International Marketing Strategies of Amazon, Sony, McDonald's, and Apple

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Prof
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International Marketing and Trade
Anytime one picks up an item in a supermarket, the item was assembled in Mexico or manufactured in China. Things like coffee pods would most likely have their origin in Africa. Even walking in the streets, people in cities worldwide encounter brands that are not originally local. McDonalds, for instance, is an American fast-food organization. Nevertheless, a quick drive within towns like Nairobi, Paris, Beijing, Cape Town, Berlin, and Mexico City will reveal several outlets that hold this brand. This is true across other global conglomerates like Amazon, Sony, and Apple, and it highlights the power and extent of international trade. The global reach of these organizations, and the diversification of their workforce, would not be possible without international trade.
As it is known, international trade has been in vogue for centuries, with different civilizations across the history of humanity has carried on trade with other parts of the world. This need for trading was primarily motivated by resource availability and comparative advantage variations. Today, in the 4th industrial revolution, technology and innovation across all fields have opened borders and fueled globalization to the extent that no country is self-sufficient or capable of remaining in isolation. This explains the presence of international organizations like Amazon, Sony, McDonald's, and Apple, and their products, in different countries worldwide.
The growth in international trade has happened in tandem with marketing. As these organizations made headways into newer markets, their success depended on how well they could convince local consumers to trust their brands or products. In this aspect, these organizations were compelled to strategize marketing activities in a manner that was different compared to local activities. In other words, with international trade came international marketing. Therefore, international marketing cannot be underestimated and has received significant attention from scholars, researchers, managers, and leaders looking to find success in global markets or formulate theories and philosophies through which international organizational ventures can be realized effectively. However, fewer comprehensive bodies of knowledge have consolidated these international marketing activities.
For this reason, the current paper seeks to assess the international marketing strategies of the four mentioned organizations. Apple, McDonald's, and Amazon are American organizations with a strong global presence. At the same time, Sony is not an American entity but also enjoys similar popularity and fame among electronics consumers across the globe. Thus, the paper will investigate whether these organizations have utilized similar strategies or whether their international success demonstrates different potential success strategies. The current document will examine existing case study literature to elicit these similarities or differences in global strategies these organizations utilize. Such information helps develop a body of knowledge that upcoming multinational corporates can utilize.
The paper follows a strict structure, first highlighting historical developments in internatio...