Introduction
In the era of globalization, brands emphasize over expanding its business in the international marketplace. Therefore, in order to expand the business in the international market, it is necessary to follow a specific structure to gain the attention of the specific marketplace. Hence, market entry strategy has become one of the major focus for the organization since it helps in guiding the organization to sell its particular products and it can also be known as the precise planning which helps the organization to stay organized before as well as after entering the specific marketplace (Alashwal and Ann 2021). Before expanding into a new market, there are certain parameters that the brand needs to maintain in order to determine the level of control and risk that a particular business assumes in the international marketplace (Tey et al. 2020). The strategic planning method help in allocating resources optimally so that the brand will be able to conquer the new marketplace.
In this context, the chosen brand, Okomu Palm Oil is one of the Nigerian organizations which started its business operations in 1976. Here the parent organization of Okomu Palm Oil is Socfinaf S.A (Acos 2010). Considering the primary activities of Okomu Palm Oil, it can be stated that the brand is committed to promote the palm plantations, palm oil milling, palm kernel processing and also in the production of rubber plantations.
The primary objectives of the report is to highlight the promotional marketing strategy of Okomu Palm Oil which is planning to expand its business in the United Kingdom and the brand is focused on promoting the Palm oil. Another major objectives of the report is to highlight the market entry strategy for Okomu Palm Oil by stressing over the regulatory requirements and the cultural adaption. Moreover, the report will also focused on highlighting the proper communication plan and related marketing activities which Okomu Palm Oil would undertake to promote the palm oil in the United Kingdom.
Product Information
In order to highlight the specific FMCG product information, it can be stated that the brand is focused on promoting palm oil as sustainable product category in the UK cooking oil market. Palm oil is basically an edible vegetable oil which is primarily derived from the mesocarp of the fruit of oil palms. This palm oil can be used as the sustainable alternative for market-available cooking oils. Palm oil is majorly used in the food production as cake, chocolate, biscuits, margarine and frying fats (Baldassarre et al. 2024).
Figure.1. Import Value of Palm Oil in UK
Source: (Statista 2023)
Considering the Palm oil production in the UK market, it can be highlighted that UK is in the 27th position and importing $262173 GBP in 2022. According to the data of 2022 to 2023, UK has imported around 383.4 thousand metric tons of palm oil (Syahza and Irianti 2021). As per the projection of 2015 to 2021, the import percentage of the United Kingdom in term of palm oil, it has remained quite static which is ranging from 380Kt to 425Kt (Machová et al. 2022). Therefore, it can be highlighted that there is a high demand of palm oil in the United Kingdom.
Market Entry Strategy
In order to promote the business in the foreign marketplace, it is mandatory for the brand to focus on taking a precise market entry strategy. Considering the market entry strategies for Okomu Palm Oil company in the UK market, the brand would be following the joint venture strategy which will help the brand to gain customer confidence easily in the foreign market. As per the previous assessment (Assessment. 1), it can be stated that Okomu Palm Oil will be much beneficial if they expand their business through such market entry strategy (Limaho et al. 2023). Studying from the Hofstede Cultural Comparison Model, it can be highlighted that there is a huge cultural difference exists between the two countries, UK and Nigeria. Therefore, initially expanding business in the UK market will be difficult for Okomu Palm Oil.
Studying the UK marketplace, it has been identified that the DAABON UK LTD. is one of the biggest UK palm oil organization, which is famous for its wide range of product offerings and maintaining higher standards of sustainability as well. Therefore, Okomu Palm Oil will be focusing on the joint venture strategy with the Daabon UK Ltd. as it will help the brand to promote its palm oil in the UK market easily. Since Daabon UK Ltd is one of the biggest brands, they have a strong position in the UK market in terms of palm oil and also, they have strong supply chain network in terms of palm oil (Camaroes Seed 2002). According the several scholarly article, it can be highlighted that the joint venture strategy helps in gaining access to the new market as well as distribution networks (Kasim, Stöhr and Herzig 2021). From the study of the supply chain network of Palm oil in the UK market, it can be stated that the market is highly complicated therefore, the proposed joint venture strategy will be much beneficial for Okomu Palm Oil (Naidu and Moorthy 2021).
Figure. 1. Supply Chain Network for Palm Oil company to enter into the UK marketplace.
Source: Author
Secondly, before expanding into the new country, it is very much important to understand customer demand so that the brand will have the full control over risk and cost as well. In the joint venture strategy, company tends to share the risk and costs with its partner brand. According to the statistical data of 2022, the market of palm oil was valued at approximately $65.08 billion and it is forecasted to reach approximately $96.15 billion by the end of 2031. Considering the market demand and the relatively stable growth of Palm oil in the UK market, the joint venture strategy is the best suited strategy since risk of market entry (in terms of product demand) is much lower (Kasim, Stöhr and Herzig 2021). Thirdly, since the brand is focusing on expanding its business with Daabon UK Ltd., (one of the leading UK brand), Okomu Palm Oil will be able to access the resources of Daabon UK Ltd. and it will enable the brand not to spend lot of capital in terms of gaining staffs and technology (Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) 2008).
Figure. 2. Palm Oil Import in UK
Source: (Statista 2023)
The proposed joint venture strategy will also be beneficial for Okomu Palm Oil in terms positive brand reputation and production cost. According to the scholarly article, it can be interpreted that the strategic joint venturing program helps in increasing brand awareness in the foreign market place (Teng, Khong and Ha 2020). As the brand is partnering with one of the leading brands in the UK market, it will be much easier for the Nigerian brand to gain customer attention in the UK market. By joint venturing process, the brand will be able to cut down their production cost and invest in product up-gradation through technology.
Marketing Communication Plan
Communication Objectives
The primary communication objectives of Okomu Palm Oil are to expand its business in the UK marketplace and is planning to improve the brand awareness in the market. Secondly, the brand is also planning to increase its sales profits in the United Kingdom.
Brand Building Activities
Target Customer Group
In order to highlight the particular target market, the brand, Okomu Palm Oil will focus on targeting the female customers for domestic usage and restaurants for commercial usages. From the above presented statistical representation, it has been highlighted that the growth of palm oil in the UK market is relatively stable. As the palm oil is much cheaper and also one of the major sources of healthy alternatives for cooking oil, the brand will particularly target the Y generation female customers and also the restaurants for cooking purpose (Liu, Ganesan and Smith 2020). The current covid-19 pandemic has badly impacted the economic growth of the country and the disposable income of the customers has been decreased excessively, therefore customers will opt for products available at an affordable range for daily usages (Sahputra et al. 2020). Therefore, the brand will extensively target female customer group ranging from 25 to 45 who are using palm oil for cooking purpose. And it will also be cost-effective for the small entrepreneurs who has started their restaurant business.
Market Positioning
Market positioning can be considered as the major components of the business organization in order to gain competitive advantage. Here the brand will focus on positioning itself as the organization that will promote sustainable palm oil for cooking purpose of the customers (Wardhani and Rahadian 2021). The brand will feature itself as the low-cost brand that offers sustainable edible cooking oil within an affordable range.
Related Marketing Activities
In order to promote the products in the UK market, the brand will solely focus on the distinct marketing strategy. Since, the brand is aiming at expanding its business through joint venture strategy, it will be much easier for the brand to promote diversified product portfolio (Dharmawan et al. 2021). Here in this context, the brand will stress over the sustainability aspects. Since customers in the UK market is preferring to purchase products that are sustainable and causing less harm to the environmental process. Apart from cooking purpose, the brand will also promote products that will made of pure sustainable palm oil. Secondly, the brand will focus on promoting the products at an affordable price range so that customers from distinct socio-economic background can avail it. The brand will primarily follow competitive pricing strategy in order to launch in the UK market. Next, the brand is aimed at promoting the products in the UK market through joint venturing process, it will try to promote the products through both offline as well as online media platform (Khairiza and Kusumasari 2020). Customers will be able to purchase the products from the online websites and social media pages. Highlighting the promotional strategy, the brand will utilize the email marketing strategy to promote offers and discounts to the customers. The brand will share exclusive offers and discounts over the emails. Since the brand’s core customer group are cost-sensitive, therefore, such offers and discounts through email will help the brand to gain attention of the core customer group.
Key Messages
Highlighting the key brand messages, it can be stated that the brand has emphasized over the sustainability. Through the positioning statement, the brand is aimed at addressing the aspects of eco-friendly production and sourcing of palm oil which will prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Drafting Media Planning
Promotional Mix
Promotional strategy is considered as the major marketing activities which is aimed at improving the brand awareness in the specific market. The promotional mix of the organization helps in creating positive buzz in the marketplace. In order to promote the brand in the UK marketing, the brand will focus on certain major parameters including cultural differences, customer preferences, and the regulatory requirement of the country. Firstly, the brand will focus on promoting the products through social media platforms including the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter since it has been found out that the targeted audiences are highly active in the social media platforms (Ngan et al. 2022). In order to promote the products related cooking purpose, the brand will be running content campaigning in the social media page. Relevant features, importance as well as benefits of the products will be highlighted to gain the attention of the custom audiences. The brand will run the paid advertisement and promotional campaign in order to gain higher customer footprint over their social media pages. Apart from that, the brand will also focus on creating a dedicated website to promote its products in the UK market (Agustin, Astari and Rosmawati 2021). Following the cultural and language differences, the content in the website will be in proper English so that it would be understandable to the audience across the UK. The brand will utilize relevant keywords in their Meta Tags and Meta Description so that it will be able to gain higher organic ranking in the SERP (search engine result page) (Yasir et al. 2021).
Challenges & Limitation
This particular section of the report has clearly highlighted the challenges and limitation of this particular media planning mentioned above. According to the scholarly article, it has been identified that a well-crafted media planning helps the brand to reach the intended audiences, increasing the brand awareness, and lastly enhancing the traffic to the website. Firstly, outlining the challenges, it can be stated audience fragmentation is one of the major reasons which decreases the scope of customer reach (Saulīte and Ščeulovs 2022). Audience measurement primarily refers to a specific number of customers who are exposed to the particular media. It is very much challenging to identify the numbers of audience of any specific media channel. If the number of viewers is ascertained, it would be difficult for the brand to target the intended audiences. Here, though the brand is planning to online social media campaign through custom audience selection, yet the company is ascertained regarding numbers of custom audience, it would be challenging for the brand.
Secondly, media planning tends to require ample of information including the age and educational level of customers, geographic concentration which are considered to be the most important factors for media planning (Akrong, Shao and Owusu 2022). Here in this context of the case study organization, Okomu Palm Oil, the brand is aimed at expanding its business in the distinct marketplace, therefore, it would be difficult to make precise media planning without having proper knowledge regarding intended audiences. Since the case study organization belongs to Nigeria, there is cultural difference and language barriers which may create issues for the organization to gain the attention of the customers.
Conclusion
Thus, at the end of the report discussion, it can be clearly stated that the brand needs to focus on the joint venture methods as the market entry strategy to enter into the UK marketplace. The report has clearly justified that the brand will be gaining competitive advantage if they make strategic partnership with Daabon UK Ltd. as it is one of the leading palm oil brands in the UK market. This joint venture strategy will also help in increasing the brand value since the partner brand has a strong customer base and positive brand awareness in terms of promoting sustainable palm oil in the UK market. Therefore, it can be stated that the proposed joint venture strategy is much helpful for Okomu Palm Oil. Secondly, the report has clearly covered the communication objectives of the brand along with the media planning strategy to promote its products in the UK palm marketplace. In this context, the report has shown that the brand will target the Gen Y and Z female customers since they preferably use palm oil for cooking purpose. The report has comprehensively regarded the distinct factors including the cultural differences between the countries, language barriers, and customer preferences of the UK market. The report has also enlightened the associated marketing activities and positioning statement so that the media plan can be justified. Lastly the report has covered the challenges and limitation of the above presented media planning as well.
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