Marketing in Global Context: Market Screening of Myanmar, Mozambique and Venezuela for Marks & Spencer

This presentation conducts a market screening of Myanmar, Mozambique and Venezuela for Marks & Spencer to expand beyond its traditional market of Europe to search for new markets and consumer bases. The aim is to enter the most appropriate market at the end of the screening with the help of its designer premium wear as the chosen product in the initial stage. The presentation includes SWOT analysis, APM model, risk analysis, business portfolio matrix, cultural analysis, market screening/ranking model, fine screening (12 C models), market segmentation table and buyer behavior, and competitor analysis.

Running head: MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Marketing in global context
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

1MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Introduction:
Marks & Spencer is the British multinational company which is seeking to expand
outside Europe, its traditional market. The British multinational company is as a result required
to expand in the emerging markets of Asia, South America and Africa in search of new markets.
The retailing company would be considering three countries namely, Myanmar, Mozambique
and Venezuela.
Context:
M&S is seeking to expand beyond its traditional market of Europe to search for new
markets and consumer bases. The home country of the retail company, the UK is looking
forward to leave the European Union which means it would have to enter new markets. This
would require the retailer to enter new emerging markets to diversify its expenses post Brexit.
Aim of the presentation.
The aim of the presentation would be conducting a market screening of the three chosen
markets of Myanmar, Mozambique and Venezuela. The retailer would enter the most appropriate
market at the end of the screening with the help of its designer premium wear as the chosen
product in the initial stage.
Reason for expansion:
The reasons for expansion of M&S into new markets are the need to diversify its
expenses post Brexit and search new sources of revenue.

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SWOT of Mozambique, Venezuela and Myanmar:
SWOT analysis of Mozambique:
Strength:
1. Emerging African economy.
2. Strong international relationship with Europe and America.
3. Member of international organizations like the African Union.
Weakness:
1. The country is poor.
2. Suffers from high level of corruption.
3. Suffers from politically unstable.
Opportunities:
1. Economic reforms by government to revive growth.
2. FDI from foreign countries.
Threats:
1. Low level of technological development result hinders development of industries.
2. Terrorism
3. Lack of technological development means low data protection.
SWOT analysis of Venezuela:

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Strengths:
1. The nation is a part of the emerging market of South America.
2. Has strong international relationship with the other South American countries.
Weaknesses:
1. The nation is politically unstable.
2. The GDP of the country is low, though showing an upward trend.
Opportunities:
1. The government of Venezuela is making economic reforms to attract FDI.
2. Increasing population can provide new markets for goods and services.
Threats:
1. The nation is experiencing threats due to high corruption and internal violence.
2. Criminal activities are rampant in the country.
3. Since the country is weak economically, most of the people are poor.
SWOT analysis of Myanmar:
Strengths:
1. Myanmar is far more politically stable.
2. Close to the other booming economic giants of Asia like China.

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3. Strong international relationship.
Weaknesses:
1. The country is dominated by the other powerful Asian nations.
2. Myanmar less attractive compared to India and China in attracting investments.
Opportunities:
1. Companies of Myanmar can expand into the other countries of Asia owing to strong
international ties.
2. The people of Myanmar prefer both western and traditional dresses.
Threats:
1. The country is facing internal disturbances.
2. The arms race in Asia is capable of impacting economic development of the country.

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Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Myanmar 1. Politically stable.
2. Close to the other
booming economic
giants of Asia like
China.
3. Strong international
relationship.
1. Dominated by the
other powerful Asian
nations.
2.Less attractive
compared to them
1. Asian expansion
2. People of
Myanmar prefer
both western and
traditional dresses
1.Internal
disturbances
2. Arms race in
Asia
Mozambique 1. Emerging African
economy.
2. Strong international
relationship with
Europe and America.
3. Member of
international
organizations like the
African Union.
The country is poor.
2. Suffers from high
level of corruption.
3. Suffers from
politically unstable
1. Economic
reforms by
government to
revive growth.
2. FDI from foreign
countries.
Low level of
technological
development result
hinders
development of
industries.
2. Terrorism
3. Lack of
technological
development means
low data protection.
Venezuela 1. Emerging market of
South America.
2.Strong international
relationship with the
other South American
countries
1.Politically unstable
2. GDP of the country
is low
1. economic
reforms to attract
FDI
2. Increasing
population
1. Threats due to
high corruption and
internal violence.
2. Threats due to
high corruption and
internal violence.

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Initial screening-choice of countries:
Marks & Spencer would initially choose Venezuela, Myanmar and Mozambique for the
initial screening. The ground of choosing these three countries are that M&S do not have
presence in these countries and these countries are experiencing market growth which M&S can
exploit to generate revenue. The SWOT analyses would compare between the three countries.
APM model:
The APM model studies the market conditions in the countries selected as per initial
screening which companies can consider to enter. The figure consist of four quadrants namely,
organic, franchise, joint venture and chain acquisition (Richter et al. 2016). The countries like

7MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Myanmar are more conductive towards business are appropriate for application of organic and
franchisee models. M&S can use chain acquisition to enter markets which are culturally close
and franchise model for markets which are different from the home country of the company
which is seeking to expand.
Risk analysis of Venezuela, Mozambique and Myanmar:
Eular Hermes EIU ratings
Mozambique 4(high) Not available
Venezuela 4(high) CC(South American region)
Myanmar 4 (high) BB(Asian region)
The business risk analysis matrix shows that as per Eular Hermes scale all the three
countries scored equally. Hence, this analysis is not sufficient. However as per EUI ratings Asia
got upgraded while Venezuela got downgraded. Thus Venezuela appears to be better than
Myanmar. But the other grounds would be considered to make final decision for market
screening (Lasserre 2017).
Business portfolio matrix:
Venezuela
GDP of Venezuela is 371 billion USD.
Population- 31.0 million people.
Export market of Venezuela: $34.3 billion in 2015
Import of Venezuela: $27.5 billion in 2015

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Myanmar:
GDP of Myanmar is 67.43 billion USD in 2016
Population- 52.89 million people in 2016.
Export market size: $ 11673 million as in 2016
Import market size: $ 15696 million as in 2016.
Mozambique:
GDP in 2016 in USD: 11.01 billion
Population of Mozambique: 30.52 million as on 2018.
Export market of Mozambique: 6.06 billion in USD
Import market of Mozambique: 8.93 billion in USD
Venezuela Myanmar Mozambique
GDP $ 371 billion $ 67.43 billion 11.01 billion
Population $ 31.0 million $ 52.89 million $ 30.52 million
Export $34.3 billion $ 11673 million $ 6.06 billion
Import $27.5 billion $ 15696 million $ 8.93 billion

9MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Competitor analysis/:
Venezuela is very close to North America. This means that the retail market of the counry
is dominated by the American brands. The country has resident designers like Angel Sanchez,
Defiende Venezuela and Carolina Herrera. Moreover the local brands selling low price products
are also competitors of M&S.
Myanmar has its own set of resident designers like Pyon Thet Thet Kyaw producing
premium wear by combining traditional Myanmar and western style. According to, Richter et al.
(2016) the international competitors of M&S in the country would also be the leading Asian
brands. The other brands of Europe and North America are also competitors to M&S. The locally
emerging low cost designers are also rivals to M&S.
Mozambique lacks high profile resident designers and its market is dominated by
European and American designers.

10MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Venezuela Myanmar Mozambique
Main resident
competitor
Defiende Venezuela and
Carolina Herrera
Pyon Thet Thet Kyaw Not available
International competitor American and European
designers
Asian, American and
European designers
American and European
designers
Smaller competitors Present Present Present
BCG Matrix:
Market growth
rate high
Relative market share high Relative market share low
Market growth
rate low
Stars (M&S fashion clothing) Question marks
Cash cows Dogs
The chosen product is premium designer wear. The target customers are the rich people
of these three countries who can afford designer clothes. These countries are experiencing rise in
GDP which means the incomes of the people are increasing (Lynch and Jin 2016). This means

11MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
that designer clothes market is also expanding. Thus the appropriate position of the designer
outfits of M&S would be star.
Cultural analysis:
From the culture analysis table, it is evident that the home culture of M&S has huge
similarities with Myanmar culture. As per Hofstede model, both the country has equal power
distribution system at the workplaces. However, the managers of Venezuela follows centralized
power distribution system. The employees of Myanmar like to work in collaboration with each
other (Stahl and Tung 2015). Moreover, this culture is also similar to the teamwork culture of
United Kingdom. Hence, Myanmar will be more suited that Venezuela for M&S in terms of
doing international business.
The managers of Myanmar provide equal power to both male and female employees.
Unlike, Venezuela, Myanmar will be much flexible to work for the employees of M&S. Just like
the managers of UK, the managers of Myanmar are also adaptive to innovative ideas for
developing innovative products (Beugelsdijk, Kostova and Roth 2017). Hence, Myanmar would
be best choice for M&S for expanding in international market.
Market screening / ranking model:
This table has been prepared as per the weight of the market attractiveness factors. This
table will give the weight value for each country in respect each market attractiveness factor. The
total value of market attractive will demonstrate the overall effectiveness of the international
markets. While considering the market screening table, it is evident that the market size of
Myanmar is quite larger than Venezuela. The organization can have increasing number of

12MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
potential customers for selling their products. Furthermore, with the economic growth, the
customers of Myanmar have higher disposable income level than the customers of Venezuela
(Richter et al. 2016). Hence, Myanmar is much more effective than Venezuela for doing
international business.
This above table has assessed the ability of M&S to compete in each country. It is evident
that the customers of Myanmar are much more sophisticated and modern than the customers of
Venezuela (López‐Duarte Vidal‐Suárez and González‐Díaz 2016). Hence, the products of M&S
will be much more fitted in the market of Myanmar than the market of Venezuela. Hence,
Myanmar will be chosen for M&S for expanding in international market.
Fine screening (12 C models):
As per 12C model, Myanmar has high level of economic development, which can ensure
high level of return on investment for the M&S. However, increasing corruption rate of the
country can hamper the international business success of the organization. The people of
Myanmar have huge inclination towards modern and sophisticated life style (Cravino and
Levchenko 2016). Hence, the organization will have high potential to access large pool of
customers. On the other hand, the flexible and supportive framework of Myanmar can lead to
smooth international business success of the organization.
Myanmar has high level of advancement in digital media world. Hence, M&S will get
ample opportunity to promote and to communicate their organizational value to the customers.
Furthermore, adequate availability of local suppliers and consumers can help the organization to
build retail network (López-Duarte Vidal-Suárez and González-Díaz 2016). Economic growth of

13MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Myanmar has ensured increasing purchasing power of customers, which will increase the sales
volume of the organization.
Market segmentation table and buyer behavior:
According to, Cravino and Levchenko (2016) Marks and Spencer will choose both urban
and rural people for offerings their products. Moreover, the organization will offer their products
to both medium incomes to high income group customers. The customers having positive
personality and attitude towards their lives will the customers of this company in Myanmar. High
quality products of the organization will help it to gain competitive advantage in the market of
Myanmar.
Buying behavior is the attitude, preferences and intension of the customers towards
product purchase. The customers of M&S can be divided in to certain groups based on different
types of buying behavior. Moreover, the brand lover people are more inclined towards buying
products from the reputed and branded companies like M&S. On the other hand, Li Cui and Lu
(2018) people having luxurious life style are more inclined towards purchasing branded
products.
Competitor analysis:
M&S can face tough competition in Myanmar from the companies like Gamone Pwint
and City Mart Holdings (Beugelsdijk Kostova and Roth 2017). City Mart Holdings will have
high product portfolio range than M&S. On the other hand, M&S can also face to beat the
increasing market share of City Mart Holdings. However, the quality of products can help M&S
to beat the market competition in Myanmar.

14MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

15MARKETING IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
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