Building Strategic Synergy Using Product And Promotion

   will rating largely from Keegan,Kotler(2001:379) demonstrated five different ways by which an international marketer can build a strategic synergy between products and promotion. They are listed below.

Product- Promotion Extension:

     This strategy allows the marketer to introduce the same product using same promo tools in the foreign marker place. This works better in countries having same preferences with the product's country of origin. Economies of scale is achieved in distribution, advertising, R&D, market research etc. While the approach gives credence to standardization programme,the adoption of same advertising copy could cause some cultural difficulties.

Product Extension-Promotion Adaptation:

      The product under this approach remains the same while the promo tools are adopted to suit the peculiarities of the target foreign market. This helps the markets to overcome situations where some advertising copies can be altered with the product remaining unchanged, cost of R&D and new product development are eliminated through the unique product functions which will appeal to the target market will need to be identified and communicated to the target market.

Product Adaptation -Promotion Extension:

    This strategy entails the change in product in order to meet local conditions,while the promotion programme is kept constant. Example of this approach are;
- Producers of soap and detergents could adjust the chemical component to reflect or meet local weather conditions of the target market.
- Agricultural chemicals like fertilizers could be altered to reflect local soil conditions.
- In Asia,size of cups could be altered to reflect the tiny hand of the Asians.

Dual-Adaptation:

     This involves the international marketer changing the product as well as the proportion programmes. It is important when the function a product performs in a target foreign market changes from the original product. Though it is expensive to adopt due to R&D and production costs, it is encouraged when the market is large enough to make the approach highly profitable .

Product Invention: This strategy is attractive when the existing products cannot satisfy the need of the foreign market. Reasons could be either
- Where the poverty level of the foreign consumers cannot allow them to buy expensive items or
- Where the consumer preference requires a new product to warrant a purchase.

When the market is large enough to absorb the costs associated with new product and still remains profitable, then the strategy is a welcome development.

On the whole,the building of a strategic synergy between product and promotion is to enhance the exploitation of identified opportunities in the foreign market. The factors that will influence the adaptation of any of these versions are:
- Both the corporate and marketing objectives of venturing abroad.
- Cost of embarking on any of the strategies
- Financial capacity of the organization
- Installed capacity of the production plant.
- The market potential etc.