Talley Group: Market Entry Challenges and Solutions for Hong Kong

This report examines Talley Group Limited's international marketing strategy for entering the Hong Kong market, focusing on the challenges and proposing solutions. The executive summary highlights Talley's business, which specializes in seafood, vegetables, and dairy products, targeting the Hong Kong market. The report identifies key marketing challenges such as cultural and language differences, consumer tastes, packaging and labeling requirements, and competition. It then delves into product policy decisions, pricing issues, and promotional challenges specific to the target market. Suggested solutions encompass distribution strategies like direct exporting and opening outlets, along with promotional tactics such as social media marketing and pamphlets. The report also addresses pricing strategies and emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer behavior and preferences. The findings of this report would be helpful for Talley Group's successful entry into the Hong Kong market.

INDIVIDUAL
ASSIGNMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
2. executive summary......................................................................................................................3
3. MARKETING CHALLENGES..................................................................................................3
4. PRODUCT POLICY DECISIONS.............................................................................................4
5. PRICING ISSUES.......................................................................................................................4
6. PROMOTIONAL CHALLENGES AND ISSUES OF TARGET COUNTRY..........................5
7. SUGGEST SOLUTIONS............................................................................................................5
8. OUTLINE HOW THE DEVELOPMENT & DISTRIBUTION.................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Talley Group Limited is a firm privately owned in New Zealand. It is one of the
agribusiness that is involved in providing sea food, vegetables and dairy products. Talley is
involved in making sales of the products that is comprised of Fish, Flat fish, Shell fish, Squid,
shark, Skate as well as Eel. The company has specialization in satisfying the need of the food
service, retail, reprocessing market as well as wholesale. The target market of the company is
Hong Kong. The strategy of marketing mix that is being adopted by firm includes product as sea
food. This is priced lower at initial level in order to attract the customers to a greater extent. For
the purpose of distribution the firm would makes sales through outlet and online means. Further
the promotion would be carried out through social media and different advertising channels.
3. MARKETING CHALLENGES
Different types of marketing challenges may arise while implementing the international
marketing strategy. While entering into Hong Kong market, language and cultural differences
may arise for Talley. The cultural differences can be there because people in Hong Kong are
more familiar with the taste of meat. The consumption of meat among the people is also higher
as compared to Fish & seafood. The labelling and packaging has to be in accordance with the
needs of the local customers (Terpstra, Foley and Sarathy, 2012). Further problem may arise in
content sharing as Talley is a European firm. Any kind of marketing message has to be shared by
taking into consideration the local language so that customers can understand the meaning
appropriately. Good advertising and promotion is also needed so that people can become aware
of the seafood products.
There is wide range of challenges relating with marketing that is comprised of packaging,
information of the content as well as advertising. It is important that advertising needs to be done
in accordance with the language that is being understood by the individuals residing in Hong
Kong. Through this they would be able to understand the product and services offered by the
organization in an effective manner (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2012). As the product that is
being sold by the firm is seafood. Thus there is greater need for the firm to disclose the content
information. This is because in case it is injurious to health then it might affects the entire market
for the Talley. It is significant for the business to comply with the requirement of the customers
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in order to build trust among them to a significant level. Along with this packaging of the
product that is seafood needs to be done in an effective manner that ensures freshness of the fish
and other sea food. Modified atmosphere packaging is done that assist in inflow of the oxygen
with the package (Berthon and et. al., 2012). This cats as an aid in keeping the flesh fresh. Thus
through such packaging the customers can be offered with the products that would ensure their
health and safety to a greater extent.
4. PRODUCT POLICY DECISIONS
The new marketing strategy is a part of extension process of the company. Talley is
looking for expansion in different countries. For now, they are required to enter into a particular
market that is Hong Kong. Adaptation may be difficult as the culture in Hong Kong is quite
different from other countries. The people are more concerned with the taste of the food which
they consume (Paliwoda and Thomas, 2013). The preparation of the sea food has to be made
according the local culture. Invention has to be adopted within the strategy which is applied. For
marketing the product, the most preferable and modern methods of marketing are to be selected.
Social media marketing is the latest sensation within all the business industries. It is expected
that these elements will be incorporated in the product policy decisions.
5. PRICING ISSUES
Pricing is a strategy which has to be adopted taking into consideration various types of
factors. Entering the Hong Kong market for expansion will not be easy for the Talley group. The
purchasing power of the local customers can be determined by the price, quality and technical
specifications of the product. It also includes the after sales services. The consumers look for
high quality products which are being sold at competitive prices. It can be said that they are
generally well informed customers. Hence Talley must adopt a strategy for which they can
justify for (Meissner, 2012). The pricing of the sea food products have be to undertaken taking
into mind the behavior and preferences of the customers. One of the major issue that is being
faced in relation with pricing is greater market diversity. There is greater variation among
country to country which creates natural segment. The organization set several prices for
different countries based upon the competitive condition as well as stage of the product life
cycle.
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6. PROMOTIONAL CHALLENGES AND ISSUES OF TARGET
COUNTRY
Different types of promotional challenges and issues may arise while entering into a new
market. These can be discussed as follows: Consumer taste – Talley group is entering the Hong Kong with different products and
taste. However the consumers in the country are always ready to do the experimentation
with food. It is essential for the company to develop the right taste. This can be a big
challenge for the management of the group. It is being determined that taste of the people
to a greater extent varies from country to country (Chandra, Styles and Wilkinson, 2012).
Thus it is important for Talley to carry out market survey at initial stage for the purpose
of determining the needs of the target market. Thus the new product that is sea food can
be delivered in accordance with such. Customer taste is an essential factor that is required
to be taken into account by the organization for the sake for surviving in the market for
long run course of time. Marketing message – The content which has to be advertised must be in effectual form.
Representation of information and facts has to be made in appropriate manner. It is the
message which will attract the customers towards the products and services. The
marketing message can be major challenge that is being faced by Talley while making
promotion of its product and services in the target market (Turnbull and Paliwoda, 2013).
It is significant for Talley to design marketing message in a manner that can assist in
attracting the target customers in Hong King in an effective way.
 Strategy of the competitors: It has been gained that the major challenge in promotion is
relating with the strategy of competitors. In situation the rivalry firm is making use of
method that is offering greater convenience to the customer then this would make the
people loyal to the business. Thus this affects the promotional strategy that is being
adopted by Talley in order attain significant position in the market for longer course of
time.
7. SUGGEST SOLUTIONS
The solutions for the challenges can be made in the following manner:
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Distribution
The role of distribution is crucial towards attainment of the business targets in an
effective manner. There is presence of wide range of techniques that can be used by Talley for
the purpose of distributing its sea food. Issues regarding distribution can be related with higher
cost involved. These can be resolved by the careful analysis of the market conditions and
convenience of the customers (Yang, Su and Fam, 2012). Such is required to be given priority as
this acts as an aid in offering the target market with effective product. The distribution with
which the customer can attain greater level of convenience can be regarded as effective way that
can offer immense amount of satisfaction to the people.
The Talley group will distribute its food products through direct exporting and opening
outlet. The company will also open its own outlets for trading. For the purpose of promotion
online advertising, pamphlets and social media channels will be used. Hence in this manner the
distribution of the products may become easy and flexible. By the means of direct exporting the
firm is making efforts towards reducing the cost of intermediaries. As such this would have
direct impact on the price of the product. The customers possess greater need for the products
that are not much costly (Hallbäck and Gabrielsson, 2013). This can be reduced by the means of
providing lost cost sea food. Such can offered in case when there is minimal cost or not cost for
the intermediaries. Thus this can assist the customers in attainment of the target to a greater
extent. Along with this Talley can make distribution by opening its outlet in Hong Kong. Thus
customers can visit the outlet and can avail the services and products in an effective manner.
Social media can be regarded as effective means that can act as an aid increasing the promotion
of the product that is sea food among large mass. Further through use of pamphlets local market
can be made aware of the types of sea food that is being distributed by Talley to target market.
The convenience that is being offered to the customers possess significant role in increasing
satisfaction level among larger target market.
Promotion
In order to achieve success for a particular product, good promotion is very crucial. For
that purpose good channels of promotion are to be used. Talley group will make use of social
media marketing for its new launch. This method is cheap and very user-friendly. It has the
potential to attract large number of customers in less span of time. Further use of pamphlets,
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newspapers, etc will help in influencing the local residents. There is presence greater number of
issues that are being faced by organization while carrying out the promotion of the new product.
This relates with communication style, cultural nuance as well as determination of the true
market need. With the aim to gain insight to the requirement of the target market it is essential to
make determination of their need (Cavusgil and et. al., 2014). With this firm like Talley can
make estimation on whether the launch of new product would be beneficial or not. Such has
greater significance for the purpose of increasing the awareness of the brand in the market for
long run course of time.
In order make promotion of the product with greater effectiveness in essential for the
organization to make adoption of right technology that can enhance promotion of seafood in the
market. In the present report the most suitable means of promotion sea food is by the means of
social media tool such as Facebook that can effectively target mass at a particular period of time.
Through this Talley can make wider number of individuals know amount the product and
services with few seconds. Thus this considered as cheaper source in comparison with its ability
to make delivery of information to large mass of customers. The major issue relating with
marketing message needs to be taken into account by the firm as it presents the intention of
Talley before the customers (Cavusgil and Cavusgil, 2012). Thus in order to address such
problem it is significant for the organization to appoint expertise people who can develop
marketing message with due care. Such will assist in motivating the individuals to make
purchase of the sea food to a greater extent. Along with this it is effective in increasing the
attractiveness of the customers towards the market as well.
Pricing strategy
Talley group must follow a very relevant pricing strategy for the new launch. The price
must be competent and in accordance with the purchasing power of the people in Hong Kong.
There are also many competitors available for Talley group, hence the prices are to be unique
and appealing. The pricing issue relating to market diversity can be resolved by the means of
setting penetration pricing. Under this situation Talley can set lower prices for the purpose of
attracting maximum number of customers. This is effective way through which competition can
be discouraged in an effective manner. For the purpose of competing in the export market it is
significant for the Talley like organization to make sale of the product to intermediaries at lower
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prices. This is for the sake of reducing the amount of price escalation. In case the organization
does not pay focus on the condition that results in price escalation then it can find itself within
the situation wherein its prices are out of the international market.
8. OUTLINE HOW THE DEVELOPMENT & DISTRIBUTION
For the purpose of developing and distribution of the proposed product and services
requires potential staff who can carry out the organizational activities with greater effectiveness.
It is essential for Talley to possess expertise employees who can makes sales of sea food in Hong
Kong. This has significant role in increasing the sales of the organization to greater extent. For
the purpose of development and distribution the staff for the business can be staffed by the
means of recruitment and selection. Several tools can be used in relation to this so that customer
can be convenience towards purchasing the product and services that are being sold by the target
market. The recruitment and selection of the individuals can be done by the means of tools that is
comprised of the following: Recruiting new personnel: The recruitment of the new personnel can be effective in
fulfilling the needs of the organization towards development and distribution. This can be
from any part of the globe. It is essential for Talley to make recruitment of the individuals
who possess better knowledge regarding the sea food market. This is due to the reason
that they can effectively target customers. Recruitment of new personnel would be
appropriate in infusing new talent within the firm to a greater extent. This will render
major demerit in terms that recruitment process would add to the cost of business. Use of the current employees: Another major tool that can be used for the purpose of
developing and distribution of the product relates with making utilization of the current
employees (Chand, 2016). Talley rather than hiring new personnel can plan to
recruitment its existing employees to the new country. This acts as an aid in reducing the
cost of the business that is being engaged in hiring new talent. Along with this it has
major advantage in terms that the existing employees possess adequate amount of
knowledge regarding the product thus they do not require training. Such would assist the
firm in attaining significant goal within specified duration of time. Use locals: The use of local people can also be made in an effective manner for the
purpose of making distribution and development. This has significant role as such local
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people have better understanding regarding the market (Terpstra, Foley and Sarathy,
2012). Thus they can effectively convenience the customers in best manner possible. Use
of local people can act as a boon for Talley as it is effective in offering accurate
information to the customers. Thus thereby assist in building trust in the firm to a greater
extent.
 Expatriates: These are referred to as the personnel who are non-citizen but they can be
recruited on the basis of experience that is being possessed by them in the market. This
has significant role in making people aware of the product as such they are experienced
in making sales of wide range of sea food in the market.
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REFERENCES
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Chandra, Y., Styles, C. and Wilkinson, I. F., (2012). An opportunity-based view of rapid
internationalization. Journal of International Marketing. 20(1). pp.74-102.
Czinkota, M. and Ronkainen, I., (2012). International marketing. Cengage Learning.
Hallbäck, J. and Gabrielsson, P., (2013). Entrepreneurial marketing strategies during the growth
of international new ventures originating in small and open economies. International
Business Review. 22(6). pp.1008-1020.
Meissner, H. G., (2012). Strategic international marketing. Springer Science & Business Media.
Paliwoda, S. and Thomas, M., (2013). International marketing. Routledge.
Terpstra, V., Foley, J. and Sarathy, R., (2012). International marketing. Naper Press.
Turnbull, P. W. and Paliwoda, S. J., (2013). Research in international marketing(Vol. 39).
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Yang, Z., Su, C. and Fam, K. S., (2012). Dealing with institutional distances in international
marketing channels: Governance strategies that engender legitimacy and efficiency.
Journal of Marketing. 76(3). pp.41-55.
Online
Chand, S., (2016). 6 Issues Related To Pricing in International Market. [Online]. Available
through: <http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/6-issues-related-to-pricing-in-
international-market/5788/>. [Accessed on 16th June 2016].
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