Reference no: EM132416496

Introduction to the Worksheets

You should aim to complete one worksheet a week.
In brief the purpose of each worksheet is as follows:
Worksheet 1: About the company and their marketing generally.
Worksheet 2: Customer profile of the company/product chosen.
Worksheet 3: Country profile of the country and/or region chosen.
Worksheet 4: PESTEL analysis of the market for the product in the country.
Worksheet 5: Current promotional activity of the company
Worksheet 6: Cultural analysis of the country
Worksheet 7: Current distribution strategy
Worksheet 8: Price & value proposition
Worksheet 9: Thoughts on either market entry or marketing improvements 

Worksheet 1

Name of Company:
Name of product:
Company head office (town & country):

Suggested information to look for:
- How is the company doing financially (trend)
- Performance of the product (search for data e.g. Passport, Mintel, Statista)
- Clues about strategy (Annual reports, news interviews, Marketing Week etc.)
- Is it already international (breakdown of revenue by home country vs. overseas, trend)
- What is its market share & trend?
- Who are its main rivals?
Opinions to form based on evidence:
- What is the orientation of the company/division/product
- Does it use the marketing concept
- What examples are there of the elements of the marketing mix in its home country
- Draw a SWOT for the company but attempt to list each item in the matrix in order of importance, based on what you found e.g. most important strength to least strength etc.

Worksheet 2

Thinking about the company/product chosen, look for research information like news reports, secondary sources like Statista or Mintel to draw up a profile of the kind of customers who buy/use the product.
Think about:
- Demographics
- Income
- Location (city/rural/mix?)
- Why they buy the product
- Any evidence about why they choose this rather than a competitor
- Any trends (changes) over the past few years
 
Worksheet 3

What country have you chosen?
(remember it cannot be your home country or the home country of the company you chose)

If it is a particularly large or diverse country you might want to choose a region. Note it here:
Now you need to build up a picture of that country. Issues to find out about:
- Population
- Demographic breakdown and trends
- Income, spending power and trends in wealth distribution
- Cultural beliefs and norms (e.g. status of women, ethnic breakdown, influence of religion
- Political system & stability
- Are there any cultural beliefs that are widespread e.g lucky/unlucky numbers or colours
- Any evidence of positive or negative feelings towards the country your product comes from
- Any legal issues, like protection of intellectual property, legal system that could help or harm a company
 
Worksheet 4

From the information you have found, build a PESTEL analysis of the country you have chosen from the point of view of your company/product. Remember PESTEL is a strategic (forward looking) tool, not just historical. Think about not just what, for example, are the issues now but are there any coming, e.g. new laws proposed, that could affect the product/company? This is where news sources are especially helpful.

Like the SWOT try to put each element within each category in order of importance and then think - which are the most important three and why do I think that?
 
Worksheet 5

Promotional mix
What promotional tools do the company currently use? Collect examples. Think about whether these have changed recently. If they are already active in the country you have chosen it would be helpful to compare what they do at home with what they do in that country. 

Worksheet 6

Now take what you have found about the country and the product and build a cultural profile using either the tools developed by Trompenaars or Hofstede. Remember these tools are designed to help you think about an opportunity. Therefore, don't just ‘fill in the boxes' but do it in relation to your company/product. Try to think all the time:
- Is this different to their home market
- How might this affect the opportunity for them and the way the use the marketing mix
- Are there any things they do now they should keep doing or change
 
Worksheet 7

Distribution
If the company is already in the country you have chosen, what is their distribution strategy? Do they use agents, wholesalers, distribute direct, franchise etc. Or a mixture? Is this appropriate? What are the strengths/limitations?

If they are not in the country, find out how they distribute in their home market. Find out how well developed the distribution channels are in your chosen country. Think about what the company has the capability to do and what is appropriate for the country.
 
Worksheet 8

Pricing
Look at their pricing in the home market and, if they are already there, in the chosen country. Are there differences? Why is this? Is it appropriate? Find out about relative wealth and spending power in the chosen country. How is the product priced compared to competitors in the home market and chosen country? What does this tell you about their positioning? If they are not in the chosen country, what do the main competitors charge. Think about what you might recommend for the company and why.

Worksheet 9

If the company/product is not in the country, look at and evaluate the different market entry strategies in the light of what you have found out. What do competitors do. What do you believe they should do and should the standardise or adapt any aspects of their marketing?

If they are in the country then bring all you have found out together and now try to think about improvements in any aspects of their operations and marketing. Have they changed their market entry mode since entering the country? Why/why not? Should they?

In both cases carry out a BERI risk analysis for the country chosen. This is a very useful tool in thinking through business risk.

You should now have everything you need (and more) to write your report. Think about not just what to put in, but what to leave out.