International Marketing Report: Ma Baker's Global Expansion Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of international marketing strategies for Ma Baker, a micro bakery based in London. It begins by defining international marketing and outlining its scope and key concepts, including imports, exports, and contractual agreements. The report then differentiates between local and international marketing, highlighting the complexities of the latter. It presents a rationale for Ma Baker's international expansion, emphasizing opportunities to increase market share and mitigate risks. The report identifies both opportunities, such as market infrastructure and increased profitability, and challenges, including language barriers, cultural values, and legal regulations. Two routes to market—direct and indirect—are explored, with recommendations for Ma Baker. The second part of the report examines the differences between global and local marketing, discusses international marketing approaches, and compares home versus international orientation, concluding with recommendations based on the marketing mix and organizational structure.

International
Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Scope and key concepts of international marketing...............................................................1
Main differences between international and local marketing.................................................3
Rationale for willingness to market internationally...............................................................3
Opportunities and challenges associated with international marketing.................................3
Routes to market internationally and recommendation..........................................................5
Key criteria and selection process while entering international market.................................6
Market entry strategies...........................................................................................................8
Application of market evaluation criteria, entry strategies and recommendations................9
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.............................................................................10
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................10
Introduction to company and current market.......................................................................10
Differences between global and local marketing.................................................................10
Key arguments in relation to local v/s global marketing......................................................11
Investigation of product, pricing, promotion and distribution approaches..........................12
International marketing approaches.....................................................................................13
Home v/s international orientation along with ways to assess competitors.........................13
Conclusion and recommendations based on marketing mix and structure of organisation. 14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
International marketing refers to the process of applying marketing principles at a global
level to fulfil the needs and demands of people in different parts of the world. This reflects that
international marketing is focussed upon extension of an organisation's local marketing strategies
with specific relevance given to market identification and targetting so as to take decisions in
international context (Amankwah-Amoah, Boso and Debrah, 2018). This concept is based upon
a strategy which is developed and devised by an entity in the home country and then distributed
to their other offices. The present report is based upon Ma Baker which is a micro bakery
situated in the middle of Fulham, London.
This report is divided into two tasks. The first part comprises of the scope and concept of
international marketing, rationale for company to market globally, opportunities and challenges
associated, routes to market internationally. Also, it contains description of market entry
strategies along with their advantages and disadvantages as well as recommendations for entity.
The second part consists of introduction to company and their existing market, difference
between global and local marketing, description of international marketing approaches and
comparison of home and international orientation.
TASK 1
Scope and key concepts of international marketing
According to Czinkota and Ronkainen (2013), international marketing comprises of
activities, procedures and institutions across the national borders which tend to create,
communicate and exchange offerings that hold significant value for society as well as
stakeholders.
As per the views of Armstrong and et. al. (2015), international marketing refers to the
application of marketing capabilities and orientation onto international business.
According to the perception of Akaka, Vargo and Lusch (2013), international marketing
is assumed to be a set of activities which leads to an exchange that significantly satisfies the
customers spread across the national borders.
Scope
In general terms, international marketing can be defined as the performance of business
activities which align the flow of products and services of a company towards consumers within
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more than one country for the purpose of profit making. In today's modern world, this concept
has a vast scope owing to the increasing awareness about globalisation within corporate world.
The scope of international marketing is given below:-
Imports: This is one of the easiest forms of international marketing where the company
import products from a country and then sell them to potential customers within domestic
market. Most of the times, organisations take assistance through imports for their own use, in
order to create or enhance their existing product line.
Exports: Here, companies export the semi-finished or finished goods to international
market or their franchises in order to give them the opportunity to sell these products in their
local markets for the generation of high sales (Baker and Saren, 2016). This revenue generated
by way of exports is utilised for making payments of imports, covering cost associated with
product development and increment of profits.
Contractual Agreements: When a business carries out expansion, international
marketing provides opportunities to expand the market, customer base, volume of sales and
profits. Here, organisations grow exponentially by entering in a contractual agreement with
overseas partners.
Fully owned manufacturing: An entity which possesses significant interest within
foreign market can establish fully owned manufacturing facilities within that country. The
factors such as cost differences, government policies, trade barriers encourage the company to
set up production unit abroad to gain total control over manufacturing and quality.
Key Concepts
A number of concepts are linked with international marketing, these are defined below:-
Domestic Marketing: In this, marketing is specifically targetted only towards the home
country. A purely domestic enterprise operates domestically only and has no intentions of going
global.
Comparative Marketing: When a number of marketing systems are together studied in
order to ascertain the similarities and dissimilarities between them, it is known as comparative
marketing (Beck, Chapman and Palmatier, 2015).
International Trade: This is largely concerned with flow of products and services
among the nations. The major purpose here is to gain knowledge of influence of commercial and
monetary conditions upon resource transfer between nations and BOP (Balance Of Payments).
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Main differences between international and local marketing
Local marketing refers to marketing in the geographical boundaries of a nation while
international marketing is taking the operations of an entity outside the confines of home
country. In case of local marketing, the entity generally possesses deep knowledge of the
domestic beliefs and values while international market is complex and it is difficult for an
enterprise to judge the nature of consumers here (Bianchi and Mathews, 2016). Local marketing
is generally done using relatively cheaper methods such as special offers, discounts and inserts in
newspapers. On the contrary, international marketing is done through
Rationale for willingness to market internationally
Ma Baker is a micro bakery situated at the center of Fulham, London and deals in home-
made, fresh and real bread. This entity has been constantly winning awards and recognitions in
the home country. Looking upon the success gained by Ma Baker over a period of last few years,
this enterprise is considering the option of expanding internationally. It is significant for this
enterprise to market internationally as will provide Ma Baker the potential to enhance the
existing base of customers and market share. When Ma Baker will enter international market, it
can tap the advantage of gaining the attention of a large number of people by opening a outlet in
the most attractive locality of a country. This will assist the enterprise in building a brand which
is globally famous among the people and holds a high stake in marketplace.
Further, by gaining entry into international market, Ma Baker will be able to deal with the
risks that are associated with conducting sale within just one nation. For instance: If Ma Bakers
only market for local customers and there takes place an economic downturn, then a large
proportion of consumers will not be able to afford the products sold by company. Thus, Ma
Bakers is willing to market internationally in order to ensure stability of company's performance
along with a consistent and constant flow of revenues and EPS (Earning Per Share). Thus, it is
significant for this enterprise to gain entry into international markets and conduct marketing
activities there (Brouthers, Nakos and Dimitratos, 2015).
Opportunities and challenges associated with international marketing
International marketing is a concept which can prove to be a bane or boon for any
company depending upon the way it is being utilised and the measures that have been taken by
the enterprise to deal with the challenges associated with this. In this regard, when Ma Baker will
market internationally, it can tap the advantage of a number of opportunities while
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simultaneously facing a lot of challenges that will have to be tackled by marketing consultant of
this bakery.
Opportunities
When Ma Bakers enter international market, they will have the opportunity to tap
advantage of the following factors:-
Market Infrastructure: While entering into international market, Ma Baker will have
the opportunity to gain advantage of the high level of infrastructural development in that market.
This entity will be able to rely on energy infrastructure, communication and transportation
system of that nation to tactfully sell and distribute the breads and pies manufactured by
company (Christodoulides, Cadogan and Veloutsou, 2015). It will be cost effective and easier for
the micro bakery to work in those countries where reliable and well developed infrastructure is
available.
Increased profitability: International markets tend to provide opportunities to Ma Baker
by providing excellent infrastructural facilities, material, labour that will assist in reduction of
cost of production of bakery items. When costs are significantly controlled, company has a
higher probability of earning huge margins over the products and ensuring its sustainability in
foreign market for a long time.
Challenges
While marketing internationally, a number of threats or challenges have to be taken into
account by the company in order to gain success, these are mentioned below:-
Language: Different words have different meanings across the various countries of
globe. Ma Baker has to review the translation of the brand name as well as tag-line in different
languages in order to make sure that such translations do not lead to unintended meanings and
hurt the sentiments of local people. Examples of such misleading translations are given with the
help of this table:-
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(Source: Different Cultural Meanings of Colours and Numbers, 2019)
Religions and cultural values: Across the world, people belonging to diverse religions
have cultural values and norms about food and beverages which have to be taken into account by
Ma Baker otherwise it may become a challenge for the enterprise to sustain and enhance its
profits there (Hoppner and Griffith, 2015). The example of beliefs of various religious groups are
given below:- Buddhism: Refrain from meat and desire vegetarian food Eastern Orthodox: Restrain from fish and meat Hinduism: Beef, meat, fish and alcohol are avoided or restricted Islam: Pork, alcohol and some birds are prohibited while tea, coffee and stimulants are
avoided
 Judaism: Shellfish and pork are prohibited while dairy and meat at same meal are
restricted
Laws and Regulations: While marketing internationally, Ma Baker has to consider
certain legal aspects such as customs, trade barriers, advertising, taxation and intellectual
property rights so as to avoid getting prosecuted or fined.
Routes to market internationally and recommendation
Any entity can market internationally to gain the attention of a large number of people
towards the high quality and unique products of company. In this regard, Ma Baker provides
breads that are preservative and additive free and all the ingredients that are utilised to make
these are of high quality and organic. The flour which is used to make the breads is stone-ground
(Jean and et. al., 2016). Thus, the company can consider the two routes to market internationally
that are described below:-
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Illustration 1: Different Cultural Meanings of Colours and Numbers

Direct Route: This comprises of those channels where the enterprise directly comes in
contact with the people in the international market so as to persuade them to make a purchase of
the products sold by the enterprise. Ma Baker possess the capability to use channels such as sales
representative, offering website deliveries, organising exhibitions, distributing the mail order
catalogues to make direct contact with the consumers, leaving a good impression and retaining
them for a long time by providing high quality and fresh breads.
Indirect Route: This consists of the channels where the company enters into a contract
with third party and hand over the responsibility of influencing customer behaviour to them
(Katsikeas and et. al., 2016). Ma Baker can consider opting for channels like Alliance partners,
Channel partners, OEM partners, system integrators etc. to gain the attention of population
within foreign country. Some of these are briefly described below:-
Alliance Partners: These are the groups which are relatively smaller in size yet possess
the capacity to advise Ma Baker regarding the business initiatives that can be undertaken by the
bakery to make an influential and strong entry into market.
Channel Partners: These are the organisations who have technical expertise to
influence the minds of customers and make them see the benefits that company's products offer
(Indirect Routes to Market, 2016). They include resellers, value-added resellers and distribution
partners and the major players in this sector which Ma Baker can enter into a contract with are
CDW, Carahsoft, Optiv, Insight etc.
It is recommended that Ma Baker should adopt channel partner as the route to market in
new country as these are the personnel who possess sound knowledge of the latest techniques
and technologies prevailing within any business sector. Thus, these can suggest and provide the
equipments that can render an edge to this bakery over rivals entities within this industry.
Key criteria and selection process while entering international market
Market selection is a crucial process for Ma Baker as this is the prerequisite for this
bakery company to gain success in international marketplace. The steps of the selection process
are given below:-
International marketing objective: The market is selected on the basis of the objective
that the organisation is striving to achieve in foreign marketplace. This is done to make sure that
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the cultural, ethical, economical, legal and religious values of the nation are not violated by the
bakery products that are provided by Ma Baker.
Parameters for selection: The various parameters which have to be taken into account by
Ma Baker while entering international market are availability of infrastructure and materials,
nature of rivalry, governmental regulations and market situations.
Preliminary screening: The markets which do not possess the potential to serve as
lucrative location for the entity are eliminated here after considering factors such as consumer
behaviour, population size, economy structure and per capita income (Process to select
International market, 2018).
Analysis and Selection: The short listed markets are then evaluated after conducting the
feasibility study and cost-benefit analysis. The best market is then selected for carrying out the
expansion of Ma Baker and making the breads and pies of this bakery accessible to population of
international market.
Test marketing: Here, company sells the product in a particular segment of geographical
location to gain an insight into the consumer behaviour and response to the items produced by
Ma Baker.
Commercial Production: Once the results of test marketing are found to be positive, the
enterprise then carries out mass production in the selected international market.
Key Criteria
The criteria for selecting the international geographical market is defined below:-
Infrastructure facilities: The market is selected on the basis of availability of adequate
infrastructures to make sure that the production of bakery items of Ma Baker can be done easily.
Nature of Competition: The market is selected keeping in consideration the threat of
rivals in the international marketplace and the success pattern of the specific industry in which
firm operates (Martin and Javalgi, 2016).
Laws and Regulations: Ma Baker has to consider the rules and regulations prevalent in
the international market to make sure that they do not indulge in any such actions which are
against the laws of selected country.
After conducting the above mentioned selection process and taking into account the key
criteria, the market selected by marketing consultant to carry out expansion of Ma Baker is
Dubai.
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Market entry strategies
There are a variety of ways by which a company can gain entry into an international
market. These are known as market entry strategies and assists an enterprise in successfully
facilitating expansion of operations and functions. There can be a number of market entry
strategies that can be adopted by Ma Baker, these are given in the table below:-
Strategy Sub Types/
Description
Advantage Disadvantage
Export
Through foreign agent
 Low cost of entry
 Moderate financial
risk
 Agent is able to
overcome the
difficulties of entry
 Low profits on
transactions
 Immense reliability
on foreign agent
 Inability to earn
international
experience
Through foreign
distributor
 Low staffing
requirements
 Lesser marketing
cost
 High transportation
cost
 Potential barriers of
trade
Licensing Sale of rights backed
up by patent or
intellectual property to
be used for
commercial purposes
in foreign market
 Low entry cost
 Lower financial risk
 Knowledge of local
conditions by the
licensee
 Lack of control on
maintenance of
quality in foreign
market
 Threat of disloyalty
of licensee
 Relatively lower
income (royalties)
Franchising Sale of rights by
domestic franchisor to
carry out commercial
activities through
 Possibility of rapid
foreign expansion
 Low entry cost
 Requirement of
control cost
 Sharing profits
between foreign
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foreign franchisee franchisee and
domestic franchisor
 Possibility of
franchisee’s
disloyalty
Application of market evaluation criteria, entry strategies and recommendations
After carefully carrying out the selection process and analysing the evaluation criteria,
Dubai has been selected as the country for expansion. This owes to the strong economy of Dubai
where excellent infrastructural and raw material facilities are available for new businesses to
gain entry and carry out operations in order to get success in a rapid manner. UAE is estimated to
be at the 66th rank in bakery products across the globe. The UAE bakery market witnessed a
massive growth from 2010 to 2014 as the value and sales volume increased to US$682.9 million
and 200,100 tonnes. This growth is expected to grow over a period of next few years. Ma Baker
can tap the advantage of health-conscious behavioural pattern of majority Emirati customers by
providing their organic as well as fresh breads and pies to the population of UAE, specifically
Dubai. Bakery sector in UAE is continuously growing at a rate of 7% p.a. which is beneficial for
this enterprise (Bakery Industries in UAE countries, 2019).
(Source: Retail Volume in Tonne - Bakery Products Subsectors in UAE, 2019)
Further looking upon the advantages of licensing, it is recommended that Ma Baker
should adopt licensing as the market entry strategy and ensure its sustainability for a long time in
Dubai owing to the low cost of entry and lower financial risk associated with this mode.
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Illustration 2: Retail Volume in Tonne - Bakery Products Subsectors in UAE

Conclusion and Recommendation
On the basis of above discussion, it is concluded that international marketing in order to
carry out expansion in a feasible manner is a lucrative way available to organisations operating at
local level. Also, it has been analysed that local and international marketing are two totally
different concepts. It is assessed that marketing internationally offers various opportunities and
challenges to a company which must be taken into account by marketing consultant of an entity.
Besides this, it has been observed that there are various routes available to a company to market
on international level such as direct and indirect routes. It is recommended that company should
adopt licensing owing to the lost cost of entry and lesser financial risk associated with its
implication.
TASK 2
Introduction to company and current market
Ma Baker, situated within Fulham, London is a micro bakery dealing in fresh and home-
made bread made up of organic and stone-ground flour. Currently, this enterprise is functioning
in London where it has been getting rewarded and recognised by a number of well renowned
organisations and agencies for the excellent products and services that this bakery strives to offer
to consumers (Richter and et. al., 2016). Also this enterprise provides online classes and is listed
as one of the top classes to be taken in London.
Differences between global and local marketing
BASIS LOCAL MARKETING GLOBAL MARKETING
Scale of
operations
Here, production, promotion, sale
and distribution of products take
place at local level.
Here, operations of enterprises take
place at global level.
Risk and ease This is relatively less risky and easier
to facilitate and execute.
This is complex and contains a huge
element of risk.
Financial
Resources
It requires less funds as entity
operates within local market.
This requires huge investment as it
deals in various markets and countries.
Complexity This is not complex as companies
conducting local marketing have
This is challenging, complex and
require commitment owing to the
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