Ba447-International Marketing Plan
Your international marketing plan needs to provide analysis & clearly stated rationale for all your decisions and at a minimum should include the following:
1. Introduction:
Company mission, vision & management...
2. Goals for Latin America
What to achieve and why (be specific, give some metrics)
Risks involved and likelihood of accomplishing goals
3. Overall Competitive Strategy for Latin America (core of the plan)
Situation analysis and SWOT
Basis for competing effectively in the long run (specify an overall competitive strategy)
Resources and capabilities of the firm
4. Market Entry
Which countries to enter, when, and what sequence
Locations of operations in each country (production, sourcing, distribution)
5. Segmentation, Target, Positioning (STP should be consistent with and driven by overall
competitive strategy)
Segmentation options and final basis and analysis for segmentation in each country
Target group selected, size, sales potential in each country
Positioning options and final analysis and basis for positioning in each country
6. Marketing Mix (4 Ps should be integrated among themselves and consistent w/ STP)
Product (which one(s), how adapted if at all, degree of standardization/customization, why appropriate, what needs products meets, what their advantages would be over local and global competitors products/services, etc.)
Promotion (what media, other promotional efforts, budget and allocations, objectives for ads and promos by market, what kind of reach expected, how promotion would be culturally appropriate or tailored, degree of standardization, etc.)EXTRA CREDIT: Design/develop the creative strategy /advertising (logo, slogans, packaging, layouts, scripts, etc...) for your selected SKU's/brands....
Pricing (what pricing strategy used, how deal with inflation or other currency issues, use of differential pricing across markets, etc.)
Place or Distribution (what channels to be used, what channels available, expected ease or difficulty of channel access, measures used to overcome difficulties, direct distribution or using partners or agents, salesforce management, etc.)
7. Expected Results
If the plan were successfully implemented, detail the performance expectations, including 4 years of revenues, expense, market share, and profit projections
The above is not exhaustive of what you can include in a marketing analysis and plan. The goal is to write a plan that is realistic (since no company has infinite funds and expertise), logical, coherent, integrated (part x makes sense with part y), and accounts for the complexity of successfully introducing products/services abroad. This is where the Situation Analysis and SWOT are important, because they guide you in determining what the firm is capable of actually doing. Your marketing plan is derived from your situation/SWOT analyses.
Note the marketing plan should present an integrated,
long-term strategy for the region as well as specific strategy for each country youve chosen to enter; the latter should be collectively synergistic to accomplish the former.Some constraints apply to the simulation:
1. In the first three years, you are allowed to enter up to one new market per year (you can enter fewer if you prefer). After the third year, your team can enter as many additional countries each year as you like. Your team can also choose to withdraw from countries.
2. Products sold in year 1 will be sourced from existing U.S. factories. You can elect to build or expand a Latin American factory at any time, but its capacity will not be available until the following year. In other words, there is a lag between building and utilizing production capacity in Latin America.
3. No more than one new production facility can be built in Latin America, so carefully consider this decision in view of a larger strategic plan. An existing plant is in the U.S. and will
automatically supply your markets in Latin America when local production (Latin American) is non-existent or insufficient.
Warning: Double and triple check your decisions before advancing to the next decision period. You cannot replay decisions, i.e. once you advance you have said in effect that your decisions are are fixed and irrevocable. Your team will be given 1 period of replay (for any period you choose) to recover from an error. Also, everyone on your team can input decisions, so it is important to coordinate so all members are aware of what decisions have been inputted. It is advised that one person be put in charge of looking over all inputs and advancing the program.
International Marketing Simulation
Your team will discuss and analyze the company, and make decisions for 10 decision periods, or years, for the brand. Decisions for each period should be entered on-line by one team member; it is important to
double check the input before finalizing and advancing the program, so there is no inadvertent error. Decisions cannot be altered or replayed once the program is advanced. Each team plays directly against the computer program (the competitors are directed by the computer and do not represent other student teams).