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Bee Change Hang International Marketing Plan Prepared for : CEO of Bee Change Hang Executive Summary This report is made in order to investigate the market conditions in the United States whether our product is well accepted in the US market or not. Recently, an economic crisis has occurred in the US since 2008, despite the great number of GAP. However, we believe that Bee Change Hang will have the opportunity to do well in US market. In this report, we try to investigate the US market demand for our product, Bee Change Hang by implementing the STEEP, SOOT and marketing analysis.
Based on what we mound, we still found ways for Bee Change Hang to have opportunities to do well in US markets. Various examples include the fact that most of Americans are Christians thus are viable to most types of meats, Bee Change Hang being the first to enter America market, Most American’s love of meat and Chinese food as well as Bee Change Hang’s products containing natural ingredients and no MS and most American’s willingness to spend on food and snacks. Based on our report and our analysis, we believe it is possible for Bee Change Hang to do well in US market.
A new market that is suitable for Bee Change Hang is North America. In this report, we will discuss about the exports of Bee Change Hang to North America, to be more specific, USA. . 0 Business Environment 2. 1 STEEP Analysts The United States is a large country consisting of fifty states with a population of 313,847,465 Lully 2012 Est. ). (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013) The main language used in the United States is English with 82. 1% of the populating using English as their first language, 10. 7% using Spanish while the remaining 7. 2% speaking other languages (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013).
Being marketed in both English and Chinese in Singapore, this would be an advantage when marketing, Bee Change Hang would not need to risk mistranslating when trying to market our products. Technology is one of the most powerful forces in society today. Because of it, Bee Change Hang can sell its products all over the world. The US being one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world has very efficient transportation methods, which includes more then 15,000 airports, railways, roads, as well with waterways with advanced vehicles used for transportation (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013).
Technology has also helped improve packaging and extend various food products’ shelf life as Bee Change Hang can now vacuum seal their products to preserve and store their products for longer periods of time. The US is the country with the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a GAP per capita of $49,800 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). In the market-oriented US economy, business firms and private individuals have the freedom to make most decisions while the state governments buy need products and services mainly from the private marketplace.
Despite the high GAP per capita, the US like many other countries in the world is still recovering from the 2008 economic crisis thus this may affect sales of the products Bee Change Hang is offering as their main products are snacks and are not essential products. Today, people care a lot about the environment, thus the way we cook and package our product must be very environmentally friendly. The US, unlike Singapore, experiences the four seasonal changes.
This may affect purchasing patterns and utilizations in demand o Bee Change Hangs products As there are fifty different states in the united states, there are different trade laws Bee Change Hang has to look out for when trying to sell its products, thus when importing as well as selling its products, companies have to be aware of the political factors such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs ND political stability. The US has a “Free Trade Area” agreement with various countries including Singapore (U. S.
Department of State, 2013), the “United States- Singapore Free Trade Agreement” (SAFETY) aims to allow free trade between the two countries by reducing or eliminating tax tariffs between the two nations, this encourage and improve competitiveness import and export trades between countries by lowering costs of doing business in the two countries (Singapore FAT network, 2012). This would be an advantage for Bee Change Hang when entering the US market. 2. 2 SOOT Analysts 2. 2. 1 Strengths Bee Change Hang has a long history and is well known in Singapore, Malaysia and China.
It is also a leading player in the Asia ‘s highly competitive food industry. Also, Bee Change Hangs products contain 100% natural materials, no MS, no preservatives, no artificial coloring, thus are healthy to consume. Bee Change Hang only has a narrow product range “Bake”, pork/chicken floss and various other Chinese snacks. Also, Bee Change Hangs products are mainly Chinese food from the Chinese culture, thus consumers may be limited to only Chinese snacks when shopping at Bee Change Hang.
This group of people consist of “baby boomers” and people part of “generation X”, these people are now either parents or grandparents and tend to care more about their families as well as have high spending power, thus they would be more willing to buy our products too share with their family or as gifts to loved ones and friends. In America some of the most popular food are: Italian food, Chinese food and Thai food.
Because most American people like or are open to Chinese food and the demand of meat is great in America, Bee Change Hangs product has the opportunity to do well in the US market. The chart below shows us that in America, other then housing and transportation, food is another large expenditure; it costs US consumers an average of $6,133 per year. An average of $3,465 of that is spent on food that is consumed at home, and $2,668 of it is spent on food consumed away from home (U. S. Dept of Labor. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , 2009).
It can be concluded from this chart that the American people willing to spend the money to buy food and for this reason, there would be demand for Bee Change Hangs products in US. Fig. L The Spending Habits of Americans The following chart shows the spending habit of Americans (U. S. Dept of Labor. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , 2009) 3. 0 Marketing strategy The Objectives of the marketing strategy plan is to help Bee Change Hang strategies and focus its resources on opportunities to meet the goal of increasing sales as well as sustaining a competitive advantage in the market.
The market strategy will help Bee Change Hang choose its target market, market positioning as well as identity company’s marketing mix in order to enter and penetrate the US market. 3. 2 Target Market Bee Change Hangs target market will be segmented into cryptographic, demographic and behavioral segments. On the aspect of cryptographic and demographic segmentation, Bee Change Hang’s products have always emphasized on family, love as well as suitability of its products for people of all age groups.
Thus Bee Change Hangs products would mainly target families aged between 31- 65 who are mostly baby boomers and people under the “generation X” category who values the importance family love and bonding during festive seasons and other occasions and would buy the products to share or as gifts for their loved ones and friends (Gary Armstrong, 2013) whilst targeting the smaller segment of younger individuals aged between 18-30 who buys the products for self-consumption.
On the behavioral segmentation aspect, American families tend to gather during special occasions such as thanksgiving, Christmas and the to celebrate New Year. During such gatherings with friends and families, they usually snack and feast together whilst celebrating the occasion. Bee Change Hangs products would fit perfectly in occasions and gatherings, as they promote family love, bonding between friends and family and are ready to consume once purchased. 3. 3 Market Positioning Bee Change Hang aims to project an image of love, friendship, and happiness when consuming its products in the minds potential consumers.
When entering the US market, Bee Change Hang would aim to position itself as a provider of perfect high quality Chinese culture based snacks for special occasions that promote family love and bonding as well as a perfect snack for casual consumption by individuals and implies in the US. Bee Change Hang’s products are priced slightly higher then its competitors, as the ingredients used are of top quality and the slightly higher pricing projects an image of higher quality when compared to competing products.
Coupled with the uniqueness of this product from the Chinese culture, the pricing would reflect an exotic high quality product that symbolizes the importance and value of family and loved ones. Bee Change Hangs products are packaged in red to symbolize good luck and family happiness and at the same time provide positive energy when shopping or purchasing its products. . 4 Marketing Mix Bee Change Hangs main selling product is the “Bake,” a Chinese Jerky-like dried meat product.
The “Bake” is a very popular choice of gift amongst family, friends and even corporate employees in Singapore not only during festive seasons like the Chinese New Year but also during gatherings through out the year. Bee Change Hang also sells other types of Chinese snacks such as pork, chicken or beef floss In Singapore, Bee Change Hangs outlets can be found scattered all around the island, from shopping malls to various shop house stores near Chinatown and other various actions to reach our target audiences who frequently shop at these places.
In the US, we would follow a similar strategy, opening outlets at shopping malls that most people frequent to maximize exposure of our unique product to the people of the United States. We would also open some outlets at certain places in the US which we feel there would be demand for out products such as places like Chinatown. Bee Change Hangs products are made from 100% natural ingredients and are of high quality thus a higher pricing for its products.
In Singapore, 1 goof Bee Change Hangs main selling product the “Bake” costs $40-$SWAGS depending on type of meat and flavors, in the US however, because of the exoticness and uniqueness of Bee Change Hang’s products, the costs of Bee Change Hang’s products would be marked up slightly to take advantage of the uniqueness of the product. Also, the higher pricing would give an impression of the high quality products that Bee Change Hangs provides for them and their family.
When entering the US market, a sales promotion strategy can be implemented to penetrate the market. A sales promotion would raise awareness of our products as ell as provide an incentive for consumers to give our products a try, as our product is unique to the US market. Advertising will also be done to create product awareness of Bee Change Hangs products. Furthermore, these advertisements could be done in conjunction with the sales promotion to further create awareness of the product through word of mouth of the promotion as well as experiences of the product. . 0 Implementation and Control As suggested in the marketing strategy, outlets would first be opened in shopping malls and other designated areas that target audiences frequent. A sales promotion loud first be used coupled with media advertising to penetrate the US market and create brand and product awareness. The first step when trying to penetrate the market would be to create brand and product awareness even before entering the market through advertising.
Media advertising methods would include TV advertisements, advertisements and reviews by food and culture magazines as well as online advertisements on US based food and culture related websites. These would advertisements would be implemented a month before entering the US market to create awareness and aim to create hype following our entering of the market. Upon entering the US market, continuous media advertisements would used to further create awareness of our products as well as support the sales promotion strategy that would be used on the first month of our outlet’s opening.
The second step would be to decide and open outlets in the US, as the US is a very large country, outlets would first be opened in “New Yore, the capital tot the United S because in New York, there is a saturated population with high spending power. Outlets will be opened at various ideal locations such as in New Work’s “Manhattan Mall” as it is a mall home to many stores not local to the US, thus would be an ideal hooch for our outlets to first start off as well as New Work’s Chinatown in Manhattan to also target locals and Chinese living in the US.
After opening outlets at various ideal locations, the last step would involved a sales promotion strategy that will be implemented for the first month of our outlet’s opening to create awareness and entice potential customers to try and purchase the products offered. Various promotion used would be direct discounts as well as coupons. Sampling would also be provided for customers to try out Bee Change Hangs range of products, as they would be unique to the US market. . 2 Control Control measures will be implemented in the case of ineffectiveness of our marketing plan.
Upon entering the US market, sales figure would be recorded daily to track sales growth. Also, because there would be employees of different culture in the company as Bee Change Hang expands globally, cultural control will also be practiced to ensure the establishment shared values among all members of the firm. 5. 0 Conclusion Although Bee Change Hang is well established in Singapore, Malaysia and China, it needs a market penetration strategy to expand globally and into the US.
The US is a market with immense potential for Bee Change Hang as the cryptographic aspect of Americans is very similar to that of Singapore in the way that they value family and special occasions. However, because Bee Change Hang is entering an entirely new market outside of Asia, there is a certain degree of uncertainty when trying to penetrate into the market and whether the products offered would be accepted as they are from Chinese origin. Thus, Bee Change Hang has to review and develop solutions to address this weakness when entering the US market. 6. 0 Recommendations
Therefore to successfully penetrate and enter the US market, Bee Change Hang should: Improve advertising efforts to further improve awareness of the product and both product and company image Take an active part in public relation activities, such as doing charity or gifting our products to old folks homes for them to try our products Hire and train local staff as well as exercise cultural control to establish and ensure all employees regardless of background in the company have shared values of the company and can work together in harmony to provide a better service and work environment.