An International Marketing Plan of a Service

An International Marketing Plan of a Service

1.0 Introduction

Marketing theorist, Theodore Levitt (1986) once said, "The purpose of business is to get and keep customers." Indeed, businesses spend a lot of time and money in evaluating customer preferences to be able to retain customer loyalty. For if patronage is granted, profit increase follows. Marketing research reveals that clients are unlikely to verbally tell the service provider that they are dissatisfied (Wakefield, 2001). They simply leave and generate negative word-of-mouth, frequently without the knowledge of the company. Because reputation is a critical element of marketing, the company that recognizes the value of service quality will not only gain customer loyalty but also stand out in an increasingly competitive market.

Marketing message is best conveyed to the public through the use of various media and channels. Planning is the key. The purpose of marketing planning is to translate the positioning statement into recognised and preferred brands. There are six basic areas of marketing: product or service plan, marketing communications, plan, sales plan, customer service plan, research plan and Internet plan.

2.0 Statement of the Problem

Devising marketing plans for products is a commonplace but when it comes to designing a marketing plan for a service, various commercial, economic and technical problems are encountered. It would be therefore plausible to understand these problems for the purpose of making more effective marketing plans for a service. Further, designing marketing plans that comprises of an international scope would be also difficult for any company especially for a service offered. In this study, the following research questions will be addressed:

1) What are the commercial, economic and technical problems to be encountered in devising an international marketing plan for a service?

2) How these problems could be addressed to make the international plan more effective and sustainable?

3) In what specific ways does an international marketing plan differ with an international marketing plan for a product?

3.0 Research Aim and Objectives

The main aim of this study is to evaluate various problems to be encountered in devising an international marketing plan for a service. In lieu with this, the research purports to:

• Evaluate how a marketing plan could be made more effective


• Determine how various problems would be addressed by the company


• Analyse components of an international marketing plan for a service

4.0 Significance of the Study

As such, the completion of this dissertation will provide understanding of the concepts presented so as to generate data and information that every planners could use in order to come up with strategies, plans and designs that will strategically position them in the highly competitive, diverse, and complex business environment that is experienced at present.

By fulfilling the aims that were stated in the objectives section, this study will be helpful for other researchers who may be focusing on understanding the concept of marketing planning at international levels. The notable significance of this study is the possibility that other researchers may be able to use the findings in this study for future studies that will create a huge impact in society. This study's findings can be used for other findings that might prove to be helpful in introducing changes to the conduct of marketing planning that is affected by commercial, economic and technical forces.

5.0 Research Methodology

The study will explore the problem in an interpretative view, using a descriptive approach which uses observation and surveys. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) will guide the researcher when he stated: Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the causes of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.

Primary and secondary research will be integrated. The reason for this is to be able to provide adequate discussion for the readers that will help them understand more about the issue and the different variables that involve with it. In the primary research, public managers will be surveyed. A structured questionnaire will be developed and it will be used as the survey tool for the study. On the other hand, sources in secondary research will include previous research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal content. Existing findings on journals and existing knowledge on books will be used as secondary research. The interpretation will be conducted which can account as qualitative in nature.

References

Creswell, J W 1994, Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California.

Levitt, T 1986, The marketing imagination, The Free Press, New York.

Wakefield, RL 2001, 'Service Quality', The CPA Journal, vol. 71, no. 8, pp. 56-61.