| Most of the contemporary business enterprises use | | | | characteristics keeps the marketing effort on target. |
| marketing mix when establishing their marketing | | | | When a bank has a firm handle on knowledge-based |
| strategy. The four Ps are: Product, which is cargo | | | | and experience-based marketing, it can develop its |
| and passenger travel in the case, Place, which is | | | | strategy and position its services in the market. Most |
| worldwide, Price- determined by particular case and | | | | important of all, however, is that bank marketing is no |
| Promotion- involves many steps and techniques. The | | | | longer restricted to marketing specialists. It involves |
| choice of marketing techniques may vary in the | | | | everyone within the bank. Much of the mystery is now |
| marketing of services from the marketing of products, | | | | gone and this report is about a changed and a |
| but the basic principles and concepts of marketing are | | | | changing Russia. Our impressions of the Former Soviet |
| equally important and relevant in both. Basically selling is | | | | Union and the Russian Federation were formed over |
| a micro function which means offering existing | | | | 40+ years of the Cold War. These impressions are |
| products at an agreed price. Often sales people do | | | | generally not very favorable, but we should not allow |
| not control (although they may influence) the | | | | ourselves to remain influenced by them. Rather, we |
| production level or quality. Marketing Practices | | | | should now look at a country and a marketplace that |
| throughout the World Most of the contemporary | | | | is certain to have a profound effect on international |
| business enterprises use marketing mix when | | | | business in the decade ahead. Spanning 11 time zones, |
| establishing their marketing strategy. The four P's are: | | | | Russia is the largest country on earth. With an area of |
| Product, which is cargo and passenger travel in the | | | | 6.6 million square miles (almost twice the size of the |
| case, Place, which is worldwide, Price- determined by | | | | United States) and 150 million people, Russia |
| particular case and Promotion- involves many steps | | | | possesses the population base, the natural resources |
| and techniques. The choice of marketing techniques | | | | and the potential overall productivity to become an |
| may vary in the marketing of services from the | | | | economy almost equivalent to the European |
| marketing of products, but the basic principles and | | | | Community. In Russia, however, you will not see A-B |
| concepts of marketing are equally important and | | | | split run testing, sophisticated mailing lists, fulfillment |
| relevant in both. Basically selling is a micro function | | | | reports and analyses, direct response television, |
| which means offering existing products at an agreed | | | | database and interactive marketing. Not yet. But you |
| price. Often sales people do not control (although they | | | | will see emerging forms of direct marketing to include |
| may influence) the production level or quality. Marketing | | | | elemental telemarketing, print and broadcast media |
| is a macro function, which, in addition to selling, is | | | | planning, vertical positioning and back-end promotions. |
| involved in many other tactical areas, such as: | | | | Russians are learning. They call it Bizness- Russians do |
| Collecting, storing and analyzing important information | | | | not ordinarily make references to direct marketing. |
| regarding markets, competition and future trends. | | | | They have not yet had the time, the formal exposure, |
| Segmenting the market and identifying specific needs | | | | the training or competitive requirement to focus on the |
| of different customers. Adjusting existing products and | | | | components of Bizness in which direct marketing |
| creating new products to suit the changing customer | | | | applications have become so interwoven. That time is |
| needs. Deciding on price levels acceptable to the | | | | fast approaching, however, as direct marketing sneaks |
| customers and to the company (ensuring value for | | | | upon Russia- and the value added is recognized in fact |
| money to the customers and ensuring long-term | | | | and for what direct marketing can do. It can be termed |
| profitability for the company) is another significant task | | | | stealth direct marketingin that the Russians are |
| of marketing people. Selecting suitable channels which | | | | currently practicing direct response advertising, without |
| can be used as pipelines', either to distribute the | | | | direct intention, in a form and a scope that will soon |
| products to customers or attract customers to the | | | | coalesce into more purposeful applications. Direct |
| products/services. In this paper we are going to | | | | marketing will be upon Russia before they know it. It is |
| analyze marketing practices of three different | | | | happening now and applications are increasing rapidly. |
| countries of various states of development: developed, | | | | Most print and broadcast ads in Russia now carry or |
| developing and underdeveloped. We are going to use | | | | feature telephone numbers, encouraging the public to |
| Canada, Russia and countries of Latin America as | | | | call them and to check on their product line and prices. |
| examples for our research. People in today's global | | | | The use of direct response is more prevalent both to |
| village are not defined by their ethnic origins any more | | | | accelerate feedback, as well as to improve and |
| than by their age or generation Contemporary | | | | emphasize convenience. Russia's size, its widely |
| marketing is, fundamentally, multicultural, as consumers | | | | scattered population centers and its rapid growth |
| live in a multicultural world. Multicultural marketing | | | | provide the necessary linkage for direct marketing. It is |
| concentrates on learning about consumers rather than | | | | not simply a new Western concept- it is |
| imposing definitions on them. Gone are the days (if | | | | communications, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and |
| they ever existed) when marketing could rely on | | | | marketing penetration and it is a necessity. Direct |
| sloganistic assumptions such as generational,ethnicand | | | | marketing in Russia has not reached the point where |
| life cycleuniformity. There may be generational, ethnic | | | | there are esoteric discussions about predictability, |
| and life cycle aspects to a market, one may even | | | | media concentration, personalization or immediacy, but |
| argue that consideration of these is a necessary part | | | | there is talk about reaching customers, response rates, |
| of marketing research, but one cannot argue that | | | | acquisition costs and customer service. Marketing is a |
| consideration of these aspects alone is sufficient. | | | | new (though not fully understood or appreciated) force |
| Life cycle marketing, in contrast, holds that generations | | | | in a new market. The marketplace that is Russia is |
| are not unique, that all behavior can be predicated by a | | | | clearly one of the biggest in the world with a dramatic |
| person's age: It does not matter who you are, but | | | | and unfulfilled demand for consumer products and |
| merely how old you are. The limitations of both | | | | services. And direct marketing, as it is evolving, will help |
| generational and life cycle marketing are most clearly | | | | to propel the Russian economy forward. Seen by |
| shown when those who argue that the baby boom | | | | many multinationals as a massive market with |
| generation is uniquely defined, turn around and argue | | | | unrivalled scope for development, Latin America's |
| that as they age their behavior will follow life cycle | | | | potential can only be realized if economic uncertainties |
| patterns similar to those of previous generations. The | | | | and piracy problems can be overcome. The mantra |
| reality of the marketplace is that consumers are | | | | has been heard at trade shows, boardroom meetings |
| defined by more than their age or the cohort they | | | | and executive paw-wows for years: Keep watching |
| were born with. The consumer population of Canada | | | | Latin America. Keep watching Latin America. |
| has a diversity that is both wide and deep. One | | | | The watch-and-wait attitude is now, by and large, over. |
| dimension of this diversity is ancestry based. Over five | | | | Latin America is very much at the front of the |
| million Canadians, 18% of the population, were not born | | | | multinationalscollective mind these days, thanks to |
| in Canada. Three percent of the population identify | | | | robust sales, keen possibilities of crossover success |
| themselves as part of the aboriginal population, and | | | | both within and without the territory, and the feeling |
| 15% identify themselves as being part of a visible | | | | that the best is yet to come. |
| minority. Only 64% of the Canadian population has a | | | | A regional economy is merging in the western |
| single ethnic origin, with 11% of British ethnic origin, 9% | | | | hemisphere, and old stereotypes of poverty-stricken |
| of French ethnic origin, and 43% of single ethnic origin | | | | Latin Americans are out of date. Central and South |
| other than British or French. Of the 36% of the | | | | American consumers are relatively sophisticated, and |
| population with multiple ethnic origins, 27% have at least | | | | their culture remains different from the United States. |
| one ethnic origin that is neither British nor French. Six | | | | Businesses can get on the right track by crossing |
| and a half million people in Canada have some | | | | national boundaries, targeting specific Latin groups, and |
| knowledge of languages other than English or French. | | | | taking their place in the New World's new order. Does |
| At first glance, this ancestry-based diversity may | | | | your product have a money-back guarantee? In the |
| seem to offer support for what is often termed | | | | United States, this is a tried-and-true way to get a |
| ethnicmarketing, of approaching consumers as though | | | | customer's attention. But south of the Rio Grande, |
| their consumption patterns were solely defined by their | | | | people simply don't believe such claims. Once they part |
| ancestry. As with life cycle or generational marketing, | | | | with their money, they don't expect to get it back. Latin |
| ethnic marketing grossly oversimplifies the factors that | | | | Americans are more likely than U. S. residents to |
| determine consumer behavior: people, especially | | | | believe celebrity endorsements, according to Roper |
| people in the global village, are not defined by their | | | | Starch Worldwide. They are also more likely to believe |
| ethnic origins any more than they are defined by their | | | | the words new and improved. |
| age or their generation. What does determine people's | | | | They respond more positively to products labeled the |
| consumer behavior is their uniqueness in terms of the | | | | officialchoice of a sports team, and they even like the |
| combination of their heritage, ancestry, age, education, | | | | old hidden camera trick. But only an average of 27 |
| income, life experience and, fundamentally, their values, | | | | percent of consumers in the urban areas of Mexico, |
| what they believe in. Consumer behavior is culturally | | | | Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina believe money-back |
| defined, where culture means values, interests, life | | | | guarantees, compared with 49 percent in the United |
| styles, beliefs and aspirations. In effective marketing, it | | | | States. |
| is as important that someone is a vegan as it is that | | | | As novelists Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel |
| they were born in the 20-year period after the Second | | | | Allende have written, people in Latin cultures believe |
| World War: that they crave power tools as it is that | | | | that life is much more complex than it appears at first |
| they were born in Guangzhou; that they are fiscal | | | | glance. This is an important lesson for U. S. marketers |
| conservatives as it is that they are 26 years old. | | | | to learn in the 2000s. Trade policy, corporate |
| Marketing must not only acknowledge the cultural | | | | economies of scale, immigration, and popular culture |
| foundation of consumer behavior, it must also | | | | are pushing North America, Central America, and |
| acknowledge that people are multi-, not mono-, cultural. | | | | South America toward one big hemispheric |
| Consumers actively belong to many distinct groups of | | | | marketplace. In the 2000s, the Monroe Doctrine has |
| shared interests, moving fluidly back and forth across | | | | been replaced by Wal-Mart, the Internet, and MTV. |
| the myriad of cultural layers that define contemporary | | | | The sometimes simplistic perceptions Norteamericanos |
| society. At one moment a person's behavior will be | | | | have of Latin America obscure a complex reality. Yes, |
| largely influenced by an ancestral context, in another | | | | Latin America is home to the exotic landscapes and |
| by a peer context, in another by a career context and | | | | ancient civilizations of the Andes and the Amazon. But |
| in another by chance. Today's consumers comfortably | | | | it is also home to the enormous and bustling cities of |
| switch from hockey to hoops, hip-hop to classical, dim | | | | Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, and |
| sum to doughnuts, rap to the Rankin Family, without the | | | | Buenos Aires. Latin Americans enjoy a dynamic |
| need of boundaries or borders. Just as marketing was | | | | consumer economy that is being reshaped by new |
| starting to be taken seriously across the | | | | technologies and media- just as it is in the United |
| financial-services sector, a dramatic shift in what | | | | States. Marketers who want to expand into Latin |
| constitutes marketing is underway. The marketing that | | | | America will have to learn new rules for a different |
| banks had accepted and endorsed has changed. A | | | | world. While the United States is dominated by a |
| straightforward application of the traditional marketing | | | | bulging middle class, Latin America is an economic |
| mix,with the well-known 4Ps- Product, Price, Place and | | | | pyramid. Ten percent of the Latin population is in our |
| Promotion, is no longer sufficient in the financial | | | | top ranking of socioeconomic status. Thirty-five |
| marketplace of the 2000s. Instead, a new set of ideas | | | | percent are in the middle, which is somewhat poorer |
| has emerged, along with a new set of terms: | | | | than the middle class of the United States. And most |
| individualized marketing, interactive marketing, | | | | Latin households are truly poor, especially by |
| relationship marketing and internal marketing. Banks can | | | | North-American standards. Look closer, however, and |
| no longer be marketing-oriented; they must become | | | | you will find many similarities between north and south. |
| market-oriented. To be marketing-oriented implies using | | | | Latin America, like the United States, is struggling to |
| a bag of promotional tricks to capture the bank | | | | integrate traditional values with new ideas and |
| consumer. To be market-oriented, on the other hand, | | | | attitudes. Even the family, the traditional bulwark of this |
| banks must engage in dialogue with existing and | | | | Catholic-dominated region, is not immune. Only half of |
| potential customers. This requires bank services and | | | | Latin Americans surveyed are optimistic about the |
| approaches to be designed through close contact with | | | | institution of marriage and family, which is similar to the |
| the market. It's estimated that the average consumer | | | | response in the United States. Despite this pessimism, |
| is bombarded with up to 3,000 advertising messages | | | | Latin Americans and North Americans both like to |
| each day, and that they remember only 2-3% of these | | | | spend time with their families. It is the most popular |
| advertisements without prompting. All this competition | | | | leisure-time activity, cited by at least three-quarters of |
| and noise means that banks have to rethink their | | | | those surveyed in all countries. |
| advertising strategies. One recent trend has been a | | | | Among those who don't stand by their brands, |
| shift to more print advertising. Although television | | | | however, United States and Latin-American |
| remains important, as financial services have grown | | | | consumers diverge. In the United States, shoppers who |
| more complex, banks have been forced to use | | | | are not brand-loyal typically choose from among two |
| magazines and particularly newspapers to explain the | | | | or three favorite brands. In Latin America, they are |
| details of their services. Changing consumer | | | | equally likely to look around for what seems to be the |
| demographics and lifestyles are another reason for | | | | best deal at the moment. For example, 28 percent of |
| the decline in the traditional marketing approach. | | | | United States consumers choose from two or three |
| Financial consumers no longer fall into neat, visible | | | | favorite brands of shampoo, while 22 percent look |
| target groups. A rise in the number of women in the | | | | around for what seems best at the moment. In Brazil, |
| work force, more single-person households and the | | | | however, 33 percent of urban shoppers go with what |
| growing seniors population have caused significant | | | | looks best at the moment, while only 17 percent buy |
| marketing change. Today banks must cater to smaller | | | | from a standard list of favorites. These shopping |
| and smaller market niches, and all these changes | | | | patterns indicate that consumersbrand menusare less |
| make mass marketing inappropriate. Associated with | | | | developed in Latin America. Northern marketers may |
| lifestyle is the availability of the most valued of all | | | | have opportunities to add their brands to Latin |
| commodities: time. For most consumers, time seems to | | | | Americansshopping lists. Consequently we see a |
| be continually shrinking. Bank customers want to be | | | | common trend in marketing, which is leading marketing |
| able to access their accounts through ABMs and | | | | practices towards more national approaches. Each |
| phones, and use new mini-branches, drive-through | | | | nation needs its particular marketing approach as we |
| tellers and boutique branches. This may in turn lead to | | | | see it from the abovementioned three countries. There |
| saturation of the distribution channels. | | | | is no doubt that there are still some global influences |
| To help address these changes and the move to | | | | and commonly accepted marketing strategies like for |
| relationship marketing, some experts argue that any | | | | example direct marketing, that do touch and will in the |
| future marketing strategy should draw on the base of | | | | closer future all places of the world, but there will |
| knowledge and experience that already exists within a | | | | always be necessary some adjustments according to |
| company, or in our case a bank. In other words, before | | | | the origins of the place the strategy is being applied to. |
| attempting to develop an image and market position, a | | | | All in all, in reality, there is no similarity in consumer |
| bank must look first to its strengths, its customers and | | | | behavior between a 54-year-old wine-loving |
| its marketplace. Allied to knowledge-based marketing | | | | heterosexual herbalist from Halifax and a 37-year-old |
| is experience-based marketing. This requires a bank to | | | | gay vegan oil-patch worker from Hinton, Alta., yet both |
| get close to the customer (an idea promoted by | | | | are supposedly part of the same baby-boom market. |
| Peters and Waterman 10 years ago in In Search of | | | | A 20-year generational cohort is far, far too wide to |
| Excellence). Close feedback about customer needs, | | | | draw any practical conclusions about market behavior. |
| competitors, and technology and marketplace | | | | |