Marketing Across Culture: Oliver Spencer's Global Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing across cultures, focusing on the case of Oliver Spencer, a UK-based menswear brand, and its potential expansion into the Chinese market. The report begins with a cross-cultural analysis using Hofstede's six dimensions to compare the cultural differences between the UK and China. It then examines the social and cultural factors influencing the marketing mix, including cultural elements, social factors, and their implications on product, price, place, promotion, process, physical evidence, and people. The report further explores various market entry strategies and concludes with recommendations for the best approach for Oliver Spencer to successfully enter the Chinese market. The analysis emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural nuances and adapting marketing strategies to influence consumer behavior in a global context.

MARKETING ACROSS
CULTURE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Cross – cultural analysis..........................................................................................................1
2. Social and cultural factors affecting marketing mix...............................................................3
3. Market entry strategies............................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is set of activities and process of making, communicating, delivering and
exchange offers. This activity has value for company, customers and share holders in terms of
quality, revenue or profits. Marketing across culture consider global organisations and how they
can adapt different international cultures in it's activity. Oliver Spencer is UK brand of clothing
for man founded in 2002 which manufacture formal wear with best quality yarns and fabric
(Ting-Toomey and Dorjee, 2018). In this assignment cross – cultural analysis technique will be
included to understand social and culture difference among two different countries. This will
examine that how social and culture factor will help company to target and influence consumer
buying behaviour. Also evaluation and implications of strategies on marketing mix will be done.
At last, this will include evaluation of different strategies for entering into international market
and recommendation for best strategy.
MAIN BODY
1. Cross – cultural analysis
Marketing is process by which promotional activities are planned so that products or
services are recognised in market place by customers. Marketing across culture is concept used
by global companies to adapt different diversity while expanding business operations. It helps in
providing important information about marketing strategies and their implications in context of
different nations. Oliver Spencer was founded in 2002 manufacturers and promotes their formal
wear brand for men. This brand focuses on premium tailoring with quality and finest range of
clothes. This is research tool which is used to analyse information about characteristics and
customers influencing consumer behaviour. There are different techniques by which this tool can
be analyse and best strategies are framed to understand cultural diversity in different markets for
company (De Mooij, 2018). In case of Oliver Spencer, Hofstede will be most suitable so that
cultural differences in UK and China can be understand completely. This technique is most
effective in analysing elements present in different culture so that company gets clear
understanding to make strategies. There are six different types of dimensions that helps in
ascertained cultural diversity between UK and China, are as follows:
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Power distance Index: This dimension is concerns with extend to which power is distributed
among the individuals, institutions and organisations. In context of china it is one of those
countries which does not accept inequalities in terms of distribution of power. This will help
Oliver Spencer to effectively conduct it's business and provides best quality product in market.
Individualism and Collectivism: This is the degree by which society maintains interdependence
among its individuals. China is one of most highly collective culture there individuals act in
interests of group rather than focusing on individualism (De Mooij, 2019). This might have
negative impact on the company as negative feedback of some individuals can lead to full
boycott of formal wear designed by Oliver Spencer.
Indulgence versus restraint: This define extend to which individuals are able to control and
restraints their desires and impulsive behaviour bases on socialisation. China is one of restrained
country or society which have tendency to put less efforts for leisure times and control their
desires. This will help Oliver Spencer in its operations as it deals in formal wear and individuals
are more into work, thus helps in increasing sales revenue. Another benefit is availability of hard
working employees who have controlled desired and will work effectively in direction of
achieving organisational objectives.
Masculinity and femininity: In context of China, it is a male dominant country and they hold
most prestigious and economically strong positions in region. This will help Oliver Spencer to
come up as brand for formal wear for men. This factor will be helpful for company to grow and
expand it's business and operations at early stage and then capture market share.
Short & Long time orientation: This dimensions show that how society maintains links with its
past while facing challenges in present and of future. China score high in this dimensions as
there is ability to adapt changes according to situations and thrive to achieve results (Gomes,
Sousa and Vendrell-Herrero, 2017). This will have positive impact on Oliver Spencer as
company will come up with different types of formal wear which are different from their
traditional dresses.
Uncertainty avoidance index: This dimensions deals with fear of threat by unknown situations
of future events and creating institutions to avoid such beliefs. China scores low in this index
which imply that individuals in China are comfortable with feeling of ambiguity and there is
difficulties for Oliver Spencer to understand the local language and start their operations
effectively.
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From the above analyse of China with the help of Hofstede Six dimensions it can analyse
that it is different from culture of UK. Some factors will have positive impact on Oliver Spencer
but others may cause hurdles in growth and development of company. There is need that
organisation analyse negative dimensions and have complete understanding of all these. This
will have company to minimise the risk associated with it and find out suitable strategies to
mitigate the challenges.
2. Social and cultural factors affecting marketing mix
Marketing is concern with creating impact on consumers and their buying behaviour so
that profits can be increased (Song and et. al., 2018). In all this process marketing activities aims
at targeting those factors like social and culture which have great impact on their purchasing
behaviour as well. In case of Oliver Spencer, their marketing activities are concerned with
identifying behaviour of men so that they can influence their decisions regarding formal wear of
company. Organisation wants to expand its business in China and thus there is need that it
identify social and cultural related factors of customers. This information will have Oliver
Spencer to make decisions regarding to marketing mix and frame strategies accordingly to grow
and capture market share. The explanation of factors are as follows:
Cultural Factors: China has largest population in the whole world and thus there are different
elements which affects cultural factors of individuals of China. Elements affecting this factors
are as follows:
Ethnic and Language Groups: Individuals in China have strong cultural values like
languages and traditions they follow on daily basis. There is common language and close
relationships in society, this will help Oliver Spencer to introduce their new range of traditional
clothes designed according to culture of Chinese people,
Cultural Values: China is one of the most diverse in terms of religion, communities and
complex structure (Budden, Budden and Lopez, 2017). Despite of their different beliefs their
values are same for family, social life, morality, self – restraint and lay more emphasis on hard
work. This will help Oliver Spencer in promoting its products with the cultural appeal so that
consumer’s buying behaviour can be influenced.
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Social factor: due to huge population it supply skilled and expertise workforce which can be
seen as opportunities for Oliver Spencer to expand their operations. Individuals of china
maintains high lifestyles, higher educational level, different religion, etc. which plays important
role in affecting social factor in buying behaviour (Arora and Sanni, 2019). In case of Oliver
Spencer there is E – commerce websites also from where consumers can purchase their products
and availability of internet services play have positive impact on the sales revenue for company.
There factors will have strategic implications on decisions regarding marketing mix of
Oliver Spencer. This will help company to expand its business in China and have further
opportunities for growth and development. The marketing mix of Oliver Spencer is as follows:
Product: This refers to goods and services that company offers in the present market to meet the
expectations of consumers. This helps business to generate revenues and earns profits by
satisfying customer demand. Oliver Spencer has formal wear for men presently dealing in UK
and planning to grow in market of China. For this company has to introduce new range of
traditional coats according to social and cultural factor rather than blazers which are popular and
according to customs to buyers.
Price: This factor of marketing mix is concerned with value which customer is willing to pay in
exchange of products or services. For company it is cost incurred and profits which helps in
survival of business. Oliver Spencer charges premium prices because of qualitative raw material
it uses in manufacturing formal wear. It is made by finest yarns and cloth which are of best
quality and is expensive in cost.
Place: This is concerned with selecting location of business in terms of corporate office,
exclusive showrooms, outlets, stores, etc. In this company makes decisions about selecting best
place so that they can attract and capture more numbers of customers (Lu and et. al., 2019). In
this Oliver Spencer will make sure that outlets is present at prime location in city so that more
and more
Promotion: This is one of major strategic decisions that company needs to take so that they are
effective in influencing buying behaviour of targeted customers in market. There are different
techniques like combinations of print media and modern social platforms can be used to target
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buyers. Oliver Spencer will make sure that promotional advertisements and posters for print
media and outlets are according to cultural values of Chinese people. Their promotional
campaigns should appeal on the ground of social factor so that buying behaviour can be
influenced.
Process: In this aspect of marketing mix process include in manufacturing, delivering products,
supply management, promotional activities and selecting candidate is analysed. In case of Oliver
Spencer there is need that production process adds value to the formal wear range of organisation
(Allen and Vardaman, 2017). This can be done by regularly monitoring, eliminating waste
activities, controlling actions and continuous improvements. It should also kept in mind the
social and culture factor and thus not include any type of raw material which is prohibited in
culture of Chinese people.
Physical Evidence: This is concerned with providing evidence of company at physical place and
maintaining it to build strong relationships. It includes design of stores, location of outlets, floor
space, flow of products, etc. These days it also comprise of online websites where manufacturer
and customer can interact on personal basis. In case of Oliver Spencer there physical evidence is
both exclusive outlets and online site so that they can reach more numbers of customers. It is
important that company design their official websites in such a way that it does not turn out to be
appropriate in terms of social and cultural factors.
People: These includes interested parties like customers, share holders, employees and general
public, all such parties are directly and indirectly gets affected by actions of organisation.
Employees should be well trained so that they can interact effectively with consumers so that
relationships can be build (Altschwager and et. al., 2017). In case of Oliver Spencer it is needed
that there are no actions or operations that hurt the sentiments or feelings of interested parties so
that growth is effective.
The above discussion clearly shows that social and cultural factors affects consumer
buying behaviour and strategies related to marketing mix of Oliver Spencer. Products need to be
design according to traditions and norms of China so that they are acceptable by consumers.
Promotional activities are required to be plan in such a way that it does not contain any
information or visual which is socially not acceptable by people of China. Place should be at
prime location, pricing policies as premium price according to quality of product, processes that
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add value to product need to be frame. People factor is concerned with hiring employees that
know local language and can effectively interact with consumers.
3. Market entry strategies
There are different ways by which business can expand its operations into international
market but need to select according to the strategies of company. There are different factors like
interest rate, product requirements, market availability, transportation cost, etc. These elements
are analyse before selecting marketing strategies for international growth, some of those
strategies are as follows:
Buying Business: In this type of international strategy, parent company will buy some local
brand and this is known as one of most effective in entering market strategy. This helps global
company to use existing market share of business and promote their products or services. It is not
important that this turns out to be effective because there are many different factors that
consumers consider while making buying decisions (Armstrong and et. al., 2018). In case of
Oliver Spencer, it will provide goodwill and status of local brand in fashion and can exploit
market opportunities for expansion. This will also help company to be treated as local firm in the
eye of China government.
Direct Exporting: This is one of strategy which deals in direct selling of product in market with
the help of direct and personal selling. For this companies employees distributors and agents to
work in market and represent the company in local market of that region. In this it is needed that
Oliver Spencer select their agents and distributors effectively in same way as this is one of key
aspects in direct exporting strategy to enter into international market.
Exporting: This is one of traditional way by which company can enter into foreign market by
marketing its products or services in other country. Only investment that will be required to
promote the product in new market is necessary and other cost can be eliminated. Oliver
Spencer will have an opportunity to understand about market of China before starting
manufacturing (Kefi, Indra and Abdessalem, 2017). It will also reduce risk and investment for
company which can be sue to grab opportunities prevailing in business environment.
Franchising: It is North American process for expanding market in different parts of world
easily with the help of repeatable business model. This requires that company should be unique
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and have strong brand image so that it is easily recognise by different customers. In this context
Oliver Spencer needs to develop business model which can be transfer to different parts of world
and increase it's brand image in international market.
Greenfield Investments: this includes process like buying land, building infrastructure and
operating business personally in foreign market. It is one of the expensive and risky international
marketing strategy as it requires huge investment and associated risks are higher than any other
strategies. Oliver Spencer needs to analyse factors like government regulations, workforce
availability, access to technology, cost of transportation, etc. Risks relate to it need to be
understand and analyse so that their impacts can be minimise in business operations while
expanding into international markets (Deresky, 2017).
Joint Ventures: In this type of international expansion strategies two companies dealing in same
industry combined together to operate new business. They work collectively in market with
products or location and that becomes base for new firm introduced. All the profits and risk
associated with new firms are distributes equally so that their existing business can also grow
simultaneously. In this case Oliver Spencer can join hands with some local fashion brand or
other global brand operating in market of China. They both will work collectively to make new
business model successful and develop as fashion brand in global market.
Licensing: This is one of most sophisticated arrangement by which one firms transfers rights and
licence to use their products or services by another company. It is useful when business who is
purchasing licence of firm has captured big market share in industry so that it is beneficial for
parent organisation (Soares, Farhangmehr and Shoham, 2017). Oliver Spencer can give away it's
licence to use formal wear for men so that it gets benefited from market share of company and
earn higher profits.
Partnering: This is one of widely used international strategies while entering into foreign
market which is done in different ways. It can be simple marketing arrangement to complex
strategic alliance used for manufacturing. Oliver Spencer can use this strategy because social and
culture differences between UK and China need to be analyse with the help of some local brand
to have complete understanding about market factors.
Piggybacking: This is one of unique way to enter into international market as company who
have unique and innovative products or services. In this strategies such products are sell to
businesses which are already operating in global market. Oliver Spencer can use global company
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like Levi's, Marks & Spencer, Amazon, etc. to market and sells it's product at international
market. This will reduce risk associated with entering into foreign market to minimum and
requires less investment as compared to any other strategies (Engelen and Brettel, 2011).
All the above strategies are effective and applicable according to need and situation of
business environment. Oliver Spencer needs to have complete understanding about each and
every strategy so that they can select one or combinations of these. In this scenario company can
apply Partnering as international strategy because there are social and cultural differences in UK
and China which need to understand completely. This can be done with working with one of the
local fashion brand and makes changes in designs and promotions of products. This will help to
market their formal wear for men in establishing customers base of China and risk of failure can
be minimised. This will also ensure that company makes changes according to expectations and
specifications of consumers.
CONCLUSION
From above report it can be concluded that marketing is activity of promoting product
and services in market where business operates. Marketing across culture is broader concept than
marketing as it identifies different factors which distinguishes social-cultural dimensions in
different region. In this cross – cultural analysis will be done with the Hofstede Six Dimensions
Models which identifies different factors which influence cultural norms, values and beliefs of
consumers. There are different social cultural factors like ethnic groups and value which have
direct or indirect impact on the buying behaviour of consumers. This also create impact on
strategies which are used in marketing mix and thus framed according to these factors. There are
various strategies like exporting, licensing, partnership, joint venture, franchising, etc. for
companies so that they can enter into international market.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Allen, D. G. and Vardaman, J. M., 2017. Recruitment and retention across cultures. Annual
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Altschwager, T. and et. al., 2017. Branded marketing events: engaging Australian and French
wine consumers. Journal of Service Theory and Practice. 27(2). pp.336-357.
Armstrong, G. M. and et. al., 2018. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson UK.
Arora, A. S. and Sanni, S. A., 2019. Ten years of ‘social media marketing’research in the Journal
of Promotion Management: research synthesis, emerging themes, and new
directions. Journal of Promotion Management. 25(4). pp.476-499.
Budden, M. C., Budden, C. B. and Lopez, T. B., 2017. Enhancing Cross Cultural
Communication in the Marketing Classroom: A Case Approach. Journal of
International Education Research. 13(1). pp.45-50.
De Mooij, M., 2018. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes.
SAGE Publications Limited.
De Mooij, M., 2019. Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and
advertising. SAGE Publications Limited.
Deresky, H., 2017. International management: Managing across borders and cultures. Pearson
Education India.
Engelen, A. and Brettel, M., 2011. Assessing cross-cultural marketing theory and
research. Journal of Business Research. 64(5). pp.516-523.
Gomes, E., Sousa, C. and Vendrell-Herrero, F., 2017. International marketing
agility. International Marketing Review.
Kefi, H., Indra, S. and Abdessalem, T., 2017. Social media marketing analytics: a multicultural
approach applied to the beauty\& cosmetic sector. arXiv preprint arXiv:1702.01676.
Lu, J. G. and et. al., 2019. Creativity and humor across cultures: Where Aha meets Haha.
In Creativity and Humor (pp. 183-203). Academic Press.
Soares, A. M., Farhangmehr, M. and Shoham, A., 2017. Hofstede's dimensions of culture in
international marketing studies. Journal of business research. 60(3). pp.277-284.
Song, R. and et. al., 2018. When marketing strategy meets culture: the role of culture in product
evaluations. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 46(3). pp.384-402.
Ting-Toomey, S. and Dorjee, T., 2018. Communicating across cultures. Guilford Publications.
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