Johnnie Walker Marketing Strategies - Essay Example

Johnnie Walker Marketing Strategies Executive summary Marketing refers to a management responsibility concerned with the determination, anticipation and satisfaction of customer requirement. All business organizations require an effectively operational marketing department in order to foster its profitability objective. Johnnie Walker is a perfect example of a commercial organization with an effective marketing department. The brand of blended whisky is the leading brand of whisky internationally. The brand accesses the global market with the company registering sales of the brand in every country in the world. Its annual sale grosses one hundred and thirty million bottles globally. The sale of the Scottish whisky in the United States and in China two of the leading global economies portray different marketing strategies that have sustained the company’s success to date in the two regions. International marketing strategy International marketing refers to the marketing function of the management but on a global perspective. International brands such as the Johnnie Walker must have strategic marketing features in order to earn them an effective access of the global market. As an established brand, the company must employ specific features in order to improve its market share (Blackshaw 31). Viewing the entire world as a single market requires the consideration of particular demographic factors in order to facilitate the cost effective and profitable production. The United States and the people’s republic of China are two distinct regions with different cultures. This implies that the market in the two countries differ and therefore requires diverse management operations. Johnnie Walker employs different international marketing strategies in the two regions some of which are similar while others differ. The company produces different products under the same name. The company brand has more than twenty labels including Johnnie Walker XR 21, Johnnie Walker Black Label Keep Walking New Zealand, Johnnie Walker Black Label Project Black Inspiration, Double Black and the current Johnnie Walker Ginger among several others. The diversification of the brand is a universal marketing strategy that earns each label a specific market. This way, the company expands its market strategy owing to the fact that its products target various markets. The production of various labels is a strategy the company employs in both China and in the United States among its other various international markets (Kotler and & Kevin 91). This way, the company perpetually sustains and grows its market share. America is a country with myriad cultures owing to the conglomeration of its population. This implies that the population of the country has different drinking cultures a feature that influences the consumption of the product, China on the other hand predictable drinking culture arising from its definite backgrounds. However, the two countries have equal economic potential and a rising living standards. Booth economies are industrial with diminishing poverty levels. The countries are therefore offer potential markets for the brand. This explains the company’s endeavors to obtain pieces of the growing markets (Lane 61). The Johnnie Walker whisky brand has existed in the United States for more than fifty years. This implies that the company has a definite market. It therefore carries out progressive market researches and determines better ways of doing business in order to compete with other younger brands. However, the company has both a reputation and a distinctive market. The company franchises its products in the country (Fournier 41). The Chinese market on the other hand has not had a historical experience of the brand of whisky. Diageo recently launched high society brands of the whisky in Beijing China. This explains that the company targets the high society unlike in the United States where it dispenses several brands affordable to various economic classes. Current marketing strategy In a bid to expand its market share in the two regions, the company continues to employ different marketing strategies key among which is the introduction of Luxurious whisky brands in Beijing China and the diversification of its products in the United States. The company sought to introduce the product in China in a manner that established both the market and the status of the brand. By building the Johnnie Walker House in Shanghai, the company employed a unique marketing strategy that helps position the brand in the new market. being the World’s largest whisky embassy, the company will use the facility to further the spread of its product in the region (Alexander 55). In the United States, the company continues to make its operations more cost effective and more profitable by increasing its franchises and distillation factories in the country. This way, it uses the labor from the country among other resources thus determining a price commensurate to the prevailing economic factors. Additionally, the company continues to diversify its products. The introduction of the new Johnnie Walker Ginger, the company targeted a distinctive feminine market (MacLean 22). This constitutes a unique strategy, which does not only provide the company with an opportunity to carry out effective market researches but also increase its market share. By advertising the new label, the company advertises the entire brand thus perpetuating the presence of the product in the market. As a relatively new product in China, the introduction of the brand constitutes an important marketing strategy. The product introduction in the new market must help the company defines a target market thus plan strategic marketing features. With both an elaborate marketing expertise and experience, the company defines its target market by introducing the new luxurious whisky brands in the country (Bernays 71). The product targets the rich and the wealthy in the Chinese society. As a developed economy, China will therefore help position the brand in the entire eastern region. The launch of the world’s largest whisky embassy in Shanghai establishes the brand in the country. Additionally, it will serve as the brand’s gateway to the eastern market. Product, price, place and promotion The marketing mix is an important marketing tool that marketers use. The tool provides four fundamental elements that the marketers must consider when carrying out a successful marketing expedition. The product is the first among the elements. In this context, the product refers to the whisky (Hunnicutt 25). Johnnie walker is an established whisky brand arguably the largest brand globally. As such, the product enjoys dominance and often intimidates other competitive brands. This explains the use of the name in other successive brands (Cutlip, Allen and Glen 42). The quality and reputation of the product helps establish and sustain a market share. Price on the other hand refers to the cost of the product. Price is an equally important marketing element since it influences the purchasing power of a target market. Johnnie walker has remained relevant in the dynamic alcohol market owing to its various labels. Each of the labels has a different price thus increasing the potential market across the different economic classes. Place on the other hand refers to the physical location. In this context, the place refers to both the United States and China. The two regions have different demographic factors that influence the infiltration of the product in the regions. As explained earlier the two regions have similar economic features thus influencing the establishment of the products in the regions. The consideration of the various demographic factors in the place enables the company to employ strategic production and distribution features in order to safeguard the company from incurring loses. Promotion refers to the advertising endeavors the company undertakes in order to improve the products presence within a specific market. Johnnie Walker invests in running media adverts of its various labels. The company runs numerous media campaigns both in the United States and in china including billboards, television and radio adverts among many others (Kent and Tara 41). Comparative analysis In retrospect, the success the whisky continue to realize both in the united states and in China are results of dedicated marketing endeavors by the company. China is an emerging market for the product a feature that validates the extensive marketing operations the company has employed in the region in the past few years. As a new market, the company sought to position the brand by targeting a specific market segment. This explains the launch of the luxurious whiskies and the launch of the whisky embassy in Shanghai. In the United States however, the company has heightened its marketing operations of the brand that has existed in the country for years. Such include the introduction of new labels and the dedicated media campaigns. Despite the differences in the strategies owing to the nature of the markets, each region continues to register growth. Works cited Alexander, Barry. International Financial Reporting and Analysis (5th edition). 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Socially Responsible Investing: An Institutional Investor’s Guide, Euro money. London: Aspen, 2005. Print. MacLean, Charles. Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History. New York: Cassell, 2003. Print. Read More