International marketing is sometimes seen as invasive

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

International marketing is sometimes seen as invasive and an intrusion into the country in question. Others argue that it is a necessary and economical form of education in addition to spreading ideas, language and culture.

Discuss both views and state which one do you agree with.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Answer :
Gone are the day when companies had to confine to its own territory. Now many companies look to penetrate new markets across the globe with the help of globalization and open market economy. The transnational companies develop global marketing campaign to tap new markets so as to sell their commodities. Which by consequence disseminates ideas, language and culture. In contrast, many people associate global marketing with cultural imperialism.

The multinational companies usually develop marketing strategy including new ideas, language and culture. Their visibility attracts both the consumers and the entrepreneurs. Consequently, the local entrepreneurs can be acquainted with exotic notions, cultures and languages and can learn lot more things about how to conduct a global marketing campaign so that they would be able to conduct similar campaign to establish their own brands. Apart from this, the transnational corporations often merge with local companies. This is because an emerging international brand, establishing partnership with other companies in the country is very crucial for success. And very these multinational corporations organize workshops in order to train the local executives and workers so that they can hone their skill and can elevate their competence to the international level. The transnational companies, thus, essentially provide local entrepreneurs and executive with an economical form of education consisting new ideas, cultures and languages.

On the flip side, the antagonists of global marketing deem it as invasive and intrusion into the country.  That is to say, international marketing is a kind of cultural imperialism. At its simplest form, the notion of cultural imperialism refers to the process of imperialism which poses an unequal power relationship that connotes the dominance of the west. In fact, cultural imperialism has two-fold goals; one is economical and the other is political. In the economic point of view, the transnational companies capture market in the country for it cultural commodities and establish hegemony by moulding popular consciousness. A good example here is the advertisement of Pepsi “Live for Now” campaign. The campaign features a pool of summer activities that depict participants having an exciting time. Pepsi also introduced new limited edition cans featuring the popular singer and American icon, Michael Jackson. Pepsi with the American phrase and icon, thus, exports the culture of America to other countries. Likewise, in the political arena, cultural imperialism plays a paramount role in separating people from their traditions of solidarity and cultural roots, replacing them with media generated need which changes with every other campaign. The political impact is so alarming that it alienates people from traditional class and community knot, atomizing the society and separating people from one another.

In fine, international marketing spreads new knowledge and consumer culture as well. This consumer culture goes beyond popular consumptions that brings about concern of the dominance of the western culture what impacts on the values of societies, and in turn, on the political realm. The transnational corporations transmit western lifestyle and ideology seemed as corrosive to the recipient countries’ culture. The intrusion of western consumer culture into the everyday lives of the recipient countries is actually a new form of colonialism.

Idea Generation for this essay:

Main topic of the Essay: 
Discuss both views:

  1. International marketing is sometimes seen as invasive and an intrusion into the country in question.
  2. International marketing is a necessary and economical form of education in addition to spreading ideas, language and culture.

View 1:

  • International Marketing and spread of global business often puts the local business in jeopardy.
  • International companies often exaggerate in their marketing which can mislead the users.
  • It is a kind of cultural imperialism which ruins many traditional and cultural norms of a country.
  • It is often seen as a threat to the local business and economic structure.

View 2:

  • International Marketing and the business scope often helps creating a positive competition between the local business entity.
  • It educates local brands and business models about better business opportunity.
  • The multinational companies usually develop marketing strategy including new ideas, language and culture.
  • Multinational corporations organize workshops in order to train the local executives and workers.