INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

International Marketing



International Marketing

Executive summary

Marketplaces and marketing practices have gradually turned more international and managers throughout the world face the challenge of executing their plans and decisions keeping in view a wide array of national and international marketing environmental variables. For sustainable growth and survival, it is crucial for organisations to understand the complexity and diversity of international marketing and acquire skills and aptitudes for effectively competing internationally. The demand for the recently turned convenience goods like chocolate has been steadily rising both in the west and now the east. Rococo, a chocolate manufacturer since 1983, is considering targeting a number of new international markets. In 2007, Rococo made a joint venture with Grenada chocolate company and the business volume has had tremendous growth since then. This paper presents an initial marketing plan for Rococo's global expansion. The paper first presents the objectives of going global, followed by the prevailing marketing environment for the chocolate industry. The expansion will start with China, the country that represents about a fifth part of the world's population. The reason to start with China is obvious: China is no more an economy where state's choices influence consumer choices. A marketing strategy has been drawn keeping in view the studied marketing environment of China. Particular emphasis is placed on identification of existing and future market potential. Finally an action plan is drawn highlighting the course of the expansion strategy.

Objectives

The basic goal of expanding Rococo's market overseas is to ensure that potential buyers of our chocolates respond positively to the offer of the company, and this could only be possible by maintaining customer focus in our market plan. Defining objectives in terms of sales alone is incorrect because there are many aspects that affect the realisation of sales. It is therefore more appropriate to determine the objectives of organisational and marketing expansion in terms of communication. In the countries where the majority of the population is under 25 years of age, the demand for chocolate has been tremendous. In Asian countries especially over 60% of the population belongs to this group (Pride, W. & Ferrell, O. C. (2008). There appears to be a wide range of customers, ranging from youth to seniors, we also find all types of socioeconomic and cultural level. Therefore, Rococo's targeting strategy should be the youths in these countries. In countries like India and China, chocolate (amongst other confectionary) has been a product for use in parties and gifts until very recently. Rococo should therefore create a brand image of its chocolate and build consumer perception that its chocolate is not necessarily a luxury and could be an economic, health friendly and easy way to celebrate as well as a wholesome dessert for regular consumption. The plan must therefore have these main objectives: - Communicate the appearance of our products. - Create an image of the company. - Raise awareness and support our sales promotions. - Create a brand preference. - Persuade the consumer to buy ...