Strategie di marca per i prodotti italiani in Cina

This paper focuses on some aspects of brand strategy taking in the Chinese market new features, not found in previous studies and practices of international marketing, which can be attributed to three combined conditions: the presence of a very different cultural context; the existence of a writing system, signs and meanings, quite different than usual; an overload of information on brands to a population not accustomed to a consumer market. Through a qualitative research, were set out in-depth interviews with scholars, managers, contractors, officers, and consultants. The aim was to identify key aspects of diversity in brand and product policies between the Western and the Chinese markets in order to isolate the marketing factors that require the development of specific strategies. The answers to the interviews show a reference model for defining the brand name, with different possible managerial applications. The model consists of five basic alternatives: the similarity of sound, the construction of meaning, the search for cultural synchronization, integrated solutions of the different components, or maintaining the original brand without any amendments

Harmonisation Initiatives of Copernicus Data Quality Control

The Copernicus Space Component Data Access system (CSCDA) incorporates data contributions from a wide range of satellite missions. Through EO data handling and distribution, CSCDA serves a set of Copernicus Services related to Land, Marine and Atmosphere Monitoring, Emergency Management and Security and Climate Change. The quality of the delivered EO products is the responsibility of each contributing mission, and the Copernicus data Quality Control (CQC) service supports and complements such data quality control activities. The mission of the CQC is to provide a service of quality assessment on the provided imagery, to support the investigation related to product quality anomalies, and to guarantee harmonisation and traceability of the quality information. In terms of product quality control, the CQC carries out analysis of representative sample products for each contributing mission as well as coordinating data quality investigation related to issues found or raised by Copernicus users. Results from the product analysis are systematically collected and the derived quality reports stored in a searchable database. The CQC service can be seen as a privileged focal point with unique comparison capacities over the data providers. The comparison among products from different missions suggests the need for a strong, common effort of harmonisation. Technical terms, definitions, metadata, file formats, processing levels, algorithms, cal/val procedures etc. are far from being homogeneous, and this may generate inconsistencies and confusion among users of EO data. The CSCDA CQC team plays a significant role in promoting harmonisation initiatives across the numerous contributing missions, so that a common effort can achieve optimal complementarity and compatibility among the EO data from multiple data providers. This effort is done in coordination with important initiatives already working towards these goals (e.g. INSPIRE directive, CEOS initiatives, OGC standards, QA4EO etc.). This paper describes the main actions being undertaken by CQC to encourage harmonisation among space-based EO systems currently in service

Do distributors really know the product? Approaching emerging markets through exports

Exports represent an entry mode into international markets that is less risky than more direct strategies, therefore it particularly fits SMEs (small-medium enterprises) that generally have a few resources to invest. In the case of emerging markets because of the high psychic distance, SMEs tend to rely on their distributors for the business operations in the new market. However, although this type of intermediary allows the access to the foreign distribution channel that is particularly complex in countries such as China, it can limit the market control and in some cases, the product expansion. Based on a qualitative research consisting of interviews and secondary data, we present two original case studies of Italian firms operating in the Chinese market. It is shown that in emerging markets, since distributors do not really analyze and know consumer expectations and behaviors, they may represent a barrier in the knowledge accumulation of foreign products in the new market. Managerial implications are discussed on the extent to which SMEs are not able to replicate marketing strategies used in other countries, but they should define a clear strategy that involves their distributors in the process of knowledge accumulation and brand value creation in the foreign market