International Marketing 2

Assignment Task 1 (40% of marks) Recommend to Charlie Crow whether they should next enter either the German OR the French OR the Chinese market Assessment criteria In order to achieve a pass, you must: 1. Apply an appropriate and explicit model to inform your decision 2. Take a detailed account of the relevant factors relating to the business environment of these 3 countries 3. Use some academic text AND journal article references to underpin and justify your arguments In order to achieve a merit, you must fulfil the above, plus: 1. 1.Reference more widely 2. Demonstrate maturity AND depth of thought in evaluating the application of theory to Charlie Crow''s specific situation In order to achieve a distinction, you must fulfil the above, plus 1. Discuss and evaluate some alternative approaches to market selection Assignment Task 2 (40% of marks) Recommend and describe a market entry mode strategy for Charlie Crow into the market you have selected Assessment criteria In order to achieve a pass, you must: 1 Apply an appropriate and explicit model to inform your decision 2 Take a detailed account of the relevant factors relating to the business environment of 3 Use some academic text AND journal article references to underpin and justify your arguments In order to achieve a merit, you must fulfil the above, plus: 1. Reference more widely 2. Demonstrate maturity AND depth of thought in evaluating the application of theory to Charlie Crow's specific situation In order to achieve a distinction, you must fulfil the above, plus 1. Discuss and evaluate some alternative approaches to market entry mode selection Assignment Task 3 (20% of marks) Recommend a summarised positioning and branding strategy for Charlie Crow in the market you have selected Assessment criteria In order to achieve a pass, you must: 1 Apply appropriate and explicit models to frame your proposals 2 Use some academic text AND journal article references to underpin your models In order to achieve a merit, you must fulfil the above, plus: 1. Reference more widely 2. Demonstrate maturity AND depth of thought in evaluating the application of theory to Charlie Crow's specific situation In order to achieve a distinction, you must fulfil the above, plus 1. Discuss and evaluate some alternative approaches to positioning & branding Charlie Crow Party Shop Supplies Ltd Charlie Crow is the registered brand name for Party Shop Supplies which began business in 1985 as a partnership between husband and wife Bernard and Sue Crowder. In 1995 it became a Limited company. By 2005 their sons, Charles and Peter, had joined the company and intend to continue growing the family business. The company designs and manufactures, using batch production methods, children's costumes and accessories. Owing to increased demand and limited production capacity in its factory in Stoke-on-Trent, since 2005 50% of production is made in the UK and 50% outsourced to manufacturers in China The products have two different aspects to them. Firstly, they may be worn purely for fun in fancy dress party situations or for celebrations such as Christmas, Easter and Halloween. Secondly, they can play an important part in children's education. This may occur, for example, in historical role play or by encouraging children to express themselves through role play and to stimulate creativity. Charlie Crow prides itself on its attractive and innovative designs but, unlike its competitors, it does not offer licensed character costumes such as Elvis Presley costumes for adults marketed by Smiffys. This denies some opportunities but it eliminates the risks of loss of licences and changes in fashion. Charlie Crow sees another competitive advantage in its strengths in understanding and responding to a continual barrage of legislative change, mainly associated with product safety. A macro ‘PEST' analysis, based mainly on the UK, undertaken by the company suggests that social, technological and economic environmental forces in the dressing up / children's costume business are generally positive as shown below, while environmental and legal trends may generally pose threats (though, as noted above, these can be turned into opportunities). Social - An increasing number of mothers who go out to work are time poor/cash rich - Mothers no longer have practical sewing skills - More schools use costumes as interactive learning tools - People believe role play improves social skills - Society has more money to spend on children Technological - Widespread use of internet makes our products available to a wider audience - Website & sales order systems integration improves cost efficiency in handling all accounts Economic - People will spend money on their children even in difficult economic circumstances - Exchange rates currently good for imports and good for export into Europe Environmental - Increasing cost of waste disposal - Increasing awareness of environmental issue - Costumes are made from man made materials (see political below) therefore are not as sustainable as natural fabrics Legal - Children's costumes are governed by EU toy safety regulations - Consequences of flammability requirements means natural fibres cannot be used. - Toy testing is expensive - Regulations continually changing – new toy safety regulations to be introduced July 2011. A short analysis of the competition is provided below Nature of competitors The number of independent costume producers have decreased substantially in Europe over the past 20 years. Many independent producers in Europe have been bought to create global organisations. Cesar of France, Rubies of USA, Smiffys UK are the main players. The result is a few large multi national companies and few small producers in individual countries. Objectives /strategies of competitors Smiffy's, a UK based company, is now trying to expand their market base throughout the world by offering low price products in limited styles and sizes. All three main competitors focus on licensed global character costumes. Strengths/weaknesses of competitors Strengths - Large buying power - Large marketing budgets - Deep market penetration - Good corporate displays at trade shows - Good use of trade press Weaknesses - Need to sell products in high volume - Long lead times - Sell out of popular items, leading to customer frustration - Some appear to be financially extended E-commerce - Most competitors now have some kind of presence on the web, not all have e-trading facilities. Some offer drop deliveries, Marketing Channels Charlie Crow uses a variety of marketing channels in the UK: - Directly to the public in the UK and rest of the world via e-commerce websites, www(dot)charliecrow(dot)com www(dot)party-shop(dot)co(dot)uk www(dot)costumes4kids(dot)co(dot)uk www(dot)costumesforkids(dot)co(dot)uk - Through distributors of school products - Directly to schools and nurseries through direct mailing - B2B to party retailers and etailers via the trade websites www(dot)charliecrowtrade(dot)com www(dot)charliecrowtrade(dot)co(dot)uk - Through Wholesalers of party products - Mail order retailers (mainly toy catalogues) - Through dance school suppliers. - Direct to dance schools There are a number of advantages to this multi-channel strategy e.g. - Charlie Crow sells at a range of prices allowing a good spread of manufacture, distributor and retailer profit margins. - Customer base is wide and diverse which spreads risks of market downturn in specific sectors - Charlie Crow can efficiently service both small and volume customers Of particular benefit to trade customers is Charlie Crow's ‘drop shipment' service which means web based costume resellers do not have to carry stock themselves but have access to the entire range of Charlie Crow all of which is stocked in Stoke. Marketing Communications Trade customers come through recommendation, internet searches and from the International Spring Fair and Nuremberg Toy Fair where the company exhibits each year. Charlie Crow also produces a new trade catalogue each year in January. A new trade and retail website was launched in 2010 offering greater opportunities for international orders from both retail and trade customers. The websites will continue to be updated on a regular basis. Charlie Crow undertakes a limited amount of promotional activity. In the UK, this consists mainly of periodic advertisements in the trade magazines Party Party and Progressive Party and an annual mailshot direct to Primary schools. This includes £50 of product free of charge if schools forward a letter to parents which puts the case for the educational benefits through imaginative play resulting from dressing up. International Marketing In terms of international marketing activity, Charlie Crow participates in trade exhibitions, as noted above, trade missions, and conducts overseas market research, taking advantage of the OMIS (Overseas Market Introduction Service) facility. Thus far, the focus has been on Scandinavia (particularly Norway, Sweden and Denmark) but expansion into France, Germany and China is now being considered. Associated decisions include whether some form of export, contractual or FDI entry mode strategy should be used and whether the branding may need adaptation PRODUCTION SALES/WAREHOUSING please Note: the lecturer wants a unique model by dapting different authors models to create a unique model for charlie crow entry mode however, i intend to choosing germany.