The action plan for the product export covers the three initial stages of bringing the product to the new market: research and development, online retail and marketing, and offline retail. The first steps of stages 2 and 3 can overlap with the last steps of previous stages. The progress will be assessed during and after each stage to provide necessary adjustments.
The first stage of the product export consists of the research and decision-making considering marketing strategies and packaging. The definitive data must be collected to assess the current conditions for the product on the market. This data includes: (1) the latest food label regulations and packaging hygiene in Europe; and (2) the current state of social media advertisement. The research will be combined with the development of the product branding, specifically finalizing the new name and logo of the product.
Two teams will address the research, one focusing on marketing and one focusing on packaging and component regulations. The latter point will be researched and finalized first: if the product must be reformulated to change its components, it will require significant time. In one week, both teams should be able to provide preliminary reports. In two weeks, both teams should have enough definitive data to finalize the product name, information listed on the packaging, and the general marketing strategy. After that, these data will be forwarded to the design team, who will shape the product’s look within one or two weeks.
The second stage covers the development of online retail channels. At this stage, if the company does not have a fluent French speaker on staff, recruiting one will be crucial. With the name and look of the product finalized, TNC can start offering the product on the company’s website after establishing an appropriate page in the French language. Recruitment of a French speaker and structural update of the website can go in parallel with the first stage so that the new French page will be available within the first week of the second stage. Online marketing through YouTube and other platforms will launch in the following 1-2 weeks (Voorveld et al., 2018).
The launch of online retail can start within the first week of stage 2, provided the preliminary work during stage 1 was successful. After the launch, the marketing success and online sales will be evaluated bi-weekly, adjusting online retail capacity as needed. This marketing, sales, evaluation, and adjustment cycle will continue for 3 to 6 months until the sales reach significant numbers and the brand becomes sufficiently familiar to the French customers. The success of online product sales is critical, considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (Sayyida, 2021). Thus, online sales will be supported and improved further, in parallel with the next stage.
The third stage is launching the offline retail of the product through 3rd party manufacturer (Refresco). Combined with earlier product sales in Ireland, online sales in France should convince Refresco to get involved (Akrout, 2018). Additionally, at this stage, a local laboratory can be engaged to test and evaluate the ingredients. This stage aims to establish on-site production and add labels marking the product as locally produced and healthy, thus making it more attractive on the market (Julia, 2018). Both collaborations with the manufacturer and a laboratory should go in parallel. While a certified “healthy” label could be beneficial in negotiations with the manufacturer, laboratory analysis can take a very long time (Understanding certification, 2017). Preliminary progress evaluation will be conducted two weeks after the start of stage 3, followed by bi-weekly evaluations and strategy assessments. The final agreement with Refresco should be signed within 1-2 months from the beginning of stage 3. The conditions of the deal with the local manufacturer will determine the following actions and their timeline.
Reference List
Akrout, H., Kaswengi, J. and Valette-Florence, P. (2018) ‘Business marketing in France: can the case be made for “French exceptionalism” or is it just a slight variation?’. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 25(3), pp. 187-211.
Julia, C., Charpak, Y., Rusch, E., Lecomte, F., Lombrail, P. and Hercberg, S. (2018) ‘Promoting public health in nutrition: Nutri-Score and the tug of war between public health and the food industry’. The European Journal of Public Health, 28(3), pp. 396-397.
Sayyida, S., Hartini, S., Gunawan, S. and Husin, S.N. (2021) ‘The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on retail consumer behavior’. Aptisi Transactions on Management, 5(1), pp. 79-88.
Understanding certification. (2017) Web.
Voorveld, H.A., Van Noort, G., Muntinga, D.G. and Bronner, F. (2018) ‘Engagement with social media and social media advertising: The differentiating role of platform type’. Journal of advertising, 47(1), pp. 38-54.