case study in marketing

Question 1

When it comes to international business , developing a global brand through standardization has its advantages in that the management does not have to develop a different positioning every time it enters a different international market . O 'Donnell tried to do the same with Irish Cream in the French market . However the strategy did not succeed in France because the consumer tastes and preferences differed from those in Ireland or the USA . For example , the consumers in the USA used the O 'Donnell brand mostly as part of a cocktail drink

. However the French consumers traditional spirits and liqueurs and they to drink in bars and restaurants . As a result the management at O 'Donnell had to position the brand differently in France . These differences arose out of the different behavioral and psychographic differences characterizing the market in the US and France . Therefore recommendation 1 : O 'Donnell should position its brand so that the drink is more suitable in a bar or a restaurant . Recommendation 2 : The management should conduct more detailed market research in to analyze the distribution channels most popular in France . Designing effective distribution channels is essential for enhancing penetration because the channel members have to cooperate with the manufacturer for providing incentives to the customers . 3 ) Make a comparative analysis of the different promotional schemes to identify which would be most effective

Question 2

Using the current distributor is not feasible because brand penetration remains low . There is insufficient information as to the nature of the relationship between The Benedictine Group and O 'Donnell . For example it is not clear whether the management at O 'Donnell is providing any sort of incentives to the distributor for achieving high sales . The case does mention the fact that the distributor is unconcerned about the brand 's slow growth of market share . Therefore it would seem that O 'Donnell is not doing anything to motivate Benedictine in working to enhance the market share of the brand . So one strategy would be to reach an agreement with Benedictine which specifies a certain percentage of the sales going to Benedictine in the event of the distributor achieving a certain percentage of market share in a given period of time . This is essentially a profit sharing agreement so that Benedictine takes a more active interest in growing sales of the brand . If this strategy does not work , the management has to recognize the fact that the distribution it is following is flawed at the basic level because the French consumers are not going to food stores to purchase Irish Cream . Instead they are consuming the product in bars and restaurants . Therefore the management at O 'Donnell should explore the possibility of using these establishments as distribution intermediaries . Once sales had reached a critical level in Paris , O 'Donnell could follow the same strategy throughout the country since it has the advantage of low price over Baileys

Question 3

It would not be feasible to use the Spanish press...