization is most
important in areas such as Europe, where goods can be shipped from one
country to another in as little as a few hours. This being the case, if a cus-
tomer (especially a multinational customer) knows that he can purchase
goods in one country and ship them to another to be marketed locally, as
opposed to buying them locally and marketing locally, and realize a
greater profit, he will do so. Consider the following situation:
 SANDS 127

Philips Gloeilamoenfabriekin, one of the world's largest producers of

electrical products, found that prices of some of its appliances in Holland
were being undercut by as much as 30 percent by the company's own
German subsidiary! How did this come to pass? The German subsidiary
had lower costs than the Dutch plant, and sold at lower prices to meet the
more intensive competition of the German appliance market. Wholesalers
buying from Philips in Germany had further incentive to sell to customers
outside the country owing to a 7 percent export subsidy given by the
German government. To complete the circle, a European Economic Com-
munity antitrust ruling prohibits manufacturers from interfering with the
rights of independent distributors to export freely within the Common
Market. Consequently, there was little that Philips could do except to
"equalize" prices in the two countries (BusinessEurope, 1967).
Examples such as Philips illustrate that, if a multinational marketer
wishes to survive in numerous national markets, especially when those
markets are in the same geographical area (e.g., Europe, Latin America),
a program of standardized pricing is often advantageous.

Standardized Distribution
Distribution of a product can be effected through resellers or through
direct sales. An interesting example of international standardization of
distribution presents itself. The Elextrolux Company, which, as is well
known, markets quality vacuum cleaners via direct distribution to the con-
sumer, decided to enter the Swedish market. A vexing question for the
company was whether or not to continue its direct distribution policy in
Sweden. The company retained the Stanford Research Institute to
research this and other problems of its international marketing strategy.
As it turned out, the Stanford Research Ingtitute recommended indirect
distribution via resellers. Nonetheless, the Elextrolux Company rejected
the Institute recommendations and decided to stick to its policy of direct
distribution internationally (Ball, 1976).
With respect to distribution in Japan, A. H. Malcolm (1977) reports
that door-to-door selling is difficult in cities with few doorbells and no
street addresses. Distribution through channels is especially complex in
Japan: there are middlemen, middle-middlemen, and even middle-middle-
middlemen. On the other hand, the mere facts of being foreign can be a
door-opener in prestige-conscious Japan.
128 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

Standardized Advertising
Past literature is divided with regard to the effectiveness of the standar-
dized approach to international advertising. Alex Krolt (Advertising Age,
1974) Executive Vice-President of Young and Rubicam International, a
global advertising agency, was a speaker at the 17th annual Advertising
Age Creative Workshop in July 1974. He showed several commercials
which are perfectly acceptable in some countries but would not be in some
others, including the United States. In Sweden, condom advertising is an
everyday phenomenon. In Denmark, tampons are advertised as they are in
the United States but something more is added. There is a demonstration
of how to use them in Danish commercials; Americans merely hold up the
box and assume the rest.
Claude Marcus (1964) and Jean Max Lenormand (1964), top advertis-
ing executives in France, have maintained that one must tailor promotion
to specific markets-especially when dealing with the French market-and
that anyone who assumed otherwise was taking unnecessary risks. John K.
Ryans, Jr. (1969) has questioned whether Esso's much acclaimed universal
campaign was really all that universal. A study by Green, Cunningham, and
Cunningham (1975) concludes that advertising messages used in France,
Brazil, and India should not contain the same appeals that are employed in
the U.S. if the advertiser is concerned with communicating those attributes
considered to be most important in each particular market. Evidence from
two recent studies by S. Watson Dunn (1976) disclosed that the propor-
tion of companies using basically the same advertisements abroad as at
home was less in 1973 than in 1974. In a comparative study of consumer
buying habits in France and the United States, Green and Langeard (1975)
found substantial differences between consumers in the two countries and
suggested that marketing programs would probably have to be revised if
they were to be transferred to France from the U.S. Douglas and Urban
(1977) further state that sophisticated, innovative or affluent buyers are
more likely to respond to universal appeals.
In a comprehensive study of 27 U.S. and Europe-based multinational
firms, Ulrich Wiechmann (1974) found that advertising tended to be more
decentralized than other marketing functions and that advertising strategy
varied more from firm to firm than did other functions. Associated with
the decentralization of advertising is the heightened skill and expertise of
European advertising executives. As Harry Clark, Jr., senior vice-president
for international operations at J. Walter Thompson, points out, one would
not try today to run in Austria a German campaign created for Germany.
 SANDS 129

Instead, it would be better to leave it to the multinational marketing exe-

cutive in Vienna, who could "quite rightly see some of the differences
between an Austrian housewife and her counterpart even in Munich, only
several hundred kilometers away" and who would insist that the advertis-
ing directed to Austrian housewives be specifically created for them
(Media Decisions, 1974).
On the other side of the coin are those who suppor the standardization
of advertising from country to country. For example, Erik Elinder (1964),
a prominent Swedish marketing executive, reports that savings-bank pro-
motions were used all over Scandinavia with equal success. His investiga-
tions led him to predict that the same campaign could be used anywhere in
Europe and that it was a waste of effort and money to custom-tailor pro-
motion to each country. Along these same lines, Gordon Miracle (1968)
maintained that: "the requirements of effective communication are fixed
and cannot vary with time, place or form of communication; therefore
the same approach to communication (that is, the same approach to pre-
paration of messages and selection of media) can be used in every country."
In a field study of advertising transferability in Europe and the Middle
East conducted during the 1960s, S. Watson Dunn (1976) found that suc-
cessful U.S. print advertisements were surprisingly transferable. Several
French and Arabic versions were created by professionals and tested under
controlled field conditions in Paris and Cairo. Those literally translated
with accompanying American illustrations were almost as successful as
those carefully designed by creative experts of the country.
A number of elements make for the possibility of standardized adver-
tising. The possibility of reaching multimarket audiences with common
advertising messages has led some major consumer goods manufacturers to
explore ways and means of standardizing at least the basic elements of
their European campaigns. In the European community, the potential for
advertising standardization is enhanced by the flow of communications
across borders. Magazines, newspapers, radio and television broadcasts-all
including advertising-reach international audiences. For example:
9 German television broadcasts are received by 40 percent of
Dutch homes with TV sets.
9 Paris Match has a circulation of 85,000 in Belgium, 26,000 in
Switzerland, and substantial readership in Luxembourg,
Germany, Italy and Holland.
130 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

9 On an average day, over 4 million French housewives tune in

to Radio Luxembourg; the same broadcast reaches 620,000
Belgian housewives, 30,000 in Switzerland, and 100,000 in
Holland.

A second factor providing an argument for standardization of advertis-

ing over national borders is the belief of many advertising executives that
good promotional ideas have a universal appeal. To this effect, Arthur C.
Fatt (1967), Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Grey
Advertising, Inc., states:
"A growing school of thought holds that even different peo-
ples are basically the same, and that an international advertis-
ing campaign with a truly universal appeal can be effective in
any m a r k e t . . . If an advertiser has a significant advertising
idea at work in one country, not only may it be wasteful but
often 'suicidal' to change this idea just for the sake of change."

The key word is this statement is "significant." It is the scarcity of

really good or significant ideas that encourages standardization. It may be
easy to find creative concepts of average quality in each of many different
national markets, but really new or unique approaches are not so easily
found. In recent years, there have been several widely discussed exam-
pies of successful application of common advertising themes:
9 Esso's "Put a Tiger in your Tank" campaign, with very minor
changes in art and working, has been used from Southwest
Asia to Switzerland. The tiger is, of course, an internationally
recognizable symbol of power.
9 Avis Rent-A-Car has used minor variations on its "We Try
Harder" theme throughout Europe as well as the United
States.
9 Magazine advertisements for Playtex brassieres in many differ-
ent countries feature the same "stop-action" photographic
demonstration of the products' strength and dependability.
Although attitudes toward undergarments vary from country
to country, Young & Rubicam, Inc. (the Playtex agency) prob-
ably believes that there is a segment in each market for which
the appeal is effective.
 SANDS 131

9 When Nestle launched "new Nescafe" in the early 1960's, the

same basic theme ("fresh-ground aroma") and very similar
creative treatments were used not only throughout Europe,
but also in other markets such as Australia. The value of this
approach is perhaps reflected in the fact that for several years
Nescafe was the leading brand of instant coffee in every
European country. (Marketing in Europe, 1966, 1967).

A spin-off benefit of standardized advertising can be production cost

savings of considerable proportions. For some of the major package goods
manufacturers, the production of art work, film, and other promotional
materials runs into millions of dollars annually.
The Pepsi-Cola company sells its products (Pepsi) in 110 countries out-
side the United States. Part of its advertising is done by films. According
to Norman Heller, (1966), one of the company's marketing executives:
"We have found that it is possible . . . . to produce commercial films over-
seas in one market, if planned properly, for use in most (but not all) of our
international markets." In fact, the company estimates that the added cost
of producing separate films for each market would be approximately $8
million annually.

CONCLUSION

Traditionally, marketing strategy has been regarded as a strictly local

problems in each national market. Differences in customer needs and pre-
ferences, in competition, in institutional systems, and in legel aregulations
have seemed to require basically different marketing programs. Any simil-
arity between countries has been seen as purely coincidental.
There is no doubt that differences among nations are still great, and
that these differences should be recognized in marketing planning. But the
experiences of a growing number of multinational companies suggest that
there are also real potential gains in an integrated approach to marketing
strategy. Standardization of products or product features, packaging, and
promotional approaches may permit substantial cost savings, as well as
greater awareness and impact in dealing with consumers. The harmoniza-
tion of pricing among various markets is essential to the success of multi-
national marketers in geographical areas with numerous national markets.
132 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY?

All of this adds up to the conclusion that both the pros and cons of
standardization in multinational marketing programs should be considered.
Although there are many obstacles to the application o f common mar-
keting policies in different countries, there could be some very tangible
benefits. The potantial benefits o f standardization are sufficiently attrac-
tive (e.g. cost savings, increased revenues), and sufficiently important to
merit careful analysis by management in virtually all multinational mar-
keting situations.
The practical question is: What elements of the marketing strategy
could be standardized, and to what degree? If there are potential benefits
o f increased standardization, then they would be achieved by incorporat-
ing more common elements in a multinational strategy. Each marketing
aspect or policy should be considered, first in its own right, and second, in
relation to the other elements o f the marketing "mix." Each case should
be considered on its own merits...slogans and ritualistic approaches are
not very helpful guides to intelligent planning.
Finding the right balance of local and uniform multinational marketing
strategy is by no manner of speaking an easy t a s k . . . f a r from it. Yet it is
an important task, with substantial payoffs. An approach to the implemen-
tation o f a balanced program should rate high on the priority list o f every
multinational marketing company.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S A U L SANDS is Associate Professor o f Marketing and Quantitative

Methods at Hofstra University. He received his Ph.D. from the University
134 CAN YOU STANDARDIZE
INTERNATIONALMARKETINGSTRATEGY?

of Pennsylvania and has extensive business and consulting experience. His

articles have appeared in Journal of the American Statistical Association,
Journal of Retailing, Long Range Planning, The Review of Economics and
Statistics, The International Economic Review, Michigan Business Review,
California Management Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science, Management Review, Management Decision, and Business &
Public Affairs.