International Marketing Report: Villa Group's Australian Venture

This report presents an international marketing plan for the Villa Group, a Maldives-based conglomerate, focusing on its potential entry into the Australian market. The report begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction outlining the company's background, existing international presence, and the rationale for targeting Australia. The core of the report analyzes the potential of the Villa Group to succeed in the Australian market, considering its existing assets and service offerings in shipping, tourism, and media. It then delves into the impact of the Australian business environment, utilizing PESTEL analysis and Porter's Five Forces to assess political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors. The report further explores market entry modes and recommends appropriate strategies. A detailed marketing mix is developed, incorporating the 7Ps, STP analysis, and competitor analysis to inform pricing and promotional strategies. The report concludes with specific recommendations for the Villa Group to establish effective marketing strategies in Australia, supported by relevant references.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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Executive Summary
The current report is about the marketing plan of the Villa Groups, which is Maldives based
Conglomerate company. The firm is currently planning to analyze the business environment in
Australia and decide upon their marketing strategies. The report will highlight upon the market
entry modes that are needed to deal with the issues related with that of Australia. Proper
marketing mix theory also will be used for the same purpose that will help in deciding upon the
pricing and promotional strategies.
In the concluding note, there will be relevant recommendations that can be implemented by the
company to establish effective marketing strategies.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Potential of Villa Group to Enter the International Market.............................................................3
Impact of business environment of Australia on the Villa Group...................................................5
Mode for Market Entry..................................................................................................................10
Marketing Mix...............................................................................................................................12
Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
The current business report will discuss the international market entry plan for the Villa
Group, which is currently planning to enter the consumer market in Australia. The Villa Group
is considered to be one of the largest Conglomerate company in Maldives. The major business
operations of the business include that of the shipping along with that of import and export
activities. Other major services are communication, education, fishing, tourism and media. The
company was established in the year 1986 and they currently have their headquarters at Male.
Being one of the largest business organizations in the nation, the total revenue of the company is
estimated to be $150 million dollars as of year financial year 2016 ("Overview - Villa - The
Leading Business Initiative in Maldives", 2018).
The major areas that the company serves apart from Maldives include Singapore, Hong
Kong, Japan and Germany. The company in order to expand the range of business is planning to
initiate the business in Australia and UK. Nevertheless, under the current business environment
in the company has to face higher levels of business competition within the consumer market of
UK due to the existing Conglomerate companies both at the local and international level that
includes Virgin Group, Walmart, Tesco, Unilever and many others. Hence, under the current
circumstances, the local marketing consultancy firm will prepare the international marketing plan
for the Villa Group for the business environment of Australia. The geographic position and the
vast size of Australia will offer healthy business opportunity for the Villa Group in the business
of shipping and transportation. The company will mainly focus on the business areas near eastern
side of Australia, where the major business areas of the nations are located including the cities of
Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

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The business report will be prepared by discussing the potential of the company with
respect to the international market. The external business environment of Australia will be
discussed using the tools of Pestle analysis and Porter’s five force. The marketing mix strategies
will be done using the tools of 7Ps, STP and Competitor analysis. Additionally, theories related
to that of market entry will help the company to deal with the initial challenges.
Potential of Villa Group to Enter the International Market
After the establishment of the company in the year 1986, by Mr. Qasim Ibrahim, the
business operations of the company have been able to establish as the largest private shipping
company in Maldives. The company later invested in the resort and tourism industry. The overall
assets of the organization include that of the five resorts, having 2008 beds and 8 major cargo
ships and tankers that are used in the trading operations. The company also is currently having
the 5 island resorts that have 1,002 rooms including 6 presidential suits. In order to expand the
range of business, the company has established their sales and marketing office in countries like
Germany, Hong Kong and Japan. The average occupancy rate of all resorts under the ownership
of Villa Groups is estimated to be of 81.1% that is considered to be higher than the average of
the respective industry in Maldives of 72% ("Overview - Villa - The Leading Business Initiative
in Maldives", 2018).
Over the past years of effective business operations across wide ranges of industry, the
company has able to earn high asset values of $108.4 million dollars. This is believed to increase
within the upcoming years due to the potential of the industry. The tourism department within
the organization is believed to have diverse ranges of services that includes money transfer
across all parts of the globe. All other types of service include that of medical package training
that is considered to be one of the effective and integrated parts of the tourism service and

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industry. The Villa travel and tourism sector have an integrated partnership with that of the
Malaysian Airlines, LAUDA air and Uzbekistan Airlines. The Cargo sales Agency of Kuwait
Airways has also invested in the business partnership of Villa Travels ("Travel Services - Villa -
The Leading Business Initiative in Maldives", 2018). All types of business partnership with all
major international companies within the transportation and communication industry, will help
the Villa group to establish an influential business platform in the international market of travel
tourism and transportation industry. According to Gabrielsson et al., (2017), it is highly essential
for an organization to have multiple business unit partners at the international levels, which help
them to expand the areas of their business operations in the different foreign nations.
The diverse ranges of travel and tourism services along with that of the transportation and
shipping business operations will provide the Villa group with the major potentials to enter the
international market. There is also the sector of Broadcast and media, which will help the
company to implement their marketing plan within the international domains. The company has
their official channel that is aired in all countries along with that of the MediaNet ("Broadcast &
Media - Villa - The Leading Business Initiative in Maldives", 2018). The company has also
acquired two major cable TV operators that includes CableNet and J-Sat Communications. This
has helped the company to make use of the optical cable network, thereby increasing the area
airing the local channels. The cost of international marketing is significantly reduced, which is
believed to provide effective easy and cheap opportunity to explore the market within the foreign
nation.
There are also additional philanthropic activities of the company, which has helped to
improve the social reputation of the company. The Villa Foundation was established by the
management to ensure that all types of social welfare activities are being effectively carried out

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by the organizations, which also includes ensuring full protection of the local environment from
all hazardous business activities ("Philanthropic Activities - Villa - The Leading Business
Initiative in Maldives", 2018). This will help to easily establish their business within the
international market and get permission from the environmental departments.
Impact of business environment of Australia on the Villa Group
As mentioned in the above sections, the Villa Group is planning to enter into the travel,
tourism and transportation industry of Australia. In this context, it can be said as per the findings
of Grant (2016), that it is essential to analyze the external business environment of the target
market. This is necessary for the matter of implementing effective marketing plan to improve
their market share in the target areas. Botha et al., (2014), have added that appropriate marketing
tools are needed that can help them to analyze the political and economic factors along with the
analysis of the competitive environment that can have major significant impact on the business
operations.
The PESTEL analysis tool will effectively help the management of Villa Group to
collect necessary relevant information in the context of the business external environment in
Australia. This will also help the company to track the changes that occur in the business
environment of Australian Travel, tourism and transportation industry. In the context of the
business environment in Australia, it can be said that the nation has witnessed operative levels of
positive growths in all major sectors including that of mining, retail and wholesale and
manufacturing sectors (Lamas Leite et al., 2017).
Political: The stable democratic government in Australia is believed to have major
impact on the business of all major companies. The company is believed to have implemented
effective business laws alongside effective foreign policies that will help in the market entry of

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Villa groups. Hence, there is a positive environment within the nations that encourage high rates
of foreign capital flow. The government also ensures that there is a healthy competition
environment preventing all types if unethical business practices.
Economic: The Australian economy is generally characterized by the stable nature,
which is mainly possible due to the vibrant free capital market. The abundant amount of natural
resources has resulted in the improvement of the manufacturing sector ("Australia Economy:
Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption", 2018). The skilled workforce
within the nation will help the Villa Group in the process of recruitment and help in the process
of providing effective customer service as a part of the travel and tourism business. The total
valuation of the GDP of the nation is estimated to be about $1.1 Trillion, with the annual growth
rate of 2.5% ("Australia Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI,
Corruption", 2018). Currently, the economic value of the nation is considered even greater than
nations like Germany and UK. Nevertheless, the disparity in the level of income is considered to
be one of the major drawbacks of the Australian business environment. This will not allow the
backward section of the Australian class to afford the expensive service of Villa Group.
The marketing managers of Villa Group need to collect valuable market information from
the economic databases and the Australian government websites. This will also help them to
understand the changes that will occur within the external market environment thereby helping
the company to identify the threats and opportunities that exist within the Australian consumer
market.
Social: The social factors like the culture, lifestyle and behavior of the local population
has a significant impact on demand in the local market. For example, the exploring nature of the
Australian society will generate high demand for the tourism and resort service. Whitty and

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Littlejohns (2015), have mentioned the importance of change within the society, which can have
major impact on the level of business. Hence, the Villa Groups will have to collect information
related to the changes within the Australian society. This will be done by collecting primary
information from the surveys that are conducted within the chosen target market area.
Technological Factors: The highly advanced technological infrastructure of Australia is
believed to have effective impact on the business operations. The modern day business
operations are believed to be highly dependent on the application of technology. This includes all
types of business communication that is required for conducting the business operations and
digital marketing activities. The latest advancement of the communication technology is believed
to result in the nearly 10 million internet subscribers in all over Australia (Rubin et al., 2015).
Environmental: For a company like the Villa Group, who are intending to penetrate the
tourism market of Australia, it is essential for the company to implement essential environment
conservation policies. This will help them to deal with essential environmental issues that
include that of global warming. The tourism industry in Australia is currently at highly
vulnerable position. The Environmental Protection Act of 1974, which is believed to have
significant impact on the business policies that will be implemented by Villa Group.
Legal: The legal system in Australia is based on the business policies that are
implemented by the government. In this regards the management of the Villa Group, needs to
understand the terms and conditions of each type of business laws. This will ensure that is no
forms of violations of the laws that are being implemented within the consumer market.
Hence, by applying the PESTEL analysis tool, it is possible for the company to explore
the opportunities within the respective domains. This will help to ensure that all possible

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parameters within the external business environment are explored before the company decides to
deal implement the final business policies.
According to E. Dobbs (2014), Porter’s five force Analysis is assumed to be the
essential marketing tools, which can help to analyze the competitive environment within a
respective industry. It specifically helps to identify all types of threats and the sources for the
following industry. The following are the five parameters of Porter's five force:
Threats of Substitute Products or Services
Currently, there is high demand for the tourism and travel service within the business
environment of Australia. As the Villa Groups are planning to introduce the travel and
transportation service, they will face lower levels of threats from the alternative services.
Nevertheless, it is important for the management to deal with the issues related to the quality of
the tourism services that are being provided by the company.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Currently, there is tough competition within the tourism sectors of Australia. This is due
to the presence of several numbers of companies within the sectors. Hence, the customers will
have the option of choosing from wide range of brand of services. It is therefore essential for the
Villa Groups to provide cost-effective services in both the tourism and transportation sectors.
Moreover, as the Villa Groups are the new entrant in the respective sector, they have to offer
attractive pricing to attract the customers.
The Rivalry among existing competitors

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Being a new entrant in the travel and tourism industry, the Villa Groups has to face
intense competitive challenge for the existing companies that includes Cosmos, Ultimate
Travelers, Globus Tourism service and many more. The main competition is in the context of
providing the best cost-effective services in the forms of resorts and transportation departments.
Barriers to Entry
This is one of major threat that will be faced by the Villa groups. Due to the intense
competition within the travel, tourism and transportation services, the company has to invest
high capital in the process of initiating the business in the respective domains. The lack of the
communication channel is considered to be one of the major barriers challenges as the company
will not be able to easily implement their marketing plan (Baker et al., 2015).
Bargaining power of the suppliers
Owing to the fact that the travel and tourism department of Australia has higher demand
and opportunity the Villa Groups will face low threats due to the Bargaining power of the
suppliers. It is also relevant to mention that the company will be able to recruit cheap labours
from the local areas at cheap rates, which will help them to provide better quality of service.

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Figure: Porter’s Five Force
Source (E. Dobbs 2014)
Mode for Market Entry
According to Ang et al., (2015), market entry strategy is a type of business planning,
where an organization delivers new goods or service into a new target market. As the Villa
Group has decided to enter into the Australian consumer market of tourism and travel sector,
there are wide ranges of market entry strategy that can be implemented depending upon the
particular business environment. It is essential for the company to properly assess each option.
This will help them to understand the cost and the risks that are involved in each case. Laufs and
Schwens (2014), have mentioned that importing or exporting a service is considered to be one of