Standardization and Adaptation Comparison Free Essay Example

In the century, when almost every company wants to operate globally and many of them have already been doing it, firms face the choice of marketing strategy that provides a success to their product/service in different markets. There are two main marketing strategies, standardization and adaptation. And the question “What is better?” worries the companies that are going to act worldwide. I think nobody can answer that because everything depends on a particular situation: product, company, country, market, competitors, etc.

Let’s consider standardization. This concept means making one global product in the belief the same product can be sold across markets without significant modification. The most important plus of standardization is economies of scale. It assumes the more you produce the lower price per unit will be.

Many global companies use this strategy. Among them is Deere & Company whose agriculture and construction equipment is exported and used around the world. Their products are made in the USA, Europe, and Asia and are similar for every country.

This attitude helps the company provide better service for their consumers and decrease prices of spare parts due to economies of scale. The other advantage of standardization is a strong brand image. International uniformity creates customer`s awareness of your product and loyalty. For example, no matter in which country I bought a watch Rolex I can be absolutely sure in its quality.

As for adaptation in my opinion, this strategy is widely used and can be utilized by all companies in the world.

This marketing strategy implies that new products are based on modification or some improvement on existing products. Certainly, we live in the world of globalization but still every country has its own local features and habits. So a company must consider them when entering a new market and try to meet customer`s needs by making modifications to product/service. One of the brightest examples of adaptation is Barbie. This company creates different Barbie-doll for different countries, so there is an African Barbie with black skin and in local dress, Asian doll, Latin, etc. Summing up, to my mind the choice of marketing strategy can be determinant of your product success or fail in a new market. So companies should spend a lot of resources for R&D in the sphere of marketing.