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During the many years that I was practically involved in marketing and
selling consumer products overseas I realised there were a number of
fundamental issues that always need to be addressed. For my company the core
task was to maintain a consistent programme that enhanced brand image and
product performance in differing markets throughout the world,
Each of our branded products possessed a value in the mind of the
consumer which we wanted to preserve and enhance. We offered a wide range of
international products which would be categorised according to the brand
profile. Our range would be segmented into International brands – generally
high value and imagery and standardised, where possible, across all markets;
Regional brands developed to target local consumer preferences and Tactical
brands created market by market to satisfy a specific need such as flavour,
style or price
Being a consumer product, most were sold to the end purchaser through a
retail outlet. .There are, therefore, two distinct forms of planning and
activity to be considered.
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First the traditional consumer marketing directed at the end user
through sales, advertising and promotion. The second and as important, is trade
marketing which ensures the right parties in the local supply chain, including
the retailers themselves, are handled and directed in the right way. The key to successful trade marketing is
grouping customers into trade channels so as to focus marketing efforts on the
special needs and characteristics of each channel.
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There is much evidence that trade marketing is either ignored or not
followed through by many exporters.
Some of the key elements of trade marketing are channel mapping – how
many of each trade type are selling what and where; decisions on channel
priorities; assessment of trade pricing and promotional policies; agreement
with local partner, agent or distributor, on how best to handle the trade.
All of which are carried out to ensure every potential consumer will be able
to purchase your products at the right place, at the right time, at the right
price, in the right manner in the right quality and in the right manner.
Space prohibits a detailed examination of these activities but to
endorse my message let me pose some rhetorical questions.
Select a key market to which you have exported for a number of years.
Can you describe the trade through which you sell? How many wholesalers and
retailers? Of the wholesalers how many are traditional and how many are of
the cash and carry style? What are the main retailer types that should be
selling your products and how many are there in each trade sector? The
questions could go such as who are they – by name and where are they and how
often do they purchase and in what quantities?
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Let me briefly describe two examples from my experience – the Middle East
and West Africa.
Working with my local distributors I would analyse the breakdown of local
trade – remember this is for the sale of consumer products. In the Middle East
main sectors would be Wholesalers, Supermarkets, Specialist shops, small shops
in the Souk, Horeca outlets and so on. In West Africa there would be a similar
breakdown of sectors but with the addition of street side Hawkers who,
incidentally, in certain countries accounted for over 60% of the sale of our
products.
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We would then total or estimate the numbers in each sector and set
trade promotional strategies accordingly. For the key sectors we would
develop specific advertising and promotional activities including special
discounts or rebates. For the literally thousands of souk and hawker outlets
we would rely upon the salesman’s word of mouth and giveaway items.
Let’s return to the all important consumer marketing element. Frankly
it would take a book to cover most aspects but I will raise a number of
issues that we always had to consider. With regard to the product itself
there are two broad areas to manage – changes that have to be made to the
product and changes that are required to suit the local consumer.
Most exporters are aware of the various factors that could enforce
product changes such as legal, governmental, and logistical. Other common
issues can include transportation and climate.
Let me provide one example affected by the latter. We marketed
semi-perishable products around the world with a six-month sell-by date and
normally used a series of protective packings enclosed in a plastic display
tub for each individual product. For some of our South American markets we
found that these protections were not sufficient. We had analysed the period
from manufacture to point of sale and taking into account the shipping time,
period from landing to delivery to a retail outlet, the ambient temperatures
in local outlets and the time for a consumer to purchase, sell dates were
exceeded. The whole package was redesigned and enhanced to ensure the
freshest product available to local consumers.
The second critical area is adaptations required to suit the culture
and buying habits of the local consumer.
This raises a vast number of considerations including pricing, style,
colours and language of product packaging, appropriateness to local
lifestyles and so on. One factor that was critical to us was the
affordability of the unit of sale.
Our standard unit of sale for our European products was 6 items to one
retail pack. However in certain markets both the size and the affordability
were too high. This factor had nothing to do with the basic price; it was
that consumers locally just did not buy products this way. We therefore
provided a four-pack for these markets.
We normally marketed branded products with high perceived value.
However in some markets the predominant preference was for local products at
a lower price point. To gain both a trade presence for all of our products
and provide the local consumer with a choice, we provided a generic product
in addition to the premium brands. Tactically we were able to ‘buy’ shelf
presence through the value product and gain listings for the higher value brands.
There is, of course, much more that can be discussed by space does not
permit it. The main lesson of my international experience is to spend a good
proportion of effort marketing to the local trade as well as the end-consumer
to ensure a better chance of long term success.
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