International Marketing of Puma in United Kingdom

This report discusses the international marketing of Puma in the United Kingdom, focusing on the branding strategies and market expansion in Australia and India. It covers topics such as situational analysis, brand analysis, segmentation, targeting, and positioning, marketing mix, international branding strategy, and cultural differences. The report provides insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by Puma in the global market.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International marketing
Name of student
Name of University
Author note
Table of Contents

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Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Brand: Puma...........................................................................................................................3
Situational analysis.................................................................................................................3
Brand analysis............................................................................................................................5
Values and essence of Puma...................................................................................................5
Value communication.............................................................................................................6
Segmentation, targeting and positioning................................................................................7
Marketing mix........................................................................................................................8
International Branding strategy................................................................................................10
Hofstede’s cultural differences.............................................................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The report is presented to discuss about the international marketing of brand named
Puma in United Kingdom, which has aimed at marketing its products and services in
Australia and India. The main purpose of international marketing is to analyse the different
global branding approaches required to introduce new products and services in the new
market of India and Australia to expand globally and at the same time, generate higher
revenue in business as well (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2013). The topic will also demonstrate
about the various concepts related to international marketing and other brand related aspects
by using the marketing mix model and with the use of various branding tools such as brand
onion along with the STP approach too (PUMA.com 2019).
Brand: Puma
Puma SE, also known as the brand Puma is a multinational company from Germany
that has designed sports footwear as well as casual footwear and other accessories for
catering the needs and preferences of people. Puma is one of the largest sportswear
manufacturing brand that has created a positive mind set among the customers as well as
influenced the clients to make purchases, furthermore generate higher revenue and
competitive advantage in business as well. The product line chosen here is the football shoes
for men that has to be marketed in different global nations including Australia and India
(Papadopoulos and Heslop 2014). This would allow for expanding business globally and at
the same time, enhance the level of profit and also enhance the scopes and opportunities for
generating higher revenue in business. The causes of global expansion and international
branding are the acquisition of more profit and aiming to become one of the largest sports
footwear company.

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Situational analysis
The shoes of Puma have been specially designed to meet the needs of sportspersons
and athletes and through strong collaboration with the football clubs, the company has
prioritised on the product line, i.e., the football shoes for men. The future of sports footwear
is premium, which has helped in setting right standards and at the same time, managed
production of shoes that are environment friendly and convenience for the sportspersons and
athletes who have interest in football (Paliwoda and Thomas 2013). The situational analysis
represents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organisation too with
the use of SWOT analysis.
Figure: SWOT analysis (Paliwoda and Thomas 2013)
The strengths of the industry as well as the brand are immense, due to which, it has
become easy for Puma to manage business worldwide and employed over 11000 employees,
It has been one of the major manufacturers of football shoes and droving shoes as well.

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Innovation through research and development along with positive brand image has allowed
the company to ain growth. Few weaknesses are high competition within the industry and
brand switching has made it difficult to acquire loyal customers. The opportunities include
better marketing and promotions for enhancing international branding and global business
management to enter the new market segments in India and Australia (Ford and Leonidou
2013). The major threats are high competition from emerging new players within the
industry, economic slowdown, etc.
Brand analysis
Values and essence of Puma
The creation of value has been possible with the manufacturing and production of
good quality footwear items and delivering those at reasonable prices, which has made many
of the athletes and sportspersons satisfied. The values and benefits are offered by Puma
through various benefits provided to the shareholders with good rate of return on investments
made as well as b satisfying the customers at large. The “Forever Faster” tagline has been the
major sports with personality, which enriches the brand image and name, furthermore,
assisted in manufacturing the products according to the brand tagline too. The innovation of
products merged with the sportspersons and athletes have transformed the entire business and
made it one of the biggest sports goods manufacturing company too (Morschett, Schramm-
Klein and Zentes 2015). The company has aimed at expanding business all across Australia
and India, which also has been facilitated with the implementation of marketing techniques
and development of marketing campaigns required to strongly prioritise on deriving the
benefits of the brand products of Puma. Puma has also promoted the brand with the help of
sponsorship and also with the help of celebrity endorsements by Maradona, Pele, Messi, etc
(Cavusgil et al. 2014).

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Figure: Puma life cycle (Cavusgil et al. 2014)
Value communication
Football, being a major popular sports in both Australia and India and has an immense
craze all over, the clients would be influenced and this could make them more connected with
the brand. These values benefits offered have given confidence to the young generation and
athletes to empower and also replicate their love for the football sports, furthermore feel
encouraged to make purchases of the football shoes of Puma in both India and Australia
(PUMA.com 2019). The major benefits of the football shoes have been communicated to the
clients all over the two countries, which could be beneficial for empowerment of individuals,
furthermore gain interest in the football sports and get influenced to make purchases of the
shoes consistently (Demangeot et al. 2015).

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Figure: A store in India (Demangeot et al. 2015)
Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Puma, being a worldwide distributor of good quality football shoes, which has also
been a recent inclusion in the product line, has managed to use the mix of demographic,
geographic and psychographic segmentation strategies for ensuring that the changing
demands and expectations of the customers in different market segments are responded to
properly, which could raise the level of satisfaction among them as well as position the brand
properly too (De Mooij 2015).
Puma has targeted the sports enthusiasts, especially the football lovers and athletes in
India and Australia to ensure global marketing and international business expansion. The
brand positioning has been made possible by Puma to inspire more people and make them
love the sports, furthermore, make them understand their potential and increase their love for
the football sports (Camilleri 2018). The value based positioning strategy has further assisted
in defining the values and benefits to the customers, thereby, influenced them to make
purchases consistently.

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Figure: STP (Camilleri 2018)
Marketing mix
The marketing mix strategy is based on the various components including the product, price,
place and promotions, which allows the brand to manage the marketing campaigns and
techniques properly and draw in enough customers for the purpose of higher revenue
generation and competitive advantage in business as well.
Product
Puma is specialised in the manufacturing and production of good quality sports
footwear items and sports accessories that are delivered to the sports enthusiasts and to
increase their love for the sports too. The main focus of the brand here is to deliver good
quality football shoes for men in India and Australia and ensure expansion of business
globally. Few of the major products of the company include sports shoes, apparel, t-shirt,
gloves, helmets, etc (Pyo 2015). To enhance the promotions of the product line, i.e., the
football shoes for men, the company has even managed celebrity endorsements for enhancing
the brand exposure, furthermore, ensure the company to be profitable and competitive
(PUMA.com 2019).

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Price
The prices of products and services have been made affordable for Puma when
compared to the other competitors within the industry, which has also helped in influencing
the consumer buying behaviours. The premium pricing strategy and competitive pricing
strategy are used by the company to ensure that the brand is viewed by the international
clients as premium, furthermore represent a convincing brand in front of the clients.
Place
The respective markets that are being targeted by Puma include the Indian and
Australian marketplaces, which could allow for positioning the brand and implement the right
global marketing strategy for enhancing awareness among the customers regarding the brand
and its football shoes for men (Diamantopoulos et al. 2014).
Promotions
Nowadays, with the immense popularity of football sports in India and Australia, the
promotional strategy of Puma has been facilitated with the help of celebrity endorsements
and by sponsoring football events and football accessories such as shoes, helmets, gloves, etc.
The focus on football gear venue has further enriched the promotional activities while the

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advertisements on televisions, newspapers, magazines along with the involvement of social
media platforms has further strengthened the band image (Venter, Wright and Dibb 2015).
Puma’s approach to management of corporate social responsibilities and management of
public relationships have also improved the promotional efforts.
International Branding strategy
The international branding strategy is based on the adaptation to the new market of
India and Australia for Puma. The global branding strategy must be combined with the
foreign operations and ensure targeting the diverse marketplace to reach audiences with
different tastes and preferences, furthermore allow the manager to make effective decisions
regarding the selection of an appropriate marketing channel and use of right marketing
logistics. In case of homogenous market conditions, the standardisation strategy could be
useful because of the extensive support provided with the help of transportation and
communication technologies (Rao-Nicholson and Khan 2017). This has been helpful for
Puma to grab the scopes and opportunities and ensure saving a lot of cost in terms of
economies of scale in terms of production along with the expenses incurred while

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implementing the marketing efforts with the help of standardisation (PUMA.com 2019). The
heterogeneous market conditions could be dealt with through adaptation of local aspects and
ensure meeting the legal requirements, respect the foreign culture, economy and maintain
good organisational infrastructures in the new places where the company wants to expand
globally (Tan and Sousa 2013).
Figure: Internationalisation strategies (Tan and Sousa 2013)
There are other internationalisation strategies such as the export and contractual
agreements that are responsible for making an entry into the new global markets, furthermore
ensure reduction of risks associated with the expenses incurred along with gaining greater
control over the market The exporting of products has also proved to be satisfactory for Puma
to deliver the football shoes in both these foreign nations and strengthen the condition of
home market, thereby, gain better control over the management of resources along with god
rate of return on the investments made and promised while managing global business
expansion (Magnusson et al. 2013). Thus, according to these various internationalisations

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concepts, it is believed that the standardisation process has been followed by Puma to extend
its efforts for attracting the right targeted audiences, furthermore delivered the right messages
and information about the brand to ensure influence on the buying behaviours (PUMA.com
2019).
Hofstede’s cultural differences
Yes, the communication reflect the cultural differences mentioned by Hofstede, which
also represents the adaptation of culture and local conditions to meet the changing demands
and expectations of the customers in the foreign nations. Based on the Hofstede cultural
dimension model it could be found that there are differences in culture between India and
Australia, especially, in terms of the long term orientation and individualism. The
individualism, in terms of scale of 100, for USA has been quite high, i.e., 90, when compared
to India, which possesses rating of 50. This represented the fact that the customers in India
are more inclined to sending time with families and family influence regarding a brand has
played a vital role in making them purchase from as specific brand within the footwear
industry (Mazanec et al. 2015). On the other hand, in Australia, the family ties and
relationships are not as much as strong as in India, which can also affect the ability to make
purchase of a specific brand item and poor influence on the consumer buying behaviour too.
In terms of individualism, Australia scores 90, which denotes the individualist culture and
thus people are mostly associated with themselves and their intermediate family members
while on the other hand, for India, a collectivist culture has been represented. The social
inclusion is high, which has also represented that the actions and purchasing behaviours of
individuals are influenced by the opinions of family members, friends and also through word
of mouth promotions (Paliwoda and Thomas 2013). With the availability of the product line
by Puma in the international marketplace, the clients would likely discuss about the feature

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and values offered by the brand and then make purchases that also represent their culture,
value, traditions and suit their lifestyle (PUMA.com 2019).
Figure: Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (Mazanec et al. 2015)
Conclusion
The report demonstrated about the international marketing by Puma and how it has
helped in entering the Indian and Australian marketplace for global business expansion. The
situational analysis represented the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats while the
segmentation, targeting and positioning allowed for targeting the right audiences and meet
their local tastes and preferences. The company, according to the Hofstede’s model also made
sure to respect the values, traditions and culture and deliver the products that could suit the
needs of people in the foreign marketplace, furthermore influence their buying behaviours
too. It is also recommended for Puma to extend its efforts towards management of corporate
social responsibilities and manage sustainable approaches to keep the environment safe and
healthy.

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