Strategic Marketing Report: Web Design Service for Ashanti Solutions

This report provides a comprehensive strategic marketing plan for Ashanti Marketing Solutions (AMS) Limited, focusing on the launch of a web design service in Germany. It begins with an executive summary outlining the report's objectives, which include recommending a product/service and country, conducting a macro-environmental (PESTEL) analysis to identify opportunities and threats, assessing various market-entry modes, and evaluating potential target markets through segmentation and Porter's generic strategy. The report recommends web design services for a niche market in Germany, considering political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. It analyzes three market-entry modes (strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and a recommended approach). It also explores market segmentation, targeting, and positioning, culminating in the application of Porter's generic strategies to guide AMS's decision-making. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding the German market, adapting to risks, and utilizing strategic frameworks to ensure successful market entry and growth.

Running head: WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Strategic Marketing
[WEB DESIGN SERVICE]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Executive summary
This article addresses Ashanti Solutions Company's aspects of marketing strategies. UK based ‘Ashanti
Solutions’ provides several services to target market that also include advertisements. The study
illustrates a strategic marketing plan for ‘Web Design Service’ to be launched in Germany. It covers all
aspects of business risks and benefits in the chosen country. This program aims to encourage AMS to use
Porter's five forces to make decisions. AMS is being recommended to offer web design services to a niche
market. The customer to be includes individuals seeking the cheapest service or SMEs looking for
excellent website related works.
1

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Body............................................................................................................................................................3
1. PESTEL analysis.................................................................................................................................3
2. Various options of marketplace entry..................................................................................................6
3. Segmentation of the market.................................................................................................................8
Positioning...........................................................................................................................................8
4. The generic strategy of Porter's...........................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11
2

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Introduction
The study is about Ashanti Marketing Solutions (AMS) Limited. The report will use various
management frameworks to produce valuable information relating to business opportunities in Germany.
The purpose to deliver such information is to encourage AMS to look to grab the opportunities in
Germany. Out of many products and services that can be recommended for this new market, ‘Web
Design Service’ is being selected. AMS already has advertising, promotions, PR and others as part of
their service folio. Therefore, it should not be a challenge for AMS to enter the market with web design
services. The management frameworks to be used in this solution include PESTEL analysis, discussion
on market-entry options, segmentation of the target market and the generic strategy of Porter’s.
Body
AMS should enter Germany with web design services as the chosen service for the target market.
The service will include, website development activities, branding, content, search engine optimization,
visuals interface design, etc. This service should help attract more consumers and thus, creating a good
customer base in Germany. Germany is the closest market to the United Kingdom and is also recognized
as the largest economy in Europe. Germany as per some reports is the world's fourth-largest economy
basis on nominal GDP (Fichtner et al. 2017). AMS, a UK company should have good opportunities for
being closest to Germany and due to the flourishing business opportunities in the country.
1. PESTEL analysis
This section will conduct a PESTEL analysis of Germany to identify the opportunities and
challenges for web design service providers in the country. Hence,
 Political
Political factors apply to a business where the government influences the business environment and the
economy. Taxation policies, fiscal policies, industrial tariffs and so on can all be the concerns. Since the
business joins the German market, the policies should first be well evaluated. In Germany, laws such as
vat can influence earnings. An aspect of how these policies affect the company needs to be discussed.
Germany, for instance, charges about 30-33% as income tax (corporate income tax, solidarity surcharge,
business tax) (Delgado, Fernández-Rodríguez and Martínez-Arias 2018). This may become a liability to
the company if these taxes increase. Profit may also be affected in such circumstances.
3

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
 Economic
Factors such as rates of interest, growth trends, etc. make up for a country’s economic influence on
businesses. Germany's economy grew fastest with a strong GDP in Europe. It was also the world ‘s fifth-
fastest economy in 2017. Ashanti Solutions can benefit greatly from this because of high demand, market
share and profit gains. When and however, inflation increases, the price of the company's service will be
affected (Manopimoke 2018).
 Social
It tends to reflect cultural trends, population science, demographics and so on. In Germany, population
size in each market division, area and consumer preferences are all like the information. This information
can be used to identify the target market appropriately. Doing so there should be fewer errors of matching
the demand and more relevant service can be offered. Nonetheless, it can be reasonable for the business to
join if high demand is in this market for web design. There could be different business needs concerning
the websites for diverse populations in Germany. AMS should first invest time in knowing their market.
Once the market is known, the next action would be to identify their business needs with websites
(Ramya and Mohamed Ali 2016). All these will help to offer relevant service to the customer. Such
information can also help promote the service to the selected audience. Nevertheless, advertising and
promotion of service should make sense. It should not be misleading. Customers should find things
promoted during the campaigns in service offered to them. Customer satisfaction is needed to boost the
customer retention rate and attract more fresh customers (Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh 2016).
 Technological
In terms of innovation and creative powers, this influences the activity of the company. The more
sophisticated equipment the organization can use, the quicker and more effective the process is.
Technology in Germany is often the same as in the United Kingdom. However, costs can be different. It
is where AMS will need to work. They need to have a specific budget for technological equipment or else
problems may arise in allocating adequate funds to other activities. The company must determine the
amount to invest in technology in a limited budget. A good market understanding of price behavior
should do the needful for AMS (Yusuf et al. 2016). Web design service is purely related to using of
technologies and resources to make good and attractive websites. AMS while providing services on web
design should invest sufficient time in looking for how the world is moving with web design. The search
should include looking for how other web design service providers in different parts of the world are
conducting their tasks. Also, it should look for rapid variations in client demand for websites. Customers
may be looking for the content or the layout used to present it (Bamossy and Solomon 2016). AMS while
4

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
being into Germany will need to develop expertise into knowing its customers and treating them as if it
knows everything about the customer.
 Legal
These are certain laws that have an impact on the business environment. Besides, there are certain
policies within a country, which may also significantly influence the business environment. AMS needs
to develop good legal considerations to be focused on both its short-term and long-term goals. It is
recommended to take help from legal consultants in the country. They will guide to ways like how to
manage such things effectively. In Germany, AMS should pay utmost attention to varying behaviors for
consumer legislation, employment law, etc. All these are required to prevent a business from indulging in
unethical acts and creating problems for its operations. Besides, AMS will also need to pay attention to
security policy concerning dealing with the clients’ data. The development of contents or designing
websites involves the utilization of the client's data. The utilization should be done as per clients’ consent
for it. Data privacy should be the thing to look for when becoming active with web design services
(Martin and Murphy 2017).
 Environmental
Ashanti needs to utilize its environmental research solutions in Germany to know about areas of threat.
Some of the areas like pollution levels, recycling and ecological conditions are the factors against which
the business could be assessed. On not meeting the satisfactory levels of each of these factors, the local
government can be strict with the business operations of AMS in the country. AMS might have to face
some legal hurdles. Not only this, the business could be highlighted in media, in news, and on other
communication channels. All these communication stunts if happen could cause reputational damage to
the business (Creti, Nguyen and Kilian 2018). AMS should pay particular attention to a few areas like
climatic conditions and many. These factors are uncontrollable. Hence, adaptability should be developed
for these factors. By being adaptable to the mentioned factors one can trace new opportunities in these.
The business should try to control all these factors and avoid these becoming the barriers to their
operations in Germany.
On a summarizing note, it can be said that AMS should know how to control its both direct or
indirect business risks in Germany. The business may be influenced by challenges such as the risk posed
on the market (accessibility of products, cost volatility, competition, consumer preferences, etc.), and with
professional personnel in web design production (maintenance, appropriateness, security). Besides,
failure in the design, funding or preparation to complete the project can also be the challenges. The socio-
economic effect of the country on business operations can also be the risk. This includes the volatility of
5

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
the currency, inflation, tax changes, etc. Ashanti should develop a good strategy to be adaptable with
these risks and prevent its business from facing adverse consequences. The strategy should include
evaluating all business factors, using effective strategies for research and development, and having skilled
professional personnel.
2. Various options of marketplace entry
AMS can select the best and most suitable of different entry modes for its business entry in
Germany. Three modes of entry will be considered in this case and the one for Ashanti Solutions
Company can be chosen. Included in the data collection, such as risk level, size and growth of the market,
competitive strength, availability of a means of distribution, regulatory issues and barriers, etc., could be a
challenge to businesses in different ways. Below is a mention of three different modes of Entry (Lindsay,
Rod and Ashill 2017):
Strategic alliances
Strategic alliances are considered when two parties agree to their respective purpose of the
alliance. In doing so they both remain the independent identity. This can be acceptable if the company, in
various projects and markets, wants to form alliances. In the case of Ashanti Solutions using strategic
alliances can prove to be effective. It may be possible in Germany to prepare projects by being in
collaboration with other agencies. However, this model should not be useful for AMS for its new service
‘Web Design Service’.
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions help one company to acquire the possession of another company.
Besides, these are also being facilitated to join with other companies as well as carrying out business and
projects. A deal takes place if a company decides to take over another company. When they plan instead
to leverage acquisitions, they will operate in specific projects or activities with other businesses. Entering
a country with this in place can help to access many business benefits. Some of the benefits are a boost in
the share of the market of the company as well as its economies of scale. It can particularly be beneficial
in case the combined companies are in organized and streamlined formats (Greve and Man Zhang 2017).
6

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Vertical integration and horizontal integration are two forms of mergers. Horizontal assimilation
occurs when two businesses fuse at the same level of the production. The extension of an operation
within a business in other geographical regions or a large scale of products as well as services served to
existing market places is horizontal growth. For Ashanti solutions they may find and negotiate in a
merger or the creation of procurement, other marketing companies already in operation in Germany. The
merger of two firms at separate stages of production is called vertical integration (Sabet, Yazdani and De
Leeuw 2017). Vertical integration is beneficial in gaining access to downstream distribution channels. In
otherwise situation, it could also be inaccessible. Vertical integration assists in better planning, scheduling
and coordination of activities. It can also help reduce transportation costs, which add significant value to
overall supply chain operations cost. The benefits of vertical integration may also be realized concerning
upstream and downstream profit margins. There are some drawbacks as well in going for vertical
integration. The entire system can potentially incur higher costs. There will be elevated administrative
expenses. Businesses can be under influence to alter its suppliers. The level of suppleness may decrease
also (Sabet, Yazdani and De Leeuw 2017).
Joint ventures
This is another marketing technique to use in business openings for partnerships. These may exist
in forms such as management contracts; franchising, licensing or sub-contracting agreements. All such
factors apply to alliances in foreign markets. Joint venturing may depend on the scale of operations for
each of the parties (Yan and Luo 2016).
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
It is a kind of acquisition by an individual or a group of individuals by controlling ownership of a
company in the target market. It allows a through control of situation and in this way is distinguished
from foreign portfolio investment. It can be used for the Ashanti Solutions Company with regards to
penetrating Germany. By originally being in the home country and investing in a foreign market will
allow AMS to have good control of the service launch. FDI also ensures benefitted from market share,
consumer development and income retention. Ashanti Solutions can also benefit from a close operational
control in various countries such as Germany. All it requires just becoming more focused on global
coordination and gaining access to economies of scale (Farla, De Crombrugghe and Verspagen 2016).
7

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
It is concluded that the company should start with a joint venture for entering and establishing its
identity in Germany. It is good for cost reduction as well as risk reduction in the target market. It can be
achieved safely through a variety of forms of joint venturing. These are like franchising, licensing or
subcontracting contracts. Joint venturing will allow companies to enter the market in Germany, gain
market share and increase awareness. However, the venture will only become a success if the strategic
partners are both on the same track. Besides, there is a need for cultural integration between two separate
business companies or else the benefits of the joint venture will be affected.
3. Segmentation of the market
The next move, based on the segmentation, would be to provide the Ashanti Solutions Company
in Germany with a targeting strategy. This approach is about limiting the consumer range to which the
organization will market its products and services. Not all organizations will settle on one or two
segments based on decision making. The target market is a market segment that reflects segmentation,
targeting and positioning. It also expresses the 4 Ps of marketing mixes such as product, price, place and
promotion. Every P must be well prepared to create a successful marketing strategy combination. With
Ashanti Solutions, it can be determined whether to implement a similar item like bulk advertising or
launching a different set of products for consumers in number of market segments. In Germany, the client
may be the experts, or small and medium-sized enterprises looking for solutions on their website needs.
The segmentation of the market can also be done with geographic and physiographic segmentations
(Dolnicar, Grün and Leisch 2018). Target market comprises of distinguished marketing activities listed
as below (Dolnicar, Grün and Leisch 2018):
Niche marketing: It is being adopted to target one market and selling products to a few buyers.
To meet the specific needs and the best possible customer needs, Ashanti Solution Company has a well-
established group of customers.
Mass marketing: Providers sell same line of products to a wider consumer populations.
Differentiation: To provide various product types for wider customer segments. Ashanti Solution
can target different customers with various products using differentiated marketing. A company can
choose to sell various services to various segments of consumers.
8

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Positioning
It is here that consumer and business demands, profitability and the strength and weaknesses of
the organization are established. The goal of putting them enables companies to remain competitive and
to understand their market well. Marketing mix for Ashanti Solutions should be as mentioned below
(Jackson and Ahuja 2016):
Product – Web designing will be the new service to be launched in Germany.
Price – The intent will be to offer service at competitive prices. The purpose will be to compete
with rivals in terms of pricing. The pricing for the service will vary depending on the work requirement.
For web designing, the pricing will be different from that required for search engine optimization.
Place – Consumer convenience should be considered while planning for the place of sales. If
required online sales can also be opted just to offer the convenience of shopping to consumers.
Promotion - For the company, it must go with promotional mix in Germany to raise awareness of
the servicer using the several promotional instruments such as publicity, leaflets, art work, radio, virtual
presentation, etc.
It would, therefore, be best to target consumers in a handful of market segments like technical,
small and medium-sized companies and using the targeted niche market. However, promotion activities
can be costly.
4. The generic strategy of Porter's
9

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Fig 1: Porter’s Generic Strategy
(Source: Panwar et al. 2016)
The generic strategy of Porter suggests how to gain a competitive advantage by smartly adjusting
between various product strategies as suitable for the existing market or a new market. All these strategies
serve a different purpose. Differentiation, for example, can be used for increased penetration of the
existing market. Cost leadership can be beneficial in boosting sales. AMS is recommended to go with
‘Cost Leadership’ as it enters Germany. Offering web design services at the most competitive prices is
better than matching with the competitors’’ prices.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that Ashanti Solutions ' research, which covers the key aspect
of developing a new product's marketing strategy and launching the business in Germany has provided an
overview of how businesses can simultaneously value from risks in these markets. Risk solutions need to
be adopted for the purpose of solving business problems. The business suggestions for market analysis,
data collection and analysis for the industry as well as data assessment from the PESTLE study are useful
for making good decisions. The company should, therefore, use a useful marketing strategy.
10

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
References
Bamossy, G.J. and Solomon, M.R., 2016. Consumer behaviour: A European perspective. Pearson
Education.
Creti, A., Nguyen, D.K. and Kilian, L., 2018. Special Issue" Energy Challenges in an Uncertain
World". The Energy Journal, 39(S2), pp.1-3.
Delgado, F.J., Fernández-Rodríguez, E. and Martínez-Arias, A., 2018. Corporation effective tax rates and
company size: evidence from Germany. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 31(1), pp.2081-
2099.
Dolnicar, S., Grün, B. and Leisch, F., 2018. Market Segmentation Analysis. In Market Segmentation
Analysis (pp. 11-22). Springer, Singapore.
Farla, K., De Crombrugghe, D. and Verspagen, B., 2016. Institutions, foreign direct investment, and
domestic investment: crowding out or crowding in?. World Development, 88, pp.1-9.
Fichtner, F., Fratzscher, M., Baldi, G., Brenke, K., Clemens, M., Dreger, C., Engerer, H., Gebauer, S.,
Hachula, M., Junker, S. and Lange, R., 2017. Despite uncertainty in the global economy, Germany is on a
solid growth path. DIW Economic Bulletin, 7(11), pp.125-126.
Greve, H.R. and Man Zhang, C., 2017. Institutional logics and power sources: Merger and acquisition
decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2), pp.671-694.
Jackson, G. and Ahuja, V., 2016. Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing mix. Journal
of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 17(3), pp.170-186.
Lindsay, V., Rod, M. and Ashill, N., 2017. Institutional and resource configurations associated with
different SME foreign market entry modes. Industrial Marketing Management, 66, pp.130-144.
Manopimoke, P., 2018. Thai inflation dynamics in a globalized economy. Journal of the Asia Pacific
Economy, 23(3), pp.465-495.
Martin, K.D. and Murphy, P.E., 2017. The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 45(2), pp.135-155.
Nyadzayo, M.W. and Khajehzadeh, S., 2016. The antecedents of customer loyalty: A moderated
mediation model of customer relationship management quality and brand image. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 30, pp.262-270.
11

WEB DESIGN SERVICE
Panwar, R., Nybakk, E., Hansen, E. and Pinkse, J., 2016. The effect of small firms' competitive strategies
on their community and environmental engagement. Journal of Cleaner Production, 129, pp.578-585.
Ramya, N. and Mohamed Ali, S.A., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying behavior. International
journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.
Sabet, E., Yazdani, N. and De Leeuw, S., 2017. Supply chain integration strategies in fast evolving
industries. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 28(1), pp.29-46.
Yan, A. and Luo, Y., 2016. International Joint Ventures: Theory and Practice: Theory and Practice.
Routledge.
Yusuf, M.F., Ashari, H., Razalli, M.R. and Ramle, R., 2016. Environmental technological innovation and
market demand: is market orientation a missing link?.
12