The title of this article is “Borderless media: Rethinking international marketing” by Jagdish Sheth. It was recently published in the Journal of International Marketing. The author focuses on digital media as the primary element of external disruption in modern-day marketing and the implications of this for international marketing. This paper aims to analyze the article by Sheth, provide background for the information, and personal assessment of the information presented in the text in international marketing.
The purpose of the article is to outline the challenges and disruptions that practitioners of international marketing face. The nature of marketing and the tools that businesses can apply to promote their offers have changed over the years. Sheth (2020) aims to explore the implications of influencer marketing in the context of influencer marketing and new marketing trends, such as cross-cultural marketing on international marketing.
Mainly, the critical element of change is the evolution of media and their place in people’s lives since the author argues that it is the main external driver of change. One illustration of this is influencer marketing, which can be viewed as an evolution of word of mouth (WOM) phenomenon. WOM used to be an essential element of peer-to-peer recommendations but was limited to local communities, where opinion leaders would provide advice to their friends and family.
Now, WOM has transitioned into the digital space, and influencers have become opinion leaders, which significantly reduced the “six degrees of separation” between the consumer and the business (Sheth, 2020, p. 3). Considering this, marketers have various new opportunities before them to present and distribute their products to global markets.
Notably, the author of this article also highlights that in marketing, and especially the one that targets international markets, context matters, and new businesses operate in the environment where trade wars and conflicts between states somewhat limit the international trade. Hence, there are many factors that both moderate and mediate the effect of marketing efforts. However, Sheth (2020) argues that since the lines between different markets are now “blurred,” companies no longer have to develop one global strategy and allow their branches to adjust it to the local markets (p. 3).
One aspect of this is, again, the social media, since consumers can share local campaigns as well as their opinions and comments on the matter. However, the author argues that this is a positive change because digital media is much more interactive and has a substantial user base. Considering these points, the main idea that Sheth (2020) outlines is that digital media will disrupt the marketing environment more severely than other mediums before this and that the context for international marketing has changed.
This article is useful, and the arguments the author provides are convincing. When comparing the information in this article to that from the course, one can argue that Sheth (2020) further develops the existing marketing theories. For example, the theory of the global marketing mix implies that businesses focus on: “product, price, placement, and promotion” (Solberg, 2017, p. 57).
Placement refers to the assessment of areas where the product will be sold and distribution strategy. Considering Sheth’s (2020) argument, companies now have more freedom in selecting countries for distribution, because of the “blurred lines” between different markets (p. 4). On the other hand, considering the marketing mix’s competition assessment, businesses compete on a global level as well, meaning that their marketing campaigns are viewed and assessed by consumers from all over the world.
Moreover, the author’s arguments can be applied to these frameworks by using the market scope and external forces typology, which is a 2×2 matrix that includes local and global markets as well as external and internal forces (Sheth, 2020). This typology can be applied to enhance the existing frameworks of marketing analysis.
I think that this article is a useful assessment of the recent changes and emerging trends in digital marketing. Sheth (2020) has developed several figures to represent the different contexts of international marketing, including global and local. There, the author examines the market scope and external forces that can affect the marketing strategies of firms. Hence, my opinion of this article is that it is well-written and has valid arguments, where the author highlights the essentials of modern international marketing.
Moreover, I think that the author’s outline of research gaps on the topic of transitioning from brick and mortar to international digital marketing is beneficial because it highlights some of the areas of unknown. Finally, the application of WOM theory to the global distribution of information through influences is valuable for practitioners.
Overall, this paper is a critique of “Borderless media: Rethinking international marketing” by Jagdish Sheth. In this article, the author discusses the changing nature of international marketing due to the common use of social media and the impact they have on marketing campaigns since consumers can view and share advertisements for different markets. Moreover, the WOM concept is now applicable for social media influencers, mitigating the separation between a consumer and a business.
References
Sheth, J. (2020). Borderless media: Rethinking international marketing. Journal of International Marketing, 28(1), 3-12. Web.
Solberg, K. A. (2017). International marketing: Strategy development and implementation. Routledge.