“Consumers in Europe face the same daily situations as those in other parts of the world in terms of… and having more disposable income to spend on leisure activities…looking for products that can help them have a better quality life.” (Czinkota et al., 2014) The foregoing is a clear indication that the Eastern Europe market was open to any new idea that suited the consumers’ needs and tastes. In addition, unlike their Western
Europe counterparts that were more conservative and had reservations about trying new products, Eastern Europe consumers were more liberal. Sappes was a phenomenal success and the leading functional drink in Thailand; the brand’s success and good reputation in …show more content…
Besides the foregoing, the company developed
specialized capabilities such as “modifying machines to produce jelly junks for sappe and the use of raw materials from Thailand to reduce counterfeits considerably.” (Czinkota et al.,
2014)
After the successful penetration of the Eastern Europe market, the company faced a major challenge, “whether or not to standardize advertising across markets.” (Czinkota et al.,
2014) The company was aware that it had to promote its product in order to establish itself in
the global market. The company had to decide as to whether to use a standardised marketing strategy to sell its product across markets and appeal to a larger customer base; they faced this predicament because the marketing strategies that they had used in markets like Slovakia were not acceptable in others, in addition, the company wanted to “coordinate other market activities.” A standardized marketing approach conforms to and works across diverse
cultures and various consumption habits. Organizations that desire to penetrate global markets should have an open mind because markets have different characteristics, hence, should be treated differently. On the other hand, foreign markets have similarities albeit having disparities in some aspects. The solution to this predicament is to conduct a marketing research in order to determine the disparities and similarities, and the