1. Consider the ongoing debate about climate change, global warming, etc. Certainly, plenty of believers, non-believers, etc.

Let's look FIRST at the potential opportunities and threats with which marketers will come across as a result of climate change. Where are there opportunities for certain brands to CAPITALIZE on what appears to be a warming of our planet?

2. One of our chapters for this week deals with the global marketplace. Let's look at some of the key challenges that a U.S.-based company should consider before it enters any foreign country. Please select ONE key challenge and elaborate on it, tying Kotler/Armstrong to your perspectives. Why is a company's ability to MANAGE the process of entering a foreign country so critical?

3. As everyone is working on their IMC Plan, let's take a look at PROMOTION when going overseas... and as Rudy shared, PRODUCT also has to be considered as most American products need to be modified, i.e., product adaptation, as Rudy shares. Class, culture can impact the promotional message that the American marketer communicates.How might a company ensure that its IMC message is not misinterpreted when introduced overseas via advertising? What would YOU do to minimize this risk that your company's brand name or the name of a product were not laughingly called something else in the local language... or that your slogan were not translated into something embarrassing?

International marketing slogan translation gaffes

4. Class, what should be the ethical responsibility of the marketer any time they want to bring forward a product or service? Given your response, are you seeing what you have suggested occurring in marketing today? Why or why not? Examples?

In those situations in which you felt the company was unethical, was your situation that you have described simply a bonehead business decision... or was there a definite question relative to ethical marketing practices by the company? Substantiate why you think the company was unethical. Upon what might you draw to defend your answer?

5. Thanks for your inputs ... we have a mixture of insights from the first six classmates who posted. Some of you have had an "A" experience; others have had more of a "B" experience. For the most part - with several postings - it seems that the leaning is a bit more towards doing decent training and ethics awareness programs.

In previous classes, although not everyone has chimed in yet here, I had about a 50/50 division between "A" and "B/C" -- to say, generally, that those in the latter group were exposed to risk is an understatement!

What are the risks to which the company is exposed if their ethics awareness programs are nil or poorly done? How can this affect marketing efforts?