International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International Marketing - Essay Example 2.0 The features indicating achievement of global brand status Quelch (1999) provides a benchmark for the seven characteristics of a brand that are prevalent when a business has achieved global brand status. This is inclusive of strength in the home market, having a geographical balance in sales, the ability to address homogenous consumer needs worldwide, maintaining consistent brand positioning, reducing the country-of-origin effect, the specific product category focus of the firm and corporate name. This section of the report examines the extent to which Lenovo maintains appropriate emphasis on the aforesaid benchmark criteria for advancement to a legitimate global brand. Lenovo must maintain all identified characteristics in order to be considered a victor in becoming a genuine global brand. 2.1 Strength in the home market In 2011, China contributed 46 percent of total business revenues with all supplemental sales stemming from combined international markets and emerging markets ( Lenovo 2012). China is considered the largest personal computer market in the world and Lenovo has managed to increase its market share in this highly competitive technology market. Much of this success is due to a contracted 2011 strategic alliance with Compal Electronics that significantly increased Lenovo’s production capabilities. Through dual investments by Lenovo and Compal, totalling $300 million each, a new production facility was built from the ground up in Hefei, China that exploits the talents and resources of both partners to deliver faster output and more frequency of innovative products (Lenovo 2011). The Chinese personal computer market is projected to achieve a growth rate of three to four percent in 2013, which is largely driven by rural consumer demand for desktop computers (China.org.cn 2013). Whilst the rest of the developed world, such as the United States, has seen declines in demand on personal computers as consumers defect to more agile mobile computin g opportunities, Lenovo operates in a market where rural consumers are witnessing more government investment into infrastructure improvements in rural regions that are increasing personal incomes of rural consumers (China.org.cn 2013). The rural consumer sector is a major market segment within a national population volume of over 1.34 billion consumers (News Limited 2013). Lenovo was very adept in establishing a joint venture with Compal in order to expand the ability to deliver faster production output to the rural regions within China whilst demand for desktop and laptop computers are experiencing growth with a variety of target segments. Lenovo also participated in a government subsidy program designed to give rural consumers less-expensive personal computers which assisted Lenovo in achieving a $1.7 billion USD sales increase in the country (Hille 2009). Lenovo recognises appropriate opportunities to expand its brand presence and hence improve its brand recognition in China. The Chinese government is imposing a variety of new programs to facilitate more economic growth and improve the labour environment within the nation. By engaging appropriate political forces to allow the Lenovo brand to be associated with a nationwide initiative to modernise rural China,