Assessment topic: International market assessment, selection and market entry report for the U.K.
Prepare a comparative international market assessment. You will select a market and develop an appropriate entry strategy. The assignment will provide you with experience in formulating an international marketing entry strategy, taking into account international environments within the context and limitations of the Subject. It is your opportunity to put into practice the content of this Subject.
ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
INTRODUCTION
On the 1st January, 1973 the United Kingdom (U.K.) joined the European Community, the precursor to the European Union (EU). On 23rd June, 2016, a majority of U.K. voters voted to leave the European Union.
The likely outcomes of this decision are firstly, that the UK will no longer enjoy tariff-free status on the exports of its products to other EU member countries and secondly, the EU countries will no longer enjoy tariff-free status on the exports of their products to the U.K.
The broad objectives of this assignment are firstly to identify if, and which, Australian food products can feasibly replace EU exports to the UK, given a number of assumptions which are listed below and secondly, to prepare an international marketing plan for a selected Australian product for the UK market.
You are required to compare the retail prices of food products in the UK and Australia from the online websites of UK and Australian supermarkets, such as in the UK: Tesco or Aldi UK and in Australia: Coles
PART A
- Step 1
The main food product categories (by value) exported from the EU to the UK are (not in order of significance): fruit and vegetables, meat, cereals, dairy and eggs, fish, coffee/ tea/ cocoa etc., oils. (excluding beverages).
In each of 4 of these categories, Identify the highest value EU food product currently exported to the U.K.
List the exporting country and value of exports to the UK for each of those 4 products.
- Step 2
Identify the retail prices of these 4 food products, excluding beverages (identify food product, brand (if applicable) , weight/packet size (if applicable), price) currently sold in the U.K. at one London Tesco supermarket.
- Step 3
Convert these retail prices to AUD prices using the exchange rate in assumption 3.
- Step 4
Identify equivalent Australian retail prices of the 4 food products from Step 1 (where possible identify the same brand and weight or packet size, if applicable) and compare with the UK retail prices.
- Step 5
List the main Australian processed food manufactures:
- Step 6 (Choose One from Four)
Guided by step 4 above, market research information available on Passport Euromonitor and Marketline (electronic databases available via the LTU library) and IBIS reports (in assignment resources), choose one product (guided by the 4 products you identified in Step 2) to prepare an international marketing plan to export to the U.K.
You then need to select an Australian headquartered manufacturer (guided by IBIS reports) (excluding the Made Group or Made Pty Ltd) of that product and prepare an international marketing plan for that product for export to the UK (excluding European and U.S. MNCs such as Kraft and Nestle). You must obtain the approval of your tutor/instance coordinator on your choice of product and company.
Step 7:
Exchange Rate Analysis
(i) If all assumptions except assumption 3 are fixed, what GBP/EUR exchange rate is required to make your selected Australian food product a feasible export to the U.K (that is, within 10 per cent of the UK price)?
(ii) If all assumptions except assumption 4 are fixed, what GBP/AUD exchange rate is required to make your selected Australian food product a feasible export to the U.K? (i.e. within 10 per cent of the UK price)
PART B
Proposed structure
Your plan should include the following sections and sub-sections as a minimum:
- Executive Summary:
Present key findings from your analysis, a summary of your major r ecommendations and key outcomes (write this last as a summary to an introduction).
- Table of Contents:
Include page numbers.
- Introduction:
Provides the reader with an understanding of the purpose of the project, its scope and structure.
- Company and Product Analysis:
Provide an analysis of the business and product performance from a domestic perspective. This discussion should provide some information about the competitive advantages that the business might leverage in international markets.
You should:
- Briefly indicate company/product experience
- What are the aims of the company?
- How has the company been faring in the last three years or so?
- What is the product and what needs does it satisfy?
- Who is the target market for the product in the domestic market?
- How has the product been performing?
- What distribution channels/promotion/pricing have been used in home market?
- Does the company have sufficient resources to go overseas?
- Country and Product Market Attractiveness:
Analyse the UK market assessing the dynamic and competitive nature of the product market within that country: To do this you should undertake a macro-environmental analysis of the country in question and then undertake a detailed market analysis of the chosen product market. Pay attention to the purchasing power of the customers in your chosen overseas market.
- Political, cultural, economic, social and technological environments:
Assess the macro environment of the country. Ask: What are the similarities and differences between Australia and the UK, in terms of these macro-environmental factors using the Politiacal Economic Social and Technological framework?:
How might these similarities and differences influence your marketing strategy in your country and product market?:
Price:
What are the key drivers of price?
• Product Market Analysis:
- What is the size of the UK market?
- Is it growing and if so at what rate?
- Are there clear and distinct segments within the market? What are the sizes and relative growth rates of these segments?
- At what phase is the market in relation to the product lifecycle?
- To what extent is the market supplied by local & foreign sources?
- Which are the sources of foreign supply?
- What are the major forms of marketing channels (distribution) used within the product market?
- Competitor Analysis:
- Are there competitors in that market? (local and foreign)
- What form of competitors are these: company size and product range/features/quality?
- How many competitors are there in the market?
- Who are the competitors and how do they operate?
- Where do you see your company compared to those competitors (cost or differentiation strategies and positioning)?
- Analyse and report the pricing position of competitors, both domestic and foreign. (Hint: use online retail sites
- What are the chosen company's strengths in comparison to the competitors? Distribution Analysis:
- How are the products distributed in the target market? i.e. which distribution channels are typically used?
• Buyer Analysis:
- Assess buyer behaviour within the identified market segments through consumer analysis.
- Identify and describe your target market segmentation strategies.
- Market Selection with Justification and Opportunity Statement:
Briefly outline the major opportunities, some of them will come from summarizing the above points (for example: competitors may be weak in an area and you may find it necessary to fill in the gap or you could be satisfying latent needs).