International Marketing Plan for Vision Security Group's Expansion

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of international marketing strategies for Vision Security Group (VSG), a UK-based security solutions company. It examines the scope and key concepts of international marketing, highlighting the differences between domestic and international approaches. The rationale for VSG to expand internationally is explored, along with various market entry routes such as establishing overseas offices, working with agents, direct client engagement, trade shows, and trade missions. The report outlines key criteria for selecting international markets, including cultural, economic, political, and intangible factors, and details the market selection process. It further discusses different market entry strategies, the global versus local debate, and how the marketing mix (product, place, price, promotion) differs across international contexts. Finally, the report compares home and international orientations, assesses competitors, and provides recommendations for VSG's international marketing endeavors. Desklib offers this document as a valuable resource for students studying international marketing.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
VISION SECURITY GROUP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................3
LO1...............................................................................................................................4
P1 THE SCOPE AND KEY CONCEPTS OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING.......4
P2 THE RATIONALE FOR VISION SECURITY GROUP TO MARKET
INTERNATIONALLY AND THE VARIOUS ROUTES TO MARKET THAT VSG
CAN ADOPT.............................................................................................................7
LO2...............................................................................................................................9
P3 THE KEY CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS THAT CAN BE USED BY
VISION SECURITIES GROUP WHEN CONSIDERING WHICH INTERNATIONAL
MARKET TO ENTER................................................................................................9
P4 THE DIFFERENT MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES, INCLUDING THE
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EACH..............................................12
LO3.............................................................................................................................14
P5 AN OVERVIEW OF THE KEY ARGUMENTS IN THE GLOBAL VERSUS
LOCAL DEBATE.....................................................................................................14
P6 THE MANAGEMENT TEAM OF VISION SECURITY GROUP WOULD LIKE
YOU TO INVESTIGATE HOW THE PRODUCT, PLACE, PRICING AND
PROMOTIONAL DISTRIBUTION APPROACH DIFFERS IN A VARIETY OF
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS...............................................................................15
LO4.............................................................................................................................16
P7 THE VARIOUS INTERNATIONAL MARKETING APPROACHES VISION
SECURITY GROUP CAN ADOPT.........................................................................16
P8 COMPARE HOME AND INTERNATIONAL ORIENTATION AND WAYS TO
ASSESS COMPETITORS, OUTLINING THE IMPLICATIONS OF EACH
APPROACH............................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................19
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Vision Security Group is a local company that serves security solutions to
businesses in an innovative way for the UK and Ireland and delivers best customer
services to its clients. They focus on driving maximum value by maintaining effective
relationships with customers. The number of employees employed by it accounts to
7,500 and it serves nearly 2,000 locations. It serves many sectors namely corporate,
manufacturing, public sector, shopping centres and retails and many more
(Eteokleous, et al. 2016).
As a marketing consultant of Vision Security Group, we will focus on the international
marketing that helps to achieve the business strategies internationally and will also
explore the ways to enter the international market. An effective marketing plan will be
laid out that is adaptive and standardize in international markets too. This report will
help to draw out the major differences within the local and the global marketing and
will also discuss the marketing mix used by Vision Security Group. Analysis of the
competitors will also be presented that will help to compare the orientation at local as
well as international level.

LO1
P1 THE SCOPE AND KEY CONCEPTS OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
When marketing activities are carried out in more than one country by applying the
principles of marketing then it is termed as the international marketing. It is also
referred as the global marketing which aims to focus on the various physical
locations, product markets and customer groups (Armstrong, et al. 2016).
The marketing mix decisions also varied from one country to other and the decisions
regarding the same are undertaken by coordinating the marketing strategies across
the globe. This is a strategy that lays its foundations in the local country but has
offices in different countries. It is marketing the company’s products and services
beyond the local country’s border (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2014).
Fig.1: Difference between Domestic and International marketing
Source: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-domestic-and-international-
marketing.html
Domestic marketing International marketing
 Serves small area and markets
within geographical boundaries of
nation
 Low governmental intervention
and operations of business carried
out in a single nation
 Less risk factor and capital
requirement (Katsikeas, 2018)
 Little research required
 Same customer base and
preferences
 Serves large area and carries
marketing activities over
geographical areas beyond
country (Katsikeas, 2018)
 High governmental interventions
and business operates in more
than one country
 The very high risk involved with
huge capital requirement
 Deep research required
 Variation in customer preferences

Fig.2: Scope of International Marketing
Source: https://businessjargons.com/international-marketing.html
The scope of international marketing
In order to explore the prospective markets, it is essential to grab information about
those markets and to generate full awareness about them so that the product and
services can be well promoted.
The scope of the international marketing covers the followings:
 Imports
It is that function of the international marketing where the goods and services are
brought into the local countryside from the other foreign country in order to hike the
production lines and to resale quality products to the potential customer base. This
brings closure to the desired objectives by rendering appropriate solution (Morschett,
et al. 2015).
 Exports
In this, the local company may go for sending the products to the international
markets which results in lending huge revenues. This helps in cost covering which
will lead to hike in profitability and will boost the growth of the company in the
international markets too.
 Joint venture
Under this, the local company can go for collaboration with another brand for a
specific period of time so as to pursue the goal which was not possible to achieve
individually. This also helps to transfer the risks of losses as it helps in generating

huge value for the company which raises the scope of the business through
international marketing.
 Contractual agreements
While practising international marketing the scope renders the contractual
agreements to the local company that may enter into agreements on the contract
basis and this is usually done on the terms of licensing for co-production or to gain
technical assistance.
 Strategic alliances
In order to gain over the competitors and to retain the advantages international
marketing render better scope to the companies who are thinking to go global. This
goes further by entering into alliances with the competitors so as to lessen the scope
of competition and to increase the innovative flow and flexibility of the firm (Hoppner
and Griffith, 2015).
 Management contracts
In the scope of international marketing, the management contract also falls that
helps in achieving the skilled labour forces through a contract. The labours forces
are supplied here by the supplier according to the terms of the contract which helps
in better results (Armstrong, et al. 2016).
Thus international marketing helps in increased economies of scale and will help in
achieving better market share by elongated product life and high profitability.

P2 THE RATIONALE FOR VISION SECURITY GROUP TO MARKET
INTERNATIONALLY AND THE VARIOUS ROUTES TO MARKET THAT VSG CAN
ADOPT
For a company to market internationally there are many reasons that help it to refrain
from the competition and to better explore the international market opportunities.
Vision Security Group is planning to move into international marketing so as to focus
on the markets in foreign markets, the rationale for this decision is as under:
 As domestic markets of Vision Security Group are saturated so it becomes
difficult to raise profits and sales targets. So to market internationally will solve
this issue for Vision Security Group.
 As the growth of its domestic markets is slow it wants to now expand
internationally and grow incrementally so it has opted to go for international
marketing as it will help them to obtain the sales of their security solutions
from the international markets too (Eteokleous, et al. 2016).
 In order to spread the risks in terms of economic parameters like size, market
development stage, growth rate and so on Vision Security Group’s decision to
market internationally will render solution.
 It has decided to market internationally due to the reason that it can now
increase the market share and profits and can strengthen its profits and
revenues in a consistent manner.
 Vision Security Group has realized that the growth in the domestic market is
limited so they now are preparing to compete with its competitors at
international level.
 By maintaining the competitively internationally Vision Security Group can
render protection to its domestic markets too (Morschett, et al. 2015).
Fig.3: Reasons for companies going global

Source: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business/8-reasons-why-most-
companies-prefer-to-go-global-explained/13176
There are many channels that can be used to enter into an international market
which will determine the success in the overseas market. Every route has its own
advantages and disadvantages.
There are various routes to market that an organisation can adopt which are as
under:
1. Set up an office at overseas territory- In this route to market the company
can incur a high cost and will prove to be a venture with high-risk associated.
Some benefits that this route will render are that it will render to customers the
feeling of commitment and will help to render after-sales support to all
countries. On another hand, it will also create cultural clash within the export
office and the home market and will also attract huge setup costs
(Demangeot, et al. 2016).
2. Working with an agent in the international market- The sales agents that
are worked with internationally help in rendering the information about the
products and services to the customers in the international market and will
invoice directly. It also attracts commission fees. This route to market allows
effective knowledge from an agent about the target market and will render
better position by establishing effective relationship internationally. This will
render better control over the price and the brand image as compared to have
a distributor in the foreign country. In this the ownership to the customers and
route to market lies with the agent and some control is lost over marketing
and brand image (Hoppner and Griffith, 2015).
3. Reach directly to a client- This will involve face to face meeting with the
customer in the international market which will help to maintain close
relationships with client and will help to maximise the profits as there is no
third party involved. But on another hand, the extensive [paperwork will
consume time and there will also be difficulty in rendering assistance after the
sale.
4. Attend exhibitions and tradeshows- This will render better research to new
markets as this will allow exhibiting the products overseas to find new
prospects of the products.
5. Trade missions- These are the overseas programs that are funded by the
government which involves meetings with foreign industry executives to
establish networks (Strizhakova and Coulter, 2015).
Vision Security Group can access the market through an agent of independent reps
that will be paid on a commission basis and will establish relationships with the buyer
and take advantage of all the opportunities by rendering them the best security
solutions and enhancing the brand image internationally.

LO2
P3 THE KEY CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS THAT CAN BE USED BY
VISION SECURITIES GROUP WHEN CONSIDERING WHICH INTERNATIONAL
MARKET TO ENTER
In order to make the sound decision relating to the choice of the international market
which must be entered Vision Security Group should understand the key elements
and the criteria that will guide it towards effective choice and opportunities which are
as under:
KEY CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING RIGHT INTERNATIONAL MARKET
1. Cultural factors- While choosing an international market some factors that
impacts include the taste and preferences differences with the languages that
vary which may act as the barrier for the local company seeking to expand
(De Mooij, 2015).
2. Economic factors- In order to discover prospective target market the per
capita income, class structure, supply and demand and the other financial
services and factors should be taken to determine the right international
market.
3. Political factors- Some of the political factors like stability in the foreign
country, restrictions of operation, and investment restrictions should be
considered. Some factors such as currency risks and the laws and regulations
must also be considered.
4. Intangible factors- Some intangible factors such as regional partnerships
and the environmental factors should also be considered while international
marketing as it may have the negative or positive effect on the marketing
strategy of Vision Security Group. One may need to be aware of the natural
disasters and the local business practices and customs of the foreign
countries should also be studied well (Cavusgil, et al. 2014).
PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL MARKET SELECTION
The most important decision for Vision Securities Group will be of market selection
that considers an evaluation of various elements and criteria that align with the
resources of the company and the objectives. Some series of actions will be
undertaken by Vision Security group which will help to reach effective market choice.
 In a first step, the objectives of Vision Securities Group will be ascertained
that will be undertaken while selecting the market which can add to the
achievement of the objectives.
 In next stage, the criteria for evaluation will be laid out for all the markets such
as resources, international environment, nature and situation of competition
present there and other policies and practices.
 Next step is to preliminary screen the markets that seem to be potential and
less beneficial and this screening will be made on the basis of the
infrastructural factors and the structure of the economy and the political
conditions that seem to be common (Leeflang, et al. 2014).

 In the next step, the markets screened will now be shortlisted who does not
meet the consideration and are further screened to reach most potential
markets for Vision Securities Group.
 Next step is to carry out the evaluation and the selection process where the
sort listed markets are further evaluated and ranked on the basis of the cost-
benefit analysis and feasibility study that will render better growth and
profitability to Vision Securities Group when it markets internationally
(Hoppner and Griffith, 2015).
 This step will now cover the test marketing step where small scale testing will
be conducted about the acceptance of the security solutions to the business
by Vision Security Group in international market then the overall response will
help to judge the success of test and then a mass expansion of services can
be extended.
 In the final stage of this process, the selected market is then explored with
minor changes and the new product mix is introduced in the new market.
Fig.4: Process of selecting international market (Ang, et al. 2015)
International marketing objectives
Selection parameters
Screening
Short-listing
Evaluation & slection
Test marketing
Commercial Production

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES ON ENTERING INTERNATIONAL
MARKETS
Some of the opportunities that the Vision Securities group will gain through
international markets will involve the market expansion and the growth rate. The
brand reputation will be enhanced with the help of global networking. It will also open
the door to future business opportunities that will help to render its services at an
international level and to establish itself as best securities solution provider at
international level (Morschett, et al. 2015).
Some of the challenges that Vision Securities Group may face as a result of
international marketing includes the unstable governments and the political
restrictions that prevail in the international market. The foreign exchange problems
and the technological pirating also emerge as prospective challenges due to the
language differences there may arise linguistic problems and the other barriers may
retrain Visions Securities Group to enter international markets. There also arise
ethical considerations that may hinder and vary from one country to another and
similarly the legal rules and regulations changes in international markets (Ang, et al.
2015).

P4 THE DIFFERENT MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES, INCLUDING THE
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EACH
Some popular and best-suited entry market types include the following:
Fig.5 Different entry modes comparison
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/charurastogi/6-international-marketing-market-
selection-modes-of-entry-in-international-markets
Exporting
 Indirect exporting
 Direct exporting (Laufs and Schwens, 2014)
 Cooperative exporting
Advantages of exporting
 Management of target market and the control over the operations is possible
 Higher profits due to direct contact
 Applicable to a wide range
Disadvantages of exporting
 Inappropriate for the goods with high transport costs