1.3 Product details
As mentioned before, Marks & Spencer is a famous retailer with all sorts of things, such as food, clothes, homeware, home furnishing, gifts, beauty and financial services. The high quality food and clothing are especially a distinguishing feature of the company. They has a number of faithful customers in England who only buy and wear this brand of clothes. From this we can see, high quality is Marks & Spencer’s consistent feature, although the price -- comparing to other supermarket retailers like TESCO and SAFEWAY -- might be a little higher, but customers won’t mind to pay a little more for a really good product. In some of the big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenchun, because there has lots of foreign capital companies and living lever is much higher than Chinese’s slandered lever, people’s life style are quite similar to western countries: quick, efficient, and value quality. If Marks & Spencer can have stores in these cities, the developing will be in a positive way.
Second Part The Target and the NCU Purchase Motivation
2.1 Identify the target
Chinese market is a very large market. In this market, even if you only get a little market share, that would be still a huge number. In another word, if it is difficult to occupy the whole market at the first time, just attract some particular person’s attention, and that will be enough to help you develop your market in the future. For instance, China has 1.4 billion population, 30% of them are young people, that equals to 420 million young people, and that number is more than 8 times of the population of England and Wales (which is nearly 50 million) today! Under this circumstance, Marks & Spencer can focus on young people and white-collars. Firstly, young generation would love to follow the fashion, and they hate things with lots of troubles. If they buy food from open market like their parents, they will have to deal with it: wash, cut and cook and waste lots of time. Supermarket provide ready meals, quick meals, and ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook fresh food, and they just cost a little more money than the open market, what do you think they are going to choose? Secondly, white-collars are usually very busy, sometime they may only be able to have one meal a day. If there is a convenient superstore near their office and they can buy quick but quality food there instead of expansive restaurant or working all day with hungry, there choices are also evidently.
2.2 Identity NCU purchase motivation
Marks and Spencer’s main new category users (NCU) are young generation and white-collars. These groups of customers are generally between age eighteen and forty, their common grounds usually are: high technology, skilled, intelligent and high income. They love fashion and new things. In order to attract these people’s attention, the best way is to advertise a lot first, then they will probably have a try, after they approve it, they will come back again and again. They will tell their friends and relatives their feelings about the brand. That purchase behaviour follows the ‘feel - learn - do’ sequence, and is a Hedonic Experiential Model. Although most Chinese housewives and mid-age people would still prefer open market, that is only because their habits and the traditional thoughts in their mind. After they find out the advantages of the supermarket and started to have a positive attitude to it, it will soon be accepted. And that would even enlarge the market in China.
Part three Marketing Communication & Marketing
Research
3.1 Communication modes
As supermarket like Marks & Spencer providing high quality food and other products is still a new enter in Chinese market, there has some basic offers which will include FAB below:
* Feature: providing new and quality products directly from Europe; weekly special offers: buy one get one free, 3 for 2, or discounts. These special offers will attract lots of new customers.
* Advantage: easy and convenient, quality guaranteed, affordable prices, it will bring a new concept of shopping, not only buying vegetables and meat and spend long time to deal with them, but also shopping can be a enjoyable activity, life made simple.
* Benefits: the target is mainly the young people and white-collar with fixed income. This group of people are interested in new things and fashion especially from aboard. They have been provided the opportunity to try different life styles, and because of their enthusiastic and active natural, they will bring more friends who will soon became brand’s customers as well.
3.2 Message decisions
Macro Level (X, Y, Z):
In Macro view, Marks & Spencer is differentiator in Chinese market, because Marks & Spencer brings a new conception of shopping. As stated in part one, Chinese market is completely different from Britain’s. In this situation, Marks & Spencer provides a new service. According to factors and analysis in part one, Marks & Spencer’s product’s features are average price and high quality services just what their customers need.
Mezzo Level (I, D, U):
* Importance: the new entry of the Marks & Spencer will help Chinese people feel the convenience of franchising and will change the traditional thought which grow deeply in most Chinese people’s mind -- go to supermarket not open market to by your vegetable and meet. New ideas, new needs and new wants will arise when the products being introduced.
* Delivery: customers will compare values and benefits between Marks and Spencer and local open market. Although prices cutting is not the main purpose of special offers, the message, which is to help people to be aware of the benefits, will be delivered to consumers and the purpose, which is to remind people the brand and awareness of the systematic sales, will be achieved.
* Uniqueness: The sales and services from Marks and Spencer are not totally new things to Chinese market, but the experience of service customers, the effective system, the high quality products are not imitable.
Micro Level (a, b, e):
* attribute: the attribute of Marks and Spencer is convenience supermarket selling general merchandise.
* benefit: because China has lots of manufactures and cheap work forces, if Marks and Spencer choose China itself as the place of goods’ production, them can cut the product’s price down and earn more profit; to the consumers, they can spend less money but still enjoy the high quality products. Both of the company and buyers can take the benefits.
* emotion: to communicate with your consumers, try to use emotional words and phrases, these will give them a positive and happy attitude.
3.3 Message Communications
As a message communication, it should emphasis benefits. For example: ‘We guarantee that we will provide the highest quality products with the lowest price.’ Other sentences like ‘No hassle shopping -- we will do it for you.’ can also appear in the communications.
Although the main target is young people, Marks and Spencer is not a fashionable store. Therefore avoid very exiting and gaudy words in the advertisements. Sincere and trustful advises may be more acceptable.
3.4 Market research
Market research is one of the most important element of doing a successful market entry, both before entry and after-sale research.
Before entering the new market, it is very necessary to do the enough research work. Different countries have different cultures, the elements of culture normally contains material culture, social institutions, human and the universe, aesthetics and language. If you don’t have a good understanding of the local culture, you may make wrong decisions and which will lead you to failure.
For Marks and Spencer company, Chinese marketing is not a really difficult and strange one, because it has already had franchising stores in Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore, these countries or places have very similar culture as China. If they can be successful in those places, to enter Chinese market shouldn’t be a problem.
After-sale research can have different methods. The most popular and efficient way is doing customer surveys. Prepare questionnaires which can reflect problems and disadvantages. This can help the company to improve itself and adjust the main product direction.
Conclusion
This report gives the main idea of as a international company like Marks and Spencer, how to successfully enter a new market. Before entering, sufficient marketing research is necessary; while entering, identify corporation goals and targets are very important, these will give you the direction of further developing; during the developing stage, using FAB grid and other marketing strategies to analyse the situation of the marketing; at the same time, don’t forget to get the feedback from customers, and make sure keep enough communications with them.
Bibliography
Bradley Frank, <International marketing strategy>, 3rd edition, by Redwood Books in 1999, ISBN 0-13-0100579
Peter Chisnall, <Marketing Research>, Published by McGraw-Hill Companies in 2001, ISBN 007709751 3
Philip R. Cateora and John L. Graham, <International Marketing>, Published by Gary Burke in 1999, ISBN 025625982 8
http://www.marksandspencer.com/
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/BUmarks.htm
http://www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/whoweare/our_history/index.shtml
