International Marketing and Sales Assignment Sample 2023
Task One: Marketing Plan of Pure Gym
1.1 The Value Proposition
As per the Mendelow (1991)’s Model, the organizations described their stakeholders in two categories like interest and power. These two categories of the stakeholders define the type of stakeholders within the organization and it is done because on the basis of their categorization, these stakeholders are treated within the organization (Osterwalder et al., 2014). Similarly, this categorization is also beneficial to prioritize the stakeholders within the organization. While concerning about PureGym, the stakeholder’s categorization is reflected below along with the treatment:
- Manage Closely (Highly Interested with High Power):In this category, the investor of PureGym Magenta Partners, Board Members and shareholders etc are included.
- Keep Satisfied (Less Interested with High Power):This category includes the government authority of UK, major suppliers, regulatory body and the top level management etc (Baldassarre et al., 2017).
- Keep Informed (Highly Interested with Low Power):The workers, the volunteer, major suppliers and training employees etc are considered in this category.
- Monitor (Less Interested with Less Power):The potential clients of PureGym are kept in this category.
Also, the important activities of PureGym can be described with the help of Porter’s Value Chain Model which divided organizational activities into two parts including primary activities and the supportive activities (Trkman, 2019). With the help of divided of activities, this model defines the actual requirements of the organization. In this, the Porter’s Value Chain model of PureGym is defined below:
- Primary Activities
In concern of PureGym, there are chances that company may face issues in its product development stage as it is going to produce and launch its products in the target market. In this situation, company needs to measure and optimize the outbound logistic practices through analyzing the company’s competitive advantages resources (Carvalho and Jonker, 2015).
PureGym also has its focus on its sales and marketing staff and that is the reason, it invests sufficient fund in sales and marketing activities. At the end, the pre sales and post sales services are also offered by PureGym to potential customers for converting them into loyal customers.
- Supportive Activities
PureGym has its focus on its effective infrastructure that contains high quality management process, financial, legal matter management, accounting and the strategic management etc. Company is also thinking to examine its HR management department with the help of different aspects of HR like recruitment & selection, training & development, employee performance, rewarding and appraisal system etc (Baldassarre et al., 2017).
It also focuses on technology integration in its production, distribution, marketing and the HR practices as the technological advancement lead to the innovative practices in these areas.
Therefore, the porter’s value chain model reflected the competitive advantages of PureGym and it also disclosed that how PureGym increases its service values needed to enhance the loyal customers.
1.2. Key findings, challenges and opportunities
For PureGym, it is crucial to develop the critical understanding about its marketing environment and it can be possible through the SWOT analysis. This strategic tool is beneficial for the company to identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats in more effective manner (Veleva et al., 2015). It also describes the actual situation of the company by defining its efficiency and the lacking areas which can be the cause of major risk. Moreover, the SWOT analysis of PureGym is given below:
| Strengths
PureGym possesses the strong dealer community and it is because of its effective culture while dealing with the dealers and distributors in UK. In addition, PureGym also contains the effective brand portfolio through its huge investment. It also uses innovative machines at the gym and it attracts the consistency and quality in the services of organization. These innovative machines and consistency leads to larger client base (Mazzei et al., 2016). |
| Weaknesses
After discussing the strengths of PureGym, it also has some weaknesses in which limited success of its outside business is defined and it is because of various problems like culture when deciding to enter into other segment. Similarly, PureGym does not have sufficient investment in its R&D practices for increasing its growth significantly. Moreover, it is also ineffective to provide parking space and it also does not have sufficient gym capacity along with changing room services. |
| Opportunities
While concerning the strengths and weaknesses, some opportunities are found for PureGym as it can establish the high football area including the health products for increasing the organizational productivity (Andreasson and Johansson, 2014). Organization can also set up its business in new segment with different products. PureGym can also invest in new technology equipments for its potential clients for providing them increased safety. |
| Threats
At the end, PureGym has various threats like shortage of workforce because clients have been facing the problem in their exercise due to lack of experienced trainer. Moreover, PureGym does not focus on the health products due to which, it is losing its potential customers. |
On the basis of above analysis, it is found that due to its threats and weaknesses, PureGym is finding issues to get significant success within other country. Similarly, the limited investment also makes PureGym unable to think about expanding the business (McCoy et al., 2014). After that, organization does also not have focus on the technological advancement due to which it is not capable to attract and retain the customers in organization.
1.3. Marketing Objectives
On behalf of SWOT analysis of PureGym, it is demonstrated that it needs to develop its effective marketing objectives by keeping the identified issues in its mind because if PureGym ignores these issues, then it may bear huge loss and it may lead to major failure (Swaid et al., 2019).
In this situation, PureGym should develop its objectives with SMART objective system so the issues can be resolved efficiently including huge success and enhanced profitability. Moreover, the SMART marketing objectives are:
- To increase the club members in gym by 25 members per month
- To recruit new employees with enough experience to provide effective services to potential clients
- To make the expansion with new product segment to increase the sale of additional products or services by offering to existing clients
- To concentrate on technological advancement in gym equipment for enhancing number of clients
By developing above marketing objectives, PureGym can deal with the identified issues because if it is not done, then organization will lose its customers along with its brand image in market. Similarly, these SMART objectives are developed according to the PureGym’s strategic intent.
In this way, the first objective clearly reflects that PureGym will attract new clients through innovative marketing strategies so that its profitability can be increased significantly (Nicoletti, 2019). Moreover, other objective of PureGym is to recruit experienced employees which can provide effective services to clients so that they can be retain and new one can be attracted towards the brand effectively and for accomplishing this objective, PureGym will try to decrease the turnover rate to 20% only.
In addition to above, other objective of PureGym is to expand the business in new country which helps it to offer differentiated products o its existing clients within it home country. Through this types of new products, PureGym will be effective to retain its existing clients and attract the new one towards the brand (Stimpson and Smith, 2015).
Moreover, the last one marketing objective of PureGym is to adopt innovative technological equipment for gym. Through this objective, PureGym will be capable to offer innovative services to its clients and also provide them safety while exercising with automatic machines. Hence, above defined marketing objective are very effective for the gym to bring the efficiency in its operations and enhanced profitability comparison to its competitors.
1.4. Strategic Marketing
While concerning about PureGym, it is demonstrated that PureGym is leading gym in UK as it offers its fitness services with low prices at its clubs which are situated more than 200 locations. As per the organization’s current performance, it is thinking to expand its business by differentiating its product portfolio to gain the huge market share (Islam, 2020).
At this time, PureGym should focus on its new product segment to analyze which products segment is more effective and will help the PureGym to enhance its number of clients. Similarly, PureGym should also analyze various aspects related to new segment to get the in-depth detail about it.
In addition, the new target market research suggests to PureGym in regards of expansion that the Australian market would be beneficial for organization to target. In this way, PureGym requires to adopt appropriate segmentation strategy to Australian market (Al Zaidi and Ahmad, 2019).
The demographic segmentation strategy will be more efficient and it is because this strategy segments the potential customers on the basis of demographics. For PureGym, adult clients who will be under 25 years to 40 years will be segmented along with the focus on service class.
The selection class is essential because the service class people do not have much time to give for their health (Veneeva, 2017). In this case, if the decision of entering in Australian market is made by PureGym, then it will be capable to target more customers and earn more revenue.
In similar manner to above, PureGym also needs to focus on its targeting strategy so that it can be effective to develop new customer base in its new target market. For targeting the AUstarlian people, micromarketing targeting strategy can be selected by PureGym.
It is helpful for the organization to focus more barely in comparison to niche marketing (Kautish, 2014). Along with this, PureGym can also be capable to identify the demand of its target group in the targeted geography. Through this strategy, PureGym will be more efficient to attract more customers than its competitors.
Besides this, new positioning strategy is also recommended to PureGym to target more clients for the brand with the help of positioning the product of services in the new target market of Australia. Similarly,
this strategy will help PureGym to get more success and increased profitability and it can be done by selecting best positioning strategy and that will be the product price. As per this strategy,
it will be connected with the products and services of the company including the competitive prices (Kim et al., 2015). Through this strategy, PureGym can be effective to position its new products in the target market of Australia in comparison to its competitors. Suggested position strategy will provide the benefits to PureGym to effectively position its product and gain the huge market share.
Thus, above mentioned segmentation, targeting and positing strategies are very effective for PureGym to enter into new market and attract more customers compared to competitors.
1.5. Marketing Tactics, both Traditional and Digital
While concerning about PureGym, it is found that it will focus on the right strategy for attracting more customers towards the fitness club because gym will offer its services with cost leadership so the customers will be offered services at very low prices.
With the help of this strategy, PureGym will be capable to achieve the expected outcomes and appeal the larger population in new target market (Cateora et al., 2020). As per the current market of PureGym, it requires to target a new market in which gym does not have much competitor otherwise it will have to face huge competition.
In this situation, Australian market is suggested to PureGym where competition is very and target population is high.
For the Australian market, the right strategy of PureGym is more effective because it focuses on traditional and the digital tactics. With the help of traditional strategies, PureGym will be capable to reach the target customers more easily because traditional strategies include traditional ways such as print media and the broadcast like TV ads, news papers, billboard etc.
which help the company to find out the problems of people and provide them facility to resolve them. So, they can become healthy. Apart from this, print media includes the news papers and the magazines which enhance the awareness about the health issues occurring in adults who do not have time to take care of their heaths (Hult et al., 2018).
In this way, PureGym needs to focus on its content to attract the larger customers so it can hire expert content writers for its traditional marketing. So, they can show creativity and appeal the customers by their content.
Apart from above, the digital marketing includes the use of internet to reach and attract the customers towards the brand. These are several social sites which are available on internet through which companies can target larger customers within limited time (Eteokleous et al., 2016).
It is also mentioned that the larger population in whole world has been using the social media platforms excessively and this situation provide the opportunity to the businesses to enhance their brand awareness as much as they can. In these social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and other different platforms are considered and these platforms are significant for the PureGym to adopt for its new market of Australia.
Through these social media platforms, PureGym can promote its brand among the population of Australia and attract them by showing them their automated equipments and its services (Mathews et al., 2016). In this digital strategy, Whatsapp is also defined as the best tool which is used by most of the people in whole the world so, PureGym can also make use of Whatsapp for reaching maximum people in Australia.
In similar way, one of the important benefits of social media tools is the customer engagement which cannot be ignored because along with the ways to reach the customers, social media platforms are also effective to engage the customers and convert them into loyal customers (Koponen et al., 2019).
At the same time, digital strategies are also found cost effective and it is very important for PureGym because there is no need of huge investment to be made. With the use of social media sites, PureGym needs to focus on its advertisement content through which it can be capable to give the right message to its potential customers.
Thus, it can be mentioned that both the strategies such as traditional and digital strategies are beneficial for PureGym while entering into new market of Australia and these will be effective for success of PureGym.
1.6. Action plan, Budgets and Financials
Along with the development of marketing strategies, it would also be beneficial for PureGym to adopt the implementation plan to get the benefits from the marketing strategies and fulfill the marketing goals of organization (Zeriti et al., 2014). In this plan, some important actions are includes with the time taken by them and the plan is given below:
| S. No. | Actions / Weeks | Responsible Person | Time |
| Step1 | Develop a list of the expected outcomes | Marketing Manager | 2 Weeks |
| Step2 | Distribute an expert for each outcome | Marketing Manager
Human Resource Manager |
1.5 Weeks |
| Step3 | Identify what activities requires to be conducted for achieving the outcomes | Marketing Manager | 2.5 Weeks |
| Step4 | Develop the responsibilities, required budget and accountabilities | Marketing Manager
Finance Manager |
2 Weeks |
| Step5 | Establish the tracking sheet for monitoring the program | Marketing Manager | 2 Weeks |
| Step6 | Follow the methodology of project management | Marketing Manager | 2.5 Weeks |
Above mentioned implementation plan defined activities which are helpful for PureGym to apply its marketing strategy into new target market of Australia. However, these activities will require enough investment while entering into new market. The estimated budget for the implementation plan of PureGym is given below:
| Key Activities | Amount ($) |
| Selection of appropriate product or services to be offered | 8,000 |
| Price setting | 5,000 |
| Placement activities of products | 10,000 |
| Marketing and promotional activities | 7,000 |
| Experts of Marketing | 6,000 |
| Other administrative activities | 10,000 |
| Total Investment | $ 46,000 |
Above mentioned activities are important for PureGym to enter into AUstarlian market and it will require estimated budget of $ 46,000 as the initial investment. This estimated amount will help to company to set up the club in Australia (Lindström et al., 2015). Above budget can also be used to discuss the financial implications of future by considering some important aspects given below:
- Payback Period:It is important to be calculated to know how frequently, company will be repaid its investment from its cash flow. To calculate the payback period, it is assumed that the cash flow will be $ 5,250. So, the payback period will be:
Payback Period = Initial Investment /Annual Cash Flow
= $ 20,000/ $ 5,250 = 3.8 years
- Return on Investment (ROI):By ROI, the increase earning of the company from the marketing activities are calculated. In this manner, it is supposed that the gym sale will be increased by $ 2,000 as well as the promotional campaign will be costed by $ 40. So, the ROI of PureGym will be:
Return on Market Investment = (Sales Growth – Marketing Costs)*100/ Marketing Costs
= ($ 2,000 – $ 400)*100 / $ 400 = $ 160000/ $ 400
= 400%
- Break-Even Point:BEP is calculated to get the information how frequently the fixed costs will be recovered in the business (Tolstoy et al., 2016). In concern of PureGym, the fixed cost is supposed as $ 3,000 as well as the gross profit margin is supposed as $ 800. So, the BEP of PureGym will be:
Break-Even Point = Fixed Costs / Gross Profit Margin
= $ 3,000 / $ 800 = 3.75 Years
Hence, above described and calculated implications reflects that company will be able to get effective outcomes from its new business in Australia.
1.7. Ethics, Sustainability and CSR
PureGym is going to enter into new market and it is suggested Australian market to be entered. In this situation, PureGym needs to keep the ethical standards as well as principles in its mind because it will help the gym to overcome the future issues associated with the marketing and promotional activities (Yang and Gabrielsson, 2017). Moreover, some important ethical issues of marketing which can be faced by PureGym are described below:
- Some businesses adopt unethical practices for collecting the customer’s data and it can be harmful for them in future. So, PureGym should avoid these practices.
- Similarly, some of the organizations ignore the ethical principles in collecting the data and it leads them towards the legal issues.
- Additionally, these ethical issues can be associated with the brand promotion sometimes and this same situation can also be faced by PureGym while promoting its brand in new market (Rosson and Ford, 2016).
- Apart from above, some other ethical issues includes the marketing policies and standards. These are mostly ignored by new businesses and they have to face several problems related to these policies.
- At the end, anti-competition practices can also be the major issue for PureGym while promoting its services in new market.
Hence, it can be suggested to PureGym that it should follow all the ethical principles and standards to remove the chances of any legal problem. Similarly, PureGym should also focus on the marketing activities by ethical manner to promote its brand.
1.8. Controls, Measurement, Review, Risks and Contingencies
While discussing about PureGym, it is found that there are several controls, measurement, review, risks and contingencies that should be concentrated by PureGym while expanding its business in new market. In this way, all the factors are defined below:
Some of the critical success factors of PureGym are its quality products, affordable prices, innovative equipment and the efficient workforce etc. These factors, PureGym can be capable to setup its business in new market of Australia. Additionally, PureGym can also adopt some KPI’s such as increasing sales, gross profit, net profit, customer satisfaction, revenue and so on to measure its performance (Qurratu’Aini and Hapsari, 2019).
Apart from this, net promoter score, customer acquisition costs, and number of comments can also be focused by PureGym to know about its business. At the end, PureGym can have some critical market risks like high competition, and ineffective marketing campaign etc. but these issues can be resolved by effective market research in new market with experts.
Task Two: Report on the Relevance and Practical Application of the Uppsala Model
PureGym is ongoing business and now, it is thinking to target new market with its new health products as per the customers demand. In this way, Uppsala Model is recommended for PureGym. Uppsala Model is described as the theory introduced by Jan Johanson and Jan-Erik Vahlne in 1977.
Jan Johanson and Jan-Erik Vahlne were the famous professor in Uppsala University of Sweden (Vahlne and Johanson, 2017). The main focus area of this theory is to explain the internationalization process adopted within the businesses.
As per the Uppsala Model, the businesses should primarily have focus on expanding their business into the nearby target market with the low commitment in market. In this way, this Uppsala Model reflects the internationalization process characteristics within an organization. So, it can be determined that the Uppsala Model is mostly analyzed dynamic theory as per the Nordic School along with the studies of international business (Sinkovics et al., 2016).
This model describes four steps while expanding the business at the international level which cannot be analyzed independently when analyzing about the current situation of the company, its relevant facts and the market.
In addition, the analysis of Uppsala Model also demonstrates that two various approaches are also incorporated by this model in regards of the internationalization process within the organizations.
For example, its first approach depends on the various assumptions such as when the organizations operate in foreign market, than they make the contribution in the international trade at the different stages (Martin and Javalgi, 2016). Similarly, its second approach depends on the hypothesis which defines that the organizations continuously aim at expanding their business into new market with the increased psychic distance.
This approach means that the target market that is strange for the different enterprises, international and the culturally difference, in some way different. Moreover, organizations do not much knowledge in regards of these markets. At the same time, some cases are found far geographically.
Similarly, it can also be reflected on the basis of above discussion about the Uppsala Model that it is connected with the other theory of organization and it is called behavioral theory. While concerning about PureGym, it is found that gym is also thinking to expand its business at international level through enhancing its business operations from national level to international level.
Moreover, when the Uppsala Model is applied on PureGym, it has some implications in which PureGym’s experiences in included as gym has taken sufficient experience of its national market before expanding its business at international level (Zeriti et al., 2014).
In this situation, it is found that PureGym is capable to expand its business and enter into international market. Due to its experience in same industry, PureGym will also be effective to develop the strong relationship with its target customers in its new target market such as Australia. With the help of Uppsala Model, it has been ensured that PureGym has the capability to expand its business operations by adopting focusing on traditional exporting and after some time, it can switch to demanding operations effectively.
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