Made Group Company: Overview, SWOT Analysis, And Market Choice

Made Group is a vertically integrated beverage company based in Australia. Brad Wilson, Matt Dennis, and Luke Marget, who were schoolmates, established it in 2005. It was established with the simple strategy of establishing a gap in the market, coming up with good ideas, and taking action towards the problem identified in the market. The most challenging part of the process is the generation of good ideas, as that is always the problem in the world of business. Within a short time, the homegrown innovation became the everyday mantra (Made, 2016, p.1).

It began by launching the first Australian enhanced water beverage, NutrientWater. After the launch of the Enhanced water beverage, it experienced competition from multinational companies, which decided to launch products of the same nature (Guthrie et al., 2008, p. 3). Made now has five leading beverage categories in its portfolio making a vertically integrated business with a dedicated sales force, a direct distribution network, and a modern manufacturing facility (Made, 2016, p.1).

The MADE group currently had offices and personnel located in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. This strong network of outreach gives the company a national distribution network that services 20000 retail customers, who range from independent customers to the largest retail chain in Australia. The valued network intertwined with the company’s manufacturing facility established in Melbourne give the company very best resources to register the innovation of new products to the market and to enhance the delivery of products. Through these features, Made group establishes itself as one of the best and strategically located companies in the field of beverage market (Made, 2016, p.1).

The Made group company, which is based in Scoresby, Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia plans to take its fresh milk product into the Chinese market. It is important to know that the company is currently a local enterprise since its operations take place within the Australian territory, and this project is the first international marketing plan that the company is carrying out. It forms the basis of the outcome of the marketing strategy, to suit the target market and the company nature. The biggest challenge is identifying a marketing plan that would suit the current portfolio of the company, as well as be relevant to the target market.

The nature, location, and strategies of the company would affect the performance of the company in the new market that the company is prospecting to establish their services. It is the same scenario with the Made Company since it has strengths, weaknesses, opportunity areas, and threats (Helms & Nixon, 2010, p. 216). Therefore, this section will examine strengths of the Made Company, its weakness, the opportunities that it has, and the potential threat that it will experience in its new market venture.

The first strength of the Made group is a valued distribution network that would enable the company to distribute their merchandise in China. Through this enhanced distribution network, the company can distribute its products to 20000 retail customers, ranging from independent to customers to the largest retail chains in China. Although the current networks is based in Australia and only operates within the location currently, it has the potential to an extent the same of using the same network to service its customers in china. The second strength of the MADE Company is that it has the ability to serve a big customer base. Currently, it serves over 20000 retail customers, both independent and retail chains, which imply it will be able to serve the market in China effectively. The company is therefore assured of having customers at any given time. Considering these strengths, the company will be able to establish itself strategically in the market of china (Kajanus et al., 2012, p. 3).

The greatest weakness that the Made Company has is the lack of international experience in the beverage market. From the establishment of the enterprise in the year 2005, it has been carrying out its activities within Australia. Therefore, it has not experienced the real dynamics of the international market, since some aspects of the market can only be learned when the company is part of the market. This lack of experience in the global platform gives other companies a better advantage over it. Also, the company has only been in operation for ten years, a period that may be limited to the amount of time that some companies have spent in the market, both the local market and the international market. It is also possible that the company has not gone through all the aspects of local markets that may come once after a long time. For the example, it experienced the financial crisis 2007, when still a beginning company, and may not have felt the real impact of the crisis like what it would have experienced if it were a fully developed company by then. Another weakness that the company faces is having a limited variety of products. Although the company is venturing into other products, the post established products are the beverages, citing overreliance on the products (David & Hanson, 2013, p. 2122).

The market in China has a wide range of opportunities that the company ought to clinch and establish itself. The first is the large market that is presented by the large population of China. Secondly, Made is a company that is flexible to venture into a variety of new products that would help the company to establish itself in the international market. For example, fresh milk products is a new venture; the company can as well venture into new products that relate to it. Made Group Company, also has the opportunity of establishing a good profile in the international market since it is the first time (Fleisher et al., 2010, p. 216). 

The biggest threat that the company faces is competition from other multinational companies with superior international Experience. When the company launched its first enhanced water beverage, many multinational companies launched products of the same type. Now in the international market, it is expected that more companies will imitate Made’s products. Finally, the company faces economic threats like if a financial crisis arises. The company may not be able to handle since they have minimal experience in the international markets (Hoberg et al., 2014, p. 293). 

Figure 1: SWOT Analysis

In this project, the Made Group Company has chosen focus on is China. Made Group is going to launch a fresh milk product to operate in the Chinese market. Therefore, the company aims to become an international company for the first time since its launch, with its pioneer venture being in China.

China was chosen for this venture because China is in the process of rebalancing its economy, transforming into a consumer-driven economy. This process of rebalancing presents huge opportunities for retailers, making it possible for local and foreign firms to expand continuously into the market. Market players have to search for ways to adapt to the changing landscape of the retail sector of China Evolves. This need to adapt to a better working plan has given rise to a high level of competition (Deng et al., 2010, p. 293).

Right now, the world’s second largest retail market is China. From 2008 to 2012, the sum of sales of products at consumer level in China has doubled. It was 10.8 trillion Yuan in but it has increased to 20.7 trillion Yuan. This trend predicts an even higher value in the period 2012-2016. Additionally, it is expected that China will go beyond the United States and settle as the largest market three years from now (Li, 2012, p. 1952). 

The rate of evolution of the market is almost as quick as its growth. Consumers are gaining higher income and increasing affluence, making them demand for quality products and services. China is also a well-evolved country regarding technology, making it one of best locations to produce quality products (Li, 2012, p. 55).

China has a huge consumer base because of the huge population that the country harbors. This potential of getting a huge consumer base, with the need for quality products gives Made a chance to get a potential and ready market for their Fresh milk product (Chen et al., 2010, p. 127). 

The Chinese market has a characteristic of elevated impact of digital marketing. The fact that social media has a big influence on consumer buying products gives the Made Group a better chance of marketing their fresh milk product to the population at a lower cost, resulting in higher returns.

Mobile commerce is the popular aspect of the China market. Mobile transactions have been important to the market because they have made transaction values to increase tremendously. In addition, the cost of the transactions has reduced, giving retailers a better chance to gain better profits in their sales. Regarding mobile transactions, Made group will be able to sell their fresh milk product to the consumers effectively and at lower transaction costs, making it possible to make huge returns (Lu, 2010, p. 350). 

Consumption is growing fast in the lower tier cities with the current increase in income and urbanization. Over the next few years, the lower tier cities are expected to be the focus for retail development (Deng et al., 2010, p. 290). If the Made Group can establish itself in the lower tier cities consumption units, the company will be able to establish a consisted and strong customer base. This state of the China market makes it the best destination for Made’s fresh milk product. 

The Made group company is a company founded and run on strong market principles. This stability lays a foundation for its success in the previous success. The fresh milk project that is supposed to be launched in China is a remarkable step towards making the company multinational. China being a favorable market, the company is expected to register success. 

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