Posted on Friday May 4, 2012
In the United Nations Statistics for 2011, five Asian countries were included in the list of the 25 largest consumer markets. These countries – India, Japan, China, South Korea, and Indonesia – among other Asian countries have become prized destinations for companies to launch new brands and products.
However lucrative this new trend may be, creating distinct brands for one region of the world is actually a fairly risky endeavor. Launching new product lines or brands in specific regions might harm the parent company’s image. For example, with new product lines that seek to penetrate different markets with lower-cost alternatives to traditional fashions, the risk is that consumers may begin to perceive the overall brand as less “luxe” or less desirable.
Is it a good idea for firms to launch brands and products for emerging markets?
For our full article please visit: Firms Cater Brands to Changing Consumer Tastes in Asia
This depends on the type of business the firm is in. For businesses where the brand is very important for the customer experience it is probably not a good idea.
Posted by Denise op Friday 4 May 2012
Denise, I actually disagree, I believe that at a certain point, emerging markets are going to become less enamored with developed nations' styles and eventually want clothing and brands that reflect their own culture. Yes, this may be a risky endeavor for most, but for some of those first movers that do enough market research of these emerging markets, they may find that catering some of their brand lines to reflect the emerging countries' cultures may prove very successful. As the article points out, Levi is one of those first movers who is finding this strategy lucrative.
Posted by Jon op Friday 4 May 2012
I have to agree with Denise on this one. If a very luxurious brand like Luis vuitton or Rolex comes with a cheap low end version for different markets they decrease the brand value of the product. For other products like televisions made by LG or Samsung for example, this is less important. These companies can apply these strategies without harming their brand value.
Posted by ferdinant jeweldor op Monday 7 May 2012
