Recent orders
strategies used by Nakamichi Corporation together with a SWOT analysis for the organization
Marketing
Presented to
Date
Executive summaryToday’s business environment has seen many corporations searching for innovative strategies in order to win the growing demand for goods and services. Many managers try and design a systematic marketing framework for their new products aimed at winning buyers. Nakamichi Corporation is a manufacturer of high quality audio and video systems. The corporation wishes to introduce a new portable audio system into the market. In order to design the marketing plan, several factors are put into consideration. A situational analysis of the current audio systems market is carried out identifying the main competitor brands for the corporation. Second, market segmentation and positioning is analyzed. This identifies the strategies used by Nakamichi Corporation together with a SWOT analysis for the organization. Third, an analysis of the internal and external factors affecting the buyers’ decision to purchase the new product is taken. The report ends with strong recommendations for the marketing mix strategy.
Table of Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Executive summary PAGEREF _Toc337319466 h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc337319467 h 4Situational analysis PAGEREF _Toc337319468 h 4Segmentation and Positioning PAGEREF _Toc337319469 h 6Portable audio player market segmentation PAGEREF _Toc337319470 h 6Positioning strategies adopted by competitors PAGEREF _Toc337319471 h 7Influence of external factors on purchase process PAGEREF _Toc337319472 h 11Influence of internal factors on purchase process PAGEREF _Toc337319473 h 12References PAGEREF _Toc337319474 h 15
Introduction Nakamichi Corporation is among the world’s best manufacturers of high quality audio, video and multimedia equipments. The corporation produces quality home audio and mobile sound systems and continues to introduce new products into the market. The company was founded in 1948 by Etsuro Nakamichi and started with the manufacture of portable radios, speakers, and communication equipments (Nakamichi, 2012). Nakamichi Corporation is in the process of launching a new portable high quality audio player by the end of the year 2012. Disruptive technological innovations offer a big change in the products and services offered in an organization. Companies that come up with quality products, simple in use, and more efficient always succeed in their marketing plans for the new product. In addition, these products target new customers since they are new in the market and are designed in the current technology (Christensen, 1997).
Coming up with a perfect marketing strategic plan for a new product needs the marketer’s knowledge of the current market and other companies offering similar product. The marketing of a new portable high quality audio player by Nakamichi Corporation is a challenging aspect since some well companies like Sony, LG, Samsung, and Kodak have already overtaken the market. In order to plan for the market of the new product, Nakamichi Corporation should ensure it wins many customers. In most cases, companies face issues associated with their flexibility on politics, operations management, and social culture (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005).
Situational analysisMarketing design assist in the successful implementation of planned strategies and achievement of goals and objectives. A perfect marketing plan enables an organization enter into a competitive advantage with the rivals and eventually win the market (Kotler & Keller, 2009; 61). The market structure adopted by an organization acts as an element of undertaking need analysis of the market share. In this, the market structure has to segment the potential market of the organization products for effective analysis of the needs, and formulation of measures that need adoption by the company. Nakamichi Corporation plans to introduce a new portable high quality audio player in the market. Many companies have introduced portable audio players in the market. Moore and Pareek (2010) argue that, human beings instinctively aim at satisfying a variety of intrinsic needs in all aspects of their life. These needs include social needs (for example, acceptance), various types of physical needs (for example, shelter and food), and individual needs (knowledge need). In 1979, Sony produced the first portable music player commonly known as walkman that was highly demanded by customers. The player was simple, and an individual could listen to music while travelling (Sony, 2011).
The portable audio player market has shown tremendous growth with a predicted increase in the number of units. Nakamichi Corporation should get into the market fast using different solutions in order to capture the growing demand. Many brands have come into the market likely to create a lot of competition on the portable audio player. Ipod is one of the brands capable of bringing competition into the market. Ipod is a portable audio player from Apple Company. The gadget has many accessories and is preferred by most customers. It is an innovative product that disrupted the music industry upon its arrival. The aim of Apple Inc was creating a technologically advanced device with unique features to hit the unexploited market. Consumer needs in a product vary largely. Some consumers aim at products with appealing quality regardless of price, while others look at the price of the product (apple, 2012). IPod product from Apple Inc is one of the top competitors for Nakamachi Corporation.
Mobile phones also are a threat to the portable audio system’s market. The introduction of mobile phones has hit the market since almost every grown up person owns a mobile handset. Most of these handsets have music players and radios whereby people can listen while working or walking. The technological know-how in the portable audio market creates a barrier for Nakamachi’s entry into the market. Individual with mobile handsets that have music players will find it hard purchasing another portable audio device. Nakamachi Corporation faces a hard task of marketing their new products and encouraging buyers to buy their products only.
The following brands have overcrowded the digital market. Ipods are used by most students since they can listen to music while studying. On the other hand, mobile handsets are produced with many accessories that are pleasing to consumers. All these products are portable ,and made fromm quality manufacturers. The introduction of the new portable audio player by Nakamichi Corporation must have unique marketing strategies in order win the competition from these two brands.
Segmentation and PositioningPortable audio player market segmentationMarketing entails product image creation with the aim of attracting more customers. Marketing of portable audio system by Nakamachi will involve the creation of an image of the music system for the potential buyers in the prevailing market. The plan has guided principle that price, availability of a service, and visibility of an advertising media have no influence on consumers ability to make a choice of a given product. Consumer’s choice has the reliability on the ability of the consumer to develop a desirable, distinctive, appealing, believable, simple, and valid image of the product being offered (Mercer, 1996). The market structure adopted by Nakamachi will act as an element of undertaking need analysis of the market share. In this, the market structure has to segment the potential market of the organization’s product for effective analysis of the needs, and formulation of measures that need adoption by the company.
In addition, the market structure formulates an effective strategy for undertaking business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) marketing respectively. The differences between business-to-business and business-to-customer communication modes, channels, and content have an association to interaction levels involved (Nwanko & Gbadamosi, 2011). When it comes to B2B, Nakamichi Corporation will look for potential intermediaries of the new portable audio system. The marketing system employed identifies the buyer behavior, and incorporates the buyer in price negotiation, as well as setting. The parties involved will have a closer relationship that aids in sharing of ideas between the two parties, and resources allocation may take place in unison. On the other hand, the B2C marketing will see Nakamichi involve the final consumer of the product. In this system, the parties involved have no closer relationships, and consumers are never involved in price setting and negotiation.
Positioning strategies adopted by competitorsApple Inc. is one of the competitors that market the iPod using different marketing segmentations and strategies. The company outsources its product in different countries worldwide and also assembles it in various key manufacturers. Foxconn International Holdings assembles iPods while its components are manufactured by different companies in China (Buetow, 2010). However, Apple Inc product design and marketing strategies are carried out at their company headquarters in United States. Figure 1 shows the product differentiation process used by Nakamichi competitors in the portable audio system.
Promotion
New segment
New offering
Figure I: Apple Inc product differentiation process
Market segmentation in an organization involves dividing prospective market into identifiable materials. One of the product segmentation and positioning theory argues that market segmentation involves forming segmented groups that have similar wants. This theory, by Philip Kotter, Claims that marketing can be more essential if more concentration is on a particular product segment. Nakamichi marketing team should identify the most attractive parts in their marketing plan and concentrate on them effectively. This ensures an organization defeats its competitors since they always go after a certain market segment. Moreover, competitors in their designs of the marketing segment and product positioning think about these three steps (Kotter, 1999).
Mass marketing: In mass marketing, the organization makes an effort of attracting eligible buyers to use a product that has been mass produced. The product is also distributed through mass distribution channels.
Product differentiated marketing: The organization will produce more than two products for the whole market. The products have different characteristics, and are not designed for specific group thus providing alternatives to buyers.
Target marketing: In this the organization has varied market segments but focuses on one segment. The organization then develops the selected product to meet the target market needs.
In a typical market transaction, the value created is satisfaction of the parties involved in the business transaction. This satisfaction is derived from the expectations each party had prior to the transaction, and the ability to give what is expected. Therefore, exchange is the main value derived in the transaction process. Included in the exchange process are the products that the concerned parties expect from each other. These products act as indicators of the values of the transaction that takes place. Approach to segmentation occurs in two different ways. The first method considers the market to consist of consumers who have the same characteristics. In this method the main organization’s task is identifying the consumers who have specific differences. This is the breakdown method. On the other hand, the second method, known as the build-up method, consists of consumers with different characteristics. Most organizations use this method since it is the most recommended. If Nakamichi Corporation could adopt this method it would defeat the competitors in a very perfect way (Hunt and Arnett, 2004).
Nakamichi Corporation SWOT Analysis
Strengths
High brand value
A designed innovation in the digital world
The effects of achievement of other company products like home theatres, radio cassettes, etc
High customer loyalty Weaknesses
Changing market conditions for portable audio systems
Poor management due to workers shifting to well paying organizations
The marketing strategies are not within the expectations of customers.
Limited personalization on the product.
Opportunities
Nakamichi Corporation’s relationship with other companies is good
Good pricing strategy wining the competition
The company is technologically advanced compared to other companies selling audio systems
Increased demand by students and sport users. Threats
Low end portable music players
There is high interest of other established portable music markets
Competition from smart phone and other mobile operators
Availability of online music resources through personal computers.
Table 1: SWOT analysis for Nakamichi Corporation (retrieved from Market Publishers, 2012)
Influence of external factors on purchase processMarketers worldwide face many challenges in understanding why consumers purchase different products in different methods. Brands play a significant role in determining people’s perception of products offered. Making a purchasing decision for a portable audio system is affected by some external factors. These are market and demand, competitor’s costs and prices, economic conditions, and social cultural factors. Consumers always weigh these factors as well as understanding the main reason behind making the purchase.
Market and demand: The market and demand for the new portable audio system will influence the buyer’s decision. Increasing the demand for the product prompts many people to buy it. In addition, Nakamichi Corporation should take several processes in order to ensure the new product finds market regardless of the nature of competition. Poor customer perception on the brand will make it lack buyers. Moreover, the company should ensure customer satisfaction because it encourages customers to make more purchases and invite their friends (Lewis and Slack, 2003).
Competitor’s cost and prices: Competition is a very vital factor affecting many organizations. If the competitor’s prices are lower than those of the company in question, the buyers will opt for lower prices. On the other hand, the cost of production determines the amount that the company should offer for its product. Apple Inc, which is one of the top competitors, outsources its services to other manufacturers thus reducing its cost of production. Nakamichi Corporation should ensure they produce their product with the lowest cost possible and offer at a consumer friendly price in order to gain more buyers.
Social-culture factors: Cultural factors have a lot of influence on consumers buying behavior. Consumer culture plays a significant role in making a decision on the type of commodity to purchase. All efforts and activities in a business should have unity and focus on giving customers what they demand. If customers prefer to have constancy in service, the business should ensure that, if the customers are price sensitive, the businesses should offer fair prices, if customers focus, or are delighted more on reliability and variety, then the businesses should unify its efforts and resources toward delivering that. Some cultures do not accept people using the present technology because they face it as a curse from their gods (Friestad & Wright, 1994).
Influence of internal factors on purchase processInternal factors within the organization determine the buyer’s decision on a new product in the market. These factors are: product pricing, promotions, distribution, and rational factors (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011).
Product pricing: Companies carryout product pricing considering the prices of competitors. If the organization offers higher prices, fewer buyers would be willing to purchase the brand. According to Mercer (1996), pricing should be related to the cost of producing the product, and the market prices offered by others selling the same product.
Promotion: In order to ensure good prices are offered, the sellers should create customer awareness of the new product. Advertising methods such as after-sale services, home delivery, and media campaign assists in promoting the new gadget into the market. In addition, the organization could offer gifts and free samples like T-shirts, wallets, or even bags as a method of promoting the new product.
Product distribution: The distribution channels used for the product determine the price offered to the final buyer. If the company uses many channels of distribution involving a lot of middle-men, the price will be high. This affects the buying behavior of consumers. Simchi, Kaminsky and Levi (2003), argues that distribution strategies vary depending on the type of product. For a portable audio system, only two channels of distribution are appropriate.
Conclusion and recommendations
A key method of minimizing ideas generated about a new product by a company is having a market research conducted. In this, the consumer preferences for the product, the price of related products, the brand name of related products and the target market information is gathered. The information is then analyzed and presented to the company. The ideas generated by the company about the new product are then sorted out in line with the results of the research. The ideas found to fully meet the desires of the target market are then adopted by the company and used for the product development.
To effectively market the new portable audio player, Nakamichi Corporation should make use of the 4Ps. These are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. These four aspects are necessary for a perfect marketing mix strategy. The product should have the qualities desired by customers. Making decision on the type of product to offer requires several factors. The Corporation should decide the target market, the benefits associated with the product to the customers, and how to position the brand. The company should offer the product at a customer friendly price that creates good sales revenues. The price will determine the value of sales made. Second, the company should design a proper means of transporting the product in order to be at the right place in the right time. The aspect of place is very important since customers require proper supply of the product. Finally, carrying out various promotions enables the business to communicate effectively with the customers. Through promotion buyers get the information that assists them in making a purchase decision. The company should set aside funds to carry out promotion through advertising (Dogra and Ghuman, 2008).
ReferencesApple. (2011). Apple’s library, Retrieved from:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library
Christensen, C. (1997). The innovator’s dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to
Fail. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Dogra, B. & Ghuman, K. (2008). Rural Marketing: Concept and Practice. India: Tata McGraw
Hill Publishing Limited, (2nd ed.). p. 80
Friestad, M., & Wright, P. (1994). The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope With
Persuasion Attempts. Journal of Consumer Research, 21 (1); pp. 1-31.
Hunt, S. D., and Arnett, D. B. (2004). ‘Market segmentation strategy, competitive advantage and
public policy: grounding segmentation strategy in resource-advantage theory’, Australasian Marketing Journal, 12, 1, 7–25.
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2005). How to create uncontested market space and make the
Competition irrelevant. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2011). Principles of Marketing. The Fourteenth edition. Prentice
Hall
Kotler, P. (2009). Marketing Management. The thirteenth edition. Pearson Publishers.
Lewis Michael, & Slack N. (2003). Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on
Business and Management. London: Routledge.
Market publishers. (2012). Nakamichi Corporation. Retrieved from:
http://ebookbrowse.com/nakamichi-leasing-co-ltd-swot-analysis-bac-pdf-d227227946Mercer, D. (1996). Marketing. The Second Edition. Malden, Massachusetts. Blackwell
Publishers Inc.
Nwanko, S., & Gbadamosi, T. (2011). Entrepreneurship Marketing: Principles and Practice of
SME Marketing. 2 Park Square, Milton Park. Routledge
Simchi, D, Kaminsky, P, & Levi, S. (2003). Designing and managing the supply chain. New
York: McGraw Hill Inc.
MacDonald is a successful fast food restaurant
Marketing
Name
Institution
Marketing
Getting a successful brand is an important part of being successful in restaurant business today (Alan, 1996). MacDonald is a successful fast food restaurant that has been in the market since it was formed by two brothers in 1941. Its main branding strategy has been transforming over the years because of varied market prospects and competition. Their branding strategies includes, family oriented environment, the also offer food at low prices to ensure a wider coverage can afford their meals. They also stress on giving their customers the value of their money. Their last current strategy is offering a wider variety of food to cover foods that children may need, and people with special diets. These strategies work very well in increasing their market and maintain their customer base. However, MacDonald has failed to take advantage of social media to capture the attention of the young people. I would recommend that they try to brand their business as a modern restaurant by associating it with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This way they will get to know what young people want.
The video game endorsement offer best aligns with Lebron James brand is Microsoft Xbox Live. This is because this deal offered him revenue sharing, meaning that he would get half the revenues that his brand would earn. The value of Lebron James at the time enabled him to make decisions that were riskier. The Xbox Live brand took more time to make and more resources, and his earning depends on how successful the game will be. However, with a good brand like him, he is almost guaranteed to success of the game and, therefore, he will make a lot of money.
I have been using crest throughout my life, it is maturity stage in PLC. The brand has remained almost constant in the PLC it forms an S curve on the graph. This is because there were times it was the market, but this was not constant. It has managed to remain in the market for a long period while other brands have joined the market and then left due to poor performance. To remain in maturity stage of PLC crest has to be ahead of its competitor. This can only happen by ensuring that it continues to come up with unique brands of toothpastes. They can try to widen their consumer base by exporting their products to countries they have not reached yet. They can also make products that are unique while at the same time maintaining the original types if crest to maintain its old consumer base.
Tommy Hilfiger needs a line extension in his products. There should be a new product of hair shampoo, body powder and bath soaps. This is because this designer has managed to develop the best designs so far. People and especially women trust his products and, therefore, there is more opportunity in designing more products for women. The strategy to promote the new product should be having the product endorsed by a celebrity that people like. In the past Beyonce has endorsed Tommy Hilfiger products, which is why they have gained so much popularity (Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, 2010). He can have Beyonce to endorse the new products so that the consumer base that likes her can be attracted to buying the products. Another celebrity who has more fans like Lady Gaga can endorse the products. This is likely to attract even more consumers considering she is the most powerful celebrity of today. The other strategy that can be used is naming the products Tommy Hilfiger. This is because his name is a brand and attracts many people.
References
Alan, T. (1996). Food retailing in Australia – three retailers, three strategies. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 24, 8, 6-16.
Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. (2010). Tommy Hilfiger. New York: Assouline.
Shein Fashion Retailer Marketing Mix Strategies
Marketing Across Borders
Student’s Name
Course and Code
Instructor’s Name
Date
Question One (a): Shein Fashion Retailer Marketing Mix Strategies
Shein is the largest cross-border Chinese E-commerce company. The company adopts a path-breaking marketing mix strategy that covers price, product, promotion, and place.
Shein’s Market Strategy: Product
The fashion retailer has a wide range of products for men, women, and children. Shein employs an inclusive and diverse approach in stocking its products; it provides products for all body sizes incorporating the often overlooked plus-size women. Additionally, the fashion retailer offers unlimited product options to its customers; the company launches an average of 150 000 products annually. The inclusivity and diversity of Shein’s products contribute to its most significant share of the young generation market and the general global population. Its extensive customer base contributes to its vast sales volume, ultimately contributing to its financial success.
Shein’s Market Strategy: Pricing
Shein offers the lowest price than other fashion retailers attracting customers at all levels of disposable income. Additionally, Shein frequently offers discounts to customers. The company operates various discounts strategies such as discounts for downloading applications, purchasing through influencers, and rotating sales discounts. The heavy discount and low prices strategies increase the sales volume contributing to the fashion retailer’s high-profit margins.
Shein’s Market strategy: Promotion
Shein employs a unique marketing strategy. Unlike most companies that use celebrities for product promotion, Shein employs customer review as a product marketing technique. The company depends on reviews from satisfied customers and lesser-known influencers to promote its products. Additionally, the fashion retailer depends on reviews by buyers on their E-commerce site who describes product qualities in detail. Word of mouth and reviews from product consumers on social media increases customer base and purchase (Buttle and Groeger 2017), ultimately contributing to a rise in the company’s revenue and profit margin.
Shein’s Market Strategy: Place
The fashion retail company has a comprehensive coverage; it sells to over 220 counties and regions globally. The company has a well-established social media site such as YouTube and Tik Tok to reach out to its existing and potential customers. This makes the fashion retailer relevant to young consumers and convenient for other customers. Winning social media war and being a preferred shop by the younger generation and the bulk of the society is essential in today’s business. This contributes to the growth and the financial success of Shein fashion retailers.
Question One (b): Shein Fashion Retailer Market Segment
Market segmentation is essential in targeting individuals who are likely to become customers of the company, and it involves splitting consumers into groups with similar characteristics (Hunt 2018). Shein fashion retailer intended market segments are demographic and behavioural segmentation.
Demographic Segmentation
Demographic segmentation involves splitting consumers based on identifiable people-based differences such as income, age, gender, religion, education level, occupation, among others. Shein fashion retailer employs demographic segmentation through pricing, promotion, and products. For instance, the lower pricing of the company products targets customers with low income. The overwhelming use of social media in marketing and advertising targets younger individuals.
Behavioural Segmentation
Behavioural segmentation involves splitting consumers based on the behaviours they display regarding the product. It evaluates how customers interact with the company application, brand, and products through studying customer product ratings and reviews, spending, browsing and purchasing habits, and customer interactions and loyalty to the brand. Behavioural segmentation is evident in Shein fashion retailers’ use of E-commerce sites and promotional products. For instance, the fashion retailer uses commercial sites to understand how customers react to its products. Additionally, the company base various promotional products on customers browsing and purchase habits.
Question One (c): Shein Fashion Retailer Competitors in Perceptual Map
A perceptual map is essential in understanding how consumers rank a company’s products in terms of their characteristics and comparisons to the competition company’s. Zara, a Spanish clothing retailer, and ASOS British online fashion and cosmetic retailers are the major competitors of Shein in the Perceptual Map. These companies offer a wide variety of men, women, and children wares globally. However, Shein retail company is still the global market leader in the fashion retail industry. Therefore, for these companies to effectively compete with Shein worldwide, they should have a specific target customer in their production, invest more in social media marketing, and invest in product differentiation.
Unlike other retail companies without a specific target customer, Shein targets generation Z globally through the pricing and promotions of its products. Thus, for fashion retail companies such as Zara and ASOS to effectively compete with Shein, they should develop products with a specific target group in mind. Additionally, Shein is known for vigorous social media use and marketing compared to other fashion retail companies. Social media provides a powerful platform for companies to keep in touch with existing and attract customers; hence, these companies should invest more in this platform to increase their customers’ base. Shein is globally known for producing inclusive and diverse products, majorly the plus size women’s clothing. This differentiates it from other fashion retailers in the apparel industry. In this regard, for other fashion retail companies such as Zara and ASOS to effectively compete with Shein in the global market, they should produce products that stand out to their target audiences.
Question One (d): Shein Fashion Retailer Ethical Issues
Several ethical issues surround the operation of the Shein fashion retailer. There is a question on the company’s labour conditions, product type, information disclosure, and pricing.
Labour Conditions
Shein Fashion Retailer has not provided public information on the working conditions along its supply chain and the steps it intends to take to improve its employees’ working conditions and curb forced labour. According to the United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act 2015, companies over a specific size must clearly state on their website the steps they are taking to combat forced labour in their organisations. This act will be necessary to have Shein fashion retailer outline its labour conditions and steps towards curbing forced labour on its website.
Information Disclosure
Institutions and individuals raise questions on the lack of crucial information about Shein company on its websites, accusing the company of lack of transparency. For instance, the company declines from providing its annual returns to institutions such as Reuters, stating it does not disclose its revenue publicly. The United Kingdom law requires companies with more than 36 million pounds of goods worldwide to provide their financial information on their websites. Analysts estimated Shein company to be worth over $ 15 billion. Hence, the act will be necessary to have the company provide its financial information.
Low Prices
Shein company’s low clothing prices have attracted the attention of labour watchdogs such as Worker Rights Consortium that questions the company’s ability to produce merchandise very cheaply and the quality of the products. Shein dresses and shoes cost as low as $9 and $15 respectively. The United Kingdom Unfair trading regulations protect consumers from unfair commercial practices such as poor-quality products. Therefore, these regulations will be fundamental in handling the allegations that Shein produces low-quality products sold at low prices.
Product type
Consumers globally have accused Shein of producing offensive products such as Islamic prayer rugs as decorative mats and a necklace in the shape of a swastika as a Metal Pendant Necklace. These scenarios depict a company that’s is not diligent in its product creation and service provisions. The United Kingdom Unfair Trading regulations protect consumers from unfair commercial practices. Therefore, the law provides a ground for curbing incidences of production and release of products that consumers consider offensive.
Question Four: Product Adaptation
Product adaptation is essential in ensuring the products meet the local cultural and legal requirements. By definition, product adaptation is the process of modifying an existing product to meet the needs of consumers in a particular market. Customers’ preferences and competition conditions differ across countries. Thus, for international brands to be successful, it is essential to introduce product adaption in the overseas market. Product adaptation will be essential in meeting the cultural requirements of the overseas market and for the company’s competitive edge.
Cultural requirements in the overseas market play a significant role in the success of international brands’ products. Fundamentally, the multinational company should consider a country’s cultural beliefs before deciding on product standardisation or adaptation. Companies that offer industrial products, automobiles, and credit cards or products for the younger generation can succeed without product adaptation. These products are less cultural bounds. However, product adaptation is essential for companies that offer consumer products such as foodstuffs as these products are culture-bound. Cultural consideration is fundamental in the food industry’s decision in adopting product adaptation or standardisation. For example, international food companies operating in a Muslim culture will offer different foodstuff to subsidiaries of the international company in a Christian culture. Designing and adopting products that meet the cultural requirements of the overseas market plays a significant role in the success of international brands in these countries.
Secondly, product adaptation and standardisation play a vital role in the ability of an international company to gain a competitive edge in overseas markets. Product adaptation is an essential strategy in dealing with competitive threats and achieving a competitive advantage in overseas markets. For instance, companies can identify the aspects of their products to improve to eliminate threats and gain a competitive advantage. International companies that join overseas markets are venturing into markets with other already established companies; hence, adopting products that speak to members of that country is crucial for the success of the international companies. Competition is stiff in the food industry in most countries. A global brand joining this industry in an overseas market should consider product adaptation. Consumers tend to shy away from unfamiliar food products, hence, the need for companies to modify their products to fit the needs of the consumers in these industries.
Competition in the contemporary business world lies majorly on customer satisfaction. Therefore, this business needs to provide customers with products that satisfy their needs effectively. Price, quality standards, and consumers’ tastes and preferences differ across countries. International brands joining overseas markets should consider this as customers play a significant role in organisational success. For international companies joining the food industry overseas, product adaptation is crucial. Unlike other businesses, the success of the food industry depends entirely on customer satisfaction.
Question Six: Marketing by Attraction
Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty play a significant role in the success of international companies. However, attracting and retaining customers remains a significant challenge for money companies in the competitive and globalised economy. Multinational companies should adopt strategies that enhance customer attraction and retention. Most global companies adopt various marketing strategies to build customer base and loyalty. One of these strategies is marketing by attraction. By definition, marketing by attraction is a culmination of marketing efforts to draw customers to the company and brand. It involves adopting measures that show buyers the desirability of the products and set the company apart from competitors.
Companies can attract and build customers loyalty through inbound marketing. Business engages in inbound marketing, using social media such as blog posts to attract and keep customers informed about the brand. For instance, when a company consistently informs customers of its products, it will be their first choice when they need a product that aligns with the company. For example, the Home Depot company uses this strategy to draw customers and build loyalty. The company provides weekly classes on how to use their equipment. This keeps customers informed about the company and the product and aligns the company as the first choice when an individual needs such products.
Secondly, companies can develop attraction marketing through lead generation. Every day a new generation of consumers join the market; companies can create strategies that draw this group to their products before they begin the buyer’s journey. A company can share accessible and educational information about products that target individuals who are yet to join the purchase economy. This creates the companies’ products and brands on these people’s minds. For instance, a company can run a weekly advertisement that targets young adults but still inform them of its products to create awareness.
Attracting marketing involves appealing to the emotions of the consumers. To effectively achieve this strategy, companies should develop and share a story with the market, be accessible and visible to customers, and be a leader in the industry and society. Customers are the backbone of business success. Therefore, a business must develop strategies that draw customers to the company and brand.
References
Buttle, Francis, and Lars Groeger. 2017. “Who says what to whom in what channel? A rules
theoretic perspective on word-of-mouth marketing.” Journal of Marketing Management 33 (13-14): 1035-1059. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2017.1325390
Hunt, Shelby. 2018. “Advancing marketing strategy in the marketing discipline and beyond:
From promise, to neglect, to prominence, to fragment (to promise?).” Journal of Marketing Management 34 (1-2): 16-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2017.1326973