International Marketing Essay

This assignment is designed to allow you to demonstrate your ability to: • Define key international marketing principles and concepts • Gain insight into the marketing activities of real international organisations • Assess the ethical stakes of international marketing situations • Differentiate between competing international marketing strategic options• Debate the merits of competing strategies with fellow students

You are required to use the Harvard Referencing System for your work

1500+words

*Topic: The vertical integration acquisition of an ethical international business by a less ethical one. Product: The Body Shop’s acquisition by L’Oréal and now Natura – Argue for & against partnering with a large and potentially less ethical distributor

Cover page with your name, student number, the title of the podcast and word count

• The script – a 1,500 word summary of your podcast (i.e. arguing for and against an international marketing strategy)

• References To format of the document, you should use A4 size paper (210mm x 297mm), Times New Roman 12-point or Ariel size 11 with 1.5 line spacing. Each page must be numbered. The left-hand margin should not be less than 30mm and the top, bottom and right-hand margins should be not less than 20mm, all should be set in your page template. Make sure you check any facts and claims that you include in the podcast. Avoid speculation (unless you state it as such) and include references to all sources that you use in the credits and/or submitted script.

How many theories/concepts should I use? Your use of those will provide evidence of your understanding of the topic. You should use as many as you need to achieve this. As a rule, a few detailed theories is better than lots of anecdotal ones. Including references (for example to market size, growth, or specific issues) is also useful. Be focused. Tutors seldom give feedback that a podcast is too focused, but often write that it is too broad and therefore lacks either detailed analysis or elaborated argument.

How many references should I include in the Script? At the very least you should provide references for each theory you use in your podcast. You should also have references for any supporting evidence and for any trade data or insight you draw from. There is no minimum, but it’s likely that you’ll have around 10 references and maybe more. There are no extra marks for excessive references. You might also think about how contemporary your references are. As well as the ‘foundational’ (original) references to theory, you should include recent references. If a theory is valuable, it’s likely that researchers are still working on it.

What do you mean by debate? You are presenting evidence, but also a narrative that takes a specific point of view and convinces the reader of that view. This means you are arguing FOR and AGAINST something rather than your presentation is ABOUT something. You should certainly consider counterarguments in your debate too, and then deal with them in your narrative. So, you are debating on the ethical merits of international marketing strategies, or otherwise. Try to avoid a debate that merely states both sides. Think about being asked the question by a colleague. If they ask, ‘what do you really think?’, how would you explain it in a convincing way? You have to be persuasive, and your argument based on evidence (i.e. reliable sources). You have to do so for both sides.