Analysis Of Aldi's International Marketing Expansion Into The Indian Market Essay.

1. Discuss your analysis of the advertisements by linking to at least 3 selected theories
2. Make recommendations for producing your own marketing communication piece through one selected advertising medium.

International marketing is conceptualized as the application of the marketing principles to different countries. The international marketing is quite different to the global marketing. According to Balebako et al. (2012), international marketing depends on the business expansion of a company by identifying, targeting, and making decisions on the international ground.  The study will explore the international marketing of Aldi in expanding the business into the Indian Market. The study will generally focus on the advertisement media and the application of the theoretical concept in the international market. The company is determined to launch the food and beverage products in the Indian market by targeting the customers. The exploration of theory-based implication will be helpful in understanding the relevant promotional marketing of the company.

Aldi is the leading company for selling grocery products to the people in different countries. Aldi is the UK based company that has the international presence in other countries as well (Customerservice.aldi.co.uk 2017). The company is committed to provide the greater efficiency in distributing the quality products to the target customers. The company is associated with more than 30,000 employees and has set the target to reach up to 35,000 people by 2020 (Careers.aldi.us 2017).  The employees are quite efficient and hardworking to establish the brand value in other countries. The company is paying the attention towards the effective promotions of business while expanding the business in new country (Aldi.co.uk 2017). The focus on the cultural aspects is also much essential in such cases. The further study will provide the idea about the advertisement media adopted by the company for launching the food and beverage products in Indian market. On the other hand, the study will also explain the theoretical observations essential for conducting business in a different cultural setting.

The marketing executives before launching foods and beverages of ALDI have selected three primary medium for reaching their entire product concept in the doorstep of Indian customers. While making the advertising campaign the primary objective of ALDI was to draw the attention of every group of age. Food and beverage is not restricted within a specific group of people (Balebako et al. 2012). Therefore, the business experts by implementing three consecutive mediums have decided to deal circulate the products and services all over the country.  

As per the print media advertising of ALDI group, it has been observed that the marketing executives are primarily concern on presenting an advertisement with attractive words along with catchy captions. The consuming behavior of Indian customers enables that people are more attracted towards images and visual presentations. They are not very much attracted towards information (Khang, Ki and Ye 2012). Based on the consuming behavioral method of India the marketing executives tend to focus on making the print media script in such a way that customers of different age group tend to show their interest in viewing the advertisement. The advertisement is endowed with full of images along with attractive captions. Based on those particular images along with illustrations the consumers would get to gather an in-depth overview about the product ingredients. In order to gain product reliability the customers primarily focuses on the ingredients (Aaker and Biel 2013). Therefore, the marketing professionals of ALDI have decided to make the print media advertising script more visually attractive. Information and repeated content is not always mandatory for drawing the attention of customers from various geographical markets. Visual attraction should be the first priority for the customers of Indian market.

Selected medium

With the emergence of advancement of technology, digital media marketing has rendered a revolution in the marketing and promotional sectors. ALDI by using the popularity of digital media has expanded their widespread wings beyond going the regional market. Before entering into the market of India, the marketing managers of ALDI have gathered an in-depth feedback regarding the consuming behavior of India customers with the help of digital media. Among the digital media tools, the importance of social media is most prominent (Schudson 2013). Headquartered in Germany this particular organization has drawn the attention of Indian customers as well. Social media has acted as a bridge between the service providers and service users. Service providers are flexible enough to make an effective conversation with the customers of Indian market with the help of social media tools for knowing the needs and demands of customers. People belonging to different geographical markets can gather necessary data regarding the reliability of products by using social media. As a result, customers do not have to struggle in getting an overview about product reliability (Jin and Lutz 2013). However, ALDI has decided to use digital media tools for attracting the attention of customers from different geographical markets.

Experimental advertising implies that the customers are attracted directly and instantly towards the products and service process. In the experimental advertising, the marketing managers have decided to choose preparing short films with the help of which people can enjoy the storyline along with gaining product reliability (Johnson 2013). While presenting the experimental advertising for ALDI the marketing managers have decided that the film should be presented by making celebrity endorsement in order to draw the attention of customers. The entire content should be based on attractive visual effects along with attractive captions. People belonging to different educational level would be able to understand the essence of advertisement. The entire visual campaign should be based on a particular story that is convenient for all kinds of people belonging to different educational backgrounds. An instant television film can draw the attention of customers instantly (Johnson 2013). While promoting the products of baby spinach ALDI has used the caption, “stop and smell the saving”. However, this particular caption has raised a major voice in the market of India as well.

In order to expand the business in a new country, it is necessary to understand the basic needs and demands of the customers. The theoretical background will present the preferable solution for Aldi to establish a proper communication channel for promoting the products in Indian market.

Aldi is expanding the business in Indian market by launching the food and beverage products. The Hofstede’s Intercultural Communication model will provide the analysis of the Indian cultural dimensions.

Power Distance (77)

In the power distance dimension, India scores 77, which is quite high. It generally indicates the high level of the inequality in considering the wealth and power within the Indian society (Weebly.com 2017). Therefore, Aldi needs to consider the choices and preferences of the diverse cultural people in India.

Print Media

Individualism versus Collectivism (48)

In considering the collectivistic score, India has scored 48 that determine the high preference of larger social framework. The individuals are much inclined towards establishing the social networks (Bakir et al. 2015). Hence, it is essential for Aldi to undertake the proper promotional marketing to gather the collective customers towards purchasing the products.

Masculinity versus Femininity (56)

India is high masculine country that has scored 56 in this dimension. The visual displays and the power success indicate the greater masculinity in India. Therefore, it is quite clear that Aldi has the opportunity to strengthen the customer base for a longer period.

Uncertainty Avoidance (40)

In this dimension of uncertainty avoidance, India has scored 40 that refer to the acceptance of the imperfections (Rallapalli and Montgomery 2015). The patient country like India has the greater opportunity to accept the products launched by Aldi.

Orientation (61)

India has scored 61 in terms of establishing the culture with the long term orientation. However, the philosophical views and religious beliefs are influencing the traditional marketing process. Aldi needs to concentrate on such cultural orientation while launching the food and beverage products in Indian market.

The 4P’s of marketing mix is helpful in understanding the business potentiality in terms of products, price, promotion and place. This section of the study will focus on these factors and establish the feasibility of business expansion.

Product

Aldi is much dedicated to distribute the high quality products among the target group of customers. The company is trying to expand the food and beverage products in Indian market to make more profits. However, it is necessary for the company to pay attention towards the food habits and cultural factors of the Indian society. It will be beneficial enough in launching the food and beverage products in the Indian market.

Price

The proper pricing structure of the products is necessary for attracting more customers. Aldi provides the high quality products to the consumers at competitive rate (Steenkamp 2017). In India society, people are much fond of the products that are quite competitive in prices. Hence, keeping the pricing structure lower will be more beneficial in gathering the customers’ attention.

Place

Aldi needs to concentrate on focused group or target group of customers. Launching the products in the grocery shops or the departmental stores will be preferable. On the other hand, the availability of the products in the supermarket areas will also be helpful in attracting the customers in Indian market. The social media presence is another most significant for spreading the brand awareness among the customers.

Promotions

The use of the promotional process is essential to present the product feature and brand awareness among the target group of customers (Steenkamp 2017).. The application of the digital media, print media, social media, and experiential media will be preferable for Aldi to make a successful effort in expanding business.

The establishment of the communication transparency is necessary in terms of expanding business in new country. The marketing communication theory is thus another form of developing the customer relationship. AIDA model provides the clear insight related to the communication process

Digital Media

A- Awareness: Aldi needs to create the brand awareness of the products that are to be launched in the Indian market (Wijaya 2015). The customer awareness regarding the brand is necessary to establish the business in a strengthened manner.

I-Interest: It is essential for the company to gather the interests in the product or service benefits. The communication process helps in generating such sense of interests to sell the products in a new country.

D-Desire:  Selling the products through encouraging and establishing the ‘emotional connection’ is necessary for the company (Johnson 2013). It is one of the most beneficial processes of moving the customers from ‘liking’ to ‘wanting’ the products.

Action: The actions of interacting with the customers are needed to be adopted for ensuring the proper reliability development. It will add benefits to the marketing process in the Indian market.

In order to enter into the market of India Aldi could have focused in dealing with offline media most significantly. It is undeniable that India is still considered as under developed country. People of India are not very much advanced in technology. Therefore, in order to maintain the promotional activities ALDI can be provided some of the major recommendations.

1. The marketing managers of Aldi have to focus on using the popularity of print media as well as electronic media primarily. As per the consuming behavior of the Indian customers, they are more flexible in electronic visual clips. Only young generation belonging to 20 to 30 age group of people is flexible in digital media advertising(Jin and Lutz 2013). People in the middle age group are flexible enough in electronic media as well as print media. The primary objective of ALDI is to draw the attention of every age group of people. As a result, both the print and electronic media would be suitable for drawing the attention of Indian customers.
2. The marketing managers of ALDI have to be flexible with the consumption culture and behavior or India before promoting their products.It has been observed that Indian customers are more fascinated in visual effects rather than captions or taglines. Therefore, while making the advertising script the marketing managers of ALDI would have to focus on contents. Unnecessary rhetorical words make confusion in the mind of Indian consumers. Therefore, the script designers should use tangible words that are not very much difficult to understand the message(Aaker and Biel 2013). In addition, the promotional campaigns should be full of attractive visuals effects with the help of which the customers can get a message easily without going through the content. Large sections of people in India are illiterate. Therefore, the marketing executives have to make the entire advertising campaign in such a way that customers do not have to struggle in understanding the message of ALDI.

Conclusion

The study explores the marketing communication and development of the advertisement media by Aldi while expanding the business in Indian market. The company is launching the food and beverage products in Indian super market areas. The use of the print media, digital media, and experiential media is much helpful for Aldi to communicate with the customers in India. The concentration on Indian cultural traits is much necessary. The theoretical development is thus concentrating on such communication purposes that are essential to strengthen the brand position during the expansion.

References

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