Global Marketing Vs International Marketing - Difference and Comparison

The terms global marketing and international marketing sounds very similar to one another. However, both can be seen as two different stages of internationalization or international business operations.

Global marketing refers to carrying out marketing operations from the company’s headquarter while selling products or services worldwide in different countries.

Whereas, international marketing can be understood as going global by establishing subsidiaries in the prospective local market of different countries, to execute suitable marketing strategies.

Content: Difference Between Global Marketing and International Marketing

Difference and Comparison
Example
What is Global Marketing?
What is International Marketing?
Advantages
Disadvantages
Summary
Hybrid Structure

Difference and Comparison

Basis	Global Marketing	International Marketing
Meaning	Global marketing is the application of a single marketing strategy in the worldwide market, for a product or service.	International marketing refers to the company's penetration into the prospective markets of different countries by directly engaging in the local marketing environment.
Product or Service Offerings	Standard product or service	Customized product or service
Marketing People	Cross-cultural marketing personnel employed at the company’s head office	Native marketing employees placed in the target foreign markets
Marketing Research and Development	It requires intense market research due to the company's physical absence in the prospective global market.	It comparatively needs less research and development since the company has a physical existence in the international market and can analyze the market.
Customer Engagement	Less customer engagement due to the distant presence and low customer interactions.	Customer engagement is quite high due to the local presence and multiple communication channels.
Marketing Budget	All the budgeting activities for global marketing are performed at the company's headquarters.	The international subsidiaries perform budgeting activities at the local level.
Social Media Marketing	Company has a unanimous social media page for its global operations.	Here, there are multiple social media pages of the company, on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook segregated according to the country.
Advertising	Here, a single commercial runs throughout the world in various regional languages of different countries.	Advertisements in the international market are tailored exclusively for the local market and vary drastically from country to country.
Promotion Strategy	Promotion tactics are adopted keeping in mind the global audience perspective.	The promotional strategies are designed individually for every local market.
Marketing Autonomy	Limited to the company's headquarters.	Spread across the subsidiaries located in different countries.

Example

Global Marketing:

Let us take the case of Apple; the brand maintains a uniformity in handset’s design and features while targeting the consumers in various countries. Walmart is another example of global marketing.

International Marketing:

Dunkin’ Donuts adopted international marketing strategy by selling the products according to the consumer’s liking and preference across the worldwide target markets. It sold Grapefruit Coolatta Donuts in South Korea, while Seaweed Donuts in China.

What is Global Marketing?

Global marketing is an internationalization strategy. The company conceptualizes a product or service such that it suits the global consumer requirements.

The company frames a universal tactic for planning, production, placement and promotion of these products or services across the globe.

What is International Marketing?

International marketing refers to the process of business expansion across the domestic geographical boundaries by setting up subsidiaries in the target markets of different countries.

These subsidiaries design and adopt the marketing principles and strategies according to the needs of the target local market.

Advantages of Global Marketing

Global marketing is a beneficial strategy when it comes to the internationalization of business operations if the product or service offered has a universal demand.

Let us now understand the following other merits of global marketing:

The company can expand its customer base by selling the product or service overseas.
With the globalization of business operations, the company can go for mass production, ultimately reducing the cost and ensuring economies of scale.
Due to the reduced cost of production, the company can make a higher profit on sales.
The company gains recognition worldwide as a brand.
Going global helps the organization to win over its competitors (domestic and international) by ensuring quality product or service.
The company adopts a consistent marketing practice while selling products or services in the markets of different countries.

Advantages of International Marketing

International marketing has provided an opportunity for domestic companies to meet the requirements of customers existing in vast and varied geographical market segments.

Following are the multiple benefits of international marketing:

International marketing provides for expansion of the business units or establishing subsidiaries in various countries.
The sales of the organization can be increased as the company penetrates other global markets, instead of operating only in the domestic market.
All the marketing strategies are framed and customized according to the customer’s needs in the target market.
The business risks like fluctuation in market demand, economic conditions, government policies, etc. can be diversified when the business operates in multiple countries.
International marketing promotes two-way communication with consumers due to the company’s physical existence in the market place. Thus, keeping customers engaged and enhancing the product or service provided.
The company develops a robust economy by meeting the needs of consumers in the local markets.
The company can easily blend with the local markets and can very well understand the marketing strategies or practices of the domestic players.

Disadvantages of Global Marketing

Global marketing is a narrow concept since it is not suitable for every business organization. Let us now have a look at its various demerits:

Sometimes, the organization fails to analyze the global target market and try to enter it through the same sales and marketing channel, which it adopted in the domestic market.
The biggest challenge in global marketing is to fulfil the global consumer needs with a universal product or service when the demands and requirements of the consumers vary from country to country.
While reaching out the worldwide customers, the company needs to understand the local language of the consumers belonging to different regions and countries, which is a difficult task.
The organization entirely relies on its research and information gathered through external sources about the global target markets.
The government’s restrictions and change in policies of selling products or services overseas can harm sales and profitability.
When the same product or service is introduced in different global markets, there are more chances of rejection. This is because the product may or may not live up to the expectations of all the target markets.
The organization sometimes does not have complete knowledge or fails to specify the global target market, which can be a reason for business failure.
The company may end up with a weak global logistic if it plans its marketing strategies according to the major countries only.

Disadvantages of International Marketing

International marketing provides an edge over the other internationalization strategies when it comes to creating footprints worldwide.

However, it has certain demerits, which are discussed below:

The cost of operating multiple subsidiaries in different countries is quite high.
The foreign government’s policies and regulations impose restrictions on overseas business operations.
Competition with Local Companies: The local business organizations which have been existing in the global target market, emerge as significant competitors for the company.

Summary

The following point to point explanation will further brief you over the above comparison chart:

Global marketing refers to the adoption of the same marketing strategy for worldwide selling of products or services, i.e., considering the whole global market as one. Whereas, international marketing can be seen as customizing the marketing strategies to suit the prospective international market.
The former provides a universal or standard product for all the foreign markets. Whereas, the latter emphasises on customizing the product or service as per the overseas target market.
The companies adopting global marketing process employs personnel persisting distinct nature, skill set, gender, ethnicity and age; and working together in the company’s head office. However, the organizations with international marketing strategy have marketing people with cultural similarities since they belong to the country where the company originated, but are placed in the target market countries.
The former requires more market research and investigation as compared to the latter due to lack of frequent market interactions.
The consumer interaction and brand engagement in global marketing strategy are quite low as compared with that of international marketing because of distant existence.
In the case of the former, the marketing budget is prepared at the company’s headquarter. Whereas, the latter provides for the preparation of individual marketing budget by the subsidiaries for their respective local markets.
In global marketing, the company has a single social media page which covers all the target country markets. But, a company with international marketing has a separate social media page for every country in which it carries out business.
In the former strategy, company airs the same advertisement in different countries in their regional languages. However, the organizations with the latter approach frame many ads to suit different target country markets.
All the promotional activities are carried out with a comprehensive view in global marketing concept. Whereas, in international marketing, different promotional tactics are used for every local market targeted.
The former restricts the decision making power to the company’s headquarter, while the latter leaves marketing decision making on subsidiaries for their respective local markets.

Hybrid Structure

The hybrid structure is a blend of international as well as global marketing, adopted by the companies to ensure success and growth during international business expansion. Initially, this strategy was adopted by Coca-Cola to win a competitive edge in the global market.

But now, it is being applied by many large scale companies as a proven strategy for internationalization.