Assignment on

Research
Methodology

Research Topic:
Marketing Strategies: A Comparative study of
INDIA and CHINA in consumer Goods (20002015)

Submitted to: Prof .Dr. Bushra Hamid

Submitted by: Group 3
Group Members:
Jehanzeb Ali
Sayed Haider Abbas
Asif Wakil
Nazish Syed
Zala Rehman
Aneela Iram Ismail
Gauhar Rehman
M.Ibrahim
M.Abdullah

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF

PESHAWAR

1.1

Introduction

Marketing strategy is the fundamental goal of increasing sales and achieving a sustainable
competitive advantage. Marketing strategies include all basic, short-term, and long-term
activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of a
company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented strategies and
therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives. Success of FMCG
depends greatly on marketing strategies.
For several reasons, first, infrastructure in marketing is underdeveloped, including transportation
systems, media development, and the severe shortage of qualified marketing personnel. Firms
attracted to the long term potential of this vast country must remember to pay sufficient attention
to the basics of producing, distribution and marketing a successful product (Country Commercial
Guide 1998).
After 30 years of rapid growth, China is now the world's second-largest economic country .
Marketers look to build brand awareness and perception among Chinese consumers, television
advertising will play its part. But as marketing priorities shift away from brand development
toward sales and geographic expansion, other media are likely to play a critical role. In
particular, marketers will likely be formulating integrated marketing communications strategies
across a variety of Chinese consumer touchpoints. Chinese companies believe more in word of
mouth. Across the board, a majority of Chinese companies are using marketing and PR efforts
TV, online, print, sponsorship,etc.but not as much as their multinational counterparts . Different
marketing strategies are adopted regarding consumer goods in India .Indias company make
strategies according to their culture ,norms etc ,Indias FMCG companies use Multi brand
Strategy

like

Product

Flanking

which

Refers to the

introduction

of

different combinationsof products at different prices, to cover as many market segments as possi
ble. In India, the wealthy urban middle class influenced by the West is growing
and advertising campaigns include and consider the more current values and
trends.

1.2

Statement of purpose

The purpose of the study is to find out the impact of marketing strategies in Consumer goods of
India and China.
1.3

Research Question

What is the impact of marketing strategies on India and China in Consumer goods?
1.4

Objectives

1. To define and explain Marketing strategies.

2. To analyze the relationship between Marketing strategies and Consumer goods.
3. To find out, the impact of marketing strategies in Consumer goods of India and China.
1.5

Research Methodology

The proposed research is conducted to analyze the Marketing strategies of India and China in
Consumer goods. For this too much work is done at International level. As the topic is very vast
and primary data collection is very costly and time consuming.
Different Qualitative methods will be used to analyze the marketing strategies of India and
China.
We will use only Published/Secondary data. Data will be mostly collected from Research
journals, Business journals, published articles and web browsers.

1.6

Literature Review

1.6.1 Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is a set of integrated decisions and actions by which a business expects to
achieve it marketing objectives and meet the value requirements of its customers. (Slater and
Olson 2001, p. 1056).
Marketing strategy is concerned with decisions relating to market segmentation and targeting,
and the development of a positioning strategy based on product, price, promotion and
distribution decisions.(Slater and Olson 2001, p. 1056). The primary focus of marketing
strategy is the effective allocation and coordination of marketing resources and activities to
realize the firms objectives within a specific product-market. (Walker et al.2006, p. 11).
Porter (1996) views the essence of strategy as activitiesa business decision to perform
different activities (choice of activities to perform) and/or perform specific activities differently
(the manner in which specific activities are performed) relative to its competitors. He points out
that competitive cost advantage is the result of a business performing specific activities more
efficiently than competitors, and competitive differentiation advantage is a consequence of a
business choice of activities to perform and the manner in which they are performed.
Day et al. (1990) note that marketing strategy focuses on marketing activities and decisions
that are related to building and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. A purpose of
marketing strategy is to modify/ influence/shape the affect, cognition and behaviors of customers
and consumers in ways that are conducive to their acquisition, possession and consumption of
specific product offerings of an organization (Carpenter et al. 1997).

China has emerged as the second largest economy in the world , as measured by purchasing
power parity gross domestic product (Dahlman and Aubert 2001). Chinas Market in expected to
grow and develop rapidly ,for example , Kenichi ohmae recently stated that it took the asian
tigers more than fifteen years to build their economies as symbols of development,it is taking
China only a few years to supplant them ( Mc Gregor and Bala 2002,p.33)
Rex Wong, vice president of marketing for Asia at Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev)
China, the multinational beverage giant with 20 brands in China, said television is an integral
part of AB InBevs marketing strategy.Television is the highest reach medium for
everyhousehold in China, said Wong. AB InBevs approach to television advertising, however,is
not one-size fits all. We are very specific about which channels in which regions we are
advertising on ( Wong.2010). Wong, for one, described AB InBevs marketing game
plan in China as 360 degrees, a fully integrated plan encompassing television, mobile,
billboards, sponsorship,and online.
Pestridge of Nike said not to write off television as a dying medium in China. There is a lot of
commentary about how it is diminishing, but it could play a very important role, particularly in
cities where there is not as much access to Internet. But the cost of broadcast is a one of the
major obstacles to marketing in China. Generally, the price of media is a challenge, but
television in particular, (Zhu. 2011).
Tian, of JOVI, is a big believer in word of mouth. Infact, he credits word of mouth for the
overnight success of JOVIthe restaurant chain, within six months of opening,
had been approached for a franchising deal in Hong Kong.Customers are our best advertising.
They are informed and will just send a link to a friend or relative,( Tian .2011). But for the
Chinese companies, the importance of PR as a marketing strategy only jumps minimallyfrom

38% saying it is important now to 45% saying it will be important in three years, indicating that,
perhaps, there is something lost in translation about the value of PR in China. For Tian of JOVI,
hiring a public relations firm, even with all the expansion of his brand, is not on the horizon.
The immediate value proposition just isnt clear to him. We are very closely connected to our
customers and prefer to have no proxy between us, (Tian.2011) whose only investment in
advertising so far has been 5,000 yuan to put up a coupon online.
Moving forward, digital and mobile marketing is a critical part of the mix for all Consumer
goods in China, as marketers seek to integrate their message across both traditional and digital
platforms. Leow, whose agency focuses mostly on marketing to the under-30 set in China,
contends that digital is almost all that matters among younger consumers. The Internet is their
primary consumption and sharing platform for everything they do, (leow.2012).
If you look at the trends, people in China are spending more and more time online, so we are
going to spending more resources on the Internet as a result.(wong . 2000).
By the year of 2030 India, the world largest democracy, is estimated to be the third largest economy
in the world (Swedish Trade Council, 2009c).
The driving force in the Indian economy is the growing number of people from
the middle class, which currently consists of over 300 million Indians which are
consuming progressively more Western brands and products (Swedish Trade
Council, 2009b). Bhatia & Bhargava (2008) suggests basing the advertising in
India on glocalization. TV advertising has increased significantly in India in the
past years (Bhatia & Bhargava, 2008). Choo et al. (2004) more and more Indians
(at least urban consumers) now have greater access to independent sources of
information than before; for example they search for information about products
on the Internet. (Choo et al. 2004)