Global marketing environment and country road assignment

The effects of this were so major they affected business in countless ways and will surely continue to do so in future. “ The terrorist attacks of September 11 therefore hit the USA ??? but not only the USA ??? at a moment of economic instability, and have led to considerable intensification of the anxiety felt among economic agents on all of the industrialised countries” (Weinert, 2002) 2. 03. Country Road Clothing Company: In 1974, Jane Parker and Steve Bennett saw a gap in the Australian fashion marketplace and seized the opportunity to produce ladies shirts, most notably chambre shirts.

At a time of low price, low quality fashion in Australia the brand took off and enjoyed quick success. Thus, Country Road was established. The women’s fashion range became a look that epitomised Australian style and Country Road quickly grew from a basic manufacturer and small time retailer, to a leader in Australian fashion retailing. In just 6 years, Steve Bennett secured distribution in retailing giant Myer Emporium and opened 10 retail stores. In 1981, the Myer Emporium purchased the company (Kerr ; Sarina 2007).

Country Road enjoyed great success from simple tote bags emblazoned with the Country Road logo. It was synonymous with style, fashion and in some parts an elitist thinking, “ cultural environment shows long-run trends towards the use of branded products as a means of self-expression” (Kotler 2010) Their success on the domestic front inspired the CR directors to expand their operations offshore. 4. 01. The Country Road customer in America: Country Road marketed their clothing and brand in The U. S. just as it did in Australia.

Reinforcing its “ Iconic Australian Style”(Country Road 2009), marketing loose shirts, casual tee’s, shorts and ranges of denim, quality made and delivered with excellent customer service. They conveyed an image or chic without effort and tried to impart the idea of “ well dressed Australians” Although this was lost in translation in America. “ The underlying problem was that it had lost its focus” (Women’s Wear Daily 1997). Americans had an idea in their minds that Australians all dressed like Crocodile Dundee, with ‘ Akubra’ hats and ripped sleeveless shirts and the iconic ‘ Stubbie’ shorts.

Terrorism in the infamous September 11 attacks hit the United States. As mentioned previously this macro environmental factor could not have been predicted and the flow on affects it would cause. In January of 2002, Country Road announced its exit from the U. S. market. Country Road blamed “ Poor merchandising, sales and profit losses, a lack of strong identity in a competitive market, September 11 and the recession to bring the business down”(Women’s Wear Daily, 2002) As Kotler states, “ Although core values are fairly consistent, cultural swings do take place”.

In this case Americans became extremely patriotic and were very cautious in their spending ways. Businesses that were ‘ Made in U. S. A’ were favoured as backlash against other cultures took effect. Americans saw buying locally made produce as a way of defending their soil and such many international businesses had to withdraw. This compounded the problems that Country road were already facing. 5. 02. What went wrong? As mentioned earlier, Kotler believes that having success in future business ventures, you must have a full understanding of both micro and macro environments.

S. market, steps could have been taken to make the consumers aware of what CR offered and work out a better way of marketing to them. Marketing as a lifestyle brand that epitomised clean, fresh and easy fashion with quality would have had more success than attempting to market CR as ‘ Australian style’. This was not relevant and the customers found it confusing. If they had adapted the brand to fit in as a fashion brand they would have enjoyed more financial success and this in turn would have created better financial security.

This could have been enough to carry CR through the economic down turn after September 11. List of references: * Country Road 2009: Country Road Brand Blue Print, 2009, NSW, Moon Communications Group, see appendix 1. * DNR 1996: DNR, New Country Road U. S. Exec plans Big Store Expansion, 28/03/1996, Fairchild Publications, USA * Herald Sun 20/01/2007: http://www. news. com. au/getting-back-on-track/story-e6frfh4f-1111112859365#ixzz10uJewaV0, accessed September 2010-10-04 Kerr and Sarina 2007: Leanne Cutcher and Nick Wales, Cases in Strategy and management, McGraw Hill Australia P/L, 2007, page 42, Case Study 3: The road less travelled: Country Roads venture into global markets, Melissa Kerr and Troy Sarina, accessed through google books: http://books. google. com. au/books? id= HKWQawF8BPgC&lpg= PA42&ots= MYqkqWLGfZ&dq= kerr%20and%20Sarina%20Country%20Road&pg= PP1#v= onepage&q= kerr%20and%20Sarina%20Country%20Road&f= false * Kotler 2010: Kotler, et al, Marketing 8th ed. Pearsons, NSW, 2010, pages 132-161 * Figure 2. ttp://marketingteacher. com/lesson-store/lesson-marketing-environment. html * www. marketingteacher. com 2010: http://marketingteacher. com/lesson-store/lesson-marketing-environment. html. Date viewed, October 2010 * Weiner 2002: http://resources. metapress. com/pdf-preview. axd? code= e45127418l6737p1&size= largest, Date viewed, October 2010 * Women’s Wear daily 1997: Women’s Wear Daily, A Bumpy Road, April 23, 1997, Fairchild Publications, USA * Women’s wear Daily 2002: Women’s Wear Daily, Country Road Out of America, January 17, 2002, Fairchild Publications, USA