The Possibilities of Expanding the Business into New Overseas Markets E

The Possibilities of Expanding the Business into New Overseas Markets As international marketing consultant of Mackie’s of Scotland, the ice cream maker, it is my duty to consider the possibilities of expanding the business into new overseas markets, successfully. The Scottish ice cream market will be researched thoroughly. The UK target market of Mackie’s will be analysed. Finally a suitable country will be chosen to market the product to. The countries that will be selected from will be Saudi Arabia, Germany or Ireland. The UK ice cream market is estimated to be worth  £1.25 billion. Mackie’s of Scotland have been making ice cream in Aberdeenshire since the 1960’s, although they have been farming since before the turn of the century. Ice cream has been in existence since 618A.D but is rumoured to have been invented in 200B.C in China. The first documentation of ice cream in Britain is dated in 1672 during the reign of Charles II. The uniqueness of Mackie’s ice cream is that firstly it is made in Scotland, it is made with the help of Jersey and Angus cows, it is run by a Scottish family/workforce, Mackie’s is the market leader in Scotland with 45% of the market and has an 11% UK wide market. Mackie’s aim is to strengthen its UK market position and then look into potential export opportunities. These factors mean that the company and product are idea and ripe for expansion into foreign markets. Mackie’s trademark symbol is a milkmaid milking a cow in a field. The traditional flavour of the ice cream is represented by blue packaging. It is not called vanilla but simply traditional. No flavours are added to Mackie’s Traditional. Other flavours in the range include Honeycomb Harvest, Strawberry and Cream, Caramel Choc Mint, Absolutely Chocolate as well as Organic Ice Cream. Traditional is available in 120ml tubs, 500ml, 1 litre, 2 litre, 5 litre and 10 litre tubs. Honeycomb Harvest, which has orange, blue and white packaging, is available in all sizes except 2 and 10 litre tubs. Strawberry and Cream, which has red, blue and white packaging, is available in all sizes except 500ml, 2 and 10 litre tubs. Caramel Choc Mint, which has green, blue and white packaging, is available in 1 and 5 litre tubs. Absolutely Chocolate, which has brown, blue and white packaging, is available in all sizes except 500ml, 2 and 10 litre tubs. O... ...he market. The Saudis use Riyals the Germans and Irish operate on Euros. The country that I would choose to market the ice cream to would be Ireland. Politically Scotland and Ireland use similar techniques, they trade with similar countries, agriculture and industry are the main sources of income. Economically Ireland is stable. The amount of tourists that visit Ireland is quite phenomenal and it would be an opportunity wasted if Mackie’s don’t enter the market there. Ireland has a low population which could be seen as a good attribute, this is because Mackie’s are already market leader in Scotland, which has a population of 5 million. Therefore 2.8 million people to target would be relatively cheap, and another market could belong to Mackie’s. Technologically Ireland is advancing. However only ice cream giants like Wall’s will have far superior ice cream making equipment than Mackie’s. Technology advances in the country could help Mackie’s in Scotland. I feel that Saudi Arabia would not accept the product with specific Scottish branding. Germany being a very nationalistic country would also reject the ice cream as they would favour German brands of ice cream.