Introduction
Most companies find it impossible to create any kind of sustainable competitive advantage based on product alone. It is common knowledge that every one of the successful companies sought and found a precise understanding of how it could create a customer-centered competitive advantage. (1996) emphasized the idea to take advantage of the competitive situation not just by being better in how that product gets sold, serviced, and marketed at the customer interface. It requires that companies create breakthroughs in how they interact with customers, and design a way of interacting that makes an indelible impression on customers, one that so utterly distinguishes them from others that it becomes a brand in itself.
Perhaps the space between the new organization design and implementing it into actuality is the whole coverage of organization change and development. People are adaptive to change. However, certain skills must be present from the initiators of change so as to successfully implement their project. Thus, managers need to have the necessary abilities not only in detecting what needs to be changed but also how to effectively introduce the change. Companies employ detailed business plans and strategies in order to gain several benefits from its competitors such as increased profits and enhanced customer relations as company objectives. According to (2000) balance between enhanced company processes and renewed objectives should be critically appraised in order to ensure the success of the company.
Company Profile
The company owner, Anita Roddick, started in the late 1980’s the Body Shop Community Trade program when she developed trading relationships with local groups during her world travels ( 2005). In the program, the company ensures a fair deal with the small producer communities that supply the company with accessories and natural ingredients. Through the program, the communities benefit through earning enough money that will provide them their necessities in life. The program is a great way to help those small producers that are oftentimes abused by large companies by giving them far less income from what they deserve. The Body Shop customers also help those communities through their purchase of the company’s products.
The Body Shop helps economically, by not only providing jobs to its employees and business partners but more importantly to its small producers that are oftentimes of larger number than the large producers. It shows how the company is concerned in providing fair trade in the community, regardless whether they are large or small producers. Aside from that, it has also good effect in the community, because it will encourage other companies to do the same to their small producers, thus, changing the economy at a large scale.
Aside from the company’s efforts to protect the environment, and helping their small producers, the company also put effort to make a social change, aside from having the environmental research team, they also have their own Community Projects Department and has run 19 campaigns since 1976 (1991). It has helped and joined with the campaigns of Amnesty International. They have adopted two Burmese prisoners of conscience and through the help of the shops, have sent thousands of petitions by the way of staff and customer thumbprints to the Burmese government (2005). The company, through its founder (and owner), Anita Roddick founded the Children on The Edge (COTE) in 1990 to help the Romanian orphanages with the aim of running various programs that will take care of the orphans, ranging from child development, medical care, refurbishment and eventually, socialization. The Body Shop (UK) has also been raising funds for the victims of the Serb attack in Kosovo. The fund raising was done by The Body Shop (UK) through donation for every of its Kids Rucksack product sold. With these efforts, the company is able to defend human rights not only within the company but also to the communities which they are able to reach. These efforts show that the company assumes responsibility even in the moral area. Even though these people are not the business’ concern, the company shows moral responsibility to these people, by helping them during their time of need.
Business institutions can control and influence the quality and standard of life of their employee, customers, business partners, the people in the community in which they operate. There are even times that their influence or control goes beyond the community or area where they operate. This is true, since the influence of businesses does not end within the company or their customers. Because their products and/or services may reach people other that their customers. Thus, they have such great responsibility, not merely within the company, with their employees, customers, business partners, but also the far greater number of people outside the company. A company has such great power, this is because a single decision the company makes can affect a number of people and in cases of large companies, thousands of people. Thus, there is no question that the company should be social responsible. It is how much they should be socially responsible that is of concern. And it depends on the company’s capacity to do so and how willing they are to do it.
The Body Shop (UK) is a global company with a number of branches worldwide. It is quite obvious that they also have a great number of employees, business partners, small and large producers and most importantly a large number of customers. The company mainly adheres to the greenest and eco-friendliest policies regarding its products, starting from how they are produced till its post – production. This alone is an act to commend for. In our time today, companies are more concerned with profit-making. There are those who are concerned on how their products are produced but few goes to the point that they concern themselves to what happens in their post- production or to the point of concerning themselves whether their products have negative effects to the environment or other people other than their customers.
Recently, L’oreal cosmetics bought The Body Shop and become its new owner. The L’Oreal Group is known for their continuous innovation in order to impr4ve the quality of their products and the services they have to offer to their consumers (2004). Part of their strategic plan is to cater to the best interest of their costumers, in other words, costumer satisfaction. Through giving a wide variety of products, consumers have a whole gamut of products and services that they can choose from and which best serves their preference. Through constant research and passion for innovation, L’Oreal best caters to the demands of women of different cultures. The Company also sees to it that they know the latest trend, or better yet, set the trend in the market as to attract more consumers.
Part of the L’Oreal Group’s strategic plan is the marketing of their products worldwide. From the bloom of L’Oreal during its primary stage, the Company already catered to the demands of women worldwide. In line with this, they are also well aware of the diversities of women around the world. Part of this strategy is to formulate products that suit other women from other parts of the world ( 2004). Through research and development of their products, the L’Oreal group has already covered most parts of the globe and still got high approval ratings from their clients. Just recently, L’Oreal received the Diversity Best Practices 2004 Global Leadership Award for embracing diversity, not only in their employees, but also in their consumers (2004). L’Oreal’s taking consideration of women of color is especially appreciated by its consumers for they are also being given the chance to enhance their features and embrace their diversity without having to conform with the traditional concept of beauty, particularly that of the white women. The L’Oreal Group also has employees who are considered minorities, such as the women and people of color. Valuing of the people’s culture and ideas is important to the Company in order to best serve the interest the consumers, the employees and the Company. Since, L’Oreal Group is the owner of The Body Shop; will there be new marketing strategies for the company?
Domestic Market (charts, diagrams of demographic profile of HK, gender, age and size)
There have been a lot of studies regarding the demographic profiles of The Body Shop’s consumers, based on the demographic profiling, these consumers are categorically organized to: educated, pre-middle aged females earning to high-incomes.
These factors significantly influence the buying or purchasing behavior of each and every consumer because people who are characterized according to these variables have different wants and needs, thus they have a wide range of tastes and selections in availing a particular product or service ( 2003). Using the variable of family size as an example and given that number of family members is the only defining characteristic from two selected household, the family with larger number of children will prefer less expensive grocery items to compensate for the quantity of the products while the household with fewer members may settle for more expensive items for quality defying the quantity of the purchase.
Education. In regards to education, demographic profiles done in the past show that education is linked to the consumers’ attitudes and behaviors (2005). Most demographic profile studies done on the relationship between education and the behaviors of consumers have been positively correlated because most studies have found positive correlations between consumers’ education and attitude and/or behavior, it can be expected that future findings will be consistent.
Age. In general, the socially responsible consumers’ demographic profile is young and/or pre-middle age. But results have been far from conclusive (2005). The relationship to be significant and positively correlated and the relationship between age and behavior is significant Figure 1 below presents the percentage distributions of the age of the respondents. Accordingly, majority of the consumers are 25 to 31 years old, showing that most of them are already considered as young adult. On the other hand, there are 30% of the consumers who are in the age of 32 to 38 years old. It was noteworthy that none of the consumers that are under the age of 18 to 24 and 46 above.
Figure 1
Gender. Gender-related studies between males and females in regards to the environment are also inconclusive. In general, researchers argue that females are more likely than males to be ecologically conscious (2005). Figure 2 shows the percentage distribution of the gender of the respondents. Based on the figure, the dominating gender among the consumers is female which 85%, while 15% are male. This shows a virtually equal footing in terms of representation of gender regarding the gender profile of the consumers of The Body shop in Hong Kong.
Figure 2
Income
Most of the clients are professionals earning middle class to higher class earning,
Competitive Analysis (socio-economic, socio-cultural and psychographic of market segmentation)
Psychographic characterizations of the clients and customers are their lifestyles, values, and personality. These factors dictate their purchasing behavior upon exposure to commercial items. All businesses are subject to factors outside the control of the business that can affect its success ( 2005). There certain strategy that are been considered in order to emerge and become a competitor in the market. As a marketing manager of cosmetics products, cosmetics are now living in an interesting era. The process of change from the old economy to the global new economy brings a tremendous development growth to cosmetics products. Since the new global economy brings new economics, new market structures, new marketing strategy, and new industry structures, the profile of customers has also changed. Customers have evolved from solution demander to value demander. Cosmetics products are now in demand to many individuals especially those who are concern on their body which really creates a changing the appearance and/or correcting body odors and protecting them or keeping individuals and consumers in a good condition. As a marketing manager, cosmetics products should market the value of the community and the consumers. The external factors that I might consider with regards to the cosmetics products are the new technology, pricing, government policies, emerging distribution channels, and competitions this might considered an opportunity and threat.
As a marketing manager it is better to understand that consumers are prepared to pay what they perceive a product to be worth. If marketers set the price above this level, consumers will not purchase the product. If marketers set the price below this level, the consumers will purchase the product but would have been prepared to pay more, so the organization has missed potential profit. As each consumer has their own value they attach to the product, it is the task of market researchers to determine an appropriate level for the target market.
Pricing strategy is an important factor to consider not only in the cosmetics product but by also other businesses; each price an organization might charge for a product will lead to a different level of demand. For most goods the higher the price, the less demand there will be for the product. Consumers evaluate the price of a product against competing products. With regards to cosmetics product it is therefore often to use price to position the products against the competition. A price higher than the competition signals a product of higher quality. In setting prices, as a marketing manager I must be aware of competitor’s likely reactions to the pricing strategy. I chose this strategy because pricing is an important factor to consider especially in terms of competitions in the market. I also consider this pricing strategy is because market share is often associated with profitability and thus many firms seek to increase their sales relative to competitors. There are reasons that a firm may seek to increase its market share. One is through economies of scale which higher volume can be instrumental in developing a cost advantage. Next reason is sales growth in a stagnant industry for example when industry is not growing, the firm is still can grow its sales by increasing it market share it only show that increasing market share really creates a vital role in pricing in order to increase the sales. Another one is the reputation which market leaders have clout that they can use to their advantage. The last reason is to increased bargaining power a larger player has an advantage in negotiations with suppliers and channel members.
In terms of government policies, it is better to consider the consumer health safety especially in the line of cosmetics products. Government has it policy with regards to the safety of consumers, that’s why as part of the strategy quality and effectiveness of the product is a general strategy with regards to this government policy which are determine that in the line of cosmetics product, under the government policy a cosmetic product must not cause damage to human health when applied under the normal and reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.
On the other hand, new technology is a big factor to consider in terms of external factors, but on the side of cosmetics product technology is a great help but as a marketing manager it is better to introduce the strategy of buyer behaviour. According to (1986) if a marketer can identify consumer buyer behaviour, he or she will be in a better position to target products and services at them. Buyer behaviour is focused upon the needs of individuals, groups and organizations. It is important to understand the relevance of human needs to buyer behaviour. In order to fully understand the strategy of consumer behavior it is better to understand how person interacts with the line of the marketing mix and this is an important factor to consider. As described by (1991), the marketing mix inputs (or the four Ps of price, place, promotion, and product) are adapted and focused upon the consumer. The psychology of each individual considers the product or service on offer in relation to their own culture, attitude, previous learning, and personal perception. The consumer then decides whether or not to purchase, where to purchase, the brand that he or she prefers, and other choices.
Another strategy to consider is the channels of distribution, according to (1999) a channel distribution is a collection of organized units, institutions, or agencies within external to the manufacturer, which perform the functions that support product marketing. The channel of distribution is an important factor that compromises and perform all the activities on the marketing, on the Theory of Distribution Channel Structure of (1966) it was been described that a channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the activities utilized to move a product and its title from production to consumption. I chose this strategy because this might create a good presence on the part of the cosmetics products because of the distributions of the products and the activities that it might create and this is an appropriate one for cosmetics products.
In terms of competition one great and possible strategy to do is a possible merger, joint ventures or a strategic alliance. By doing this kind of strategy it will lessen the competition in the market. In general, it is better to understand that the driver of firm profitability in a competitive market is a key marketing challenge and strategy.
The product is a cosmetics product the features and unique benefits of the products is that aside from having no side effect the product is guaranteed a tradition of quality, in meaning the product is quality based product that would really satisfy consumers. Another thing is that the cosmetics products are the purest, cleanest and most effective specifically on the skin and hair care products on the marketplace. The cosmetics product also has the high quality ingredients that include essential oils, herbals, and other ingredients. Those ingredients are employed in order to create well-balanced and nourishing formulations and those ingredients are considered to be healthy ingredients. Effective marketing communications deliver specific, tailored messages guaranteed to stimulate the target audience to action. An effective communication and distribution is an important factor that could allow the product and services introduce to consumers.
A. Lifestyle and Market Segmentation
Lifestyle is applicable to market segmentation as it is part of psychographics segmentation which is one of the methods in which consumers can be divided. Psychographics segmentation is basically a way of dividing the market based on social class, lifestyle or even personality characteristics ( 2001).
Psychographics was first employed during the World War I when Emanuel H. Dernby conducted a study which classifies people by their physical appearance (2003). From that point onwards, psychographics has strived to deviate from other segmentation techniques such as demographics, socio-economies and even behavioural. As a method employing a measurement of lifestyle, the result provides the companies with a psychological profile of a specific target market.
One of such lifestyle classifications developed is the widely used by The Body Shop and L’oreal Cosmetics, Values and Lifestyle (VALS) typology seen in Figure 3. It categorizes people based on how they spend both their time and money. There are eight groups according to two major dimensions: self-orientation and resources which correspond to the time spent and the expenses of the consumer ( 2001). In the self-orientation category, there are the principle-oriented consumer; status-oriented consumers and the action-oriented consumers. The principle-oriented consumers are those who base their purchases upon their views of different issues in the world whereas status-oriented consumers buy because of the potential actions and reactions of others which increase their status in life. On the other hand, those who belong to the action-oriented group are driven by their need for activity, variety and even risk-taking.
Figure 3
Values and Lifestyles (VALS) Lifestyle Classification
Taken from: Kotler, P & Armstrong, G 2001, Principles of marketing, 11th edn, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle, NJ.
The consumers belonging to each of the three orientations are further divided into the resources they have which represent the level of their incomes, education, health, self-confidence and energy among many other factors (2001). There are only two groups for this aspect namely: abundant resource and minimal resources. Those who have extremely high or low levels of income are in turn classified as actualizers or strugglers. Actualizers are the consumers who can be in any self-orientation because he/she has abundant resources within his/her disposal. On the other hand, strugglers are those who have too little resources for them to be classified into any specific self-orientation group.
B. Lifestyle Trends: Indicators of Consumer Behaviour
Trends are part of the myriad of predictions which can help the marketer in planning. Lifestyle trends reflect the priority system described earlier in the definition of lifestyle. Moreover, it demonstrates the interdependent relationship between culture and society, group and individuals; buyer decisions and market reactions. Through the lifestyle trends, marketers will have better understanding of consumer behaviour which they can put to use in identifying product and service opportunities.
(2003) have provided four lifestyle trends based on the American consumer behaviour namely: cross shopping, increased affluence, poverty of time and life simplification desires. Cross shopping is referred to as the result of better educated and clearer minded consumers with higher levels of incomes which allow them to spend more time evaluating the quality of the product before buying. An example of this is buying a silk blouse in Sears rather than a similar one at Liz Clairborne. Cross-shopping behaviour has mostly affected the fashion/clothing industry. It seems that this lifestyle indicates that consumers want to buy from mass merchants who offer store-label merchandise and at discount stores which offer designer clothes.
The second trend is the age of affluence which is a result of the income revolution in Hong Kong. It is not limited to a single demographic alone such that there is an amalgamation of different lifestyles such as the hippie attitude of the 1960s with the yuppie attitude of the 1980s as seen in some of the products and services which seems to offer a contrasting lifestyle but has succeeded in turn to create a niche in the target market’s lifestyles.
The third trend refers to the ever-growing poverty of time which is manifested by the role of women in the present time as the trends reflect women having more opportunities both at home and at work. This trend describes a more stressful life for women as they juggle home life and their burgeoning careers. Thus, in the face of stress and challenges, it became the trend for women to increase their efforts to look and act young. Lastly, life simplification is the trend which expresses the desire of some consumers to make their lives simpler as they feel overwhelmed by the changes happening in technology and globalization. The return to the simple life implies complete changes in activities and interests which are directly under lifestyle. It also suggests that although these consumers have undergone change in lifestyle, it doesn’t take away the need which will result to lower consumption standard. Instead, they look towards new products such as handicrafts and the like to suit them.
Understanding the given examples lead to the realization of how greatly Companies needed to adjust their marketing plans to suit these lifestyle changes in order to predict the dimension and the extent of their marketing opportunities. It will also enable marketer to effectively plan strategies through the discovery of new product opportunities.
Marketing Communications, promotional tools
The product is a cosmetics product the features and unique benefits of the products is that aside from having no side effect the product is guaranteed a tradition of quality, in meaning the product is quality based product that would really satisfy consumers. Another thing is that the cosmetics products are the purest, cleanest and most effective specifically on the skin and hair care products on the marketplace. The cosmetics product also has the high quality ingredients that include essential oils, herbals, and other ingredients. Those ingredients are employed in order to create well-balanced and nourishing formulations and those ingredients are considered to be healthy ingredients. Effective marketing communications deliver specific, tailored messages guaranteed to stimulate the target audience to action. An effective communication and distribution is an important factor that could allow the product and services introduce to consumers.
As a marketing manager, I rather use the internet as my channels to use to communicate with the other target segment. With the popularity of the Internet ever increasing, it has now become one of the most common ways of doing business: e-commerce. Although e-commerce was often associated more with the larger companies, small businesses have now benefited from joining the bandwagon. Through the Internet the product will emerge quickly because Internet acts a shop window for many businesses today, this will also allow consumers to view or purchase the product features and unique benefits online. In addition, the Internet can also be used as a marketing tool, in meaning on a purely promoting the products, which will aim to result in amore sales from other distribution channels. The rationale for choosing this specific channel is that Internet can help target consumers worldwide not only on the three northeastern U.S. states and this could be a great opportunity to be develop and in order for consumer quickly recognized the product.
On the other hand, distribution channels are probably the least understood part of approach to customers, the most unfashionable part of the marketing mix, the most undervalued part of customer service, and typically confused with the sales process. Yet distribution channels are invariably your most important connection with customers, the place where decisions are made, relationships can be built, and where significant costs incurred and/or margins gained. The role of distribution channels is the fact that it simply transacts customers. Distribution channel selection is a critical driver of business profitability, not only is it a case of ensuring that customers can buy, but ensuring that these purchases are profitable. According to (1992) any company or agency that is involved with the marketing or physical distribution activities of a product is considered a participant in the marketing channel. There are two general types of participants, direct and indirect. Each of these groups performs specific services that are essential to the marketing channel.
It is better to understand that distribution is all about getting your product/service to the right people at the right time with special consideration for profit and effectiveness. Successful marketing does not end when a business has developed a product/service and has found its appropriate target audience with a view to selling it at the ‘right price’. Distribution channels are influenced largely by the type and size of the business and so some of the channels explained may not be feasible for your particular business. According to Anderson et al (1996) distribution channels can be evaluated along two dimensions: customer needs and costs. Consumers have varying levels of tolerance for impersonality, in meaning that cosmetics products will not be able to migrate all consumers to the cheapest channels. But neither do they have to utilize every channel to meet their customers’ needs.
As a marketing manager I will not just restrict to one channel, but instead I’ll going to adopt a number of channels that are suitable for selling the products efficiently and effectively. As a marketing manager I will also adopt to use the channels on retailers, through retailers it could promote the product by making consumers aware of its availability and by passing on some technical information that could encourage the sale. However, choosing the right route to the market is crucial because of both the opportunities and the threats involved – the longer the distribution channels the more they cost so they must add measurable value. We need to understand that channel distribution is an important factor to consider in order for the product to more competitive.
(1999) noted that a marketing manager gambles that new products will be successful, that advertising ultimately will generate sales, and that price increases will not meet with substantial customer resistance. In meaning, although the risks from these kinds of decisions vary depending on market conditions, the company and managers involved, and the amount of market intelligence that has been gathered, nearly every decision requires a roll of the dice. From a customer’s perspective, each purchase involves some degree of perceived risk. In general, channel distribution is influenced by many factors. The starting place for the consideration of channel distribution is the user itself. However, building and developing a new channel distribution or selecting the use of an existing channel structure of new product and services should start from the bottom (users) and work up to the manufacturer. The knowledge of the users in a market and their buying habits is critical to channel distribution requirements. It is better to know that the primary impact on a channel distribution is the total number of potential users and their location in the market size and density.
Consumer behavior, Market Positioning
Consumer behavior enumerates the customers’ product knowledge, usage, attitudes and responses to a particular commercial item or service. In this regard, the familiarity with, function, and purpose of commercial goods or services are distinguished depending on the consumers’ needs and use. For example, an educated and computer literate individual has a more tendency to buy technological gadgets that people who are not exposed to technological innovations that are available today.
Product availability and visibility could result to The Body Shop’s popularity and recognition in the international brewing business. The successful market penetration of the company presented one of the strengths of the company in a different market. The reports of good business positioning in the mentioned countries also illustrated the capability of the company to market, advertise and promote their products in the foreign territories.
However, the success and new market opening and opportunities for The Body Shop in Hong Kong comes with inevitable threats and challenges that the company management should be able to answer to and overcome. The intense competition experienced by the company in its home market in the UK has also the possibility of repeating itself in the new HK market where the cosmetic and health industry is known for its excellent reputation just like the good positioning of long established and home-grown cosmetics companies that offer an array of cosmetic and health products in the local market. The competitive environment brought about by the company’s new market entry could be more intense compared to the condition experienced in the UK home market.
Strengths
- The company has strong brand names
- The company has a good reputation among customers
- The company has cost advantages from proprietary know-how
- The company has favorable access to distribution networks
Weaknesses
- The company has an unstable financial resources
Opportunities
- The company has an unfulfilled customer need
- There is the possibility of arrival of new technologies
- There has been the removal of international trade barriers
Threats
- The company has the propensity to induce shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm’s products
- There have been an emergence of substitute products
- There were recent entries of new companies in the industry
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
· Continue to release new products since the company has a huge following and a credible brand name.
· Find other markets through its distribution network the to peddle its products.
· With the company’s apparent economic strength in the market, merging with small competitors would be advisable.
· Find other markets through its distribution network to peddle its products.
Threats
· Improve the company’s research and development to cater the needs of the consumer.
· Work with the country’s government agencies to intensify the strictness of entry regulations in the industry.
· The Body Shop could gain great opportunities with its better franchise relations. Long term international expansion can also be used as an advantage.
Retailing? Other issues such as Politics and Economics PEST
The PESTLE Analysis establishes a good analysis of the external effects on a company by breaking them into essential and obvious sorts.
Political. The resources, human and economic, make this country the most promising country in Asia in the ability of its people and the nation itself to make a stand in the global community that defines the information world at present.
The central government that time devoted most of the investments, for redistribution of industrial development, to the country’s inland regions instead of allocating the money in the richer coastal parts and “moved” the population into the poorest provinces that reversing it made the beneficiary regions collapse as the few other parts prosper. The price system was the other form of the redistribution system which overvalued the manufactured products and undervalued the agricultural ones (Naughton & Segal, 2002). However, the balanced redistribution system economic strategy of the central government collapsed because the provincial manufacturing industries have to significantly contribute to help the poorest regions which gave way to rapid growth in agricultural prices.
Economic. The concept of endogenous economic development highlights a Hong Kong needs to allow change and make room for the growth of its production system by developing and utilizing the potential of local resources especially its people through the investment of private firms and holdings as well as of the government itself through national economic policies. The economic growth and structural change are the result of investment strategies and decisions of enterprises operating in the market and integrated into the conditions economic dynamics of territory affecting the production of the organization, the relational system and innovation as well as the learning process.
Socio-cultural. It became a large united country with an advanced culture at a very early stage, outpacing most of the world in areas such as art and science.
Technological. The tremendous growth of technological advancement has become the driving force of contemporary industries. The diffusion of the internet has revolutionized the business arena. The use of the Internet is changing high-tech marketing overnight while different industries have been trying to use it as part of their marketing strategy. It has not only reconfigured the way different firms do business and the way the consumers buy goods and services, but it has also become an effective instrument in transforming the value chain from manufacturers to retailers to consumers, creating a new retail distribution channel (Donthu & Garcia, 1999).
Hong Kong was able to adapt with modernization along with the technological advancement in progressive other countries. As the manufacturing capital of the world, Hong Kong is among the leading users of highly advanced equipment in production, supply chain management, marketing and sales. This has long been evident in the bulk of produced goods in the country as well as the generated services provided by the different industries of Hong Kong. Applications of advanced technologies in the country can be likewise observed in the emerging utilization and function of the Internet not just in business but also in other disciplines like politics and social welfare, environment conservation, culture and the arts, media and communications, and in education and research.
Legal- Mutual recognition of rules between, the business organization and the policy-makers of the prospect country should be at all times observed in order to avoid legal confrontations and eventual failure of the marketing strategy. Gaining the trust of the local government and reviewing the economic policies and legal matters that govern the country in which the product or service will be made available will be a strong ground from which the advertisers can make as a take off point in pursuing the any further business venture.
Environmental- The Body Shop must consider the issues on the sustainability efforts in relations to the preservation of Hong Kong’s natural resources. In relation to the defined frontiers of their production are environmental issues that may come in conflict with the natural resources exploration. The aggressive environmental campaigns against mining activities should be overcome by the company to prolong its venture as a significant player in the international retail industry.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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