complete file 1 , 1000 words, international marketing IN 5HOURS
Elli
file2.docx2
Lululemon Global Marketing Strategy for India
Mina Khosravi (1814634)
Tejinder Pal (1911844)
Rekha Choudhary (1813635)
Yilin Liu (1913036)
Elham Khani (1810327)
University Canada West
MRKT 627: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Professor: Dr. Ho Shuna
September 10, 2020
PART I: Introduction to the Culture of the Country
Executive Summary
We choose Lululemon, a popular brand in the North American market, as our target company to expand to the Indian market. In order to better adapt to the Indian market, we summarize the key information that is worth noting in this part.
The complex geological condition and religious system greatly increase the richness of the Indian culture. There exists a significant difference among people who live in different areas. That disparity is more pronounced between urban and rural areas. People in cities enjoy advanced education, health, and political system, while most people in rural areas are living in poverty. The religious system is another factor that may strongly affect the operation of the business. The difference in religion can be reflected in the clothes and lifestyles.
However, the rapid development of the urban economy and the increasingly popular traditional India yoga provides potential market opportunities for Lululemon brings its product and value to Indian consumers. By combing Lululemon's products with a variety of local culture and tradition, Lululemon can explore a broader range of potential customers.
Lululemon profiles
Lululemon is a Canadian company founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson to design and produce yoga-inspired sportswear. The company has expanded into the sale of sportswear, including shirts, shorts, pants, and light clothing and yoga accessories for men and women. Based on the Lululemon website, this company's mission is "To elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness" (2020). Therefore, it has seven basic values : product, quality, balance, integrity, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and greatness. Despite strong competitors like Nike, this company has seen rapid success and growth over the past decade and has generated more than $565.11 Billion in 2018 (Statista, 2020). It also has 491 stores in North America, Europe, Asian Pacific, although half of these stores are in the United States (Statista, 2020). Lululemon believes that community involvement can lead to customer attraction and increase its mission to create a healthy lifestyle, so this brand is actively involved in CSR.
Indian history
Yoga is an ancient Indian system that is of great importance to the Indians. After careful consideration of the various options, it was found that Lululemon's designed products originated in India because they are inspired by Hindu spiritual art. This Canadian company has a strong presence in the local market and is on the verge of becoming a global organization. In addition to the Indian origins of yoga, increasing urbanization and public awareness of a healthy lifestyle with the increasing use of the Internet make this market an opportunity for Lululemon to enter India.
Geographical setting
location
Locate in the south part of Asia (Champakalakshmi, 2020), India is a country surrounded by the sea. The Arabian Sea bordered the southwest side of India, while the southeast side is bordered by the Bay of Bengal ("India," n.d.). On the northeast side, the mountain Himalayan separates it from other parts of Asia (UKEssays, 2018).
India has a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres (Champakalakshmi, 2020.), which account for 2.4% of the total area on the earth. India is the seventh-largest country all around the world. The mainland of India looks like a rhombus, which has a similar height and length of 3000km ("Size and Location of India", n.d.)
Climate
India has a wide range of weather, and the climate is significantly different for different parts of its mainland. In total, it has mainly four kinds of climates. They are the tropical wet, tropical dry, Sub-tropical Humid Climate and mountain climate ("Map of Climatic Regions in India", n.d.). The different climates contribute to different geology. For example, there are deserts in the west, glaciers in the north and rainforest in the southwest ("Climate of India", n.d.).
In general, there are four kinds of season, which are the winter, summer, monsoon, and post-monsoon. Monsson is a special description of the season, which indicates the fact that the climate of India mostly depends on the monsoon winds ("Climate of India", n.d.) .
The highest temperature occurs from March to May with an average of 27 to 33 degrees for most of the region, while the lowest temperature appears in December to February with a wide range average from 4 to 23 degrees ("Climate of India", n.d.).
Topography
The topography of India is greatly diverse. The geography varies from plains, plateaus, desert to mountains. India has part of the highest mountain in the world, which is the Himalayan mountain. Other mountains such as Shivalik, Vindhya and Sapura Range are in a different section of the mainland. The Indo-Gangetic plain, which includes 0.7 million square kilometres, is the most intense area for farms, and the population density is extremely high. ("Geography of India", n.d.)
Social institutions
In India, the traditional joint family follows the same principles of collectivism, however
With one of the most important changes being the disintegration of the common family and the emergence of the nuclear system and the extended family, society is changing. Indian families adhere to a patriarchal ideology, have family orientations, support traditional gender role preferences, and according to their traditional Hindu view, marriage is a sacred ritual. Besides, urbanization has increased, and with the bombardment of the Internet in Indian social space, which now has 687.6 million active users (Statista, 2020), public awareness of a healthy lifestyle has increased.
Education
Based on the reform of education policy and its orientation, the Government of India has set up various social and educational plans and programs through various five-year plans. These plans focus on greater equality, gender equality, skills and education, cultural transmission and development, peace and reconciliation. (Dudhe, 2014). In 1964, The education commission proposed that more than 6% of GDP should allocate to the educational system to create a considerable growth rate. this allocation and plans created an average growth of 70% in 2005-2010 (Education in India, 2016). (Figure 1).
The five-year compulsory elementary school for Indians includes math, science and technology, the arts and physical education. Assessment and progress are usually based on periodic exams, other school-based assessment forms, and annual school year-end exams. In the stage of upper elementary, students learn three languages: Native, English, and Modern Hindi and getting admission for the secondary school, which is not compulsory, is depending on getting the completion letter from the previous stage. based on this educational system, 1.6 million of Indian students passed the exams and received the SSC (Secondary school Certificate) that this number was 87 percent in 2018. Higher education has drastically expanded in India since the number of tertiary students grew from 5.7 million to 36.6 million over the past two decades. Likewise, the number of universities increased from 190 to 903. India's literacy rate is 71.2%, and most private schools try to stimulate children to learn multiple languages, sometimes starting in elementary school. The GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) in India was 25.8 percent in 2017, and the government has planned to increase it to 30 percent at the end of 2020 (Trines. 2018).
Political System
With a political stability index of -0.96 in 2018, India has three main organs of government: the judiciary, the executive and the legislature (Global Economy, 2020) (Figure 2). Together, they perform the duties of government, maintain law and order, and care for the people's welfare. Also, political parties are either a national party or a state party. The two major national parties that have played a dominant role in Indian politics are the left coalition (UPA) and the right central alliance (NDA). India's tax structure follows a three-tier federal system, including the central government, local municipal bodies make up this structure and state governments.
Legal System
India has a combined legal system with a combination of civil law, custom, Islamic ethics or religious law that the legal framework inherited from the colonial era. The various laws first introduced by Britain are still being revised. The Constitution of India was written on January 26, 1950 and is the world's largest constitution. The source of law in India is the constitution, as well as the supreme law of India.
India has laws that cover different intellectual property areas like trademarks, patents, Industrial design, geographical indication, etc. Also, India's obligations under the TRIPS contract to protect trademarks include protecting distinctive brands, identifying service marks, unlimited periodic renewal of registration, revocation of mandatory trademark licenses, etc. (Dalmia, 2017).
Business customs and practices
Building good business relationships and trust in India is very important, so you should expect to spend a lot of time in meetings, dinners and social clubs with your potential business partners. Like some other Asian cultures, Indians like to make personal connections first. So expect to hear about your family and get ready to ask your questions. Like other countries, Indian business custom includes greeting and titles, body language, business cards, corporate culture and dress code.
Religion and aesthetics
Religion
Religion is an important component of Indian history and culture. The most influential religion is Hinduism, which consists of many different doctrines, and the lifestyles take up nearly 80% of the population. Besides, Muslims are the second-largest faith, which accounts for 14% of the population. The distribution of religion is not even. For example, Hindus majored in most of the states, excluding Jammu and Kashmir. While for Lakshadweep, it is monopolized by Muslims.
Caste is another important system dominate Indian society for thousands of years. It is a system that differentiates people according to their birth, which puts people into the different social hierarchy. The people within each hierarchy are only supposed to behave and live under a specific set of rules or terms. And it is very hard for people to move up to a higher level of Caste. (Champakalakshmi, 2020.)
Aesthetics
Among all Indian art, Rasa lay the foundation for the mental state, which is a major emotional theme for Indian art. In terms of forms, there are sculptures, paintings, and architecture. The sculpture is one of the most respectful types of art that reveals the cultural diversity of India. (Niveditha, 2016)
Similar to visual art, Indian music, also diverse due to cultural diversity. A hundred kinds of language, different geographic contribute to a wide range of music styles. The unique thing about Indian music is that they are seldom written down. Instead, they use the special rhythm to inherit from generation to generation. ("Music of India", n.d)
Folktales in India are used to convey religious knowledge. Despite the language difference, the same folk epics are found in different areas and cultures. To better spread those folks, the folk's art appeared, which use painting or drawing to convey the main idea of folks and stories. ("Folklore of India", n.d.)
Living conditions
Diet and nutrition
Due to the difference in climate, religions, historical reason, the food vary greatly for different places. The nine religions influence the appetite of the food for different people. For example, Muslims don't eat pork, while Hindus avoid beef. Climate change usually affects the harvest of certain ingredients, such as rice, maize and wheat. The cuisines are provided base on the ingredients that harvest most in the current season. (Springer, 2020)
Housing
A huge difference in housing appears between wealth and poverty. Thirty-one percent of the population is living in cities with many slums. The major kind of housing is low-rise apartment buildings. Most of the houses have many years of history built by multiple family generations. The extra floors are adding to the existing housing with no architect. However, in big cities such as Mumbai, there are more houses and high apartment buildings served for rich and middle-class residents. (Teoalida, 2012)
Clothing
For most of the Indian, their dressing is simple. Male usually wear just broadcloth dhoti (Champakalakshmi, 2020.). The traditional Indian cloth is different base on culture, climate, and geography. Indians use garments worn to protect their culture. Their traditional dressing is frequently used in a celebration such as festivals and weddings. For modern dressing, more and more people are accepting western cloth styles (Sawe, 2017).
Recreation
Entertainment is an essential part of social communication in India. The main source of recreation includes music, dance, films and so on. There are different kinds of dance. For example, Kathak is popular in the north part of India, while Bharat Natyam is famous in Tamil Nadu.
Social security
The social security system in India mainly consists of a provident fund scheme, pension scheme, and deposit-linked insurance scheme. The employee and employer pay 12% and 12.5% of basic wages into the Employees' Provident Fund. The Pension scheme can provide the benefit for people retired or disabled during work and pay to the family when a member dead. The old-age pension is designed for people older than 58 years, with at least ten years working ("Social Security Guide", 2020).
Health Care
The healthcare system in India is vast, but different between city and rural areas. The public health care system is universal but has inadequate coverage, which makes many people turn to a private one. The health care for the traveller is cheap but has high quality. The private hospital his more reliable for the higher class of people or international students, while the local clinic is more valuable to small disease. ("Healthcare System In India", n.d.)
Language
The languages spoken in India are the two main language families: Indo-European and Dravidian. The rest are mainly from Austro-Asian and Tibetan-Burmese language families. Indian students across the country must learn three languages , such as English, Hindi and their mother tongue. Also, in India, there are 22 official languages such as Bengali, Nepali, Urdu, etc. and 1,369 dialects, while Hindi is the official language of the central government along with English (Castillo, 2019).
Reference
Admin. (2009). What Do People do for Entertainment in India? Retrieved from, IndiaFolks, https://www.indiafolks.com/history-and-culture/what-do-people-do-for-entertainment-in-india/
Castillo, V. (2019, February 15). Which language is spoken in India? Babbel Magazine. https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/what-languages-are-spoken-in-india
Champakalakshmi, R. (2020). India. Retrieved from, Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/India.
Dalmia, V. (2017, September 13). India: Intellectual Property Laws In India- Everything You Must Know. Vaish Associates Advocates. https://www.mondaq.com/india/trademark/654712/intellectual-property-laws-in-india-everything-you-must-know
Dudhe, S. (2014, December). THE ROLE OF EDUCATION FOR IMPROVEMENT THE STANDARD OF SOCIETY IN CURRENT SCENARIO. https://www.journalijdr.com/sites/default/files/issue-pdf/2354.pdf
Education in India. (2016). Topper. https://www.toppr.com/guides/economics/human-capital formation-in-india/education-in-india/
Folklore of India. (n.d.). Retrieved from New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Folklore_of_India
Healthcare System In India. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/india-student-insurance/healthcare-system-in-india.php
Map of Climatic Regions in India. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mapsofindia, https://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/climaticregions.htm
Music of India. (n.d.). Retrieved from, Kennedy center, https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/international/music-of-india/
Niveditha. (2016). Indian aesthetics. Retrieved from https://www.openart.in/general-topics/indian-aesthetics/
The Global economy. (2020). India: political Stability.https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/India/wb_political_stability/
Lululemon. (2020). History. https://info.lululemon.com/about/our-story/history
Sawe, B. E. (2017). What Are Examples of Traditional Indian Clothing? Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-traditional-dresses-of-india.html
Size and Location of India. (n.d.). Retrieved from toppr, https://www.toppr.com/guides/geography/india-size-and-location/size-and-location-of-india/
Social Security Guide. (2020). Retrieved from https://guides.dss.gov.au/guide-social-security-law/10/32/1/30
Springer, K. (2020). Indian food: The best dishes in each region. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/indian-food-dishes/index.html
Statista. (2020, September 08). Revenue of lululemon athletica in Canada from 2012 to 2019. https://www.statista.com/statistics/485785/revenue-of-lululemon-canada/
Statista (2020), Internet Usage in India. https://www-statista- com.ezproxy.myucwest.ca/study/22628/internet-usage-in-india-statista-dossier/.
Teoalida. (2012). Housing in India. Retrieved from https://www.teoalida.com/world/india/
Trines, S. (2018, September 13). Education in India. WENR. https://wenr.wes.org/2018/09/education-in-india
UKEssays. (November 2018). Geographic Setting Of India History Essay. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/geographic-setting-of-india-history-essay.php?vref=1
Appendix
Figure 1
Education growth rate
Note. Adopted from Education in India, by Topper, 2016 (https://www.toppr.com/guides/economics/human-capital
formation-in-india/education-in-india/)
Figure 2
India Political stability
Note. Adopted form India: political Stability, by The Global economy, 2020 (https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/India/wb_political_stability/)
