New development of Traditional Chinese Brand--Qingdao Beer
In the great changes, Chinese brands bear the dual task of "high-quality economic development" and "going global with Chinese culture". A Chinese time-honored brand with unique historical heritage and cultural connotations is a concentrated presentation of China's commercial civilization and excellent Chinese culture. Against the backdrop of strengthening international communication and enhancing cultural confidence, the international marketing and communication of Chinese time-honored brands is of great significance.
Among many well-known Chinese brands, the development of the century old brand "Qingdao Beer" has always been closely aligned with national strategy. As a symbol of China's beer industry, Qingdao Beer, built by Germans, has had an international gene since its inception. Its products are exported overseas and have a nearly century long export history, accounting for about half of China's beer exports. It is the main force for Chinese beer brands to go international. Currently, Qingdao Beer, with the vision of becoming an international large company with a global influence brand, is exported to more than 100 countries and regions around the world. It has ranked first in the brand value list of China's beer industry for 18 consecutive years and 14th in the world in 2020.
After achieving certain success in the Southeast Asian market, Qingdao Beer gradually expanded its market to South Korea. South Korea has always been a beer consuming country, while also enjoying Chinese culinary culture. After Qingdao Beer entered South Korea, relying on customized marketing strategies and good cooperation with local distributors, its sales accounted for about 30% of Qingdao Beer's export value and remained in the top two of imported beer sales in South Korea for a long time. However, there is a certain deviation between Qingdao Beer's internationalization strategy and the original three-step plan. Firstly, after achieving initial success in Taiwan and Thailand, Qingdao Beer failed to further consolidate its market position and become a leading local brand. Secondly, in developed countries such as South Korea, Qingdao Beer is facing a thorny problem, which is that the market situation is greatly influenced by international relations. In 2020, Qingdao Beer's sales in South Korea decreased by 14%, and the decline was severe after the epidemic. Heineken replaced it as the top importer in the South Korean market. Some studies believe that the rapid decline in the sales of Tsingtao Beer has a strong correlation with China's image in South Korea after the COVID-19 epidemic. Local beer brands in Taiwan and Thailand are extremely strong, with a high degree of market monopoly; The South Korean market is highly unstable, and the imported beer market is gradually shrinking - in the original market map, Qingdao Beer is facing significant pressure. Following national policies and searching for emerging markets is its way to break through. After a long period of market development, in August 2018, Tsingtao Brewery announced that more than 50% of the business of the "the Belt and Road" countries had achieved more than 50% growth, and the sales of the countries along the "the Belt and Road" accounted for more than half of the total exports. In October 2019, the marketing coverage of Tsingtao beer products has increased to nearly 60 countries along the "the Belt and Road", and has increased significantly in Africa, Russia, the Philippines and other countries and regions.
Qingdao Beer's internationalization strategy has always adhered to the concept of "brand first" and has made significant efforts in brand communication, with remarkable results. In the 2019 Global Survey Report on China's National Image, Qingdao Beer ranked 14th on the "familiarity of overseas audiences with Chinese brands" list; In the 2020 World Brand Lab Fortune Global 500 list, Qingdao Beer ranked 297th in the world, up 9 places from 2019, making it the only brand in the beer industry selected. The unique brand communication of Qingdao Beer can be summarized as three points: customization, experiential, and digitalization.
But going global is a long and arduous task, and Qingdao Beer still faces problems in its international operation and dissemination. In terms of market size, the proportion of international revenue for Qingdao Beer is still very low, and the overseas market is relatively scattered, lacking a centralized market. In terms of market access mode, Qingdao Beer still relies mainly on single direct exports, with high costs and inflexible market actions. Building factories directly in favorable markets or acquiring local strong brands or even OEM brand exports are all options that Qingdao Beer can consider. At the same time, in terms of sales channels, Qingdao Beer's online efforts are insufficient, with large websites such as Amazon and Alibaba overseas sites not settling in, and there is a disconnect between overseas digital communication and e-commerce sales. In terms of brand communication, Qingdao Beer still has shortcomings in refining its core brand proposition, building offline scenes, and managing online accounts. One is that the core brand proposition is not refined enough, Chinese elements are used less, and there is a lack of strong brand value and essence; The second is the lack of offline scene construction. Offline scenes can enrich the interaction with consumers, enhance brand awareness, and build brand strength; Thirdly, the phenomenon of "suspension" of Qingdao Beer's overseas accounts is relatively serious -27 out of 60 accounts are in a suspension state, with key market accounts such as South Korea and the United Kingdom on Twitter and Russia and Kazakhstan on Facebook all suspended. This reflects the inconsistency and lack of synchronization between Qingdao Beer and market actions in managing its overseas accounts. Therefore, Qingdao Beer should integrate its accounts as soon as possible and carry out overall standardized operations.
Read and consider the following questions:
Q 1: What are the various factors that influence development of Qingdao Beer ?
Q2: What are the possible opportunities and threats in its development?
Q3: What suggestions can you put forward for the development of traditional Chinese brands?
Marketing Environment – Definition, Types, Importance and Examples
Various environmental factors affect the way a business is operated. These environmental factors can be divided into two broad categories, such as the internal environment and the external environment. A business is required to adapt to these marketing environments to stay profitable and ahead in the competition. In this article, you will learn about different types of marketing environments and various components of the marketing environment.
Table of Contents
Definition
The marketing environment can be defined as a combination of both internal environmental factors and external environmental factors. These marketing environments surround a business and influence the operations of the business.
What is the marketing environment?
A marketing environment is a combination of internal and external environmental forces and factors that influences the business operation of a business and its ability to serve its customers. It is essential to know both internal as well as external environmental factors. Therefore, enterprises keep checking on them to do their business without any legal trouble and to generate maximum profit.
The internal marketing environment consists of factors like material, machines, workers, money, etc. All of these components are necessary to run a business successfully. For example, if the raw material is not available on time and in sufficient quantity, then the work of production will become slow, and the company will not be able to fulfill the demand of the product in the market.
On the other hand, the external marketing environment can be divided into two categories, such as macro external marketing environment and micro external marketing environment. The microenvironment is closely related to the business and constitutes all external business activities such as distribution and promotion of products of the company.
The macro-environmental components affect all the companies serving in a single industry similarly. For example, changes in the laws and rules related to production or doing business will apply to all companies likely. In the next section, you will learn about all the internal as well as external components of an organization.
Components of the marketing environment
There are broadly two components of the marketing environment, such as the internal environment and external environment. Different types of parts of the marketing environment are categorized under these two broad categories.
The internal environment of a business can be controlled, but there is very little control of a business in the external marketing environment. Let us learn about both components one by one.
1. Internal environment
The internal environment is formed of all the internal factors and forces of an organization. The internal environment of an organization is within the control of the marketer, and he can change or modify the environment as per the demand in the market and requirement of the business.
The following are the five factors that form the internal environment of an organization. These factors are also referred to as five Ms of a business.
Money
Men
Markets
Materials
Machinery
All the components of the internal environment are as important as that of the components of an external environment. However, the internal environment factors are changed according to the change in the external marketing components. For example, an organization is required to upgrade its technology if new technology in the market is introduced.
The internal environment of an organization also includes the marketing department, the sales department, the human resource department, and the manufacturing department.
2. External Marketing environment
The external marketing environment consists of all the external marketing factors that exist outside the organization, and the marketer has little or no control over the external marketing environment factors.
The external marketing environment can be divided into two categories, such as microenvironment and the macro environment.
Let us learn about both macro and micro environments one by one.
A. Microenvironment
The microenvironment of a business consists of all the factors and forces that are directly associated with the company. The micro components of the external environment are also known as task environments.
The following are the various components of the micro external environment.
1. Suppliers
Suppliers are an essential part of every organization. Suppliers supplies material and all other types of resources required for the production of products. A company can run its business successfully only if its suppliers supply material of good quality and on time.
2. Market intermediaries
Market intermediaries are the intermediary parties that help a business to distribute its products in the market. The market intermediaries can be wholesalers, retailers, and distributors. All of these market intermediaries are an essential part of the business as they are the face of the company in the market and represent the products of the company in the market.
3. Partners
Business partners are the business entities that conduct business with the organization. For example, advertising agencies, banking and insurance companies, market research organization s, brokers, and transportation companies, etc. A company is required to partner with several other companies to run a successful business.
4. Customers
Customers are the most crucial component of the business. Customers are the target audience of the product, and the preference of customers influences all the marketing and business efforts of a company.
5. Public
The public is people other than the target audience of the organization. The public plays a vital role in the success of the business as it can build or destroy the image of a company in the market. The public has the power to influence the purchasing decision of the target audience. Especially in the times of the internet, the ability to control the public has increased as they can share their views about your products and services on the internet freely.
6. Competitors
The last but not least component of the microenvironment is the competitors of a business. The competitors are the other businesses that sell similar products as your products or are part of the same strategic group in the industry.
B. Macro Environment
Macro components of a marketing environment consist of all external forces and factors that impact the whole industry rather than just changing an organization directly. Therefore, the macro marketing environment is also referred to as a large environment.
The following are the six components of the macro environment. Let us learn about them one by one.
1. Technological environment
Technology is one of the elements that have great potential to influence the business of an organization. It is dynamic, as it changes rapidly. Technology provides several threats and opportunities to the business environment.
The technological environment consists of research and development in technology, innovation, inducement of technology, and technical alternatives, etc.
2. Demographic environment
The demographic environment component of the macro marketing environment consists of people that form a market. The population of the demographic environment can be characterized based on various factors such as age, gender, density, size, location, race, and occupation, etc.
The demographic environment is a crucial component for business as the company design and builds its products based on the characteristics of the demographic environment.
3. Social-cultural environment
The social-cultural component of a macro environment is formed using values, lifestyle, culture, beliefs, and prejudices of the target audience of a business. The social-cultural environment varies from one region to another region.
People living in one area might prefer a different type of product than the preference of the product of the people of any other region. Businesses are required to have in-depth knowledge of the social-cultural environment to design a product or service that is preferred by most people.
4. Economic environment
The economic environment component is a type of component that influences all industries. The economic environment affects the purchasing power and spending patterns of the buyers.
The following are the different factors that form an economic environment.
Interest Rates.
Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
Gross National Product (GNP).
Inflation.
Subsidies.
Income distribution.
Government funding.
Other significant economic variables.
5. Political-legal environment:
The political-legal environment consists of laws and policies of a country. In addition to rules and procedures, the political-legal environment also includes agencies and pressure groups. All of these political entities impact the working capacity of the industry in society.
6. Physical environment:
The last component of the macro environment is the physical environment in which an organization exists. The following are the components of the physical environment.
Climate condition
Environmental change.
Availability of the raw material.
Natural resources like water.
pollution.
Examples of the marketing environment
Examples of the internal marketing environment
The best example of an internal marketing environment is the office culture of the organization. Your office culture consists of the values, beliefs, and attitudes of your employees. All of these factors determine how the employees of your organization will behave. For example, in an organization where employees are encouraged to perform in a team and support the members of the group are more likely to perform better than the organization where employees compete with one another.
Moreover, employees are likely to perform better in a positive internal marketing environment rather than an environment where employees are nagged continuously and pressured to perform well. Google is one of the best companies that provide a positive and very healthy internal environment to its employees. Because of this, Google is now one of the leading companies in the industry.
Examples of the external marketing environment
The external marketing environment of an organization is formed of micro and macro environment. The microenvironment consists of suppliers, market intermediaries, partners, customers, public, and competitors, etc. for example, suppliers of an organization alter the business environment of an organization to a certain extent. If suppliers supply good quality material and supply that material on time, then the organization can produce the right quality products and can fulfill the demand in the market efficiently.
Another vital component of the micro marketing environment is the market intermediaries. The market intermediaries of your business play an essential role in the success of your business. They are the face of your company. They interact with your customers daily and understand your customers and also your product. Let us take the example of a retailer. A retailer sells products from different companies in the market. It is in the hands of a retailer to decide whether to promote your product or not.
The sales of your products will significantly depend on the people who represent you in the market. Therefore, it is necessary to provide proper incentives to your representatives and provide a good margin to them on your products so that they promote your products to their customers rather than promoting the products of your competitors.
On the other hand, a macro marketing environment does not affect an organization directly but affects the whole industry. An organization is required to perform its business operations according to the macro-environment factors. The examples of the macro-environment are demographic environment, social-cultural environment, economic environment, political-legal environment, physical environment, and technological environment, etc.
The business operations of an organization are controlled by the laws and policies decided by the government. In addition to this, the technological environment influences the business environment more than any other macro-environment factor. A business is required to upgrade the technology that it uses for business operations from time to time in order to stay ahead in the competition.
The technological environment has both advantages and disadvantages for an organization as an organization is always required to think of innovation to compete with its competitors. On the other hand, it is also costly for an organization to update its technology regularly.
Importance of marketing environment
The marketing environment holds great importance when it comes to conducting business successfully. Businesses of all sizes, whether small or large or required to do their business within the marketing environment.
The existence of the company, its profits, and its losses largely depends on the internal as well as the external environment around it. Therefore, it becomes essential for a marketer to understand and study the marketing environment thoroughly to generate profits and stay in business for a more extended period.
Let us understand why the understanding and knowledge of the marketing environment is necessary to run a successful business.
1. To learn about your competitors:
A business needs to learn about its competitors to stay ahead in the competition. Different companies fight for a single opportunity in a niche market using different strategies.
A deeper understanding of the marketing environment helps a marketer to learn about the business strategies and plans of their competitors. Having this knowledge helps the marketers to understand the policy of their competitors and plan their business strategies accordingly.
2. To learn about your customers:
Customers are an essential part of a business. All the business activities of a company are focused on serving its customers better. Therefore, a company gives great importance to learn about their customers and their changing preferences to serve them better and to have a long relationship with them. The marketing environment helps the marketer to understand the customers and their preferences.
For example, when there is a slowdown in the economy and inflation is on the surge. At such times, people either prefer to spend less or cease their spending to save money.
Therefore, people look for goods and services at lower prices. Consequently, a company must either introduce new products with lower prices or sell their products at discounted prices so that they can still make sales when there is an economic slowdown.
3. Necessary for future planning
A business is required to plan to meet the demand of the market and produce as per the latest trends in the market. It is essential to learn about the internal and external environment to plan efficiently.
4. To make most out of the latest trends
Trends change rapidly, and the change is rapid in fashion and other similar industries. Companies that are part of such industries are required to keep a check on the changing trends. To do this, they learn about every aspect of the marketing environment so that they can prepare a foolproof plan for the future.
5. To learn about all the threats and opportunities related to business
Understanding the marketing environment is necessary to learn about the risks and opportunities associated with the company. The marketer can take advantage of being a first-mover if they know the opportunities related to the business. Moreover, a business must learn about the threat associated with the company to take precautions to stay safe.
