AUTHOR
Tingelöf, Robert; Yilmaz, Ali

DATE
2003-02-11

DEPARTMENT
Business Administration and Social Sciences / Industrial marketing and e-commerce

SUMMARY
The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of how multinational corporations communicate their brands to international markets. The process of making a brand available on foreign markets involves finding target markets and reaching these by using all four elements of the marketing mix. However, this thesis will concentrate on investigating how target markets are selected internationally, and how multinational corporations communicate their brands to these markets using different promotional tools. The study is qualitative, and the research purpose is mainly of a descriptive nature. The selected research strategy was to conduct three case studies, and the data was collected using telephone interviews. The empirical data was analyzed toward existing literature that had been conceptualized into a frame of reference. The findings indicate that the preferred targeting strategy of multinational corporations is targeting universal segments, and when assessing the potential of target markets, the current segment size and growth potential seems to be the most important criterion. Regarding the communication of brands, there are indications that multinational corporations strive toward standardizing as much as possible in order to be cost effective and communicate consistent messages worldwide. However, investigating the use of each promotional tool separately provides indications that certain aspects need to be adapted to local requirements.

ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--03/029--SE / NR 2003:029