Unidad Teaching

Fourth 1 / Escenario
Unit2/ Seventh Learning environment
Lectura Fundamental
Essential reading

Marketing
Etapas de un
study
plan de comunicación
estratégica

Content

1 National marketing study

2 International marketing study

3 Conclusions

Keywords: market study, transportation, market share, preferential tariff.

1. National marketing study

Did you know ...?

That the national marketing study is the clue in designing the correct
product strategy?

The last step of the logistics process is the designing of a marketing strategy. For this, it´s necessary
to do a national marketing study. However, is important to determine what a marketing study
should include. A well-done marketing study includes aspects such as reputation of the supplier,
transportation availability, statistics concerning sales, and market share, among others.

1.1. Transportation

You need to analyze the transportation availability. You can start by identifying the possible routes
between the cities you are interested in. For example, the route Bogotá-Medellín takes 6-8
hours by land, while the route Bogotá-Barranquilla needs between 12-14 hours using the same
mode of transportation.

Another important issue in transportation is the national freight and the type of vehicle necessary
for the distribution process. The transportation company must guarantee the perfect conditions of
the vehicles, as well as tracking equipment such as GPS. Every vehicle has special specifications and
different weight limit, as shown in the following:

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 Tractor unit two axes Double die truck
This truck supports a maximum This truck has three axes and
of 32 tons. supports a maximum of 17 Tons.

Single truck
This truck has two axes and
supports a maximum of 8.5 tons.

Turbo truck
This truck supports a maximum
of to 4.5 tons.

Tracto unit Tractor unit 3 axes

This truck supports a maximum
This truck supports a maximum
of 35 tons.
of 20 tons.

Figure 1. Types of Vehicles

Source: designed by the author with information from (TCC, 2017)

Choosing the correct transportation is part of the marketing strategy, since the product should be
delivered in correct conditions. If you are planning to transport cargo from Bogotá to Medellín you
will probably call one of the national transportation companies like TCC, UPS, Coordinadora and ask
them for a quote. However, the company needs information about the weight of the cargo, in order
to quote the appropriate vehicle.

Remember that in Colombia the Ministry of Transportation established a law for the national freights.
In that sense, you will be able to compare the freights offered by the different companies to choose
the best.

1.2. Purchase statistics

Every national market study must include a review of the supplier’s background. For example, you
could check out with another client the transportation time and their experience with the company.
The profile of the company’s clients will tell you a lot about the company’s sales statistics, as well as
their modes of payment and demands.

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Figure 2. Purchase statistics
Source: Iconicbestiary (2017)

The purchase statistics will help you analyzing the trends of your possible client and if they have a
special time of the year in which they place the orders. Even their financial situation could be analyzed
through the purchase statistics. When the company stops making orders or decreases their sales can
be a sign of financial problems.

1.3. Reputation

Imagine the emotion of closing a first negotiation. Nevertheless, be careful with the reputation of
your potential client or supplier. This is another important aspect you should take care of when doing
a market study. The reputation of a company will avoid you long-term problems.

The company’s web page is a useful tool that gives you a lot of information about the company’s
partners, sales, clients, and operations. Reputation can be defined as the “way companies do
something”. Reputation is a scarce and valuable asset (Arteaga,2014).

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 1.4. Market share

The market share is a good indicator of competitiveness among an economic sector. For instance,
if a company has a high market share means that it has increasing sales and acceptance within the
consumers. However, you must understand the concept market share. According to the Business
Dictionary (2018), is a percentage of total sales volume in a market, captured by a product,
brand or company.

Analyzing the market share is the clue to determine the company’s size and creating marketing
strategies, as well as to evaluate a possible investment. Your client’s market share will tell you
his position in the market and guarantee your sales, as far as that company maintains their
competitiveness.

2. International marketing study

If you are planning to globalize your product or service, the next step is to do an international
marketing study. The international marketing strategy should be different from the national one, and
it should be adapted to the international customer’s needs.

Let’s think about the option of exporting gum to Europe. Why Europe? Why not Canada or Chile
or even the United States? Before choosing a country randomly, the best alternative is to do a
market study.

In this study, you can evaluate different aspects of the possible countries, such as transportation
availability and frequency, preferential tariff, export and import statistics, devaluation, economic
information (inflation rate, GDP per cápita), and international market share.

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 National International
Marketing Marketing
Study Study
Transportation Transportation

Market share Preferential Tariff

Reputation Export and import statistics

Purchase statistics Market share

Devaluation

Economic Information

Figure 4. Elements of a national and international market study

Source: designed by the author

2.1. Transportation

International transportation includes maritime, air and land. Each one has special characteristics,
times and costs that must be analyze in order to choose the best transportation strategy that meets
the product strategy as well.

Figure 5. International Modes of Transportation

Source: nerthuz (n. d.)

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 ¿ To know more...?
Every country must be analyzed in their infrastructure, international
freights, availability of routes and deliver times and frequencies. This
information can be found on the following site http://www.colombiatrade.
com.co/herramientas/rutas-y-tarifas-de-transporte.

Each of these modes of transportation has special characteristics that determine times and costs. For
example, maritime mode of transportation is the most used in logistics because is cheaper, but it’s
also the slowest. This mode is used when you need to deliver products to distant countries like China
(45 days transit from Colombia). Some countries, however, don´t have entrance to the sea, so you
should identify the nearest port. For instance, if you want to export leather jackets it is mandatory to
decide which Colombian port you will use. For this product is better to send it from Buenaventura
because is the nearest port. Since it is an important shipment, it is important to use a direct trip with
the shortest transit time, and according to the Colombia Trade’s report the best option is sending the
shipment using Evergreen Marine Corporation.

Special products, such as flowers or meat, are normally exported by air because they must be
delivered in the shortest time possible. This mode of transportation is faster than maritime but more
expensive, therefore it depends on the customer’s needs. For example, if you look into the routes
available from Colombia to France, on the Colombia Trade’s website you can receive a detailed report
of the embark airport and the destination airport. For this you will have to determine which airport
is the nearest to the company (Bogota or Cali) and the nearest airport to your customer (Paris,
Toulouse, Nice, Bordeaux or Lyon). These two aspects will determine the air cargo company, the
frequency of the flights, tariff, and the freights. So, if I want to export flowers from Bogotá to Paris
the best option is sending them from Bogotá to Paris.

Transportation by land is used when countries have short distances between them, like sending cargo
from Colombia to Ecuador or Venezuela.

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 2.2. Preferential tariff

¿ Did you know that...?

Preferential tariffs make products cheaper and increase their
competitiveness in international markets?
Further information can be found at http://www.tlc.gov.co/
publicaciones/5398/acuerdos_vigentes.

Colombia has signed Free Trade Agreements with many countries that give a preferential tariff to
more than 1000 Colombian products. According to the World Bank (2010) every country in a Free
Trade Agreement promises the other country to give lower tariffs for their exported products in a
reciprocal way.

Preferential tariffs make products more competitive in international markets, since they become
cheaper and attractive for international clients. Therefore, the marketing study identifies the
countries that gives the preferential tariff benefit to Colombian products.

The best option should be those countries that offer preferential tariffs to Colombian products, rather
than those that don’t.

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 8 Canadá
TLC Colombia - Mexico 1
9 Estados Unidos
El Slavador, Guatemala y Honduras 2
10 Acuerdo de alcance
CAN 3 parcial con Venezuela

CARICOM 4 11 Cuba

MERCOSUR 5 12 Union Europea

Chile 6 13 Alianza del Pacifico

EFTA 7 14 Corea

15 Costa Rica

Figure 6. Colombia’s free trade agreements

Source: designed by the author

For example a colombian company that is willing to export underwear to Spain will benefit from the
preferential tariff granted by the FTA between Colombia and the EU. In the website http://trade.
ec.europa.eu, the official EU trade commission web page, every company can find information
regarding the general or preferential tariff of a product. The following graphic shows the general and
preferential tariff the product of the example has in Spain.

Figure 7. Screenshot of general and preferential tariff

Source: taken by the author from http://trade.ec.europa.eu

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As you can see, the general tariff for this product is 6.5%, but Colombia has been granted a 0%
preferential tariff thanks to a commercial agreement signed.

Another important issue that must be considered is the value-added tax (VAT) charged by each
country. In USA, for example each state charges a different VAT, due to its federal government, so be
aware if you are exporting to Florida (7%) or Illinois (6.25%), because there will probably have different
costs in VAT. The European Union countries also have different VAT as these examples show:

Table 1. Comparison of VAT charged by EU countries

Country VAT
Germany 19%

France 20%

Spain (excepting XC XL) 21%

Source: designed by the author

2.3. Export and import statistics

The market study also examines the export and import operations of the potential countries.
Trademap.org (https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct.aspx) is a free web page that shows
international commerce statistics according to the harmonized tariff code of a product. This will be
the first step in your marketing study because you should first determine the countries you want to
analyze. Information related to quantities, annual growth and market share in the world imports can
be found at trademap.org.

2.4. Economic information

A country’s economic information is important to determine their stability and payment availability.
Information related to the GDP, GDP per cápita, inflation rate and risk of no payment will help you
to choose the correct market. The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/) is a free web page that gathers economic information of almost every country around
the world.

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The risk of no payment is a variable that shows you the financial stability of a country. This risk is
normally qualified by using letters to determine high or low risk. Financial companies like Moody’s,
Fitch or Standard and Poor’s are the ones commissioned to qualify countries. Datosmacro.com
(https://www.datosmacro.com/ratings) is the web page where these three companies show the results
of every country. Germany, for example, has an AAA qualification, which is a high score and low risk
of no payment. Argentina has a B+ qualification, which determines medium score and higher risk of
no payment.

2.5. Devaluation

Devaluation happens when the value of a currency falls compared to other countries’ currency. This
situation can benefit the exporters since their products are cheaper in international markets. Since
there are different currencies, like dollars, euros, pounds or yens, the devaluation will affect each
situation differently. In the United States a product can be cheaper due to devaluation, but in Europe
it can happen the opposite.

Peso mexicano
17.06%
Bolívar venezolano
-0.36%

Peso colombiano
3.25% Real brasileño
5.17%

Sol peruano
3.74%

Peso chileno Peso argentino

-7.66%
8.62%

Datos recogidos 9 de septiembre a las 9:00 a.m. hora local.

Figure 8. Devaluation of the Latin American currencies

Source: designed by the author with information from Bloomberg

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3. Conclusions
National markets are very different from international markets, for that reason, the company must
do a market study in both cases. The product you are selling internally may need to be changed or
adapted in order to enter international markets. A well-done marketing study will help you determine
the best marketing strategy.

Remember to analyze aspects like transportation availability, reputation and sales statistics in national
markets. In international markets, you must also study the economic information of the potential
country, as well as the preferential tariff they offer your product. Finally, remember to check if your
currency is devaluated or revaluated compared to the other country’s currency. Devaluation can make
products cheaper to international consumers.

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References
Arteaga, J. (2014). (27 October 2014). El valor de la reputación. Portafolio. Retrieved from
http://www.portafolio.co/negocios/empresas/analisis-reputacion-57446.

World Bank (2010). Types of Tariffs. Retrieved from

https://wits.worldbank.org/wits/wits/witshelp/content/data_retrieval/p/intro/c2.types_of_tariffs.htm.

Business Dictionary (2018). Market share. Retrieved from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-share.html.

Figures References
AndyleCr, (2017). Abstract logo template [Vector]. Retrieved from
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/abstract-logo-template_1063749.htm

Iconicbestiary, (2017). Statistical data abstract on paper and tablet [Vector]. Retrieved from
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/statistical-data-abstract-on-paper-and-tablet_1311213.htm

Juliatim, (n. d.). Ilustración Infografía de los logros de importación y exportación de promotor y
costumbres de la carga broker [Vector]. Recuperado de

Ministerio de Industria y Turismo. (n. d.). Acuerdos vigentes. Retrieved from

http://www.tlc.gov.co/publicaciones/5398/acuerdos_vigentes

Patrickss, (2016). A abstract logo design [Vector]. Retrieved from

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/a-abstract-logo-design_822546.htm

Starline, (2017). Logo with three flower petals [Vector]. Retrieved from
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/logo-with-three-flower-petals_932436.htm

TCC. (29 de noviembre de 2017). Tipos de vehículos. Retrieved from

https://www.tcc.com.co/tipos-de-vehiculos

Vectortwins, (2017). Golden bird logo design [Vector]. Retrieved from

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/golden-bird-logo-design_1182612.htm

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 TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Module: Logistics and International Marketing

Fourth Teaching Unit: International marketing environment
Seventh Learning environment: National and international
marketing study

Author: Sandra Chicas Sierra

Advisor: Juan Felipe Marciales Mejía

Graphic Designer: Cristian Navarro
Assistant: Ginna Quiroga

This material belongs to the Politécnico Grancolombiano.

Total or partial reproduction is prohibited.

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