A'kin International Marketing Mix

International Marketing Mix

Product

One of the weaknesses of A'kin is its limited choices of baby products, and it may experience a great failure while serving such a big market in China. A'kin should be more localized and launch wider range of merchandises that aim to different skin types in Chinese market. Since the climate in the southern part of China (where Shanghai is located) is humid, products like baby powder can be introduced to meet the local market need. A'kin can customize local assortments to catch more personal attention. For instance, catering to the gift-giving custom among Chinese people, A'kin should design "gift box" which contains various mixture of its products. Besides, 'country of origin' sign should be labeled clearly meaning that the sign 'Made in Australia' should be stated clearly on the products' packaging. More importantly, the firm has to make sure that its packaging and product explanation have to be written in Chinese.

Price

Chinese people often see price as a measurement to indicate a product's quality. As A'kin positioned itself as a brand between medium to high level, a corresponding price should be set as a reinforcement to its high quality image. Many Chinese parents are price insensitive and more willing to pay a higher price on baby products. A'kin may adopt skimming pricing strategy since the intensity of price competition is low and only limited competitors existing in the Chinese market. However, taking Chinese people's psychological thinking into consideration, A'kin may use Mantissa Pricing strategy (setting price at $99 instead of $100 for example) to make price more attractive and acceptable for customers. Furthermore, national habits, cultural traditions and values have also given some special meanings regarding to the use of number in different countries. For example, pricing with '8' something is popular in China because Chinese people regard '8' as 'earning money' and the number '4' should be avoided since it means 'death' in the Chinese culture. Brand associations will be improved if A'kin can set its price intelligently.

China's infant market annual report shows that Johnson & Johnson, Yumeijing and Pigeon account for the biggest market share in the Chinese market. A'kin will use Pigeon's price as an indicator to set its own price, but A'kin's price will definitely be much higher than that of Pigeon's. Main reason for that is because A'kin will produce its products wholly in Australia and its products will be sold in the department stores whereas Pigeon and Johnson & Jonhnson are manufactured in China locally and sold in supermarkets (See Appendix 4). Since families with higher incomes in Shanghai will be targeted and these people tend to care more about product quality rather than the price, A'kin' prices are reasonable for its quality.

6.2.3 Promotion

Advertising

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