marketing across cultures
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Marketing across cultures
Draft
Introduction Comment by Elisa Paz: emphasise countries and WHY THIS IS A GOOD CHOICE Comment by Elisa Paz: IN-TEXT CITATIONS
Sephora is a French based organization which sales beauty and skin care products. The business has online presence where the customers get the opportunity to view and order the products of their choice including fragrances, skin care and make up. The company also sells the tools and brushes which are used in the application of make up by individuals. Sephora is not currently and this assignment focuses on expanding the operations of the business. The course work two has various objectives and one of the objectives is to explore the cultural differences between France and Egypt and also look at the impact of the cultural differences on the marketing mix and the marketing strategy which will be adopted in penetrating the Egyptian market. Comment by Elisa Paz: make sure to proofread
Part 1: Social and cultural factors and the marketing mix
Overview of cultures Comment by Elisa Paz: IN-TEXT CITATIONS
The two cultures; Egyptian and French culture are different from each other and the French culture can be described as more modern compared to the Egyptian culture which holds on so much to tradition and ancient teachings. The French are mostly known because of the much value which they attach to nationality and government which makes the politics of the country a sensitive topic which could result into offending the French people. The Egyptian can be described as very modest people which is because of the influence of religion and the ancient Egypt practices. Egyptians value beauty so much and this means that the culture is ideal for Sephora products which are used in enhancing and bringing out the beauty of a person.
Cultural framework of France (please include all culture frame work for both countries even if you add them to the appendix and reference that they are in the appendix because you will need them later in the assignment to compare how cultures framework affect the marketing mix) Comment by Elisa Paz: introduce (and ref) the cultural framework, and clearly identify the elemtns
The main language spoken in France is French which is spoken in most parts of the country. English is not widely spoken in the country but is spoken in the tourist attraction parts such as Paris and other major cities in the country. French is the official language in the country and is spoken by 88% of the country’s population. There are different religions practiced in the country and the main religion in the country is Christianity where there are different denominations such as Catholicism and Protestantism among others. The French people value their government and nationalism and hence take so much offence when people make negative comments on their nation and government.
Another thing that is valued by the country is equality. In France, the people want to be treated equally and even in the work setting there is equality of the different genders and ethnicities. The country is known to be a home of various high end fashion houses such as Dior, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. The people are known to be highly fashionable and also very presentable both in the workplace and other settings. French aesthetics include the culture of writing and theorizing.
Cultural framework of Egypt
The official language of Egypt is Modern Standard Arabic which is widely used in the country. Cairo which is the capital city of the country makes up the highest concentration of international schools which offer top notch education to the people in the country. The country still has high illiteracy levels despite a lot of efforts to encourage more people to go to school. The educated Egyptians normally are fluent in foreign languages such as English and French. 90% of the people living in Egypt identify themselves as Muslims and the remaining population is made up of Coptic Orthodox Christians and other denominations of Christianity.
One of the things which the Egyptians value is modesty and this is influenced by their religion and religious values. The people in Egypt are known to value the institution of a family and maintaining the honor and dignity of a family. The communication style of the Egyptians is expressive and the people are known to express themselves so much. They have a good attitude and in their communication Egyptians are known to freely display happiness and gratitude. They are known to communicate indirectly where most of them avoid using the word “No” directly and also make use of so much humor in their communication (Quach et al., 2020). When it comes to the business culture in the country networks tend to be valued more compared to the expertise of the individuals. Linen is the material that is associated with Egypt’s dressing and clothing. Additionally, Egyptians value beauty so much and want their women and men to look good at all times.
Hierarchy of needs Comment by Elisa Paz: discuss first implications on the mkmix
There are different needs according to the Abraham Maslow needs and Sephora satisfies the esteem needs. Esteem need can be described as the desire that one has to feel good about themselves. One of the components of esteem needs is self-confidence which can be gained by customers when they use Sephora products(Valeri, 2021) . Some people especially women say that using cosmetics and beauty products helps boost their self-confidence and also enhances their self-image. This is because the products which are sold by the company are useful in helping enhance the beauty and how one looks. Comment by Elisa Paz: cultural assessment
Influence of cultural differences on the marketing mix
The cultural differences between the two countries will have an influence on the product, place, price and promotion. When it comes to the products which are sold by Sephora the company can still maintain selling the products which they are selling currently and this is because people in Egypt are also interested in the beauty and skin care products which are currently sold by the business (Trompenaars, & Woolliams, 2020). When it comes to pricing, Haggling is a common practice in Egypt and other African countries which means that the people are price sensitive and hence the company should focus on offering prices which are affordable to the people. Comment by Elisa Paz: it is not that they are/are not interested in cosmetics, but rather if any of the cultural aspects that you disccussed in the cultural framework AFFECTS this (packaging, formula...) Comment by Elisa Paz: implications for Sephora when expanding?
Sephora should operate both online and physical stores and this is because most of the people prefer to have physical stores where they can select the products of their choice and get to try out some products which the business is selling (Quach et al., 2020). The culture also affects the promotion of the products where the business will need to focus on the traditional methods of promotion such as use of print and broadcast media but should also use the online marketing methods. Comment by Elisa Paz: Regarding place, Comment by Elisa Paz: why?
Standardize or adapt (Sephora) Comment by Elisa Paz: Focus on pros/cons of each method Comment by Elisa Paz: with references
The company should use adaptation as opposed to standardization if it wants to succeed while selling Sephora to the Egyptian people. In adaptation, the company should modify the products and product offerings to ensure that they suit the needs and wants of the people. The skin texture and tone for instance is different between the people in France and Egypt which means that some face creams and products will not work on the skin of the people as good and hence they is need to modify the products to suit the market. Adaptation means that the company will be taking a higher financial risk as opposed to if they decided to use standardization but this risk will pay off since the products have a huge potential of making profits and high sales in the market.
Part 2: Market entry strategies
Review of market entry strategies
There are different market entry strategies which can be effective for Sephora’s entry into the Egypt market. One of the strategies which can be used by the organization in the entry into Egypt is a Joint venture which means that the company will be combined with another company. These means that the companies come together and become a totally different company. The joint venture as an entry strategy means that Sephora can take advantage of the other company’s reputation and infrastructure in the country. The strategy can be used as an alternative to establishing a wholly new owned subsidiary in Egypt to sell the make up and skin care products. The strategy has various advantages and one of them is that the strategy will make sure that the company has access to greater resources and will also help the company share the risks with the company that it chooses as its venture partner. Comment by Elisa Paz: before this, mention all of the MES and control/risk/invovlement...
However, there are various disadvantages of using a joint venture as an entry strategy to the Egyptian market. The companies could have different objectives and goals and it will take a very long time for the two companies to build a relationship which is solid enough to do business together. Because of the differences in the cultures between the two companies then there could be a challenge in achieving integration and cooperation between two companies. The success of using joint venture as an entry strategy requires intensive market research to understand the objectives of the partnering firm into depth.
Sephora can also use an acquisition as an entry strategy into the new market. An acquisition means that the company will purchase majority of shares in another firm so that its able to gain total country over the other firm. In an acquisition the company that is acquired by Sephora will cease to exist once it has been acquired by Sephora (Pfarrer et al., 2019). The company could enter the Egyptian market through acquiring a firm in the beauty industry in Egypt which is already known by the customers and has created a good reputation so that the business can take advantage of the positive reputation of the business. The use of an acquisition as an entry strategy to Egypt will have various advantages and disadvantages for the organization.
One of the advantages of the strategy is that the entry strategy has limited barriers and will help overcome entry barriers that are associated with the other market entry strategies. The company will be able to achieve market power using an acquisition as an entry strategy and this is because of market synergies. The company will be able to acquire any new competencies and resources which it does not have currently in the acquired firm. The company can enjoy the marketing connections and networks of the acquired firm (Pfarrer et al., 2019). The company can also enjoy fresh ideas and a new perspective from the use of an acquisition strategy. However, using this strategy could damage the reputation of Sephora if the acquired firm is weak or has a bad reputation.
Recommended market entry st rategy Comment by Elisa Paz: Address the opportunity analysis (slide 8 week 13)
The appropriate entry strategy for Sephora into the Egyptian market is use of a franchising strategy and this is because of the low-cost involvement and the low risks involved in the strategy. A franchising strategy shall entail Sephora who in this case is the franchisor granting some rights and authorities to the franchisee which will be an Egyptian company (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). There will be a contractual agreement between Sephora and the franchisee that will give the franchise the rights and authority to make use of the trademark and brand name of Sephora and also give the organization the rights and authorities to sell the products and services of Sephora where the franchisee will act as a dealer.
The reason why this is an appropriate strategy for Sephora at the moment is that the company does not have to use its capital and resources since the franchisee will use its own resources. This is a good entry strategy that Sephora can use at the moment before it moves on to further establish subsidiaries and branches of its company in Egypt. The company will gain so much popularity and a positive brand image from franchising and this is because the franchisee uses Sephora’s name which means that once the company decides to enter the market fully then it will be a known brand that has established customer loyalty already.
Part 3: Marketing strategy for the new country Comment by Elisa Paz: adapt/standardize
Application of the market entry strategy Comment by Elisa Paz: probably better for section 2
The selected marketing entry strategy for the company will be franchising where Sephora will enter into a contractual agreement with another firm so that the other firm can sell the company products and also use the company’s name. The process of franchising will entail various steps. The initial step in the application of the franchising strategy is determining whether the strategy is good for the organization (Makadok et al., 2018). From the analysis of the cultural differences between Egypt and France and also the company a franchise will be a good strategy for the business.
Since we know that the franchising strategy is ideal for the organization the next step for the business should be preparation of a franchise disclosure document. The FDD is a document that will provide the franchisee with the important and critical information about Sephora including the legal history of the business, company structure, financial structure of the company and any current franchisee which Sephora has. The document should also include the audit of the financial statements of Sephora so that the franchisee can have the confidence that the company is ideal to do business with (Kalaignanam et al., 2021). The company will also need to issue an operation manual to its franchisee (s). The manual will offer information on the system requirements and any other information that will be needed in opening and operating the franchise.
The company should ensure that it has registered its business and trademarks so that the issue of franchising does not put the company at any risk or result into legal consequences for the firm. The business should also ensure that the FDD document has been registered and filed as well. The company should additionally create a sales strategy and a budget. A budget will entail the costs that Sephora will incur in initiating and finalizing the franchising process. The budget should be in line with the size of the Egyptian market and the proportion of customers which the company hopes to attract and retain.
Product/ Branding strategy
There are different branding strategies that the company can use in its franchising to help ensure that the company succeeds in the new market segment. Considering the nature of the products and offerings of Sephora an attitude branding strategy will be ideal to assist the company create a feeling and evoke emotions and an emotional connection of the company’s products with the customers. Creating an emotional connection could entail assuring the customers that this is a brand which cares about their skin, beauty and is not only focused to making profits from the market segment but is determined to offer the customers an option that will ensure that they have a smooth, flawless and protected skin (Kalaignanam et al., 2021). The company should create a positive brand attitude through focusing on how using Sephora beauty and skin care products will make the customers feel about themselves and the confidence that is associated with the brand.
There are various considerations that the company should make when doing the attitude branding and one of the considerations is that any marketing campaigns in Egypt should focus on how the customers will feel when they associate with the brand as opposed to putting more emphasis on the products and pricing (Velikorossov et al., 2020). Promote the brand as confidence and self-esteem; the customers in Egypt should know that using the company’s products brings out their beauty and hence they should feel more confident about themselves and how they look after using those products. Comment by Elisa Paz: Missing product policy (presentation available from our classes) and branding = profile strategy
The business will need to identify what the priorities of the customers are and assist the franchisee use the priorities in creating a sales plan that will reach more customers. The potential customers will have an interaction with the products of the company before making a decision to buy and this means that logos, colors, packaging and designs are important in helping boost the emotional connection between the customers and the company products (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). The company should select colors and designs that will make the products sold by the business in Egypt easily distinguishable with any other similar products sold in the country.
Communication strategy Comment by Elisa Paz: Push? pull?
Communication is very important in the business when it decided enter into the new market segment and even after successfully penetrating the market. Communication will focus on ensuring that there is exchange of accurate and up to date information between the franchisee and Sephora so that the company is able to successfully enter the market segment. The communication with the franchisee can be done using different strategies to ensure success. The company needs to use verbal communication to discuss with the franchisee on the system requirements and also help the business in ensure that the strategy is a success (Dzwigol, 2020). Verbal communication shall entail physical face to face meetings with company executives in the franchisee where the face-to-face meetings will assist Sephora brief the company on the pricing of the company products and also the features of the products.
Due to the advancement in the technology the company can use tele conferencing where the meetings can be done virtually so that the company can minimize transportation costs of going all the way to Egypt. However, there must by physical meetings held in both France and Egypt so that the two companies are able to know more about each other and create a rapport with each other. The company will also use written communication to communicate details such as the company trademarks, FDD and also the contractual agreement (Velikorossov et al., 2020). Emails should also be used in communicating between the two companies and following up on the progress of the franchise. Good communication between the two firms will ensure that the company is able to create a positive image in Egypt and its able to grow its brand and sales in the market segment. Comment by Elisa Paz: It'd be best to at least mention distribution + pricing
Conclusion
Sephora is a leading make up, beauty and skin care organization which sells beauty products to be used to enhance the beauty of the customers. The business can benefit through expansion into Egypt but to do so the company needs to research on the cultural differences between France where the company is currently set up and Egypt. Egypt is a good market segment and this is because the people in the currently value beauty in their daily life and also in their ceremonies. The company should sell in the new market through a franchising strategy that will help reduce the costs and the risks of expanding into the new market. The business could also benefit from ensuring that it uses an attitude branding strategy that will assist Sephora create an emotional connection between company products and the customers.
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