Lighthouse Unlimited

 

This interdisciplinary study, drawing upon the fields of marketing, cultural studies, translation, and web globalization, illustrates the impact of globalization on today's firms and the various aspects of taking a product global.
After defining the terms and concepts underlying this study, the theoretical foundations and background information with regards to marketing, culture, and localized vs. standard international products are provided. All of this is further illustrated through the example of T-Mobile, a German company that grew into a global corporation over the past decade. Similarities and differences between T-Mobile Germany and T-Mobile USA are identified and discussed, based on the four Ps of marketing.
The second portion of this study addresses the process of globalizing a web site to deal with international visitors and match their wants and needs while meeting cultural conventions. A detailed catalog of criteria according to which web sites can be evaluated and compared is developed and applied to the web sites of T-Mobile Germany and T-Mobile USA.   

167 pp., 37 fig.

CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 DEFINITIONS OF UNDERLYING TERMS AND CONCEPTS 6
2.1 INTERNATIONALIZATION 6
2.2 LOCALIZATION 7
2.3 TRANSLATION 7
2.4 GLOBALIZATION 8
3 FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING 9
3.1 DEFINITION OF MARKETING 9
3.2 MARKET SEGMENTATION AND TARGET MARKETS 10
3.3 THE MARKETING MIX 11
3.3.1 The Four Ps 11
3.3.2 The Marketing Environment 13
4 THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON MARKETING 16
4.1 DEFINITION OF CULTURE 16
4.2 SOURCES OF CULTURE 17
4.3 HOW CULTURE SHAPES BEHAVIOR 18
4.4 DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE 18
4.4.1 Language 19
4.4.2 Religion, Values, and Attitudes 19
4.4.3 Social Organization 19
4.4.4 The Political and Legal Environment 20
5 LOCALIZED VS. STANDARD INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTS 21
5.1 ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF A STANDARD WORLDWIDE PRODUCT 21
5.2 ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF LOCALIZED PRODUCTS 22
5.2.1 Mandatory Adaptation 22
5.2.2 Discretionary Adaptation 23
5.3 BLENDED APPROACHES 24
6 T-MOBILE'S HISTORIC AND MARKET BACKGROUND 26
6.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG 26
6.2 DEUTSCHE TELEKOM'S WIRELESS DIVISION T-MOBILE 31
6.2.1 Brief History of T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG 32
6.2.2 Overview of T-Mobile Germany 33
6.2.3 Overview of T-Mobile USA 33
6.3 MARKET AND COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS34
6.3.1 The Wireless Market in the United States 35
6.3.2 The Wireless Market in Germany 37
7 COMPARISON OF T-MOBILE GERMANY AND T-MOBILE USA WITH REGARDS TO THE FOUR PS OF MARKETING 41
7.1 PRODUCT AND PRICE 41
7.1.1 Private Customer Plans Available with T-Mobile USA 42
7.1.1.1 Individual Plans 43
7.1.1.2 Family Time Plans 44
7.1.1.3 Prepaid Plans 45
7.1.2 Private Customer Plans Available With T-Mobile Germany 46
7.1.2.1 Relax Rate Plans 46
7.1.2.2 Relax XL Rate Plans47
7.1.2.3 Telly Rate Plans 48
7.1.2.4 Xtra Rate Plans 49
7.1.3 Main Differences in Rate Plans 50
7.1.4 Cell Phone Characteristics 55
7.1.5 Brand 57
7.1.5.1 Brand Equity 57
7.1.5.2 Benefits of Branding 58
7.1.5.3 The T-Mobile Brand 58
7.2 PLACE (DISTRIBUTION) 60
7.2.1 Channels of Distribution and Functions of Middlemen 60
7.2.2 Distribution Density 61
7.2.3 T-Mobile's Channels of Distribution 61
7.2.3.1 Direct Channels of Distribution 62
7.2.3.2 Indirect Channels of Distribution 64
7.3 PROMOTION 65
7.3.1 Definition of Communication 65
7.3.2 The Communication Process 66
7.3.3 The Promotional Mix 68
7.3.3.1 Advertising 68
7.3.3.2 Personal Selling 68
7.3.3.3 Sales Promotion 69
7.3.3.4 Direct Marketing 69
7.3.3.5 Public Relations 70
7.3.4 T-Mobile's Promotional Activities 70
7.3.4.1 Direct Marketing and Personal Selling 72
7.3.4.2 Sales Promotion 72
7.3.4.3 Advertising 75
8 WEB SITE GLOBALIZATION 79
8.1 THE WEB GLOBALIZATION WORKFLOW 79
8.1.1 The Translation Workflow and the Translator's Enhanced Role 81
8.1.2 CAT Tools - A Brief Overview 83
8.2 IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS 84
9 EVALUATION OF WEB SITES 88
9.1 CATALOG OF CRITERIA 88
9.1.1 Loading Time and Hardware and Software Requirements 89
9.1.2 Ease of Navigation and User-Friendliness 91
9.1.2.1 Welcome Page and Home Page 91
9.1.2.2 User Interface and Hypertext Structure 92
9.1.2.3 Site Map and Help Function 94
9.1.2.4 Search Function 95
9.1.2.5 Contact Function 96
9.1.3 Design Layout and Corporate Identity 97
9.1.4 Content 98
9.1.5 Marketing and E-Commerce Components  99
10 EVALUATION AND COMPARISON OF THE T-MOBILE GERMANY AND T-MOBILE USA  WEB SITES 101
10.1 LOADING TIME AND HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS 101
10.2 EASE OF NAVIGATION AND USER-FRIENDLINESS 102
10.2.1 Welcome Page and Home Page 102
10.2.2 User Interface and Hypertext Structure 107
10.2.3 Site Map and Help Function 109
10.2.4 Search Function 114
10.2.5 Contact Function 116
10.3 DESIGN LAYOUT AND CORPORATE IDENTITY 120
10.4 CONTENT 122
10.5 MARKETING AND E-COMMERCE COMPONENTS 124
10.6 CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC COMPONENTS127
11 RESULTS AND CONCLUSION134
12 GLOSSARY 138
13 BIBLIOGRAPHY 154
14 TABLE OF FIGURES 161