Marketing Mix - Product, Price, Place, Promotion

Introduction

This essay will be discussing the marketing mix elements e.g. the four P's (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) and how it is standardized or adapted when a company decides to internationalise and expand into new markets. This essay first presents a PEST analysis of the Chinese and Indian markets; it then goes on to a Porter's Five Force Analysis of Subway sandwiches and Louis Vuitton products. The last part of the essay will be specifically looking at the marketing mix of Subway in the USA the domestic market in comparison to the marketing mix they use in the Indian market. It will also look at the marketing mix Louis Vuitton uses in the domestic market of France in comparison to the marketing mix used in the Chinese market.

The Competitive environment

The two tables below are PEST analyses of the Chinese market and the Indian market. PEST analysis is a tool used to assess the macro economic environment that a business operates in.

* China

Political

* Tariff and excises policy affect on the development of luxury goods market

Protectionist policies restricted trade especially on imported goods but when china joined the WTO this opened up gradually, due to excise prices of the goods can be severely effected meaning access to such goods will be easier for some consumers than offers

* Tourism policy effecting the luxury good consumption in China

These policies encourage their citizens to go travelling out-bound of china. This is an issue in that if people are travelling abroad they are more likely to purchase their luxury goods there because they are more likely to be real as china has a big problem with counterfeit goods and they wont have to pay extra due to excise taxes that are enforced in China.

* Fight against counterfeit purifies the environment for development of luxury goods

Even with China joining the WTO, protections for intellectual property are not consistently enforced which means that luxury goods companies could be losing out on millions due to counterfeit goods. Economical

* Rapid economic growth

China has seen rapid growth over the years due to its manufacturing and industrial sectors. As a result of this GDP has seen rapid growth.

* High GDP

This factor is the main attraction for luxury goods companies coming to china along with the size of the market in terms of the population size there. This high GDP indicates there is potentially a lot of money to made

* Risk of Inflation

This could potentially be a problem for luxury goods companies because it will mean that consumers have less disposable income to spend; however on the other hand it is also important note that China's GDP is very high and is still rising.

Social

* Becoming more western

Due to the global media, the internet and government policy encouraging Chinese people to travel they are beginning to pick up western customs such as owning luxury goods that traditionally in Chinese culture would be frowned on.

* Rural migration

Many citizens are moving from rural China to the cities in search of work for a better income and better quality of life this means that luxury goods companies have better access to the population of China.

Technological

* Internet and related new media broaden the platform

Due to the internet and the media it has become a lot easier for consumers to access information this has meant these mediums are very important part when promoting a prod. Easier to access a specific target market.

* India

Political

* Relaxation in tariffs and barriers

The economic liberalization in 1991 meant that many of the tariff and non-tariff boundaries were removed or minimized. As a result of this access to the market for MNE's was easier.

* Government legislation laws for fast food industry

In order to protect the environment the government is encouraging companies to use bio-degradable and environmentally friendly packaging or wrapping; however the problem is that it cost more that the non environmentally friendly packaging and wrapping.

* Health issues

With the increasing fast food industry it important to consider the health implications it could cause such as obesity, high blood pressure heart problems etc. all these health problem could put a strain on the health service.

Economic

* Double income group

The growing trend of working women means that there are now two incomes coming into the household which means that families have more disposable income to spend on the things they want i.e. eating out.

* Large population

India has one of the largest populations in the world this simply means there is room for a lot of profit to be made when doing business in India as there is so much

* Loss of jobs

With MNE's entering the market they are likely cause local competitors to go out of business; as they will not be able to compete with level of competition that the MNE's bring. This will result in loss of jobs and therefore higher unemployment rates.

* Profit repatriation

This is an area for concern for the Indian economy. The illusion is that when an MNE enters a country it is supposed to increase the employment rate and result in economic growth. In the short term this is true however in the long run due to capital intensive nature of MNE's neither employment and GDP rates increase because MNE's send whatever profits they have made back to their home country.

Social

* Shift in culture

Many families that live in the urban areas have been exposed to global media and western cuisine and therefore are trying new things however eating at home still remains very ingrained in Indian culture.

* Working women

There have been an increasing number of women working because of changing gender roles. The implication of this