NURS 6521 Case Study - Market Entry and Communication Strategy

Market Entry and Communication Strategy Section 1: Problems Overall, this paper is about Pret A Manger, an international sandwich franchise, possibly expanding into the Spanish market. There is a lot of potential in the Spanish market where the franchise can replicate the successes it has had in north America and the United Kingdom. Should this happen, Pret A Manger would have filled the gap in the Mediterranean region. Specifically, Spain is a renowned country visited by millions of tourists each year. As of 2019, Spain received 18 million tourists from the UK. Most of these tourists already know Pret A Manger, therefore, it would be a delight for them to find a brand they are already familiar with in the new country they visit. When wanting to expand into a foreign market, there are several strategies that a company can choose from, including direct exports, franchising, licensing, partnerships, alliances, and joint ventures. As for Pret A Manger, the chosen mode of entry into the Spanish market is a strategic alliance with another well-known company within the Spanish market. The most preferable alliance partner would be Vips because of the synergy it has with Pret A Manger. Vips is Spanish-Mexican, dinner-style restaurant chain with a strong presence across Spain. Therefore, a combination of Vips and Pret A Manger would be beneficial to both organizations. However, there are a number of problems that Pret A Manger could experience while entering the Spanish market despite the strategic alliance entry mode. Most of these issues are communication oriented. It is imperative to point out that Spain has a different culture different from that in the UK and North America. For instance, Spaniards enjoy life and are outgoing people. However, they do not like to hurry. They prefer to take their time to appreciate their 3 surroundings and interact with other people. This means that the company should expect a different managerial style when partnering with Spanish companies. More so, they should anticipate a different consumer culture. Communicating to these different stakeholders may become a big issue if the company is not prepared. As such, This is where the importance of pre-screening methods comes in. One of the cultural frameworks that Pret A Manger can employ to avoid communication issues is Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. Geert Hofstede came up with this cultural framework to help companies understand cultures of different countries that they wish to enter. According to him, there are six categories that one can use to define any culture (Cohn & Russell, 2015). The first is the power distance index, which considers how a culture tolerate power and inequality. A culture can be defined as having a high power index if members tolerate power differences and inequality. In other words, they accept aspects of authority and rank. The opposite is where a culture prefers having a flat power structure. In other words, they do not tolerate ranks and prefer to hold people in the same regard. In this dimension, Spain scores highly, which means it has a high power distance index. The implication is that Spaniards accept hierarchy in their society (Viguer & Meaney, 2021). They accept that there are inequalities in their society and there is nothing much that one can do. The second category is the individualism vs. collectivism dimension. Here, Hofstede looks at whether people prefer to be individual or as a group (Cohn & Russell, 2015). An individualistic society is that which members prefer to pursue individual goals rather than as a group. The opposite is a collective society where members place greater importance on working and succeeding as a group. Spain can be considered as a collectivist society, unlike that of the 4 UK or North America. Teamwork in the Spanish society is normal with no need for motivation from managers. The next dimension is the uncertainty avoidance index, which looks at how the society look at the aspects of ambiguity and uncertainty (Cohn & Russell, 2015). In other words, how do members of the society deal with unexpected events and uncertainty? A society that has a high uncertainty avoidance index do not like ambiguity, uncertainty, or to take risks. In such a society, there is bound to be many rules and regulations to minimize uncertainty. The opposite is a low uncertain avoidance index where members of the society tolerate ambiguity, uncertainty, and do not mind taking risks. Spain has a high uncertainty avoidance index (Viguer & Meaney, 2021). They do not like risks and uncertainty, as such there are many rules. The next dimension is the masculinity vs. femininity dimension, which looks at the views that members of the society have towards equality of the genders, and how they should behave (Cohn & Russell, 2015). On the one hand, a masculine society has strict gender roles, push people towards building wealth, and is assertive in a way. On the other hand, a feminine society is that which has fluid gender roles, people tend to be nurturing, and live a modest life. The Spanish society can be considered as feminine. There is no polarization or competitiveness (Viguer & Meaney, 2021). People pursue harmony and they reach out to the needy or are sympathetic. There are no distinct gender roles as well. Another dimension is the short-term vs. long-term orientation. A society with a short-term orientation looks at the near future instead of the long-term (Cohn & Russell, 2015). Therefore, they will pursue immediate gratification and short-term success instead of the long term. They will want quick results, for instance. Conversely, a society with a long-term orientation considers 5 the future, thus will delay immediate gratification for long-term success. Spaniards can be considered as a short-term oriented people (Viguer & Meaney, 2021). Their culture places more emphasis on immediate gratification, fiesta, and without a lot of consideration about what is going to happen in the future. Last but not least, there is the indulgence vs. restraint dimension. Here, this framework take into consideration everything about the fulfilment of desires (Cohn & Russell, 2015). How do members of a society control their desires or impulses? A society that is indulging means they focus on enjoying life with little restraint. Conversely, a society that practices restraint is that which has many social norms to regulate gratification and with little fun. Although the Spaniards love life, there are certain social norms to ensure that people do not go overboard in their quest for fun. There are traditions in place that people follow. Section 2: Solutions The following is the communication strategy that Pret A Manger can adopt while entering the Spanish market. It is a marketing campaign that can be executed in the post-COVID era when things have gone back to normal. Target Customer The first step of developing an effective communication strategy for the marketing team is to identify the target audience. Knowing who to target will affect many other decisions surrounding the type of message, how to say it, and when to communicate, and much more (Hawkins, Mothersbauch & Best, 2007). Different from competitors, Pret A Manger targets highprice- high-quality market segment. In the UK market, the company targets urban professionals that are busy with work, thus do not have the time to grab a proper meal. This is the same target