Global Retailing and Media

The use of media streams is essential to successfully marketing products in other countries. Over the last decade, digital media has played a major role in marketing products abroad. The use of the internet has allowed companies to market products, and make advertisements over the internet that can be seen all over the world at the same time. There are some marketing executives that believe that digital media is the wave of the future, and print media will slowly die out as the world becomes more dependent on technology. I believe that print media is still a very useful marketing tool, and will always be relevant when marketing a product. I have researched the pros and cons of using digital media and print media as part of a companies marketing strategy to expose itself in new and foreign markets.

Digital Media

The internet has given companies the ability to market products everywhere in the world. It is very effective and cost efficient. The use of pop-up advertisements and spam mail on the web has allowed companies to do mass advertisements, and lead huge marketing efforts over the web. Advances in consumer technology has allowed for people to stream videos onto their cell phones as well as shop for products on their cell phones. With the heavy use of social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace companies can advertise to millions of consumers across the world. The simple fact that the internet can allow consumers in rural areas to purchase products, when otherwise they would not have access to buy it; is an example of why the use of internet by global retailing companies is only going to increase.

Advertising and marketing on the internet is cost efficient, but not always effective. Internet users do not always click on pop-up advertisements or open spam mail. In fact most people feel that spam and pop-up advertisements ruin there web surfing experiencing, thus the multitude of software programs to eliminate spam from one’s inbox and pop-up blocking applications. The over use of the web for advertisements sometimes has a negative affect on the response someone will have to the advertisement. They sometimes will simply just ignore, or quickly click out of online advertisements.

Print Media

Print media is highly effective when marketing a product abroad, specifically outdoor advertisements. Whether someone is using a metro system and sees a striking ad, or driving in a city and sees a huge billboard advertising some product; the outdoor use of print media is extremely eye catching. Companies that use this technique, which is rather popular in the Europe, can increase the visibility of their products or brand to large audiences. With the use of outdoor advertisements, people are more inclined to stop, look, and/or read the advertisement. Print Media is costly in the form of newspaper and magazine ads but outdoor media is relatively cheap and it works for the company all day, every day. The cost of billboard advertising ranges from about $700 to $2,500 a month. That sounds like a good sum of money, but a full-page ad running for one day in a major newspaper costs about the same. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America estimates that U.S. businesses spent more than $5.5 billion on outdoor advertising in 2003.

Outdoor print media does have its drawbacks. Outdoor print media is subject to the elements which could damage signage. Outdoor media is also much harder to change than a digital media advertisement. Outdoor media can also be subject to vandalism and graffiti. Print media also cannot reach as wide of an audience as an internet ad could.


Global retailing companies, should focus on both print media (outdoor) and digital media. Depending on how digital a particular market is, will determine how heavily a company should use digital advertisements. The use of outdoor advertisements will be generally based on the availability of high traffic areas to place outdoor advertisements. Both are great ways to market a product abroad, and are necessary for global retailing companies to succeed abroad.