Mistine: Direct Selling in the Thai Cosmetics Market

After a decade of sustained growth, the current situation in Thailand is one of unprecedented economic turmoil. The countries exports have halted, foreign investors have become hesitant with their money due to the account deficit, the stock market plummeted, and big loans made by banks have caused a large accumulation of debt. Typical causes of an economic crisis, such as: high debt, large current account deficit, deregulation of the banking industry without proper controls in place, and a semi-fixed exchange rate are all at the forefront of the nation’s current economic state.

Considering the conducted research and analysis, it can be clearly seen that the international strategy is not effective, that is why, needs to be fixed. Moreover, the company has a success in the local market, so it may be reasonable to put the efforts to promote inside the country.

There are many businesses that have expanded their business internationally in order to benefit in some sort of way rather it revenue or a better market for their product. In this thesis, I will research a multination company and its international strategy over the last 10 years. I will elaborate on it international orientation and rather it etho-, poly-, or geocentric. I than explain why the company decided on expanding to the chosen locations. Then I will clarify if they had core capability to succeed in those markets, along with its

The market mix may vary between different countries, only because the countries differ in their relative economic strengths. Some countries may differ in the timing of demand for various products. There are differences in promotions in different countries. The advertising will have to be translated in different countries. People in some countries are more receptive to advertising than others. Countries often have arbitrary rules on what can be advertised and what can be claimed (International Marketing). Firms will often try to charge high prices to subsidiaries in countries with high taxes so the income earned will be minimized.

Economic Considerations: Thailand is great developing country because of the smart economic policies but political environment is not stable so there is effect for investors to pay attention much to invest.

• We recommand P&G to directly invest in this market by focusing only on Marketing and Distribution to roll out SK-II (a special product) in a foreign market. It should not be an advantage for P&G to acquire subsidiaries, or to license or to franchise because resources and capabilities of SK-II are located in Japan. It would be difficult to find same raw materiels to produce SK-II in another country. Exporting SK-II in a foreign market will be better, for that they should emphasize on: • Differentiation advantage, • Changing customer behavior, • Product positionning, • Pricing policy, • Advertisement, • Counseler team…

SWOT analysis is a popular analysis tool used in different situations that include not just business and marketing but also project planning and personal career development (Chapman 1995-2012). As for the strategic planning, Kenneth Andrews popularized his idea that good strategy means keeping a fit between the external situations a firm faces and the internal capabilities (Hill and Westbrook, 1997). The format the SWOT analysis presented is a 2x2 'internal/external' matrix, in which questions and relative answers can be listed for analysis (chapman 1995-2012). And according to Hill and Westbrook (1997), the output of SWOT analysis comes from meetings facilitated by consultants or managers to contribute the final analysis. Brainstorming can be used for filling in the sections to answer the questions. In addition, similar arguments should be concluded and ranked according to their answers in meetings (Rauch, 2007). As for the newly developed analysis, the TOWS matrix matching the various factors enables companies to stimulate new strategic initiative (Dyson, 2004).

Cultural issues different customers in the global market have different culture and this calls for a different strategy to handle their needs

As discussed in Chapter 21 of our text book, any company that is looking to expand globally must make five key decisions. A firm must decide if: a) they really want to expand to the international market; b) they

This report is based on the ‘L’Oreal: Expansion in China’ case study. L’Oreal is a successful French cosmetic company that involved into many different international markets. This report will discuss how L’Oreal gets into the Chinese cosmetic Market and the strategic to develop their brand in the Chinese market. L’Oreal acquires two famous Chinese cosmetic brands which are Yue-Sai and Mininurse. It is in order to entrance the market quickly and sales the most suitable products. The aim of this report is to define the challenge L’Oreal has been faced. Then it describes how L’Oreal managing their strategic in Chinese market. In addition, it gives an accommodation which could help L’Oreal overcoming these challenges.

Question 2: How can Better Way stay on the top in Thailand while it looks to expand internationally?

Psychographics divides customers according to their personality and lifestyle. Customers choose skin care products which match their lifestyle. Busy business women may tend to spend less time on skin care. Thus, they will likely choose the skin care products with a combination of functions which save their time and effort in both selection and usage. Women who spend more time outdoors may need skin care products with sun-protection function.

With a population of 86 million – over half aged under 30 – Vietnam in particular is an attractive market for cosmetic companies. In fact, according to business advice service Vietnam Net, approximately 90% of cosmetics sold in the country are imported. The country’s largest foreign players are South Korea (30%), the EU (23%), Japan (17%), Thailand (13%) and the US (10%), according to 2006 estimates from the US Commercial Service. Ngo Minh Phuong from the US Commercial Service in Vietnam points out: “Although the share by each player may be slightly different [than the 2006 figures given] the ranking is the same and [South] Korea is still clearly the predominant player.”

Customers accustomed to a high standard to remain faithful to their favourite agency even when the price increases, because the well-known brand and the strong position in the market inspires

Companies can decide to go global or to enter international markets for various reasons, and these different objectives at the time of entry that enable the business to produce different strategies and the performance goals, and even forms of market participation.