SBS BBA Marketing Assignment - Case Study of Haier and Duraflex

This document presents a comprehensive case study analysis of two marketing scenarios. The first part focuses on Haier's strategies for entering international markets, including the US, and maintaining competitiveness in brand-conscious markets. It analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of international market entry, the importance of localization strategies, and Haier's potential for expansion in emerging markets like Tunisia. The second part examines Duraflex, a German footwear company, and its strategic decisions in a competitive market. It discusses the use of telephonic surveys for data collection and proposes strategies for emphasizing casual boots, enhancing work boots, and creating a better brand image. The analysis covers market dynamics, competitive positioning, and strategic recommendations for both companies, offering valuable insights into marketing challenges and opportunities.

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
4/16/2019

MARKETING 1
Assignment 1
Q1.
Significance of Entering into International Markets
International business support in establishing their culture and support the consumers in
becoming familiar to the trends, through this the companies can also attain a huge share in the
market and offers a possibility for worldwide communication (Tielmann, 2010). Factors such
as fluctuations in the currency support the company in dispensing its operations in diverse
nations which support in reducing the risk incorporated in the devaluation in one nation.
Advantages of International Market for business
Increase share in the market - The size of the international market possess a major effect on
the businesses because they can invest in the research and development in order to attain
competitive advantage (Trivikram, 2016).
Disadvantages of International Market
Cultural Barriers - The key issue that every business experience in the international market is
cultural barriers. One business that is selling its product properly in one nation has a
possibility that is not able to sell in another nation. If a business does not consider the
country's culture in which it is expanding its operations, it can backfire it. Some of the
nations can take offense to the marketing efforts of the business (Kim and Mauborgne, 2015).
Therefore, it is recommended that businesses must conduct proper research before entering
into another nation.

MARKETING 2
Q2.
Yes, it is possible for a company like Haier to maintain its competitiveness in brand
conscious and quality conscious markets such as the US and other countries. Haier has
influenced the customers in the international market with its campaign known as “Try your
best and Strive to be the number one”. The corporate culture of Haier related to quality
control is the major part of the brand identity and success of the company (Ruimin, 2007).
The company is very much confident about its potential for growth and also highlight its
confidence in the Americans by permitting them to run the Camden Factory.
Haier is continuously expanding its business through expansion initiatives, it majorly depends
on its speed to fulfill the needs of the customers. The entry of the company in the US has
allowed it to understand the individualities, duties, and conducts of local customers and to
transform the innovative ideas into the taste of the local customers. This understanding will
also help the company in sustaining in the international market like the USA and other
countries for a longer time duration.
Q3.
Home appliances and consumer products market is said to be the integral portion of the
modern lifestyle. From the analysis, Africa and Middle East household own six key
appliances. The growing population, appliances penetration, purchasing patterns, technology
and lifestyle trends of the customers are said to be the influencing elements on the supply
chain and demand of home appliances. The user penetration in the home appliance in 2017
was 6.1%, which is anticipated to reach in 2025 to 9.3% (Goldstein Research, 2018). From
this information, it could be said that Haier can expand its operations in Tunisia, which is a
country in North Africa, where presently the company is not offering its home appliances and

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consumer products. The market is reflecting a huge demand and growth of the sector which
can offer higher expansion and growth opportunities for the Haier group.
Q4.
Strategies for Haier in Emerging Market
As the company adopted the strategy of localization strategy in the US market in order to
gain the trust of the Americans and beat the established brands in the market. The company
must continue with this strategy by hiring designers and experts of the host market or local
market to highlight customers that company is not just concerned about its own profits but it
also thinks about its customers where it operates its business. Through localization strategy,
the company will be able to contribute in the increase in the employment of the region where
it operates and even commits about the high-quality products it is offering in the market by
designing and manufacturing the products at the same region (Singh, 2011). Localization
strategy will help the company in contributing itself in the social corporate responsibilities as
well as improving its brand image among customers.
Strategy for Maturing Market
A market becomes mature when it attains an equilibrium state. The market is called to be in
the situation of equilibrium the time there is a lack of innovations (Stark and Stewart, 2019).
In order to survive in the mature market, Haier can adopt the strategy of diversification
through which it can introduce new and innovative products for the customers.
Strategies in Declining Market
The declining market is where the revenue of the businesses decline steadily due to market
saturation, decreasing market size because of the introduction of new technologies and

MARKETING 4
services (Dubois, 2012). In order to cover this market and success, Haier needs to work on
decreasing its prices by implementing new and upgraded technologies that can operate to
reduce the overall cost of the business.

MARKETING 5
Assignment 2
Q1.
Duraflexis is one of the key players of Germany footwear industry with yearly sales of
around 1.0 billion Euros. The major part of the revenue of the company is based on the boot
market due to its volume. The company competes with three most players in the market,
including Trekker, Duraflex, Badger, and Steeler. Together, all four players cover 72% of the
German boot market. There are four main categories of boots that are offered by the key
players that are hunting and field boots, work boots, winter boots, and casual boots. Duraflex
has a strong presence in the casual and works boot market. However, in the part, the company
has a good position in the sector of a work boot, but the time it started vending casual shoes it
reduced its focus on the work boot market, which resulted in reducing its sales. Besides this,
due to intense competition from Badger, Duraflex was enforced to re-evaluating its position
in the work boot market. The major objective of the case is to identify whether a company
must shift its focus on competing with Badger in the work boot market or concentrate on its
resource on strengthening its position with the casual boot.
Q2.
The telephonic survey is a method of survey utilized for gathering data from the general
public or from a specified target population (Donnelly and Arora, 2015). Duraflex has
conducted the telephonic survey because it is one of the ideal ways of collecting data and
they were in need to gather information from the public. The telephonic survey is the better
way for the company to work on improving its market share because it has supported the
company in collecting the data quickly. This method has allowed the company to collect data

MARKETING 6
from amply audience. Besides this, this has allowed the company in connecting with the
customers personally which have to support in improving its image among the customers by
highlighting that customers opinion is very essential for the business. In the end, the
telephonic interview is one of the most cost-effective ways in comparison to other data
collection methods (Explorable, 2019).
Through a telephonic interview, the company is able to take proper decisions because it has
gathered different opinions of its customers.
Q3.
The strategies that Duraflex can adopt are:
Emphasize casual boots
Emphasize casual boots
Justification Implication
Casual boot market is one of the fast
developing markets
A strong reaction of the rivals because
Duraflex has a strong position and a
dominant player in this market.
40% of the business is represented by the
casual boot of Duraflex, which cannot be
ignored by the company.
The management team of the company must
frame strategies for maintaining a reasonable
position of the business in this segment.
Enhancing the activities of work boots
Increased concentration on Workboot activities
Justification Implication
Work boot highlight the 40% of the business Creating the perception among customers

MARKETING 7
of Duraflex, which makes it tough for the
company to ignore this segment
related to quality and comfort among blue-
collar customers, as it will attract them to
purchase the products of the company
While the Duraflex has a higher share in the
casual boot, but from the information of the
case, it is a fact that casual boot segment is
smaller in size in comparison to work boot,
which highlights the lesser opportunity for
the growth of the business share.
Increasing the cost allocation proportion to
labor and material, which will decrease the
margin of the company
Creating a better image among the customers
of the category of blue collar can attract them
to try other footwear range of Duraflex.
The company must work towards introducing
new sub-brand or increasing the intensity of
brand promotion which major concentration
on blue-collar customers. This can include
industry publication advertisement, television
advertisement on the channels popular among
blue-collar customers, site promotions, etc.

MARKETING 8
References
Donnelly, T., and Arora, K. (2015) Research Methods: The Essential Knowledge Base 2nd ed.
U.S: Cengage Learning.
Dubois, M. (2012) Buy a House in a Declining Price Market: How to Avoid Getting Scalped
1st ed. U.S: Universal Self Help Publishing Company.
Explorable (2019) Telephone Survey [online]. Available from
https://explorable.com/telephone-survey [accessed 18 April 2019]
Goldstein Research (2018) the Middle East and Africa Home Appliances Market Outlook
2017-2025 [online]. Available from https://www.goldsteinresearch.com/report/middle-east-
and-africa-home-appliance-market [accessed 18 April 2019]
Kim, W.C., and Mauborgne, R. (2015) Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to
Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant 2nd ed. U.S: Harvard
Business Review Press.
Ruimin, Z. (2007) Raising Haier [online]. Available from https://hbr.org/2007/02/raising-
haier [accessed 18 April 2019]
Singh, N. (2011) Localization Strategies for Global E-Business 1st ed. U.K: Cambridge
University Press.
Stark, K., and Stewart, B. (2019) 6 Signs Your Market is Maturing [online]. Available from
https://www.inc.com/karl-and-bill/6-signs-your-market-is-maturing.html [accessed 18 April
2019]

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Tielmann, V. (2010) Market Entry Strategies: International Marketing Management 1st ed.
Germany: GRIN Verlag.
Trivikram, S. (2016) Business Opportunities in the International Markets [online]. Available
from https://myventurepad.com/business-opportunities-international-markets/ [accessed 18
April 2019]