Global Communication

Communication is described as the process of exchanging information across different people and places. Vasilchenko and Morrish (2011) established that the success of an organization is dependent on the effectiveness of the communication strategies applied. Development of useful communication strategies is essential in reducing misunderstandings among stakeholders drawn from different cultures and countries. The major parties involved in the process must join hands to work together in defining appropriate communication strategies through the creation of feasible communication management plan. With globalization being the latest trend, companies have opted to introduce global communication strategies purposely to enhance their competitiveness in the market. Multinational companies such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Pepsi-Cola try to reach out to their clients across different continents through words in order to educate, engage, encourage, and promote their products and services using well-outlined global communication strategies. However, the fundamental question revolves around the key considerations for an effective global communication strategy. Some of these elements are discussed below.

Return on Content (ROC)

The first factor that determines the effectiveness of the global communication strategy of an organization concerns how the identified strategy aligns to the business goals of the corporation under consideration. The chosen strategies of reaching out to the global audience and stakeholders of the organization must be one that maximizes the value of the firm. It is important for the global communication approaches not to conflict the market research, profitability, and revenue management objectives of the corporation. In the view of Hollenbeck, Zinkhan, French, and Ji Hee (2009), the global communication planning must be aimed at realizing meaningful returns on investments. It is because global communication goes beyond marketing to include a roadmap for achieving the international success of the firm.

Defining the Target Audience

Given the diversity of the consumer population, it is important for the company to start by identifying the audience. This entails defining the demographic attributes of the possible consumers of the intended communication in the global market. Also, it is critical for the management of the organization to take into consideration socio-economic and cultural features of the target audience. As well, Vasilchenko and Morrish (2011) believe that a successful global communication campaign should consider behavioral traits of the target groups. With these elements being quite diverse, matching the contents to different target groups require adequate resources, market research, and time. For instance, given the cross-culturally diversities across the global population, diversified positioning and approaches would be critical in avoiding the creation of irreparable brand harm or damage.

Statistics and Logistics

One of the factors that determine the effectiveness of global communication relates to a proper understanding of the information consumption particularly by the target audience. This calls for the identification of the right medium of communication that would reach out to the audience. Ideally, communication delivery mediums are never universal. Though there is the growing use of mobile devices in global communication, it is worth noting that there are regions where mobile communication would be ineffective in delivering some contents (Hollenbeck, Zinkhan, French, & Ji Hee, 2009). Additionally, data plays a significant role in determining the effectiveness of the communication strategy used. This involves relying on past customer communication experiences to design suitable medium of information exchange.

Language Trends

Given the language diversity across the world, it is important for firms involved in global communication to consider the trends in languages. To be successful in communicating their products, marketing their brands and services, multinational companies must translate their contents or messages into different languages for the ease of communication and understanding. For instance, US-based companies targeting audience and having a sizeable customer base in China such as Microsoft and Coca-Cola must translate these contents into the Chinese language. Besides, while some cultures may perceive certain media contents to be acceptable in their vernacular language, others may consider the same content as irrelevant or unacceptable. For this reason, successful global communication calls for analyzing, researching, and testing for language diversities; while evaluating possible opportunities and budget constraints (Vasilchenko & Morrish, 2011). Thus, effective communication in the global context calls for understanding the global demand for languages.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the competitive nature of the global market necessitates the need to understand cross-cultural and social diversities of the human population.  This starts with identifying the target audiences then advancing suitable communication channels, languages, and contents. A fruitful and effective global communication approach should be customer-oriented, data-driven, and cost-effective with the primary goal of impacting on the target audience.