International Marketing Plan for Addison Lee's Expansion into India

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INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................4
2.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................5
3.0 SCOPE OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING............................................................................6
3.1 MEANING OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING...................................................................6
3.2 BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL
MARKETING.......................................................................................................................... 7
3.3 IMPORTANCE IN GLOBAL ARENA....................................................................................7
3.4 MAJOR WAYS OF ENTRY IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSES.............................................8
3.5 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS.................................................................................................9
3.6 RATIONALE FOR INTERNATIONAL MARKETING..............................................................9
3.6.1 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE INTERNATIONAL MARKETING....................................10
3.6.2 ROLE OF MARKETING.............................................................................................11
4.0 INTERNATIONAL MARKETS SELECTION CRITERIA.............................................................12
4.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT INTERNATIONAL MARKET.....................12
4.2 THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET SELECTION PROCESS....................................................12
4.3 OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR ADDISON LEE................................................13
4.4 RISK MANAGEMENT AND CONTINGENCY PLANNING IN RELATION TO VOLATILE
MARKETS............................................................................................................................ 14
5.0 MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES............................................................................................ 16
5.1 EVALUATION CRITERIA..................................................................................................16
5.2 STRATEGIES FOR A GIVEN ORGANISATION...................................................................16
5.3 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING............................................17
6.0 INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ORIENTATIONS.................................................................18

6.1 COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS................................................................................................18
6.2 A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE 7Ps OF SERVICE MARKETING....................................18
6.3 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING...............................19
6.4 ASSESSING INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PERFORMANCE...........................................19
7.0 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................... 21
8.0 REFERENCES..................................................................................................................... 22

1.0 INTRODUCTION
An international marketing plan is a complex task to complete, however, it also utilises basic
and conventional marketing concept but since the diversity in customer demand and
expectation is a huge issue to deal, all of its small and focused elements becomes quite
difficult to address (Gillespie and Riddle, 2015).
COMPANY OVERVIEW
The company that has been taken here for the analysis is Addison Lee, which among the
largest private taxi hire service in London. It mainly operates in London and some part of
other EU nations but not has been intercontinental internationalised. The annual revenue of
Addison Lee is about £900 Million according to data of 2017 and it operates a fleet of more
than 4000 vehicles across the London plus a coach fleet of over 100 in numbers. Initially
founded by John Griffin in 1975, Addison Lee in 2013 has been bought by Carlyle Group
which intends to expand it internationally. With that sort of fleet and coverage, Addison Lee
is now leading the private taxi hire sector in London. Addison Lee has involved technology
intensely in its every operation which led it to win numerous awards and recognition.

2.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report was prepared for international marketing analysis of Addison Lee, a London
based private hire taxi service planning to expand its business in India. The report began
with establishing a basic understanding of international marketing and various factors which
influence it and are influenced by it. This report provides a detailed study of how a company
planning to expand internationally should approach marketing plan and strategies. The
discussion has included all the major and minor aspects of international marketing like
scope, rationale, cultural dimension, internal and external factors of influence, how to
choose right strategy, challenges and opportunities, competitive analysis etc.
The report has discussed the condition of the international market and how Addison Lee can
enter it and penetrate it by using various standard and proven marketing concepts and
models. The analysis has been framed to achieve assessment and solution of the entire set
of challenges and forces which will be impacted by.

3.0 SCOPE OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International marketing in its overall sense is always a way ahead for any local company who
has the potential to grow in a completely different marketing environment. On the count of
external benefits it provides company to explore a huge and whole new market segment
and with the right strategy and planning any company can grow in the targeted market. The
factor of influence increases tremendously and so does the ways and methods to approach
them and in such condition, a perfect balance and synchronisation are required which needs
a prior and deep understanding of the market that company is targeting to expand in
(Gillespie and Riddle, 2015). Although international marketing is subjected to large external
forces which sometimes could put the drastic impact of the operations of the company, the
internal factors govern usually the positive aspects of the internationalised marketing
paradigm (Armstrong et al., 2015). A number of employees come together from different
nations, their values, culture and way of looking at the problem, the overall business
environment enhances. Not only this, implementation of the organisational structure
according to the international framework brings more stability and opportunity in local
operations. A number of research studies have shown that such expansions bring peace
within the organisational environment and a mutual understanding between employees of a
different background.
On a different notion, global marketing has been credited in reducing marketing risks and
bring more and more opportunities which may be considered as of why much local company
always aims to expand internationally. Although competition from global already
established companies come out as a huge challenge also increasing but then presentation
to show the differences and uniqueness also become handy.
3.1 MEANING OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International marketing can be defined as a strategic framework which is designed to
address the market and customers of cross border nations under a trade alliance and
internal laws of business prescribed by WTO. There are hundreds of ways to take a
company globally and from opening a remote office with foreign collaborations to
establishing a complete manufacturing unit, everything counts as a step in the international
expansion (Gillespie and Riddle, 2015). For the UK, business expansion has been very easy in

EU nations, nearby countries and the US because of easy constraints and their strategic
promotion to free trade. But expansion in countries of Asian and African region plus the
Arab belt which is extremely hostile as of current situation, this becomes a typical challenge
to address. International marketing requires in the event of foreign expansion to approach
the customers of that country in a more distinct and competitive way so as to gain targeted
market share in that region.
3.2 BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Domestic and international markets have a lot of dissimilarities in many aspects. However
the basic concepts of marketing are used in both cases, the way of addressing market and
customer satisfaction strategies are fairly different (William, 2018).
Domestic marketing aims to achieve major market share and commercial gain from local
regions of operation which may be limited to a city, a state or a country. Also, domestic
markets have much lower factors of influence and barriers especially negligible
communication barriers, low market risk, low competition and better availability of
resources. The decision-making process in domestic markets is much easier than the
international market since there are fewer factors to consider. There is good customer
behaviour understanding resulting in better targeting and segmentation. Financial support is
also available on much lesser hassle and issues.
The international market is where sells and promotion of product and services are done in
some cross border nation. Going international is often the ultimate goal of almost every
company. It is much more complex than domestic marketing and requires huge financial
resources in order to build even a foundation set up in a foreign land. Also, the legal
requirements and obligations which always comes as a major constraint in the international
market make the task more complex. The international market is subjected to lots of
external factors and is usually remains uncertain which makes it risky to operate.
3.3 IMPORTANCE IN GLOBAL ARENA
The global market is quite essential in current times since competition in the domestic
market has increased significantly in the light of globalisation. Local companies have been
found to be struggling in their own established market and even have vanished from the

market in the advent of this globalised concept of business and marketing (William, 2018).
The only option that domestic company have left with is going international and exploring
hidden and high potential markets. Global market provides global business insights which
not only help are growing in the global market but also help to sustain the domestic
business. For companies like Addison Lee which have huge potential to gain a fair share in
the global market looking form their current situation and performance, it is a great
opportunity while the global competitors like Uber are still fighting to gain the majority
market share in common nations where Addison Lee should begin with.
The global market always welcomes domestic companies with open arms and huge
opportunities as a welcome gift unless of course, it is going through a global economic crisis
like that of the economic crisis of 2008.
3.4 MAJOR WAYS OF ENTRY IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSES
There are many ways to enter an international market however most of the companies have
found to be used two or more of such strategies at once to ensure an effective presence in
the foreign market. Some of these ways are:
Direct Exporting: Here the company directly exports finished or raw goods to a third party
buyer of the country’s local business, which after value addition sell them in their market.
Franchising: This method evolved in North America and is considered a rapid business
expansion and growth strategy. It is most suitable for businesses with a repetitive model
such as food and apparel outlets.
Licensing: This method involves the transfer of technology or related intellectual property
for manufacturers of a foreign country to make and sell the product in their name thus
gaining a proportion of gain from every sale. It is considered a rather sophisticated way
which is quite popular in EU countries.
Partnering: Another common way of internationalising a company is by partnering with an
already established business in the projected foreign country, may involve small outsourcing
of some functions or merging firms to grow together helping each other.

Buying a company: This method is usually employed by large companies with a high annual
turnover. They buy a company in their country of interest and run according to their own
strategies and management often to build a support structure for their business expansion.
3.5 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS
Understanding cultural dimensions of a company requires prior analysis of its cultural
background, historical background, values and beliefs of the people and religious and ethnic
diversity present. There can be no better tool for such analysis than Hofstede's cultural
dimension theory. This theory proposed 6 dimensions on the basis of which personal
behaviour and expectation of people can be easily understood on the grounds of their
history, diversity and their social structure. These 6 dimensions are:
1. Power distance: Extent to which people feel that power in unfairly distributed
among people.
2. Masculinity: Degree of independence allowed people to express their gender and
thoughts.
3. Individualism: Extent to which people are likely to be recognized as an individual
rather than a group or community.
4. Long term orientation: This explains how people of a country relate their ties,
identities and decisions from their past. It measures how much of their long term
decision is influenced by their history.
5. Uncertainty avoidance: It expresses the extent to which people try to avoid any
sudden change and feel protective of them.
6. Indulgence: This dimension specifies how much people give efforts to control their
own feelings, desires, thoughts and impulses.
These dimensions can provide some vital information to the marketing team of Addison Lee
in preparing their marketing plan.
3.6 RATIONALE FOR INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Marketing done of international level addressing the needs and demands of customers of
various countries with different cultural background and market environment is what we
call international marketing. Now, many scholars have argued on this notion that
international marketing requires a common and all-inclusive strategy which takes partial

understanding with market status and consumer insights of all targeted countries (Gillespie
and Riddle, 2015). But some other experts like Kotler and Keller suggest that the marketing
strategy for international market can’t be unified in reality, a company much prepare a
unique and separate marketing strategy for each of the individual countries where it intends
to expand. It should be focused and customer oriented to gain effective results. When a
company plans to expand globally, marketing challenge is the first task it faces and a step to
begin with so marketing reports like this can help them understand what are the risks and
opportunities they have in the global market and is it the right time to take such big step.
Because it has been noticed in many cases that companies, without considering and
focusing on their performance at the local market, try to expand in global market investing
huge financial resources in hope to get better profit margin from the global market
(Marketing Teacher, 2018). Many such companies have found out to be losing in global as
well as their domestic market. Wendy's, Groupon, eBay and Bestbuy are some of the
popular examples which could be studied to learn how not to fail in the global market.
3.6.1 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
This is a huge topic of discussion since there is several direct and indirect, external and
internal, visible and hidden forces work behind international marketing environment and all
of them are important to consider for a company who have firm plans to take dive in the
international market. The basic ideas of macro factors which largely contribute to these
forces can be understood with the help of PESTEL analysis. Extracted ideas on factors of
influence taken from PESTLE and other similar models have the following elements:
 Cultural Factor: Such as language, behaviour, Regional values, Customer habits, Age/
demographics, religious proportion, ethnic diversity, social structure etc.
 Economic Factors: This is among the initial factors to consider as a major force for
making a marketing strategy for a foreign market. They include per capita income of
the country, supply and demand structure, class structure, baking system and
transaction facilities, foreign investment policies and economic constraints etc.
 Political and Legal Factors: There are highly intertwined factors and one governs the
second in many terms. They include financial and criminal laws and regulations,
licencing and permit regulations, Fees and tariffs, taxes and deductions, currency

risk, investment and operational restrictions, discriminatory and quota based
constraints and restrictions, political stability etc.
 Other intangible forces: These are the forces which come in to play usually after the
company has established its operations in their targeted foreign nation. They include
environmental factors, environment protection laws and regulations, regional
partnership and support, product adaptation and barriers etc.
3.6.2 ROLE OF MARKETING
Role of marketing is a very common topic of discussion however it has been through some
quite insightful debates and researches which can help to develop a more specific approach
to it (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). Some of the basic roles which are different from
conventional understanding of marketing are, Understand customer behaviour and market
status, meet customer’s needs and demands, widens the marketing exploring new
opportunities, ensuring company’s survival, reputation and performance in the market,
Adapting and enabling right pricing strategy according to the market, implying innovative
and advanced product development and strategy, Utilise best of the sophisticated
technologies for advertisement and promotional activities, ensuring economic growth not
only of the company but also the society.
Nonetheless, roles of marketing in current business scenarios cannot be summarised in
some points since its purview has extended covering many aspects of the business and
market and with the advent of rapidly growing digital technology, it is likely to be increased.

4.0 INTERNATIONAL MARKETS SELECTION CRITERIA
4.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT
INTERNATIONAL MARKET
Choosing the right international market hasn't always been a typical decision to make since
the conventional market has very few options in terms of foreign markets which were
promising in almost every aspect. The European region, countries like France, Germany,
Spain, the UK were the popular choice of every large business to expand. The scene has
changed since and globalisation has made many countries capable and stable in terms of
their economy to prepare the ground for foreign investors.
In many situations, even after choosing the right foreign market to enter with enough
analysis and studies, businesses struggle to survive after some time. That's because there is
a difference in analysing a country and its market environment to enter and gain initial
market shares and analysing its market trends and future prospects in all regards. So it is
essential to choose the market which not only shows initial benefits and growth but also
shows long terms promising future for the company. In current times, the South Asian
region is among the hottest places which are attracting investors and companies from all
over the world. Addison Lee should really approach these markets as they have immense
potential and a great future ahead.
4.2 THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET SELECTION PROCESS
This process should go through a planned sequential way of analysis and research, from a
selection of country of operation to the establishment of an initial business unit in that
country, market selection plan governs every aspects and element of consideration. The
below shown is a screening-based approach for selecting the right market for the company
which could support the company's operations and targeted growth.
This process begins after shortlisting the country which has the most promising economy
and political stability. After selecting a set of countries this screening process is performed
on each of the selection to assess which of the opted countries has more capable and
promising future for the company’s growth. After two successive stages of screening which