Reviewed by: Alex Misch
Authors: S M Burgess and C H Bothma
ISBN 13: 9780195761269

International Marketing is predominantly intended to be a textbook for undergraduate students on the topics of international marketing, as well as the economics, structures and mechanisms governing international trade.

However, for those already in business, who are looking at taking their products abroad, this book serves as an excellent reference book and best-practice guide in respect of the concepts, models, theories, facts and statistics every exporter (and probably ever local producer facing foreign competition) should be aware of.

It is currently estimated that between 2 000 and 3 000 South African companies actively export their products. It is also assumed that the long-term survival of even more local companies will depend on whether or not they are able to break into foreign markets.

Interestingly, this is not a book only meant for (or about) large listed companies or global players, like SABMiller and De Beers. Instead, the authors focus on what they call the "international marketers" - companies in which exporting has become an integral part of their activities and mindsets.

These include large enterprises, but also companies, like Kapula Candles, which was founded in Bredasdorp in the Western Cape in 1994 from the private home of one of five women. The company still operates from that same remote, little village and produces more than 250 000 handcrafted candles a month, of which many are exported to Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

In view of the relatively large risks (but also the increasingly large opportunities) involved, International Marketing also, refreshingly, includes a special chapter on small businesses, for which the two critical success factors in international marketing (the firm's organisational export readiness and its product export readiness) take on a special meaning.

The book is written in an easily accessible style and in the chapter on the economics of international trade, for instance, the authors adopted a narrative approach, rather than falling back on the use of the jargon, models and tools ordinarily associated with texts dealing with economic concepts.

International Marketing is a South African book, written from a South African perspective, and comes highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the subject.

Link to online catalogue
International Marketing