Implications of integrating and/or fragmenting the Asian markets

There are numerous outcomes that can come from Old Spice engaging in either the integration or fragmentation of the Asian markets by the CPG manufacturer.

The integrated approach consists of companies such as Old Spice collaborating with a range of individuals such as vendors and business partners to find potential markets and cater the product to that region. CIO of British Airways Paul Corby describes the process as; “maintaining consistency of service, clarity of what the brand means, whilst being sensitive to a country’s needs”. Keeping this in mind when Old Spice enters the Asian market to distribute their various men’s health care products they need to ensure that they maintain their consistency across the board, and that they are considerate of the environment they are entering and how to cater for the demands in this region. Whilst Old Spices product of men’s health ware products are a universal necessity, the entry into the Asian market can be a complex equation. Whilst entry into such markets as Japan and China would mean access to a large population with a dispensable income, other countries such as Thailand or Indonesia have a vast poverty rate and low level incomes. Market Integration undertaken by Old Spice in this situation would be difficult but not unachievable, Old Spice would need to be sensitive to the cultural and religious differences between the two countries when undertaking promotional campaigns. For example such countries as China have restrictions on social media such as YouTube, the website plays a large role in the company's promotional campaigns as described earlier in the report, and would be a damaging blow on the success of Old Spice’s entry into this market. The implications of this would be that Old Spice would need to re-examine their marketing strategy in this country, but the nature of the integration system allows for companies to be faster and nimbler to changing opportunities. Whilst Old Spice’s prevailing social media campaign may be hindered, they can target other opportunities such China’s huge television audiences, with over 1 billion individuals (Wikipedia, 2016) tuning in to an array of programs.

Contrasting to this method the fragmented approach consists of organisations recognizing the diverse nature of the global market, and realising that whilst cultures, values and needs are different, they need to cater for their specific markets needs in order to be successful in a particular region. When engaging in this form of marketing Old Spice need to divide the market into four categories, psychographic, demographic, geographic, and behavioural segments (See Appendix 1.2). This allows for Old Spice to recognize and divide the market according to structure of the population, different countries acclamations, knowledge/usage/response to the product, and based on the various personalities of consumers. For example if Old Spice was to engage in this method they would need to gain an enormous and in-depth analysis of the chosen country, which would result in huge expenses due to the need to research the countries different segments appropriately.

Based on the implications discussed, Old Spice would be better suited to market integration as it allows for the company to seamlessly integrate and align their core values with that of their consumers and target market. This marketing technique is of the best interest to Old Spice as it will allow for the company to be more proactive rather than reactive to changing environments, to better maintain their products presence and dominance in the region.