Evaluation of the Target Market

The international marketing is the application of marketing principles in more than one country. It can also be defined as the performance of the business activities designed to plan, promote and direct the flow of goods and services to consumers in more than one country for profit. This report comprises the assessment of Coogi in order to make expansion in the market of Singapore. Coogi is a renowned lifestyle brand. The brand is famous for its vibrant colour palette and intricately textured knits. It was founded in 1969 in Toorak, Australia. This brand has grown from sweater line to apparel, highlighting patterns and design reflective of signature sweaters. Other than the clothing Coogi is known for textiles, cosmetics, toiletries, leather goods, furniture and toys. Coogi has expanded to women and children comprising jeans, shirts, dresses, t-shirts, footwear, bathing suits and underwear. The company relaunched in 2014 with the concentration on the authentic sweater for men comprising new products and colour treatments.

As a marketing manager, I have conducted an assessment for the market entry of Coogi. This report comprises the evaluation of Singapore. The evaluation comprises SWOT analysis, Pestle and the market situation. The market entry recommendations are provided to Coogi. The report also includes marketing strategy recommendations. The marketing mix recommendations such as product, price, place and promotion are being offered for the successful expansion of the brand in the market of Singapore.

SWOT

Strength

Established brand: Coogi is one of the oldest and reliable brands of Australia. The company have unrelenting loyalty of the customers. The company offers exclusive design of sweaters along with the additional products.

Wide range: Coogi offers a wide range of quality across fashion, beauty and living. It also offers competitive prices for the brands.

Omni-channel retailing: The company offers products through a variety of options like stores, websites etc. The company is capable of offering high-quality products along with maintaining integrity.

Weakness

Limited presence: Coogi has a limited brand presence as compared to the market leaders if talked about a number of stores.

High brand switching: Coogi is a mid to high-end luxury brand. The target market of the company seeks out bargains when it comes spending due to the multitude of products and services available from the direct and indirect competitors.

Lower revenues: Coogi has lower revenues as the business is constrained when it is measured by the global players. The company has a weak financial position due to the difficult trading conditions and varying consumer sentiments.

Opportunities

Acquisition: The company can acquire the largest company which offers a highly enhanced value proposition. It can help in the enhancement of the market presence.

Business transformation: The rise of e-commerce has generated more options. The company can enhance its product portfolio and can engage customers through social media.

Threats

Competitive environment: The numbers of overseas and online competitors are increasing. Additionally, currency and online business exploration can create a threat to the Coogi. It can also have a deflationary impact on domestic sales.

SWOT

Growing employment and wages: The wage cost is continuously increasing. The increasing working hours of the staff and positions in a bid to improve customer service increases the cost of the company. As a result, the company get to reduce its profit margins.

Political factors: The political factors regulate the impact of the government policy on the Coogi. These factors include monetary policy, tax policy and trade tariffs. It can have an effect on the revenues of the Coogi. The political risks are quite low in Singapore (Rodan, 2016). The political stability in the country has translated to peace and better business conditions. As a result, it has created business opportunities in the country.

Economic factors: The per capita GDP of Singapore is higher than the developed countries in Asia. The local economy also mainly relies on trade and service. Moreover, the country holds a leading position of import and export volume of garments and sales through transacting with the largest garment manufacturers of the world. Recently the investment is made by the government in Singapore to flourish in several industries (Nayak, Singh, Padhye and Wang, 2015). The strategic geographic location is one of the important reasons behind the success.

Social factors: The social factors have a large impact on the market and society. These factors comprise population growth, age distribution, career attitudes, health consciousness and more. The residents of the country work hard to fulfil the materialism desire. The urge of doing well has enhanced the productivity of the nation (Zhang, Leu, Aitken and Riediker, 2015). Therefore business sectors expect higher purchasing power from the customers. The good command of languages like Chinese and English gives the advantage to the public. It is equally helpful in attracting international trade and foreign investment.

Technological factors: The technological development and advancement in the business are the major factors behind the growth of the country. The lifestyle and the quality of the daily operations have a substantial impact on the internet, social networking and communication technology. The propensity and approach of the young generation of Singapore are technology-oriented which puts a positive impact on the development of the technology industry (Koh, Chai, Benjamin and Hong,  2015). Coogi is required to catch business trends in order to create capabilities and competitive advantage.

Legal factors: The government in Singapore believes that the growth of the manufacturing companies requires a transparent market along with the favourable regulation and the legislation. The legal regulatory supports industrial development and growth of the economy. Several e-commerce policy initiatives have been introduced by the government in order to develop e-commerce services (Chiu, 2018).

Environmental factors: The ministry of environment and anti-pollution unit are responsible for maintaining air quality and other environmental factors. It comprises all the factors which are determined by the surroundings of the environment. The environmental factors comprise natural calamities, temperature, ground conditions, contamination and more. The environmental factors have become more significant due to the increasing prominence of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Singapore is a dynamic country and successful in attracting many foreign enterprises. The country is regarded as the world’s richest countries. It is a multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation with the overall population of 5.077 million in 2010. The country mainly relies on trade and services and has become a centre for global trade. Singapore is appealing to foreign investors due to the strategic location, well infrastructure, highly skilled workforce and favourable government policies. On the other side, the gross domestic product of the country also grew 3.6% in 2017 and it is expected to be 2.5%-3% in 2018 (Export.gov, 2018). As per the report of the World Bank Singapore is the second easiest place to do business in the world. The market situation is favourable in the country like lack of corruption, favourable tax codes, major logistics hub and more.

Pestle

There is a number of ways by which the company can enter into the foreign market. The recommendations to the Coogi for the market entry in Singapore are given below:

Franchising: The franchising is a significant recommendation for the rapid market expansion. The franchising can work well for Coogi as it has a repeatable business model. Two things of prominence are mandatory using the franchise strategy. Out of which, first is that the business model should be unique and can be leveraged globally. The other one is that the company may run the risk of generating future rivalry in the franchise (Kacker, Dant, Emerson and Coughlan, 2016). In this strategy, the franchisor (the company itself) allows the franchise to use the trademark and distribute the supplier’s goods. It is basically the practice of using another company’s successful business model.

Partnering: The partnering is a necessity at the time of entering the foreign market. The partnering can take place in various forms from simply a co-marketing arrangement to the sophisticated alliance for manufacturing. The partnering is beneficial for the Coogi as the culture of Australia and Singapore is substantively different. It can help Coogi to adopt local market knowledge, contacts along with the customers (Chou and Pramudawardhani, 2015). The company is required to search appropriately before finding an appropriate partner. Both of the partners share a common goal in order to reach a new level of success.

Direct Exporting: Direct exporting can be used by the Coogi to sell directly into the market of Singapore using its own resources initially. In this process, the company can produce its products in their home market and sells to the customers overseas. It is the traditional method of operating in the foreign markets (Ehrlich and Shoham, 2017). No direct manufacturing is required in this marketing strategy but substantial investments in the marketing are requisite. This strategy is less risky than other marketing strategies. It offers the opportunity to learn overseas market before making investments in the bricks and mortar. It reduces the overall potential risks of operating overseas.

The marketing strategy recommendations comprise:

Segmentation: In the process of segmentation, the customers are distinguished on the basis of characteristics. The company can make use of gender-related segments, age-related segments, geographic segments, behaviour related segments and lifestyle segmentation. The gender-related segment includes casual and business attire for both men and women. The clothing items are usually subject upon the season. Coogi focuses mainly on the age-related segment as it helps to determine the buying audience. For instance, the company focuses on youngsters who prefer to wear colourful and authentic sweaters. Weather is a determining factor in the different regions and geographical areas. It puts an impact on customer preferences (Cheng, Farooq and Johansen, 2015). The choice of the consumers in products can also be related to the behaviour. For instance, customers prefer to buy more red and green colours during the holiday season.

Differentiation: The company has attained differentiation in the form of customer service, store presentation and product range. It allows customers to offer superior value to the customers at an affordable price. Coogi differentiates its products on the basis of service, channels of distribution, image, relationships and price. The product differentiation can be viewed in quality and style. The service differentiation can be realised not only in the form of delivery but also supporting elements like the ease of ordering (Gengler and Mulvey, 2017). The company has attained differentiation in the form of distribution. There is great ease of ordering and a higher level of customer service. The company is even capable of the set itself apart by its.  The image has been created with the factors like the high level of service, superior product quality and performance (Vitell, 2015).

Market Situation

Targeting: Coogi targets middle age men and women in the range of 35-50 years. The company mainly targets people from the upper class. This segment has the potential of being profitable. It aims to cover the group which focuses on style and quality conscious. Such people appreciate to luxury things image (Diamantopoulos, Ring, Schlegelmilch and Doberer, 2014).

Positioning: The positioning is perceived by keeping the customers as the central point. The company seeks directly to the clients and break by the barriers of oversaturated markets. The company positions itself by providing the latest offering to the customers. The positioning is all about differentiating itself from the competitors to put an impression on the target audience (Clancy, Fröling and Peters, 2015). The company tries to create a brand association in the mind of consumers so that the brand is perceived different and favourable.

The marketing mix focuses on marketing efforts and what the company wants to achieve. It also entails how Coogi will achieve its goals. The marketing strategy recommendations for the Coogi are given below:

Product: Coogi offers jewellery, accessories, clothing, shoes, home, living, toy, entertainment, craft supplies and toys. The brand is popularly known for its sweaters. The recently launched range of the authentic sweaters has helped in appealing to the customers. It has regenerated interest of the customers. These sweaters are available in the range like vintage, authentic, colourful, artsy, the 90s and more. The products of the company influence the decisions of the customers as the quality comprises the sustainable fabrics with longevity and style (Fan, Lau and Zhao, 2015). Add on the products of the company are entirely different from the competitor’s offerings. The offerings of the Coogi are fascinating to people between the ages of 25 to 50 years.

Price: It is considered that the prices of the Coogi are reasonable and such feature is helpful in attracting more customers for buying the products of the company. The reasonable pricing can help Coogi to lure more customers in the least period of time in Singapore. The company also have a high price range for the premier customers. It keeps on offering products on the discounts in the festive season.

Place: The products of the Coogi will be sold at the stores of the Coogi. When the customers visit the store for buying other products, at the same time sales executive can tell the customers about the quality made a wardrobe. If the customers are not interested in buying products from the store then they can order online from the website of the company (Fratocchi, et. al. 2016). Online shopping is possible with the help of debit and credit cards.

Promotion: The promotions are possible with the help of pamphlets, internet and advertising. The quality made products of the company can be promoted in the market of Singapore with the help of pamphlets and advertising. Such people can be hired by the Coogi who are expert in distributing pamphlets in the society and aware people about the products. The Internet is the best way to promote products because when customers buy a product online then they can just view the existing and upcoming products (Khan, 2014). Cross-selling has also a significant role in the promotion of the existing and upcoming new product in the market. It is equally helpful to the company in maintaining competition in comparison to the competitors.

Conclusion 

From the above report, it can be concluded that Coogi is capable of entering into the market of Singapore. Coogi is an established brand of Australia and can expand itself by acquisition and business transformation. On the other side, pestle analysis of Singapore is favourable for the company to conduct its services in the local economy. There are stable political conditions along with the suitable economic conditions in Singapore. The country is even successful in attracting many foreign enterprises. The market situation is favourable in the country due to lack of corruption, favourable tax codes, major logistics hub and more. Coogi is recommended partnering, franchising and direct exporting as a market entry in Singapore. Out of the three market entry strategies, direct exporting is more suitable for the Coogi as it involves less risk and requires less investment. The manufacturing is also done in the home country. It helps in escaping from the foreign political conditions and the industry regulations. Coogi is recommended to use segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning as a marketing strategy in order to capture the audience in the market of Singapore. The marketing mix comprising the product, price, place and promotion are suggested to use by the company in order to conquer the market of Singapore.

References 

Cheng, Y., Farooq, S. and Johansen, J., 2015. International manufacturing network: past, present, and future. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 35(3), pp.392-429.

Chiu, S.W.K., 2018. City states in the global economy: Industrial restructuring in Hong Kong and Singapore. Routledge.

Chou, J.S. and Pramudawardhani, D., 2015. Cross-country comparisons of key drivers, critical success factors and risk allocation for public-private partnership projects. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), pp.1136-1150.

Clancy, G., Fröling, M. and Peters, G., 2015. Ecolabels as drivers of clothing design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 99, pp.345-353.

Diamantopoulos, A., Ring, A., Schlegelmilch, B.B. and Doberer, E., 2014. Drivers of export segmentation effectiveness and their impact on export performance. Journal of International Marketing, 22(1), pp.39-61.

Ehrlich, T. and Shoham, A., 2017. Stability and Multinational Flexibility as Drivers of Export Performance: An Abstract. In Marketing at the Confluence between Entertainment and Analytics (pp. 39-40). Springer, Cham.

Export.gov, 2018. Singapore- Market Overview. Available from https://www.export.gov/article?id=Singapore-Market-Overview [Accessed on 27/12/2018].

Fan, S., Lau, R.Y. and Zhao, J.L., 2015. Demystifying big data analytics for business intelligence through the lens of marketing mix. Big Data Research, 2(1), pp.28-32.

Fratocchi, L., Ancarani, A., Barbieri, P., Di Mauro, C., Nassimbeni, G., Sartor, M., Vignoli, M. and Zanoni, A., 2016. Motivations of manufacturing reshoring: an interpretative framework. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 46(2), pp.98-127.

Gengler, C.E. and Mulvey, M.S., 2017. Planning pre-launch positioning: Segmentation via willingness-to-pay and means-end brand differentiators. Journal of Brand Management, 24(3), pp.230-249.

Kacker, M., Dant, R.P., Emerson, J. and Coughlan, A.T., 2016. How firm strategies impact size of partner?based retail networks: Evidence from franchising. Journal of Small Business Management, 54(2), pp.506-531.

Khan, M.T., 2014. The concept of’marketing mix’and its elements (a conceptual review paper). International journal of information, business and management, 6(2), p.95.

Koh, J.H.L., Chai, C.S., Benjamin, W. and Hong, H.Y., 2015. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and design thinking: A framework to support ICT lesson design for 21st century learning. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 24(3), pp.535-543.

Nayak, R., Singh, A., Padhye, R. and Wang, L., 2015. RFID in textile and clothing manufacturing: technology and challenges. Fashion and Textiles, 2(1), p.9.

Rodan, G., 2016. The political economy of Singapore’s industrialization: national state and international capital. Springer.

Vitell, S.J., 2015. A case for consumer social responsibility (CnSR): Including a selected review of consumer ethics/social responsibility research. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), pp.767-774.

Zhang, Y., Leu, Y.R., Aitken, R.J. and Riediker, M., 2015. Inventory of engineered nanoparticle-containing consumer products available in the Singapore retail market and likelihood of release into the aquatic environment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 12(8), pp.8717-8743.