International Marketing: Analyzing Linley's Global Expansion

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Linley Furniture's international marketing strategy. It begins with an introduction to international marketing and the Linley brand, a UK-based furniture company. Task 1 involves a critical analysis of Linley using external environment tools, specifically PESTLE and Porter's Five Forces, to assess the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting the company, as well as the competitive landscape. Task 2 focuses on researching a different foreign market for Linley, employing international market research theory to segment, target, and position the brand for growth and competitive advantage, considering the current global economic climate. The report concludes with recommendations for Linley's international expansion, supported by secondary research and analysis.

International Marketing

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
Company Overview:...............................................................................................................4
Critically make a analysis of an organisation by use of external environment tools.............4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
Researching the target market ...............................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENECES............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
International marketing is a concept that is related with use of expansion techniques like
importing, exporting, licensing or franchising that can help an existing organisation to expand
their operations to other different parts of world. It can also help in targetting a completely new
market segment. Present report is based on Linley that is a furniture based brand and having
presence in different locations of UK. It is present in London, UK and is part of the home
furnishing industry. (Egorov, 2017). The first furniture collection of Linley Furniture was
launched at Christie by the name “Vebetian” range that is inspired by the architecture of their
city. Sir Roy was the director of this brand who said that Linley's furniture will be counted as one
of antique brands in coming future period of time. Present report is having a objective to make a
critical analysis of a organisation that is having presence in their domestic country and is willing
to expand themselves to other different country by using a particular strategy. There are many
external environment factors that have to be considered while a organization is forming their
international expansion strategies. There is use of present scenario of global economy and
various entry routes that can be used by an organisation in order to establish themselves in their
target country.

TASK 1
Company Overview:
Linley is a UK based furniture brand that is having a royal background. Its name is based
on the son of Photographer Lord Snowdown and princess Margaret Linley who had a early
passion for crafts and arts (Irawanto, 2017).
There is discussion based on use of certain macro environment tools for the purpose of
developing an overview of certain factors that are leading to generation of threats & opportunites
for a business organisation. Apart from this there are many routes that can be adopted for
purpose of expanding to other international borders that can be used by Linley Furniture in order
to exploit opportunities that are part of external market.
Critically make a analysis of an organisation by use of external environment tools
For the objective of formation of strategies by a organisation it is very important to
conduct a detail analysis of the existing position based on elements that are part of external
environment. There is use of PESTLE analysis as a framework for the purpose of developing a
detailed overview of different factors that are part of external environment and are creating a
significant impact on the way organisations are functioning. There is discussion of Linley
furniture by use of pestle analysis as mentioned below:
Political factors: These are some factors that are affecting the present positioning of a
brand. It is concerned with the process of decision making by the government of a country
(MayChristodoulouand Cullinane, 2019). David linley furniture is a royal British brand and is
affected by various changes that are part of external business environment. In context of political
factors it consist of government stability that is the rule of law. It is also incidental to overall
effectiveness that are part of government policies. UK is one of most powerful countries of world
and the government consist of parliament democracy and constitutional monarchy. Here prime
minister is also head of the government & Leader of state. According to the reports published in
the year 2019 in BBC the role played by monarch and royal family is ceremonial. Presently the
scenario of Brexit has lead to generation of high amount of uncertainty. In January 2020 also
there has been culmination of deal finally that UK will be leaving EU. This is going to posses
impact on the furniture industry. It is also have a significant affect on the expansion plans of
David Linley.

Economic factors:Economic factors are those that are related with the economy of a
country and affecting the organisational policies & the process of decision making (Perera,
2017). In Present case of David Linley is having presence in UK. Present situation of account
deficits since year 1990 has been maintained by government of UK but in future because of
prevailing situation of COVID-19. There are changes in interest rates that are taking place such
as there has been lowering of interests by 0.25 percent and this has resulted in central bank
lowering down their percentage point to 2 percent. These changes have taken place since may 5,
2020, this is one of most important aspects that has to be considered by David Linley as it is
going to impact the process of arrangement of financial resources.
Social factors: Social factors are those that are very difficult to be quantified and
predicted as they are related to the behaviour possibilities of future individual consumers. These
factors consist of personal attitudes, beliefs, values of the target segment of customers. The target
segment of Linley furniture is the people who prefer antique furniture designs. With the
changing trends specially in developed countries like UK people are having preferences of
creating a antique and cultural interiors. This will lead towards enhancement of demand for this
type of furniture range. So, it can be said that this will help in creation of more demand for
brands like Linley as they are more trusted because of their foundation background. So, social
factors are completely supportive for developing more future sales by Linley furniture. Social
factors that has to be considered is that people have developed more preferences for antique
Furniture and this is leading to a large prospects of high sales for Linley Furniture.
Technology factors: There are different factors that posses a relation with the way
organisation are willing to adopt latest technological trends. Such as there is high investment that
is being made in research and development by Linley furniture. It is helping them in making a
evaluation of the recent developments that have taken place in adoption of latest production
technology. Also, with the changing times there is more focus on use of e commerce as a
strategy for the purpose of approaching large market share. With the help of Physical outlets are
only a small part of market that can be approached but by usage of online sites people from large
number of locations can have any time access on products of a organisation. Linley always has a
focus on the prevailing rate of obsolescence because of the changing technological nature of the
dynamic environment (FAN, & XU, 2016). The raw materiel used in furniture industry is not
environmental friendly but people have preferences for wooden Furniture as compared to plastic

furniture because of its high durability. So, there are high sales growth can be predicted for
Linley furniture.
Legal factors: Legal laws are governing every country and these have to be followed by
all organsiations. It is helpful for smooth functioning of business activities and tasks. In context
of Linley, it is involved in manufacturing antique designed furniture and there are some specific
laws given by UK government in context of furniture industry which have to be adopted by this
company. When this company follows these laws and legal rules then there are no hurdles in
success of company. Legal laws that have to be considered and it includes Employment act
1996, equality Act 2010 that has to be incorporated in David Linley to ensure proper adherence
to such legal laws.
Environmental factors: Factors part of external environment has resulted in a complete
change in way organisation are functioning specially since a time period of last fifteen years.
These factors have become more important because of shortages in the availability of raw
materials natural resources. So, organisations are willing to have have high ethical standards &
sustainable measures as a part of their regular functioning. Linley is a furniture brands that is
using wood for the purpose of manufacturing of their unique furniture designs. But at same time
this brand since the time of its evolution has made every small effort to ensure that the are having
higher sustainable standards and their operations are not posing any harm to the external business
environment.
Porters five forces model:
Porters five forces is a business analysis framework that can be used for understanding
the different factors that are affecting the Competitive position of a brand. It is widely used tool
for making an evaluation of the industry structure of an organisation and understand its corporate
strategy. In present scenario there is discussion of five major factors that will be posing a impact
on Linley Furniture & their competitive position in UK. These factors are part of fast changing
dynamic environment and are discussed below:
Industrial Rivalry: This factor is associated with the number of existing competitors in
the industry that can be a threat for a new brand. Such as in case of Davidlinley there are many
competitive brands that are already present in UK a such as Max Rollit, Tetrad, Heal's, Ochre,
that are offering high competition to Davidlinley. But the background and unique designs is a

feature that is helping this brand in attainment of a high competitive position. This gives them a
edge and helps in attainment of trust of their loyal customer base.
Potential threat of new entrants: The power of a brand is affected by the threat of new
entrants in market. If requirement of cost and time resource is less then probability of new
entrant is very high. A industry that has strong barriers is very ideal for existing brands as there
is low threat of new entrants. In UK there are many existing furniture brands such as Ochre,
Tetrad, Tom Raffield, Max Rollit, Heal's but there is very low threat of new entrant in this
industry as it requires large amount of investment. At same time it is not very easy to match
quality offered by these existing brands. So, it is a favourable factor for Linley as there is very
low threat of new entrant (Bashan and Armon, 2019).
Bargaining Power of suppliers: This factor is related to whether it is easy for suppliers to
drive cost of inputs. There are many suppliers who are supplying raw materials at competitive
prices. In case of Linley as they belong to furniture industry they posses a ease that suppliers can
easily drive the cost of inputs as raw materials so they are very crucial for maintaining of high
quality standards in their products. It creates a need to have high focus on maintaining long term
relations with their existing suppliers. Linley is a brand that is certain bespoke furniture and they
are offering high quality of interiors with collectable piece & luxury gifts, accessories.
Bargaining power of customers: It is regarded as the ability to drive the prices of
products. There are many factors that will be affects the bargaining power of customers in UK.
There is very high In Linley furniture the high quality and wide variety of options that will help
in building up a higher competitive advantage. It will also lead to lowering down of the
bargaining power of their existing customers as they will be not able to find any option for
fulfilment of their antique furniture options. Linley is showcasing the finest of British designs &
craftsmanship that is leading to a Competitive position as compared to all their existing
competitors in UK such as Max Rollit, Tetrad that is helping this brand in reducing the
bargaining power of customers.
Threat of substitution: This is a factor that is associated with the similar options that are
available for the target market and they can use it for substitution of their existing product. In
case of David Linkey UK there are many existing furniture brands that are offering wide range of
high quality Furniture and they are targetting the same market as of Linley. This includes brands
like Ochre, Tetrad, Catchpole & Rye etc. Linley has a feature that its every piece is created with

high configuration in order to meet the space and it ranges from a office Studio to a one pent
house. They consist of lot of handcrafted designs with a high attention to details. They also have
a network of 260 craftsmanship that is used for showcasing the finest craftsmanship and British
design.
The above discussed analysis by using porters five forces model is based on the
competitive position of David Linley that they have been able to built up since all these years
because of the unique and different furniture range that they are offering to their people in UK.
These aspects and competitive advantages can be used as as a tool for expansion to other foreign
countries according to their present expansion plans. The world is witnessing large number of
international brands that are crossing borders and markets across globe. It has encouraged
organisations to adopt different marketing strategies to competence across countries. Global
operations are more diverse and are covering many different operations like global production,
manufacturing, international management and international finance (Osano, 2019). Manger
across the world have understood the importance of developing appropriate marketing aptitude,
skills and knowledge in order to compete in a effective manner. It is very helpful for furniture
brands like Linley that they can use the present competitive position in UK as strategies to
establish themselves in their new international target markets of different foreign countries to be
a part of global expansion and globalisation.
TASK 2
Researching the target market
In the present scenario of changing business environment across different parts of world
there is a need to adopt global expansion strategies. The external business environment is
changing because of the global Changes. such as present situation the global pandemic COVID-
19 there has been complete changes in way organisation are adopting various strategies. In the
case of Linley furniture this brand is having is origination from London and is successfully
operating in different parts of UK and also some locations in Australia. Along with this they are
having a strong online presence & catering to the requirement of their target segment of
customers. But apart from this there is a necessity to develop a detail overview of the their target

country that is Malaysia which is a new market segment that is approached by Linley in coming
time period of one year (JuneMbazira, 2019). There is a necessity to make a detailed analysis of
macro environment so that there can be a detailed evaluation of new market that is being targeted
by Linley furniture.
There is use of pestle analysis for the purpose of understanding the external environmental
factors that are part of new target market of Linley furniture:
Political factors: The Malaysian economy is made up of thirteen states and three federal
territories. Further, there is a monarchy that consist of a sultan committee. The prime minister is
responsible for handling all major regulations and policies. For Linley furniture in order to
establish themselves in different parts of world there is requirement of a stable political scenario.
Malaysia is a politically stable country it consist of some amount of corruption cases but overall
they have stable political conditions that creates a favourable condition for Linley furniture.
Economic factors: Malaysia is a multi sector economy that is they have been considered
as a middle income group. The main reason is because they are having extra dependency on
exports. Their administration plans are also offsetting the problem of expansion of higher
domestic supply & high demand of products (Lewis, 2017). There is a situation of low rate of
unemployment that is 3.2 percent as per the data of year 2019. The present Malaysian economy
is healthy and active base of the high amount of industrialisation. So, they are having high
amount of benefits because of exports from countries like Japan, Singapore, china and UK. It is
going to provide a profitable opportunity for Linley furniture to establish themselves in
Malaysian markets.
Social factors: There are some sociocultural factors that have to be taken into
consideration by Linley furniture as they are very significant to develop insights about the target
segment of their customers in Malaysia. Every country has their own set of different cultures and
values that results into a complete different behaviour of their customers. For the purpose of
formation of marketing strategies & making required modifications in products Linley has to
focus on the lifestyle of people and way they are socialising themselves in context of changing
trends of society.
Technological factors: The growth and Changes taking place in technology has affected
every country. It has resulted into a significant impact on different organisations in the process of
perceiving their functions. Such as, in Malaysia there has been embracing of latest technology to

increase the access of internet, through mobile networks as large organisations like Google, IBM
and Intel. They are having their presence in Malaysia their government is also having high focus
on taking initiatives for hi-tech investments in coming time period of five years (Chesula and
Kiriiny, 2018). This will lead to a very attractive opportunity for Linley as it is going to increase
their scope for hiring local workers and they can struggle to embrace the new technology in the
furniture industry.
Legal factors: These are one of most crucial factors that lead to a complete focus on
implementation of all regulations and laws that are prevailing in the new target country. In case
of Linley furniture for purpose of their international expansion in Malaysia there has to be a
detailed research on different types of legal laws. There is a common law system that is followed
in Malaysia. It is a legal framework that is developed for the purpose of protection of rights of
Malaysian citizens. It also has a with different state laws in some specific areas. According to
location selected there has to be a detailed analysis made by research and development
department of Linley furniture.
Environment factors: Deforestation is a very popular issue because of high urbanisation
and industrialisation that is taking place in different parts of Malaysia. It is very important to take
into consideration that a business is not posing a negative impact on the way they are using the
natural resources (AYDIN, 2017). In case of Linley furniture, there is focus on use of woods that
is extracted from some special variety of trees that is not much environment friendly aspect but
this is a main raw material in case of furniture industry.
STP Analysis:
STP is a strategic approach that can be applied in the pros of modern marketing. It is one
of most commonly used marketing models that can be utilised by organisations for the purpose
of developing some strategies for international expansion. In the present scenario of Linley
furniture for expanding in Malaysia there is a need to conduct a STP analysis. STP analysis is a
tool that will help in proper strategic expansion that can take place in a morfe smooth manner as
mentioned below:
Segmentation: There are many different strategies that can be used for the objective of
segmenting of market. Based on analysis there are different types of segmentation techniques
such as demographics segmentation (based on income, education, marital status, education, size,
residence type, occupation etc.) Psycho-graphic segmentation (based in emotional behaviour

linked to the purchasing choices, hobbies etc.) Geographic segmentation (classification is
according to region, country, state city and last is behavioural segmentation that (based on use of
products and according to its benefits to people). In case of Linley furniture for the purpose of
their new target segment of market there will be use of behavioural segmentation. Here,
customers will be targeted according to the benefit of products that are offered by this brand.
Such as, they are having a differentiation advantage of offering best quality antique designs in all
different range of Furniture. This edge is used for purpose of making the customers realise the
main benefits of these products. For objective of satisfying the innovation requirement of
customers there will be use of core qualities of Linley furniture.
Targetting: There are many different factors that have to be considered before selecting
the target market. In case of Linley furniture for the objective of market expansion in Malaysia
there are some factors that will be considered such as the size of each customer group, potential
growth of market. For creating awareness there is a need to form certain strategies like adoption
of digital media sources. This is one of most cost effective method and suitable marketing
strategies that can be adopted for the purpose of targeting the customers aware about presence of
new brand (Quelch and Easwar, 2018). There will be creation of some attractive pages on these
social media applications like facebook, Instagram and snap chat where most attractive pictures
& post will be created in order to attract maximum customers.
Positioning: After there has been proper segmentation and targetting of market in the
next step there will be creation of a significant position in the target market. It can help a
organisation in having a differentiation advantage as compared to all other competitive brands
that are existing in the target market. Brands like Ming Qu antique house, Lasting impressions
(Horita, 2020). The curiosity shops are some of furniture brands that are offering large amount of
options in the similar category of products that are dealt by Linley furniture. So there comes a
requirement to have some differentiation advantage so that products can be placed in a different
manner for target segment of customers.
Marketing mix analysis:
Marketing mix is a tool that is depended on product & product marketing. Presently there
is discussion of marketing mix of Linley Furniture as mentioned below:

Product: The product marketing is a concept that is having emphasis on using a unique
combination of ergonomics, technological expertise and furniture craftsmanship. Linley furniture
is dealing in category of extraordinary furniture such as they have a huge variety of office &
study, Dining room, Outdoor Furniture. Apart from this they have variety in chairs, desks, tables,
room furniture. They are also having a collection from around the world such as alphabet box,
fish crystal. All these aspects in their products leading to David Linley where they are selling the
pride of their workmanship & ownership reflected in their products. Product marketing is used in
the way packaging, finishing and collaterals. Product marketing is a challenge that can create
problem of packaging and assembling that have to be taken into consideration for the purpose of
their future marketing activities in their target country Malaysia.
Promotion: The existing promotion strategy of David linely is based on application of
some rightly available platforms to communicate with their present and prospective customers.
The management of Linley furniture is making use of digital Strategy for the promotion of their
brand. They are also making timely audit of their digital strategy. There is use of influencer
marketing to utilise the engagement of their customers to cater to a niche market. Such digital
marketing strategies can be further used for purpose of international expansion of Linley
furniture. The quality and variety of products is clearly depicted in their promotional channels
that is used by Marketing department of David Linley.
Place: David Linley is making use of e-commerce websites and physical stores to ensure
that they are available for their target segment of customers. They are having stores on Mayfair,
Belgravia, Harrods & Burlington Arcade in Piccadilly. That denotes that they are already having
a large global presence and catering in different parts of the world. Further, new target market
can be targeted by using the good brand image in their existing countries.
Price: The furniture in David Linley are priced according to the value that they offer. The
main differentiation feature of their products is the unique design and high quality which this
brand is offering. There is use of price penetration as a strategy to attract more customers and get
a Differentiation advantage as compared to other competitors. The price penetration is suitable
strategy that can be used for entering new target market and for their international expansion.
Process: The distribution process of David linley based on using both direct and indirect
channels of their product distribution. They provide customised services like offering specific
product catalogues through mails according to individual customer requirements. Apart from this