Question:
Discuss about the International Marketing Mix Strategies of The Lion Pty Limited.
As inferred from the previous assignments, The Lion Pty Limited has been working in the food and beverage industry for a decade of years now. This organization has started its operations from Australia and gradually expanded into New Zealand. The Company provides premium products of dairy, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. The Company is trying to achieve more international fame and name, by thinking to venture into the South Africa markets. The markets in South Africa are a persistent hub for the beverage industry. The beverage industry in Africa is controlled by the monopolistic economy. The establishment of the business in the African markets will help the company in achieving its objectives. In order to achieve the goals, the organization has analyzed the markets of the beverage industry in Africa. The company aims at targeting the middle age group and the youngsters in order to achieve goodwill and capture more and more of clients in the emerging markets. The competitor analysis is done, where it was found that Coca Cola is the biggest rival in the beverage industry for the various other companies. The markets in Africa cause a threat to the venture of the Lion Pty Limited due to the legislative measures and rules and regulations of the country on the import of the sugary drinks in the country. The SWOT analysis too helped out in determining the core competencies and opportunities for the organization to expand their business in the international market. The analysis has helped in outlining the marketing strategies required for the organization to expand their business in the foreign country. The main focus of this report is to outline the marketing objectives of the organization that it can achieve over a period of 12 months. Also, by understanding the marketing mix strategy of the organization, critical understanding is taken in order to formulate the strategic recommendations according to the standardization and adaptation of the strategies. The study further highlights the plan in order to administer, measure and control the international marketing strategy deployed for the Lion Pty Limited while expanding their business in the South African markets (Agency, 2015).
The objectives for the organization refer to as the goals and targets of the organization. The objectives can be related to the sales, marketing and financial objectives. This part of the report highlights the objectives of the Lion Pty Limited that it can achieve and should achieve for a period of the first 12 months while venturing the markets of the beverage industry in South Africa. The organization aims at determining the objectives according to the SMART goals, i.e., the goals will be set that are highly specific, measurable, attainable in the particular time frame of 12 months, accurate and realistic. Following are the objectives of the organization in context with the plan originated in order to enter the international markets along with the domestic markets:
Thereby, these are objectives, which can be achieved by the organization in the first 12 months of its operation in the South African market. Such objectives are highly attainable and can be accomplished by the Lion Pty Limited in the coming first year of its business in the international market. With the help of its retained growth and goodwill and also with the help of its premium and unique beverages, the organization can certainly achieve such sales and financial objectives easily. The above stated objectives will help the organization in facing the competition from the industrial rival firm, i.e., Coca Cola Company.
The marketing mix strategy refers to as the set of tactical tools and techniques that are controlled according to the market situation in order to increase the customer base. The tools are used in order to attract the targeted audience. It refers to all the practices that an organization can take in order to uplift the demand for its products in the concerned market. When establishing the business in the new markets and country, the marketing mix strategy must inculcate some strategic recommendations that will help in standardizing and adapting the domestic as well as the international markets. The Lion Pty Limited will have to consider, which elements of the marketing mix should be standardized and which to be adapted. Standardization of the marketing mix provides advantages and disadvantages to the organization. It provides a greater volume of sales, goodwill, lower cost and a better brand image across the world (Meyer & Bernier, 2010). When the organization aims at launching a new product or establishing itself in the new market, the adaptation of the marketing mix is preferred. Following are the recommendations for the marketing mix:-
Product: The product offered by the Lion Pty Limited is the tangible product with unique packaging. The product is the ice cream, milk and yogurt that will be offered in the international markets. The standardized approach can be adopted when the tastes and preferences of the customers in the domestic and the international market are same. But, the culture and taste difference is too huge between South Africa and Australia that the company, can rely on the standardized approach by inducing the customers for it produces. The certain modifications can be done regarding the color of the product, design, packaging and etc. This will help the Lion Pty Limited in increasing the sales and providing better customer services both in the domestic as well as in the international market (Valassis & Rsen, 2013).
Price: The price for the products depend on the brand and the volume of the product purchased. The organization must consider the advantages and disadvantages of Standardization and Adaptation. The standardization refers to the process of setting the fixed amount of price in all the regions of the market across the globe. But, This type of strategy is suitable for the B2B business. Thereby, the company must adopt the adaptation strategy in order to fix the prices according to the factors prevailing in the foreign market. The competitive situation, tariff barriers and legislative measures, customer preferences in the foreign market drives to obtain the adaptation strategy in the South African market. This will help the organization in fixing the prices according to the situation in the domestic as well as the international market (Zou, Andrus, & Norvell, 1997). The standardization approach is not recommended for the foreign market in context to this element of the marketing mix. Although adapting the price strategy is sensitive, but will help the organization in achieving its organizational goals and objectives easily and permissibly.
Promotion: This is the third element of the marketing mix strategy. This strategy aims at using the promotional activities like media advertising, personal selling, public relations, sales promotions and etc, in order to induce the customers to buy the particular product of the organization. The advertising message of the Lion Pty Limited organization will depend on the culture, language, nature, regional, economic values and media availability in the countries. At present, the organization promotes in Australia and New Zealand. The company is planning to venture into the markets of South African countries, where the language and religion of the customers is different from the customers in their domestic market (CIM, 2009). Therefore, the recommendation for the Lion Pty Limited organization is to adopt the adaptation strategy. This strategy will not change the whole advertising message, but will bring certain modifications according to the language and other factors of the South African market. Also, this is recommended as this is a highly cost effective strategy for any modification or adaptation according to the situational factors of the country will not cost must in promoting the products. This will help the organization in achieving the target of inducing more and more of customer base.
Place: This is the element where the distribution of the product takes place with the help of an effective design and channels of distribution that helps in enabling the product at a particular place on a particular time to the right buyer. For adopting the strategy of standardization and adaptation, the firm must first understand the distribution channels available in the country. It is very difficult to adopt the same channels as the domestic market. The distribution channels are the most important component in the marketing mix. It is recommended to ascertain the several factors such as the customer, the product and the culture in the South African market. The Lion Pty Limited must understand the factors like distribution infrastructure, disposable incomes and purchasing habits of the customers in the foreign market. Since, it is found that the distribution is highly at the place of colleges and universities where the population of youth is higher, thereby, the standardized technique can also be used. The standardized technique of inclusive distribution must be followed by the organization in the international market. It will help in increasing sales along with the increase in the customer recognition (Batraga & Puke, 2015). Also, this strategy is ideal for the beverage products, which will help in capturing the international market.
Thus, it is clear that the organization must use certain generic strategies and also should adopt new strategies in order to venture its operations in the South African market. The organization can adopt the standardization strategy in elements like distribution and product, whereas must adopt the adaptation strategy in the elements like price and promotion.
It is very important for the organizations to plan the process for managing, measuring and controlling the global marketing strategies in order to create a flexible structure that helps the organization in facing the differences of the new markets, where the organization has started its operations. The three aspects will be considered in the report (Nartoma, 1998).
Managing: This refers to the planning and implementation of the strategy in the organization. The proper working environment according to the international set up must be organized in order to support the employees of the international market. The plan for executing the activities in the organization is implemented. The marketing program is also implemented according to the generic and adapted strategies. After the marketing program is implemented, the tactical details are recognized and arranged in order to execute effective working in the organization. The international marketing manager will look after all the men and material. He will aim at managing and organizing the activities according to the strategies of the international marketing effort.
Measuring: Once, the plan is organized and implemented in the Lion Pty Limited, The manager will aim at measuring the targeted performance with the present performance of the operations. Oversight will be provided by the manager in order to perform the activities according to the supervision. The working environment is ensured according to the needs of the employees. The work in the organization is continuously monitored. The employees are motivated and trained according to the needs of the organization in order to perform the tasks. The organizational relationships are measured with the customers in order to build more and effective customer relations (FAO, 2013).
Controlling: This plan aims at ensuring the performance and behavior of the employees and operations, according to the plans of the organization. The control is established in order to ascertain any kind of deviations in the organizational performance. The organization should establish standards in order to overcome the problems of deviations. If any kind of deviations are found, the reason behind such deviations are ascertained. Accordingly the corrective actions must be incorporated in the Lion Pty Limited organization. The control is must in the organization as this helps in enabling effective working in the organization. Also, by setting the standards, the goals will be achieved by the organization, whether in the domestic market or in the international market.
Thereby, this is the plan for managing, measuring and controlling the international marketing efforts made by the Lion Pty Organization in order to expand and venture the beverage markets of the South Africa. This plan will help in maintaining control in the operations of the company (Schrage, 2015).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above analysis, that the Lion Pty Limited can achieve the marketing objectives in a period of 12 months with the help of strategies adopted as stated in the previous assignment. The positioning strategy and generic strategies will help in achieving the organizational goals of the Lion Pty Limited. The marketing mix strategy is the most component of achieving the tasks in the global market. The standardization vs the adaptation concept in the elements of the marketing mix has been deeply analyzed. The elements of the marketing mix have been discussed according to the appropriate strategy while making a venture in the international market. The proper strategic recommendations have been stated for the company to adopt the adaptation strategy or the standardization strategy while making the use of elements of the marketing mix. Further, the study involves the plans relating to the organizing, measuring and controlling the efforts made by the Lion Pty Limited in establishing its business in the international market. A complete and appropriate plan has been depicted in order to achieve its targets and goals. Thereby, the complete study will assist the organization in developing its operations in the international market.
References
Agency, N. T. (2015). Food and beverage manufacturing industry report. Retrieved from https://www.ntarestore.org/images/PDF/Research/New_Survey/Sector-Survey-Report-Food-Beverage-New.pdf
Batraga, A., & Puke, I. (2015). Integrating standardisation/adaptation in international marketing strategies. Retrieved from https://llufb.llu.lv/conference/economic_science_rural/2015/Latvia_ESRD_40_2015-27-36.pdf
CIM. (2009). Marketing and the 7P’s: A brief summary of marketing and how it works. Retrieved from https://www.thensmc.com/sites/default/files/CIM%207Ps%20Resource.PDF
FAO. (2013). Organising, Planning And Controlling Global Marketing Operations. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/docrep/W5973E/w5973e0h.htm
Meyer, E., & Bernier, I. (2010). Standardizing or Adapting the Marketing Mix across Culture. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:326017/fulltext01
Nartoma. (1998). Planning, organization, and control of global marketing operations. Retrieved from https://ebooks.narotama.ac.id/files/Global%20Marketing%20Management%20(5th%20Edition)/Chapter%2017%20Planning,%20Organization,%20And%20Control%20Of%20Global%20Marketing%20Operations.pdf
O’Brien, T. (2016). State of the industry: essential information- facts and figures. Ernst & Young. Retrieved from https://www.afgc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/AFGC_State-of-the-Industry-2016.pdf
Pfitzer, M., & Krishnaswamy, R. (2007). The role of the food and beverage sector in expanding economic opportunity. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ivc/docs/UnileverandProjectNovella.pdf
Schrage, C. (2015). Planning, Implementing, and Controlling Marketing Strategies. Retrieved from https://uni.edu/~schragec/Chapter%202.pdf
Valassis, K., & Rsen, Y. (2013). Adaptation/Standardization of SMEs’ Marketing Mix Elements across borders. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.se/smash/get/diva2:630818/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Zou, S., Andrus, D., & Norvell, D. (1997). Standardization of international marketing strategy by firms from a developing country. International Marketing Review, 14(2), 107-123. Retrieved from https://www.business.missouri.edu/zou/Resume/zou-andrus-norvell1997IMR.pdf
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