Elliot Company Essay

The Elliot Company was established in the early 1950s and has been a profitable greeting card company. It had always been a pioneer in developing creative means to attract its target group, in spite of which the groups food market sh ar has been limited to hardly 4% in the industry. Industry leader Hallmark has the lions share of around 41%, American Greetings about 30%, followed by oer 300 companies, including Elliot Company that account for the catch ones breathing share.Technological advancements in the telephone industry and the advent of the internet have pushed most greeting card companies against a wall, with flat sales, diminishing margins and a threat of decimation. The way forward is to identify means of generating sales by entering newer markets and the company has identified two markets that remain unexplored for Elliot CompanyAmerican Hispanic marketOverseas English speaking marketProblem StatementElliot Company had never ventured into unchartered territories, and fi nds both these markets intricate. The American Hispanic market is unique and has different sensitivities than the dominant white and black market that Elliot Company has been catering to. Meeting the needs of the overseas market is even more(prenominal) complicated as the company would need to study several cultures and meet their respective needs. Marketing the product to both these unique markets is the quarrel that Elliot Company faces, for which a solution is required. The company cannot enter both the markets at once, and hence an ideal market should be identified that would suit the interests of the company.There are about 30 million Hispanics in America, who predominantly come from Mexico, Cuba and other Spanish dominated countries. The interesting facts about this race areThe Hispanic population has the highest growing population in the country with almost 40% of population growth between the years 1985 to 2010, coming from this community.The Hispanic population can be br oadly divided into three groups, the native Spanish people who speak and follow Spanish culture alone the assimilated Spanish, who cannot be distinguished from the Americans and the Accultured Spanish, who are about 57% of the Hispanic population. (Arjona, Shah, Tinivelli & Weiss, 1998)The Hispanic community prefer significant influence of their culture in the marketing process, even if the conference occurred in English.Price certain audience that chooses price over valueJust like the Hispanic community, the overseas market has different sensitivities that make it an equally tough opportunity to set off into. Also, there are certain problems the company faces when entering these markets, which are listed below.Existence of binary cultures in each countrySemantic barriers that can prevent communication as anticipatedCultural perceptions about greeting cards, as customers in some countries prefer customized and hand written communication to pre-printed cards.Huge costs of interr ogation & development, product and distribution.List of Critical factorsThe management if Elliot Company is apprehensive with both the solutions provided by the consultants, as each of them has their own concerns, which are listed above. A study shows that more than eighty percent of greeting cards customers, the world over are women. Hence, whichever strategy adopted by Elliot Company, would need to target the women predominantly. Which group of women, overseas women or Hispanic American women, can be targeted easily is one critical factor of success.While venturing into foreign markets like UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand would be good woof for the penetration of the company into newer markets, it would expose the company to the competition of each market. While Canada is a market that Elliot Company should find easy to understand with its proximity to the American culture, each of the other markets is complex in their own ways. Hallmark has already made preparations to lau nch Spanish greeting cards by including several Spanglish messages (The upper-case letter Times, 2002), and would aggressively market its brand when compared to Elliot Company. Hence, which market is less competitive and can easily be penetrated becomes the second critical factor.The third critical factor is the consumers buying behavior in both these markets. Hispanic customers have a buying behavior that is strongly influenced by culture and cultural cues, which include brilliance for family, formality and status. (Haegele, 2000 in Lynn Brandon, Judith C. Forney, 2002) The above three factors can contribute greatly to the success of Elliot greeting cards in this target group, the company can revolve about the marketing strategy on how to express emotions to its family, how to upkeep formalities and use greeting cards as a status symbol for greeting someone. On the contrary, some of the overseas markets are less liberal and more demanding. The culture of Australia and New Zealan d is strongly influenced from the English, and the English culture finds it more appropriate to send a personalized letter than a pre-designed and pre-printed greeting card. The success of the company is dependent on how well it breaks this cultural barrier.Recommended SolutionIn spite of the advantages of a large market that the company can cater to when it reaches out to the overseas market, it is recommended that Elliot Company focus on reaching out to the Hispanic American community, by offer customized greeting cards.JustificationThe biggest factor that justifies the above recommendation is the huge costs involved in establishing a brand and a business overseas, in multiple markets. To reach out to the overseas English market also would require significant investments in look into about respective cultures, making the cost of research irrelevant for the decision making process for either decisions.A third of the Hispanic community would identify themselves with the rest of t he Americans, and no special campaigns need to be done for them. However, the accultured Hispanics and the native Spanish speakers prefer a brand that they can identify with their ethnic group, to a business that seems very un-ethnic. (Dyer & Ross, 2000) Elliot Company should reach to the Hispanic community with a brand that they can identify with, design greeting cards based on their preferences and deliver the same as per their needs. Mere translations from the everlasting(a) designs that Elliot owns might not be as helpful, as designing cards that meet the needs of the Hispanic customers.ReferencesLuis D. Arjona, Rajesh Shah, Alejandro Tinivelli & Adam Weiss (1998) Marketing to the Hispanic Consumer, diary entitle The McKinsey Quarterly. Volume 1. Issue 3. Publication Year 1998. Page Number 106+Lynn Brandon, Judith C. Forney (2002), Influences on Female Purchase Motivations and Product Satisfaction a Comparison of Casual and ball Lifestyles and Anglo and Hispanic Ethnicity, J ournal Title Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences. Volume 94. Issue 1. Publication Year 2002. Page Number 54+Linda M. Dyer, Christopher A. Ross (2000), Ethnic Enterprises and Their Clientele, Journal Title Journal of Small Business Management. Volume 38. Issue 2, Page Number 48Spanglish Speakers Mix Home Languages Popular Trend Seen as Obstacle. Newspaper Title The capital letter Times. Publication Date November 21, 2002. Page Number A01