COMM 390: International Marketing

Important Note: This course is crosslisted with BUS 390. This course was formerly BSIM 390.

Course Description
International marketing is the performance of business activities designed to plan, price, promote, and direct the flow of a company’s goods and services to customers in more than one nation for profit. The core concepts of international marketing are exactly the same as those of national marketing; the difference is in the environment. Competition, legal restraints, government controls, weather, fickle consumers, economic conditions, technological constraints, infrastructure concerns, culture, and political situations render the international marketer’s task more interesting and complex. In short, distance matters.

The course begins with an examination of key aspects of the international marketing environment: culture, politics, emerging markets, and multinational market groups. Emphasis then shifts to the 4Ps of marketing (Product, Price, Promotion, and Place), assessing how international marketers adapt these fundamental tools of marketing to the complex international environment. The conceptual links between marketing techniques and international markets are analyzed through the planning function. You develop a thorough appreciation of the interrelationship between international environment, marketing techniques, and planning by bringing all the concepts together in the form of a complete international marketing plan.

Course Objectives
By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• identify opportunities and threats in international markets;
• appreciate the origins and importance of culture in relation to marketing;
• understand political risks and how to manage them;
• know about the most important international market groups;
• evaluate the importance of emerging markets;   
• adapt domestic marketing techniques and practices to international markets; and
• make written and oral presentations on international marketing strategies. 

Service Learning Project Description
You will collaborate with an Umbrian company on a service learning project designed to internationalize their marketing efforts. After a visit to the facility and conducting interviews with management, teams will complete a focused research project assigned by company representatives. At the end of the semester, you will present your project to the Umbra community.

Course Materials
International Marketing (14^th edition – international), Cateora, Gilly, Graham, published by McGraw Hill/Irwin.