Advice Report Strategic Marketing Plan

Date: 26 October 2016

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Information

Salima Gaffar Lindenlaan 258 1185 NH Amstelveen

Reasearcher information Name: Address: Postal code and place: Telephone number: E-mail:

06 - 33 21 11 64 salimagaffar@gmail.com

Company information Internship company: Senel & Co. Address: Keizersgracht 209 Postal code and place: 1016 DT Amsterdam Telephone number: 020 – 77 20 500

Hogeschool van Amsterdam / HES H.J.E. Wenckebachweg 144 - 148 1096 AR Amsterdam 020 - 595 12 34

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank first of all, Hakan Senel, the owner of Senel & Co. for giving me the opportunity to write my Bachelor thesis. I am very grateful for the chance he gave me to do this report, in supporting and believing me and most importantly for offering me his time and expertise to answer the dozens of questions I asked him in order to write this report.

I am gratefully thankful to Hugo Booms, who was my supervisor for my thesis; his mentorship, expertise and investment in his students are truly appreciated. He always managed to make time for me whenever I needed it and his guidance was truly appreciated whenever I was lost and did not know what to do anymore.

A special thanks to all my dear friends who have been patient with me and who supported me fully as I was busy writing my thesis. Thank you for understanding how I mostly felt at the times and thank you for your mental support which was needed much.

Furthermore, I would like to thank my sister Ruby Neira Sierra and brother Richard Gaffar for providing the distraction I needed at times when my head was full with the thesis and, of course, for their fully support. Most of all, I would like to thank my mother Celinda Neira Sierra who has always been there for me and always understood my problems and provided the mental support when it was needed.

All in all, I would like to thank everyone who has wished me luck and who has supported me throughout this whole process. Without each and every one, I could not have done this. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this to my closest family and friends and sending them lots of love.

Thank you.

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Management Summary

Milky Holland BV (from now on Milky Holland) is a daughter company under the company Senel & Co. Holding BV (from now on Senel & Co.). This daughter company is an importer & exporter and has taken over all of the dairy activities from Senel & Co., however they only focus on one specific niche segment, which is condensed- and evaporated milk. They import these products from different suppliers all over the world and would like to export them to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA from now on) region.

Milky Holland, as a company with a new brand, will be faced with challenges as they will have to promote their brand to their potential customers in the MENA countries. They do not have any experience with this market. Therefore, this requires research on how to enter that market and how to promote their brand. This research can be found in the research report. In order to be successful, a good strategic marketing plan has to be made with a proper marketing and branding strategy. This report provides the advice which has come forth and the implementation plan which needs to be executed.

The countries which have been chosen to enter are Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Main question How should Milky Holland enter the MENA market successfully with their products and create brand awareness among the people in the MENA countries?

This advice report provides an answer to the main question of the research. By creating a SWOT analysis and confrontation matrix, four strategic options (including the zero option) were formed. These options were analysed by their suitability, feasibility and acceptability. Strategic option one in which the focus is customer intimacy was concluded to be the best strategy. By changing the marketing mix of Milky Holland, advice has been given on which actions to take.

Goal The goal is to reach a volume of 12 containers in 2016, a volume of 20 containers in 2017 and in 2018, 30 containers. Thus, in 2016 the market share in Saudi Arabia should be around 0,50% and in United Arab Emirates 0,75%.

The implementation plan has been created by reviewing and changing the marketing mix. Below are the changes that shall be implemented.

Product Creating a brand identity

Price A margin of 20% on top of their buying price

Place Attend Gulfood fair and SIAL Paris fair Meet potential customers at their company in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates

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Promotion Building a strong brand

o Social media promotion – Facebook and Twitter o Apply the Milky Holland Brand Identity on the marketing material

Creating marketing material o A brochure o Banners o Samples of the products o Newsletter

Building long-term relationships o Communicating a lot with customers o Be honest at all times o Always meet your deadlines – work together with a good shipping company o Send gifts to loyal customers

Creating brand awareness o Offline advertising in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates o Hire a freelance graphic designer to design and create advertisements o Create a TV commercial

By implementing the action points above, Milky Holland should be able to reach their goals in 2016 and 2017.

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Table of Content Information ............................................................................................................................ 1

Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 2

Management Summary ......................................................................................................... 3

Table of Content .................................................................................................................... 5

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 7

1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 7

1.2 The commissioning company ....................................................................................... 7

1.3 Problem identification ................................................................................................... 7

1.3.1 Research motivation .............................................................................................. 7

1.3.2 Hypothesis research .............................................................................................. 8

1.3.3 Main Question ....................................................................................................... 8

1.3.4 Goal....................................................................................................................... 8

1.4 Research Goal ............................................................................................................. 8

2. Research Questions and Research Method ...................................................................... 9

2.1 Sub-questions .............................................................................................................. 9

2.2 Research Method ........................................................................................................10

2.2.1 Qualitative research: Middle East market .............................................................11

2.2.2 Qualitative research: importers/distributors in SA and UAE ..................................11

3. Theoretical Framework .....................................................................................................12

3.1 The models .................................................................................................................12

3.2 Reading guide .............................................................................................................13

4. Research design ..............................................................................................................14

4.1 Justification desk research ..........................................................................................14

4.1.1 Internal analysis ...................................................................................................14

4.1.2 MACRO environment ...........................................................................................14

4.1.3 MESO environment ..............................................................................................14

4.1.4 Potential customers ..............................................................................................14

4.2 Justification field research ...........................................................................................14

4.2.1 Qualitative research ..............................................................................................14

5. Conclusions from the analyses .........................................................................................15

5.1 Conclusions from the external analysis .......................................................................15

5.2 Conclusions from the internal analysis ........................................................................16

5.3 Interviews with MENA experts .....................................................................................17

5.4 Interviews with potential customers .............................................................................17

6. Confrontation matrix .........................................................................................................18

6.1 SWOT analysis ...........................................................................................................18

6.2 Confrontation matrix ....................................................................................................19

6.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................20

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6.4 Central problem ..........................................................................................................20

6.5 Strategic options .........................................................................................................20

6.6 Ranking and selecting strategic options ......................................................................21

7. Implementation plan .........................................................................................................24

7.1 Marketing mix .............................................................................................................24

7.1.1 Product .................................................................................................................24

7.1.2 Price .....................................................................................................................25

7.1.3 Place ....................................................................................................................25

7.1.4 Promotion .............................................................................................................26

7.2 Action plan ..................................................................................................................29

7.3 Financial plan ..............................................................................................................30

8. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................31

References ...........................................................................................................................32

9. Appendix ..........................................................................................................................33

9.1 The Milky Holland Brand Identity .................................................................................33

9.2 Financial plan ..............................................................................................................34

9.3 Promotion material ......................................................................................................36

9.4 Critical self-reflection ...................................................................................................39

9.5 Evaluation company supervisor ..................................................................................41

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1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction This research is part of the fourth year from the course Commerciële Economie at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and was assigned by Senel & Co.

1.2 The commissioning company Senel & Co. is a family owned Dutch trading company located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Their partners are producers and processors, institutions, importers and distributors all over the world. Since its incorporation, Senel & Co. has developed into a trading partner for food and beverages and currently operates on 4 continents. Their main product used to be dairy, but that changed. Senel & Co. has set up a subsidiary company under Senel & Co. Holding B.V., called Milky Holland which has taken over all of the dairy activities from Senel & Co. However, instead of focusing on all of the dairy sections, Milky Holland focuses on two specific niche products: evaporated milk and condensed milk. These products are imported from different suppliers all over the world, labelled as Milky Holland and exported as a Dutch brand.

1.3 Problem identification

1.3.1 Research motivation International dairy prices have plummeted due to increased global milk production, lower import demand, the Russian ban on imports of dairy products from several major producers, and a strengthening dollar. This precipitous drop was particularly evident in the price of whole milk powder (WMP) which after lingering at around $5000/ton fell sharply by over 50 percent since January 2014 and are now reportedly trading as low as $2300/ton FAS.

Figure 1: milk production summary for major exporters

(Service, Diary: World Markets and Trade, 2014) As stated above in figure 1, international dairy prices have plummeted resulting in low to none margins which is not profitable for Senel & Co. As said by the owner of Senel & Co. “if you have an own brand, you can ask for a higher margin” (Senel, 2015) thus coming up with the idea of starting a subsidiary together with two partners. The reason they have decided to only focus on evaporated milk and condensed milk is because these are niche products. According to Hakan Senel, the owner of Senel & Co., “the prices of dairy products such as milk are constantly changing, choosing evaporated milk and condensed milk has a reason. These niche products undergo a process before they can be sold and products that undergo a whole process of making, have a more stable price flow. For Milky Holland, we want to become specialized in these two products instead of choosing the whole market.” (Senel, 2015) Furthermore, Senel & Co. Holding B.V. has already decided on which market Milky

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Holland shall focus on: the Middle East and North African countries (MENA from now on). The reason this market has been chosen is because “the biggest markets are not an option. Russia has a ban on imports of dairy products and China is too difficult of a market to introduce a new product such as evaporated milk. We want to focus on a market where milk is a tradition and where the climate does not allow for them to produce dairy themselves.” (Senel, 2015) Customers Milky Holland does not have any customers yet, as they are a new company. They are focusing on MENA countries, so their customers will be from those countries. Any inquiries about dairy that goes to Senel & Co. shall be forwarded to Milky Holland, thus old customers from Senel & Co. shall go to Milky Holland. However, Senel & Co. did not yet have any customers from the MENA countries, which is their target group. Their dairy customers were mainly from Russia and China, but these are not customers anymore.

1.3.2 Hypothesis research Senel & Co. has taken on a new challenge by dropping all of their dairies activities in order to set up Milky Holland. Senel & Co. will continue their trading, except in dairy. Milky Holland is the subsidiary company of Senel & Co. Holding B.V. As a company with a new brand, Milky Holland will be faced with challenges as they will have to promote their brand to their potential customers in the MENA countries. This requires research on how to enter that market and how to promote their brand. In order to be successful, a good strategic marketing plan has to be made with a proper marketing and branding strategy. After the research report, the advice report shall have the following content:

How does the dairy market look like in the MENA countries? Which MENA country/countries is/are the most attractive? How should Milky Holland enter this/these MENA market(s)? Which positioning tools and communication tools are necessary for this?

1.3.3 Main Question How should Milky Holland enter the MENA market successfully with their products and create brand awareness among the people in the MENA countries?

1.3.4 Goal The goal is to reach a volume of 12 containers1 – 62 for Saudi Arabia and 6 for United Arab Emirates – in 2016 and a volume of 20 containers – 10 for Saudi Arabia and 10 for United Arab Emirates – in 2017 and in 2018, 30 containers. Thus, in 2016 the market share in Saudi Arabia should be around 0,50%3 and in United Arab Emirates 0,75%4.

1.4 Research Goal To gain insight in the MENA markets and to identify the opportunities for Milky Holland.

1The total amount of products is then: 705.600 (see appendix 9.2 for more details) 2 The total amount of products is then: 352.800 (see appendix 9.2 for more details) 3 Total volume (as seen in research report) is: 80,844,000 and goal volume is: 352.800, thus 352.800 / 80,844,000 x 100% = 0,44% (see appendix 9.2 for more details) 4 Total volume (as seen in research report) is: 46,544,000 and goal volume is: 352.800, thus 352.800 / 46,544,000 x 100% = 0,76% (see appendix 9.2 for more details)

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2. Research Questions and Research Method 2.1 Sub-questions Research area 1: Internal Analysis

Research question: Who is Milky Holland and what do they do?

Sub-question 1: What is the mission and vision of Milky Holland?

Sub-question 2: What are the products of Milky Holland?

Sub-question 3: What are the target groups of Milky Holland?

Sub-question 4: What is the service that Milky Holland provides?

Sub-question 5: What strategy does Milky Holland implements?

Sub-question 6: Which communication tools is Senel & Co. currently using? Research area 2: Market Analysis

Research question: How does the market look like?

Sub-question 1: What are the important factors from the macro environment?

Sub-question 2: Which country/countries are most attractive for Milky Holland to enter?

Sub-question 3: How does the condensed- and evaporated market look like in the chosen countries?

Sub-question 4: What are the branding trends? Research area 3: Competitor Analysis

Research question: Who are the competitors?

Sub-question 1: Who are the competitors of Milky Holland?

Sub-question 2: Which services and products do these competitors offer?

Sub-question 3: What is their aim and objectives?

Sub-question 4: What is their strategy? Research area 4: Potential Customers

Research question: Who are the potential customers?

Sub-question 1: Who are the potential customers of Milky Holland?

Sub-question 2: What do potential customers expect from Milky Holland?

Sub-question 3: What do potential customers find important in the MENA market?

Sub-question 4: What do potential customers find important in a brand? Research area 5: Advice

Research question: Which strategic options result from the research? Sub-question 1: What is the current starting point? Sub-question 2: How can Milky Holland best approach the MENA market? Sub-question 3: What branding strategy should Milky Holland use? Sub-question 4: Which communication tools should Milky Holland use?

Research area 6: Implementation

Research question: Which aspects are included in the operational marketing plan? Sub-question 1: What does the implementation process look like? Sub-question 2: Which costs are associated with the operational marketing plan? Sub-question 3: What is the planning for executing the operational marketing

plan?

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2.2 Research Method In order to answer the main question, several research methods have been used. These shall be explained below in table 1.

Table 1: Research method

The next page shows what qualitative research has been held and how it has been conducted. The goal of this qualitative research was to retrieve more information about the market and the potential customers. I have deliberately not chosen for surveys, because in order to get a valid research, the amount of surveys that would have to be filled out would have been impossible to reach. Also, the data needed for this research is qualitative, thus interviews were the best way to retrieve information. The method of the secondary research has been described in chapter 3, called ‘theoretical framework’ while the most important research results have been described in chapter 4.

Areas Sub-research Primary/Secondary

Models/techniques

Interview/Survey

1: Internal analysis

Mission, vision and goals and products Milky Holland

Primary/Secondary

Deskresearch, interview

Interview with Mr. Senel/website Milky Holland

Communication tools Senel & Co.

Primary/Secondary

Marketingmix Interview with Mr. Senel/website Milky Holland

2: Market Analysis

MACRO environment

Secondary PESTLE analysis Deskresearch: database HvA

Dairy market Secondary Deskresearch database HvA

MENA market Primary/ Secondary

Country analysis, phonecall

Deskresearch and interview with a MENA market expert

3: Competitor Analysis

The competitors, their services and products

Secondary Competitoranalysis/benchmark

Deskresearch: websites competitors

Communication tools competitors

Secondary Deskresearch/marketingmix

Deskresearch: website competitors

Who are the potential customers

Primary/Secondary

Interview and deskresearch

Interview with potential customers

4: Potential customers

Expectance potential customers and importance

Primary Phonecalls Interview with potential customers

Importance in dairy market

Primary Phonecalls Interview with potential customers

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2.2.1 Qualitative research: Middle East market Milky Holland chose to enter the MENA market. After conducting the country analysis, it became clear that Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are the best countries to enter for Milky Holland. They have no experience with these countries and they have not done any research about it, thus making it a new market for them. Aside from the desk research, it is important to know the current market with help of a Middle East expert who does business with them in dairy. Two interviews were held with two different companies: Arla Foods and Hoogwegt International, both dairy suppliers. The interviews were semi-structured, took around 30 minutes and were mainly about four subjects. These subjects are:

General view of dairy in the Middle East (specifically Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) It is important to find out how companies in the Middle East view dairy in order to promote these products.

Current trends in the Middle East (specifically Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) While some trends have come forward in the PESTLE analysis, the Middle East experts have more information about these trends as they are in the country themselves and they are doing business with the businesses in these countries

The advantages and disadvantages of doing business with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The PESTLE analysis has also brought forward the fact that Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are both a high context country, which is different compared to The Netherlands which is a low context country. Cultural differences are important to consider when doing business.

The distribution channel in these countries As Milky Holland will be the supplier and exporter, it is important to know how the distribution channel looks like in these countries. Also, Milky Holland needs to know how the importers/distributors work and what the best way is to approach them.

More questions came forth during the interview.

2.2.2 Qualitative research: importers/distributors in SA and UAE The target group of Milky Holland are importers/distributors in Saudi Arabia (SA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Thus, it is necessary to find out what they do and how they work. This became clear by conducting interviews with the potential customers of Milky Holland located in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Three interviews have been held with potential customers, two with companies from Saudi Arabia and one with a company in The United Arab EmiratesBelow are the main subjects:

What do you do exactly? This is always important to know to get a general view of what the potential customers are doing.

Buying process This is specifically important information, because the buying process deals with suppliers which Milky Holland is part of. By asking about their buying process, information about how they buy, from where they buy, whether they import dairy, how they decided when to import from a supplier etc.

Co-operation The goal for this is to retrieve information about the kind of co-operation they have with suppliers, what kind of contracts they offer and what they are looking for when working together.

Sales process Getting to know about their sales process means retrieving information about how they sell, who their customers are in order to find out how long their distribution channel is, on which channels they sell and whether suppliers have a say in their distribution channel.

More questions came forth during the interview.

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3. Theoretical Framework

3.1 The models In this chapter, the models that have been chosen for the research shall be explained in terms of what this model is and how it is implemented in the report. Treacy and Wiersema model What: The theory of this model is that it is impossible to be good in everything and no single company can stand everything for their clients (Muilwijk, Treacy Wiersema value discipline model, 2014). It is important to offer unique value by having foresight into demand, and that can only be done by focusing on a certain area. This model describes three strategies: operational excellence, product leadership and customer intimacy. In order to focus on one strategy, the other two strategies should also be on a sufficient level. How: This model shall be used together with formulating the 0-option and three other strategic options. It will provide suggestions for strategies combined with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to choose the best option. Marketing mix What: marketing mix is the combination of instruments that an organisation can use for fulfilling its marketing strategy (Muilwijk, Marketing information, 2013). It is often practiced by marketers in implementation of a formulated strategy and can therefore form an important component of the marketing plan. The following P’s are used in the research: product, price, place and promotion. How: the marketing mix in the advice report has been revised compared to the marketing mix in the research report. The implementation plan has been based on the improved marketing mix. SWOT analysis What: The SWOT analysis is a conclusion of the research from the internal- and external analysis. The external analysis shows the opportunities and threats while the internal analysis provides the strengths and weaknesses (Rustenburg, de Gouw, & de Geus, 2007). How: The SWOT analysis is an important tool in the thesis as it will be used to conclude the most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to create a confrontation matrix which shall be described below. Confrontation matrix What: The confrontation matrix helps analysing the company its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) (Frambach & E, 2009). The framework allows combining opportunities with the strengths to generate advantages for the company, opportunities with weaknesses that could generate a disadvantage for the company. Furthermore, it also researches threats with the strengths to see whether the strengths can overrule the threats and also the threats with the weaknesses to see what major disadvantages the company is facing. This way a correlation between the various options can be found to derive a company its strategic options. How: this matrix shall be used in order to help form the strategic options. These strategic options will be then analysed with the suitability, feasibility and acceptability analysis. These three factors are of great importance. Suitability is to see whether the option fits with the main subject and the company its objectives, feasibility to see whether the options are feasible and to what extent and as last, acceptability to analyse whether various stakeholders are in favour of the option and are supporting it.

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Brand identity What: Creating and managing a brand requires a brand strategy, at the heart of which is the brand identity, which provides direction, purpose, and meaning for the brand (Aaker & McLoughlin, 2010). A brand identity is a set of brand associations that the firm aspires to create or maintain, an aspirational external brand image. The brand identity can best be explained in terms of three steps: 1. What the brand stands for; 2. The core identity; 3. The brand essence Why: Milky Holland wants to create brand awareness with their name, thus a brand identity has to be created first in order to promote the brand internally and externally. This model shall be used within the implementation plan under the section ‘product’.

3.2 Reading guide MENA countries – A region encompassing approximately 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (LLC I. , 2015). The MENA region accounts for approximately 6% of the world's population, 60% of the world's oil reserves and 45% of the world's natural gas reserves. Due to the region's substantial petroleum and natural gas reserves, MENA is an important source of global economic stability. The following countries are typically included in MENA: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. After some research, Malta will not be included in the MENA region, because it is a European country (Union, 2015). Dairy – Milk, or products made from or containing milk (Dictionary, 2015). Margin – The minimum return that an enterprise may earn and still pay for itself (Dictionary T. F., 2015). It is also the difference between the cost and the selling price of securities or commodities. Evaporated milk - Evaporated milk or dehydrated milk is manufactured in such a way that allows the milk to remain good for a long period of time after its production (BV, Evaporated milk, 2015). The term evaporated milk comes from the process of reducing the water quantity in fresh milk by 60%. Condensed milk - Condensed Milk is a type of milk which has all its water content removed (BV, Condensed Milk, 2015). The most popular type of condensed milk comes in the sweetened form. Also known as Sweetened Condensed Milk (SCM). Niche product – A good or service with features that appeal to a particular market subgroup (Dictionary B. , 2015). A typical niche product will be easily distinguished from other products, and it will also be produced and sold for specialized uses within its corresponding niche market. Persian Gulf region – Also known as just Gulf region, contains an estimated 50 percent of the world’s oil reserves and thus plays a strategic geopolitical role (Corporation, 2015). The countries in the Gulf region are: Iran, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq. High context countries - High context culture means that they use and interpret more of the elements surrounding the message to develop their understanding of the message (Hollensen, 2011). In these countries, the social importance and knowledge of the person and the social setting add extra information, and will be perceived by the message receiver.

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4. Research design In the research report, several choices have been made. An insight on how and what has been researched is therefore necessary in order to provide justification per element.

4.1 Justification desk research

4.1.1 Internal analysis The internal analysis has been made with the information that has been provided by the website of Senel & Co., the website of Milky Holland and Hakan Senel (the owner of Senel & Co. and co-founder of Milky Holland) himself. The information gathered from these sources have made it possible to conduct a proper internal analysis.

4.1.2 MACRO environment The MACRO environment of the MENA countries, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have been researched with help of the PESTLE analysis. The information that has been provided for this analysis, was gathered by conducting desk research with help of the several databases of HvA.

4.1.3 MESO environment The MESO environment has been analysed by conducting desk research and field research. The country analysis has been conducted by information from several external sources. The condensed- and evaporated milk market has been researched with help of databases of HvA, as well as the branding trends. The information for the competitor analysis has been retrieved through databases of HvA and by visiting the competitors’ websites. Lastly, Porter’s five forces model sums up the whole MESO analyses by tackling different factors in this environment. Data for this model came from other sections of the MESO analysis.

4.1.4 Potential customers The needs of potential customers and insights on how they work has been retrieved by conducting interviews with them. The potential customers are importers, distributors and traders.

4.2 Justification field research

4.2.1 Qualitative research The field research that has been conducted was qualitative research with Middle East and North Africa countries and potential customers of Milky Holland. The potential customers are importers, distributors and traders. The interviews have been conducted to provide insight on the needs of the potential customers and how they do business. The potential customers have been approached by e-mail and by giving them a phone call. The better approach was by phone call, as they were more willing to work when hearing about the story by phone. The interviews were about thirty minutes and have been conducted by phone, as the experts and potential customers were all in different countries – Hoogwegt International was in Germany, Arla Foods was in United Arab Emirates and potential customers were in either Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates. The problem that came forth with trying to interview potential customers were that most of them were busy and then made an appointment, but they did not answer the phone when being called back on the date and time agreed on. Which was the reason why the amount of interviews conducted were less than originally planned.

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5. Conclusions from the analyses After having conducted interviews with Middle East experts, potential customers and analysing the internal and external environment of Milky Holland, a big amount of results came up. These results shall be explained by answering the sub-questions.

5.1 Conclusions from the external analysis Sub-question 1: Which country/countries are most attractive for Milky Holland to enter? By researching the MACRO environment of the MENA region and conducting a country analysis, it became clear that the most attractive countries for Milky Holland to enter are Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Sub-question 2: What are the important factors from the MACRO environment? There are a lot of different kinds of opportunities and threats that came forward when analysing the MACRO environment in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The most important are that Islamic values, behaviours and practices should be respected; both are a high-context country; and United Arab Emirates is one of the biggest producers of waste in the Gulf region Sub-question 3: How does the condensed- and evaporated market look like in the chosen countries? Evaporated- and condensed milk are both the highest segment in the category ‘other dairy’, they had by far the highest sales by volume. When researching this market, a couple of important opportunities and threats came forth such as: both markets are price-sensitive; there is a need for bigger size packs in both countries; in Saudi Arabia domestic manufacturers fare better because they can offer a better price; and small grocers experienced problems such as losing staff or shutting down while condensed milk is highly dependent on this channel. Also an important trend is that flavoured condensed milk is a growing market segment. Sub-question 4: What are the branding trends? There is a new branding, called Muslim Futurism and Islamic Branding which target branding on the Muslim market as the Muslims in the world are growing. Shariah values are very important when it comes to branding in Muslim countries and the appetite for value-empathetic brands suddenly faces exponential increase. In the research, it says that there are two different macro-groups within Muslim consumers and six different segments within those two different macro-groups. When branding, it is important to consider these segments. Furthermore, there is a specific role for branding in the Islamic future: brands must inform, educate, reassure the consumer about the highest levels of product quality through innovation; a brand is a relationship at an emotional level: brands should be their friend; active engagement with Islamic values throughout every element of the marketing mix, and beyond; rules matter, but intention matters more. Sub-question 5: who are the competitors? The most important competitors of Milky Holland are National Food Industries Co., Almarai Co., Royal FrieslandCampina., and Nestlé SA. When comparing these companies: National Food Industries Company and Almarai Company are both companies from Saudi Arabia; the oldest company is Nestlé SA while the newest is National Food Ingredients Co.; NFIC and Almarai both mention low prices for their products; all the four companies focus on quality Nestlé SA and FrieslandCampina both focus on nutritious food. When looking at the market sizes these companies have, there can be concluded that these are the big players in the market.

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Sub-question 6: who are the potential customers? The potential customer are mostly importers, distributors and trading companies. Potential customers mostly have the same expectations such as good shipping and good service. What they also mention is trust, which is probably one of the main things that Milky Holland should focus on: building trust, because they highly value trust and relationships with their suppliers and customers, which is why they find it important to meet with a company face-to-face before doing business with them. Without meeting them, it is hard to trust a company without a face you can put on. Importance in a brand are: good price and high quality of products.

5.2 Conclusions from the internal analysis Sub-question 1: What is the mission and vision of Milky Holland? To become one of the biggest, qualitative dairy brands in the MENA region by providing the best service to their clients. Their vision is to become a respected dairy brand in the MENA region. However, they have never done business in the MENA market yet, so they do not have any experience in this. Sub-question 2: What are the products of Milky Holland? Milky Holland has two products they are focusing on, which are: evaporated- and condensed milk. These are niche products. They are not the standard dairy product, as they can be used for a lot of other things. Sub-question 3: What are the target groups of Milky Holland? The target groups of Milky Holland are importers/distributors, traders and agents. These are the only target groups, because these companies/people know how to promote and distribute the products to wholesalers, retailers etc. and they know how to promote the products. The most important target group are the importers/distributors. Sub-question 4: What is the service that Milky Holland provides? Milky Holland serves as the exporter from The Netherlands. The customer has the possibility to inquire a different kind of evaporated milk, a customized one, and Milky Holland will provide it. They are customer-oriented and would like to keep their focus on being customer-oriented. They focus on good service, which means reliability, flexibility and the will to create valuable and long-lasting relationships with their suppliers and customers. Sub-question 5: What strategy does Milky Holland focus on? Milky Holland focuses on customer intimacy. They believe that providing good service to their customer should be the main priority. Their core values are: reliability, flexibility and the will to create valuable and long-lasting relationships with their customers and also their suppliers. Aside from the customer intimacy strategy, they do not have a clear sales strategy yet. Sub-question 6: Which communication tools is Senel & Co. currently using? Senel & Co. is using mostly online marketing, such as making use of website Alibaba.com. They mostly rely on their own website senelco.nl for attracting potential customers, to make this work they use Google Adwords. E-mail and telephone are important tools to keep in touch with customers and are also important ways for potential customers to reach Milky Holland. As can be seen, only online marketing is being used. They do not have experience in other kinds of marketing.

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5.3 Interviews with MENA experts Interviews with MENA experts were necessary in order to retrieve more information about the MENA market (specifically Middle East – Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates), aside from the desk research. The interviews were held with dairy supplier companies who are doing business with the region. Three companies have been interviewed and these are: Arla Foods and Hoogwegt. The interviews can be found in appendix 8.1. The most important conclusions are shown below:

Relatively strong players are constantly improving, thus making it difficult for newcomers to enter the market

Traditional packaging is still better, such as tins instead of sack The countries cannot produce enough milk themselves, thus there is a high need Many families consume a lot of fat, cream and butter while not being concerned about

their health Purchasing power in general is good Regulations are often changing In United Arab Emirates they have a price control business A strong trading orientation Be patient and reliable when doing business, gaining trust can take a long time; meet

them in person Gain their trust by servicing them well Trading companies are important, because they distribute to small grocers and kiosks

as well which is a big market Advertisement is really important in this region

5.4 Interviews with potential customers Interviews with potential customers were necessary in order to find out what their needs are, what they expect from a supplier, who their customers are and what kind of co-operations they have with suppliers. This information is useful for the advice which shall be given to Milky Holland about how to enter Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Three interviews with importers, distributors and traders have been held from Saudi Arabia and three with companies from United Arab Emirates. The interviews can be found in appendix 8.1. The most important conclusions are shown below:

Most importers, distributors and trading companies have a big network/distribution channel

Importance of a supplier: good and fast shipment of the products, need to know their background and most importantly a supplier you can trust

Importance of products: high quality and a good price Different companies have different policies of working together, the most important

thing is to meet with them and discuss Some companies do marketing, others not, thus it is important to check that first Most companies prefer to meet in person, usually at fairs but visits at each other

companies are also much appreciated Be honourable, trustworthy and reliable, then a company is more willing to work with

you. What can you offer your customers Conclusion from the field research The interviews have given a good view about the market in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. When comparing the desk research with the interviews, most of them had the same conclusions and outcome. About how the condensed- and evaporated milk market is in these countries, how they conduct business and level of competitiveness. All in all, enough information has been given in order to continue with the rest of the research.

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6. Confrontation matrix The confrontation matrix helps providing the strategic options, which will form the recommendation. This will be further elaborated in chapter 6.6 while the implementation plan can be found in chapter 7. Due to the nature of this thesis, the report has taken into account only the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that were the most relevant for this report.

6.1 SWOT analysis The table below presents the complete overview of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that were gathered from the research in the previous chapters. The next section will incorporate these into a confrontation matrix to link the strengths with the opportunities and threats and to link the weaknesses with the opportunities and threats to generate four strategic options. Strengths Weaknesses

S1. Experience in dairy S2. Customer intimacy: providing good service S3. Customizable products

W1. No experience in the MENA market W2. No clear sales strategy yet W3. Has only experience in online marketing

Opportunities Threats

O1. There is a need for bigger size packs in both countries O2. Potential customers highly value trust and relationships O3. Flavoured condensed milk is a growing market

T1. Both countries are price-sensitive T2. Small grocers experienced problems such as losing staff or shutting down while condensed milk is highly dependent on this channel T3. A lot of big players already in the market

Table 2: SWOT analysis

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6.2 Confrontation matrix

Strengths Weaknesses

1 2 3 1 2 3

Exp

erie

nce

in d

airy

Cu

sto

mer

intim

acy:

goo

d s

erv

ice

Cu

sto

miz

able

pro

du

cts

No

exp

erien

ce in t

he

ME

NA

mark

et

No

cle

ar

sa

les

str

ate

gy y

et

Ha

s o

nly

experie

nce

in o

nlin

e m

ark

etin

g

Tota

l

Op

port

unitie

s

1 Need for bigger size packs in both countries

0 + ++ 0 - 0 2

2 Potential customers highly value trust and relationships

++ ++ ++ 0 -- +/- 4

3 Flavoured condensed milk is a growing market

++ + + - 0 0 3

Thre

ats

1 Both countries are price-sensitive 0 0 0 - - 0 -2

2 Small grocers experienced problems and condensed milk is highly dependent on this channel

0 0 0 -- - - -4

3 A lot of big players already in the market

- 0 - -- -- -

-7

Total 2 4 3 -7 -7 -3 Table 3: confrontation matrix

The plusses and minuses have been discussed with Mr. Senel.

What is the current starting point? The SWOT analysis and confrontation matrix provide the current situation for Milky Holland. The most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (shown in table 2) together with the central problem form the current starting point. These are shown below. S2: Customer intimacy – providing good service S3: Customizable products W1: No experience in the MENA market W2: No clear sales strategy yet O2: Potential customers highly value trust and relationships O3: Flavoured condensed milk is a growing market T2: Small grocers experienced problems and condensed milk is highly dependent on this channel T3: A lot of big players already in the market

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6.3 Conclusion The confrontation matrix in table 3 shows that there are several factors which need to be taken into account when formulating the strategic options. Customer intimacy (S1) can be used with the opportunity that potential customers highly value trust and relationships (O2) and is also an important strength against the threat of the market already having a lot of big players (T3), this could improve their current weakness which is having no experience in the MENA market (W1). The second weakness of having no clear sales strategy (W2) yet can be improved by focusing on customer intimacy (S1), customizable products (S2) and facing the threat of small grocers experiencing problems (T2). At last, their third opportunity of flavoured condensed milk being a growing market (O3) could go against the threat of big players already in the market (T3).

6.4 Central problem Milky Holland faces big challenges as they would like to enter a new market in which they have no experience in at all. Their weaknesses show that a good strategic marketing plan is necessary in order to achieve their goals. The most important question that should be answered with this advice report, is how Milky Holland should enter the MENA market successfully. The research goal that should be answered after the advice and implementation plan is: “How should Milky Holland enter the MENA market successfully with their products and create brand awareness among the people in the MENA countries?” In order to conclude an advice, a couple of strategic options have been formed below with help of the Treacy and Wiersema value discipline model.

6.5 Strategic options Option 0 – Same strategy: Customer intimacy – S2+S3 This option means that the current activities of Milky Holland should stay the same. As they are a new company, they took over the activities within the dairy segment which Senel & Co. has been doing. Their strategy and marketing will remain the same, meaning that customers from all over the world who sees their website shall approach them via e-mail and only then a transaction shall be made. They will not enter the MENA market in order to use their budget for online marketing instead of entering a new market. With this option, their weak points shall not be improved, though their strengths shall be used thoroughly. Option 1 – Customer intimacy – S2+O2+W1+W2 Option one is customer intimacy combined with providing good service (S2), potential customers highly value trust (O2), no experience in the MENA market yet (W1) and no clear sales strategy yet (W2). This strength, opportunity and weaknesses helps provide a good strategic option to solve the central problem and answer the research goal. With this option, Milky Holland focuses on building close relationships with potential customers and making sure that they provide the service and attention that these potential customers need in order for Milky Holland to achieve their goals. With this option, Milky Holland should search for one potential customer in Saudi Arabia and one in United Arab Emirates first to focus on and provide good service. Too many customers are not an option at the beginning, because then Milky Holland will not be able to handle the many requests by the customers. It is thus important to meet with several potential customers to see what they can offer and once there is a good potential customer who supplies whole of Saudi Arabia and/or United Arab Emirates, then the implementation can be executed.

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Option 2 – Product leadership – S3+O3+W1 Option two is product leadership combined with customizable products (S3), flavoured condensed milk is a growing market (O3) and no experience in the MENA market (W1). This strength, opportunity and weakness helps provide a good strategic option to solve the central problem and answer the research goal. With this option, Milky Holland focuses on product leadership, meaning that they research the market, predict the trends and follow these. Such as the trend ‘flavoured condensed milk market is growing’, Milky Holland will work closely with their suppliers and invest in the production in order to supply Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates with different kinds of flavoured condensed milk. Thus the small, but growing, segment can be tackled. By investing in their supplier, and agreeing on a contract in which the supplier exclusively supplies them with the new products, Milky Holland will receive insights on the progress and they can provide their customers with high-quality products. Important with this strategic option is that Milky Holland should work closely with only one supplier. Option 3 – Operational excellence – W2+T2+T3 Option three is operational excellence combined with no clear sales strategy yet (W2), small grocers experienced problems and condensed milk is highly dependent on this channel (T2) and a lot of big players already in the market (T3). These weakness and threats helps provide a good strategic option to solve the central problem and answer the research goal. Operational excellence focuses on outstanding performance in operational processes. In this case, Milky Holland shall focus on working together with suppliers who offer them the lowest price they can get in order for the company to export them to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates with the lowest price they can offer. Also, Milky Holland should work closely with a shipping company in order for the goods to arrive on time and such. Important with this strategic option is that Milky Holland should work together with a lot of importers, distributors, and traders in both countries in order for the brand of Milky Holland to be distributed all over the countries. This means that every hypermarket, big supermarket, small grocers, kiosks etc. shall be covered.

6.6 Ranking and selecting strategic options The previous section outlined the possible strategic options for Milky Holland, this section will further elaborate on the strategic options by raking the options and choosing the most desired option(s). The raking was done based on three criteria’s, which are:

Suitability – whether the alternative fits with the main subject and MH its objectives

Feasibility – whether the proposed options are feasible and to what extent

Acceptability – whether there is enough support from various stakeholders The options were ranked with

numbers, from 1 until 10, in this case

a 1 is the least attractive while a 10 is

the most attractive alternative. The

strategic option with the highest total

shall be chosen for the

implementation plan. On the next

page, the strategic options shall be

discussed per segment.

The points in table 4 and comments on the next page have been discussed together with Mr. Senel. Table 4: strategic options analysis

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0. Same strategy: customer intimacy Suitability: In order for Milky Holland to grow as a brand, this strategic option is not an option because it basically means that they will operate the same as Senel & Co. Senel & Co. is not a brand: they are more focused on transactions as they export different kinds of brands. Milky Holland is a brand which needs to be promoted. This does not fit with the company its objectives. Feasibility: this strategic option is basically what Senel & Co. is already doing, thus making it highly feasible as they already have experienced in doing business like this. Acceptability: Milky Holland is a brand, unlike Senel & Co., and keeping the same strategy is not acceptable to the company as it is not the way to conduct business when having a brand. Creating and growing a brand needs a different approach and investment shall not go through when it is not being used on creating brand awareness. 1. Customer intimacy Suitability: this strategic option means that their strategy value ‘customer intimacy’ shall not change, but it does fit with the main subject and the company its objectives. This is because Milky Holland aims to create long-term relationships with their customers and build their brand together with them. Feasibility: this option is something which Milky Holland has no experience with, thus they will come across some difficulties. It is not an option which is impossible to do, however, but the amount of time and effort needed to be put into this strategy is high. Acceptability: since this option fits with the main subject and company its objectives, it is likely that this option will be accepted by the investor and by the people working for Milky Holland. 2. Product leadership Suitability: this option does not fit entirely with the main subject and the company its objectives, because the company is new and they would only like to focus on their two current products. Already investing in new products when the brand has not developed yet is not a smart option. Feasibility: investing in new products and trying to market them when other big brands are already doing it will provide difficulties, especially since Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates has no idea yet who Milky Holland is. Acceptability: investors will most likely not be fond of this option, as it does not focus on making the brand known first. 3. Operational excellence Suitability: this option does fits with the main subject and the company its objectives, because it focuses on distributing the products in as many places as possible in the two countries. When doing that, brand awareness shall also be created. Importers and distributors would like to receive the products on time, thus working together with a shipping company is a good choice. Feasibility: this option could provide some problems when importers and distributors are not willing to work together. Overall, this option is quite feasible. However, communication with suppliers, shipping company and customers need to be maintained constantly. Also, there is a risk that demand could be higher than the offer. Acceptability: it is an option which could be accepted by investors, however, the focus of a close relationship now lies on suppliers and shipping companies. It is possible that this focus will not receive much support.

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Recommended strategy The recommended strategy for Milky Holland to achieve its strategic objective: ‘to enter the MENA market successfully and create brand awareness’ lies on improving their strategy. Based on the strategic options laid out above in the previous chapter, the best strategic option is option number one. The key points that need to be integrated to reach the strategic objective are:

o Create a strong brand In order for Milky Holland to create brand awareness, they need to have a strong brand. With help of the branding model, this key point shall be integrated into the implementation plan. Together with the research findings, a good and strong brand can be formed and then promoted with help of the marketing mix.

o Approach and promote brand to potential customers After a strong brand has been created, it is important to find potential customers willing to work closely with Milky Holland and who is also willing to promote this brand throughout the countries of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. In order to approach potential customers, attending fairs is important, because a great amount of companies will attend as well. Another way to approach them is by e-mail and phone in order to set up a meeting. Marketing material has to be ready in order to present the brand well.

o Improve customer intimacy Customer intimacy is key in this implementation plan, which is why the customers’ wishes shall always be taken into consideration. In order to find out the customers’ wishes, constant contact via e-mail and phone is necessary. This way, communication plans that are planned to be executed in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates can be discussed.

o Growing the brand Next to improving customer intimacy, is growing the brand of Milky Holland. Important in this case is that the brand should be promoted to the end consumers in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. In the implementation plan, the ways of advertising shall be discussed.

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7. Implementation plan In this section of the advice report, the plan to implement the strategic option and key points described in the previous chapter shall be laid out. In order to carry out the strategic plan, an operational plan is needed, which shall be explained by using the marketing mix model. The version below is the improved version based on the key points needed to implement the strategic option. Afterwards, the planning and financials can be viewed as well.

7.1 Marketing mix

7.1.1 Product The products described in the marketing mix in the research report stay the same: evaporated milk and condensed milk. However, it is important for Milky Holland to work with suppliers who can offer them high quality products for a reasonable price. The people in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates find a good price important since the market is quite price-sensitive as has been concluded in the SWOT analysis. In order to gain the potential customers’ trust in the products, it is important to include all the information on the packaging. A halal logo should be on the packaging as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are both Arabic countries. As Milky Holland aims to create brand awareness, a brand identity has to be created. There are three steps in which to do so. All steps can be viewed in appendix 9.1. Below is The Milky Holland Brand Identity. The sentences below in figure 2 should be used in the marketing plan.

Figure 2: The Milky Holland Brand Identity

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7.1.2 Price A factor that came repeatedly in the research was price of the products. The market is quite price-sensitive thus the cost price should not be too high in order to offer a reasonable selling price and compete with the other companies. The margin that Milky Holland shall add on top of their buying price is 20%. The buying price per tin size (including packaging) is around $0,40, thus the selling price is $0,48.

7.1.3 Place Milky Holland has to import their product from their suppliers, which come from different countries. These suppliers offer one price for the products including the transportation costs. After receiving the products, they are labelled in The Netherlands. Once that process is done, the products are exported to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has one port while United Arab Emirates has two ports: Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Milky Holland should find one good importer/distributor in Saudi Arabia who covers the whole Kingdom and one importer/distributor in United Arab Emirates who distributes to the whole country. Approach and promote brand to potential customers In order to find the best importer/distributor in the two countries, Milky Holland should attend fairs in the food industry and especially fairs taking place in the Middle East. The fairs which Milky Holland should attend is:

Gulfood (Gulfood, Gulfood, 2015) Gulfood is the world’s biggest annual food and hospitality show, where there is an availability to source and select from an incredible global product showcase. There is an opportunity to network with thousands of industry peers and companies introducing themselves. There are almost 5,000 exhibitors participating from over 120 countries. Gulfood is held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in February 2016 and 2017.

SIAL (Paris, Main page, 2015) SIAL is the world’s largest food innovation exhibition, held in Paris in October 2016. SIAL Paris will showcase the food of today and invent the food of tomorrow. From retailers to importers/exporters to professional distributors will represent most of the visitors. For the 2014 exhibition, 155.766 visitors were recorded, 71% of whom were international visitors from 194 countries.

Gulfood is the first fair which Milky Holland should attend in the year 2016. Before attending the fair, Milky Holland has to search and contact all the importer/distributors and traders from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Call them and make an appointment for the Gulfood fair in order to meet. Twenty potential customers from Saudi Arabia and twenty potential customers from United Arab Emirates. After meeting at the fair and researching about the company, then Milky Holland should choose in total ten potential customers to visit at their companies. Three days should be spent at Saudi Arabia in order to meet the potential customers and three days at United Arab Emirates. At these companies, a presentation shall be given by Milky Holland and business shall be discussed. After the meetings, Milky Holland needs to choose one distributor from each country to work together with. In the section of promotion shall be discussed which marketing materials are necessary for the fairs and for the presentation.

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7.1.4 Promotion The promotion is the most important section of the marketing mix for this advice report, because it includes the branding part and how to approach potential customers and earn their trust. Below are the different actions which need to be taken in order for Milky Holland to successfully enter Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Building a strong brand In order to build a strong brand, awareness needs to be created. Which is why it is important for Milky Holland to have a strong presence on social media channels before the product will be distributed to the targeted countries and before they have met their potential customer. Facebook serves as the main social media channel in which the brand shall be promoted mostly. See appendix 9.3 for the promotional picture which shall be used in order to create awareness between the consumers of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The picture does not provide much info except for the fact that it says ‘Coming Soon’ in Arabic. This picture will be promoted by buying boosting the post of the picture. The timespan in which this picture shall be promoted is in the month of April, after attending the Gulfood fair and meeting the potential customers. See appendix 9.3 for an example of the Facebook advert. Aside from Facebook, Twitter serves more as an extra channel to promote the Facebook page and also to answer questions consumers have about the products. In the ‘product’ section, The Milky Holland Brand Identity can be found. These brand identity elements should also be applied on the marketing material. Below are the ways in which these elements should be applied: To end consumers Bringing you a smile – this shall be used in the advertisements as one of the slogans for condensed milk, the focus shall be on baking Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates pastries with family and using this slogan Providing comfort at your home – this shall be used in the advertisements as one of the slogans for evaporated milk, the focus shall be on family getting together and drinking tea with evaporated milk with each other To customers A friend you can trust – this shall be used in the brochure as well as on the business cards to give to the customers of Milky Holland, to let them know that they are not simply suppliers, but more than that Quality with great taste – this is also a line which shall be communicated to importers/distributors and on the website of Milky Holland

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Creating marketing material One of the most important parts of the implementation plan is to promote the brand to potential customers, because they will distribute the products in the two countries. Which is why Milky Holland should create marketing material in order to present themselves in an attractive and professional matter. A couple of things have to be created for fairs and for holding presentations at companies:

- A brochure This brochure will contain information about Milky Holland as a company itself and will serve as an extra business card to give to potential customers at fairs in order to be remembered. Information about the brand, such as what values Milky Holland wants to express, which products they offer and what nutritional values the products have shall be included in the brochure. An example of the brochure can be found in appendix 9.3.

- Banners for fairs Using banners will make the stand of Milky Holland catch attention compared to using nothing. When potential customers visit the stand, they will remember the logo and slogan used for business-to-business promotion: “The brand and friend you can trust.”

- Samples of the products offered By offering samples to potential customers, they can taste and test the quality of the products and trust Milky Holland more as a brand and their supplier. In an interview with one of the potential customers, they mentioned that one of the things they require from a potential supplier are samples because they only work with qualitative products.

- Newsletter The newsletter shall be implemented after doing business with customers. The newsletter will provide information about the company of Milky Holland and its brand; especially about how the brand is growing and what actions the company shall take in order to keep the brand growing.

Building long-term relationships Once Milky Holland has found the distributors to work together with, their main focus should be on building long-term relationships. With help of the ‘tips for building long-term client relationships’ article from Forbes (Authority, 2013), the keys to building long-term relationships with importers/distributors shall be described below. There is no such thing as over-communicating In order to have a good relationship with a customer, it is important to always keep them up-to-date on any changes or when the goods shall arrive at their port, for example. Information which is not urgent is best to send via e-mail and customers could choose whenever to read it. A good way to keep them informed about how the brand is growing, is to inform them via a newsletter. Be honest at all times As mentioned a couple of times during the interviews, the companies in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates highly value trust. In order to gain trust, it is important to be honest to them about the company its plans. Always meet your deadlines In one of the interviews with a potential customer it has been mentioned that they sometimes have problems with their current suppliers, because the products arrive late. This is an important matter which Milky Holland should avoid by communicating well with their customers and suppliers, but also by working together with a good shipping company.

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Reward your loyal clients In order to show clients that Milky Holland values their relationship, they should send gifts. For example, after the month of fasting (Ramadan) is over and Muslims are celebrating ‘id-al-fitr’ Milky Holland will send them a gift for their celebration. They should also send them a gift when Milky Holland has been working with them for one year, an anniversary gift. For the ‘id-al-fitr’ gift, Milky Holland shall send them sweets (such as typical Dutch syrup waffles) with a card, wishing them a happy celebration. The anniversary gifts will be products which their customers can use, for example teacups (in which they can drink tea with Milky Holland’s evaporated milk) with the logo of Milky Holland on it. These kind of gifts are simply products that they use at the office or at home, yet it has a friendly feeling to it, which is what Milky Holland would like to express with their slogan ‘a friend you can trust’. Have a vision of partnership When the relationship between Milky Holland and their customer is going well, it is necessary to communicate this to them as well. Creating a partnership, such as a joint venture, makes two businesses grow into something better and Milky Holland should therefore give their loyal customer the feeling that they are always open for more. It will help the importer/distributor, because they will be the exclusive distributor of Milky Holland in that specific country, and it could be a big stepping stone for Milky Holland, because the importer/distributor will focus more on creating brand awareness for the Milky Holland its products. Thus, an important opportunity. Creating brand awareness When working with importers/distributors, Milky Holland should help with offline advertising in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Not every importer/distributor does the marketing for brands, thus Milky Holland should find one who does do that and help them by giving money for advertising. Milky Holland should hire someone who will design the advertisements. This person is a freelancer and works only for Milky Holland when a design for an advertising campaign is needed. In the first year, Milky Holland should only focus on billboards, advertisements on trucks and in-store posters. The importers/distributors have experience with marketing in those countries and should, thus, create the communication plan with Milky Holland’s support. The advertisements should be created by Milky Holland by hiring a freelance graphic designer. In the second year, Milky Holland should let the importers/distributor hire a company to create a TV commercial which will be used for that entire year. When Milky Holland has more profit in the next years, different kinds of commercials should be made.

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7.2 Action plan

When What Who

January 2016 Make appointments with potential customers attending Gulfood fair

Sales manager

February 2016 Attend Gulfood fair and meet 40 potential customers

Mr. Bengtsson and sales manager

March 2016 Visit Saudi Arabia (SA) for three days and meet top five potential customers

Visit United Arab Emirates (UAE) for three days and meet top five potential customers

Mr. Bengtsson

April 2016 Decide on one potential customers in each country

Discuss business and order two containers

Post promotional picture on Facebook and boost post for a month in SA and UAE

Mr. Bengtsson

Sales manager

Mr. Caglar

May 2016 Marketing communication plan starts (advertisements)

Products distributed in SA and UAE

Customers and Mr. Caglar

July 2016 Send gifts for customers for their ‘id-al-fitr’ in celebration of Ramadan

Special communication plan in celebration of Ramadan

Mr. Bengtsson

Mr. Caglar

October 2016 Attend SIAL Paris to meet potential customers

Mr. Bengtsson

April 2017 Send one year anniversary gift

Create TV commercial

Mr. Bengtsson

Importers/distributors

June 2017 TV commercial played in both countries

Importers/distributors

2017 and further

Continue the same policy with potential customers and loyal customers

Milky Holland

Every quarter of the year

Distribute newsletter to suppliers and customers

Mr. Caglar

Table 5: action plan for implementation plan

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7.3 Financial plan This section shall focus on the financial part of the implementation plan. The implementation costs have a main focus on marketing and all of these costs can be found in the table below. All the prices listed below are in US dollars.

2016 2017 2018

Both countries Both countries Both countries

Revenue 338.688 564.480 846.720

Costs 318.240 530.400 795.600

Total 20.448 34.080 51.120

Investment 20.000 20.000 20.000

Total income 40.448 54.080 71.120

Gulfood Dubai 10.776 13.344 -

SIAL Paris 10.750 11.800 -

Company visits 3.000 3.000 3.000

Marketing materials

Brochure 285 285 285

Banners 60 - -

Samples 2.000 2.000 2.000

TV commercial making - 5.000 10.000

Advertising

Designer 1.000 2.000 2.000

Advertisements 10.000 20.000 20.000

Social Media 2.000 2.000 5.000

Gifts for customers 300 600 1.000

Total 80.619 60.029 43.285

Income - expenses -40.171 -5.949 10.795 Table 6: financial plan for the upcoming three years

Revenue is based on selling 12 containers with a price of $0,48 per tin and costs are $0,40 per tin

Exporting the products is also part of the costs5 In 2018, Milky Holland shall not attend any fairs, because by then they already would

have a loyal customer base Milky Holland will have a loss in the first two years, but will regain it in 2018

See appendix 11.2 for the full explanation of the financial plan.

5 Shipping costs requested by Maersk via phone call

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8. Conclusion The research report and this advice report provide an answer to the main question of this research, which can be viewed below:

How should Milky Holland enter the MENA market successfully with their products and create brand awareness among the people in the MENA countries?

By creating a SWOT analysis and confrontation matrix, four strategic options (including the zero option) were formed. These options were analysed by their suitability, feasibility and acceptability. Strategic option one in which the focus is customer intimacy was concluded to be the best strategy. By changing the marketing mix of Milky Holland, advice has been given on which actions to take. Recommendations The most important recommendations from the implementation plan is to create a strong brand by always implementing the Milky Holland Brand Identity in the communication plan towards customers and end consumers. Milky Holland should approach importers/distributors by attending fairs in which they should promote their brand with help of brochures and banners. Another important recommendation is to work on building a close relationship with customers by regularly keeping contact with them, working together on the communication plan for both countries and to send them gifts in order to show appreciation for the work relationship. Last, but not least, the marketing materials are necessary tools in order to create brand awareness both online and offline, which is why hiring freelance designers is important to create good and attractive designs that can express Milky Holland’s Brand Identity.

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References Aaker, D. A., & McLoughlin, D. (2010). Strategic Market Management. Chichester: John

Wiley and Sons Ltd. Authority, N. -T. (2013, April 25). Tips for building long term relationships. Retrieved from

Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/04/25/tips-for-building-long-term-client-relationships/

BillionBibles. (2015). Sharia Law. Retrieved from Billion Bibles: http://www.billionbibles.org/sharia/sharia-law.html

BV, M. H. (2015). Condensed Milk. Retrieved from Milky Holland: http://milkyholland.com/condensed-milk/

BV, M. H. (2015). Evaporated milk. Retrieved from Milky Holland: http://milkyholland.com/evaporated-milk/

Chipman, S. (2015, February 16). Business Technology. Retrieved from CRMSwitch: http://www.crmswitch.com/business-technology/important-advancements-business-tech/

Corporation, R. (2015). Persian Gulf Region. Retrieved from RAND: http://www.rand.org/topics/persian-gulf-region.html

Dictionary. (2015). Dairy. Retrieved from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dairy

Dictionary, B. (2015). Definition Niche Product. Retrieved from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/niche-product.html

Dictionary, T. F. (2015). Margin. Retrieved from The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/margin

Frambach, R., & E, N. (2009). Marketing strategie. Groningen: Noordhoff Uitgevers B.V. Gulfood. (2015). Gulfood. Retrieved from Main page: http://www.gulfood.com/ Gulfood. (2015). Stand Prices. Retrieved from Gulfood:

http://www.gulfood.com/Content/Stand-Prices Hollensen, S. (2011). Global Marketing. In S. Hollensen, Global Marketing: a decision-

oriented approach (pp. 237-238). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. LLC, I. (2015). Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved from Investopedia:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/middle-east-and-north-africa-mena.asp Muilwijk, E. (2013). Marketing information. Retrieved from Intemarketing:

http://www.intemarketing.org/marketing-information/marketing-mix Muilwijk, E. (2014). Treacy Wiersema value discipline model. Retrieved from intemarketing:

http://www.intemarketing.org/marketing-information/marketing-models/treacy-wiersema-value-discipline-model

Paris, S. (2015). Main page. Retrieved from SIAL Paris: https://www.sialparis.com/ Paris, S. (2015). My Calculation. Retrieved from SIAL Service:

http://services.sialparis.com/plateforme/do/dp/simulationDemandeParticipation?operation=init&idTypeDemande=3&ID_SELECTED_BOUTIQUE_INIT_SESSION=1001522

Rustenburg, G., de Gouw, T., & de Geus, A. W. (2007). Strategische en operationele marketingplanning. Houten: Wolters-Noordhoff.

Senel, H. (2015). About Milky Holland. (S. Gaffar, Interviewer) Service, F. A. (2014). Diary: World Markets and Trade. United States Department of

Agriculture. Union, E. (2015). Member countries. Retrieved from Europa: http://europa.eu/about-

eu/countries/member-countries/ Young, M. (2010). Muslim Futurism and Islamic Branding. Warc.

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9. Appendix 9.1 The Milky Holland Brand Identity 1. What the brand stands for First, a set of 6-12 distinct associations that are desired for the brand have been formed. These items were then grouped, and each group was given a label. The labels are the bold words.

A friend you can trust

Quality with great taste

Providing comfort at your home

Bringing you a smile

Trustable High-quality Happiness Fresh look

Friend Perfect texture Comfort Cheerful

Reliable Delicious Family

Nutritional Table 7: associations with Milky Holland

2. The core identity The second step is to prioritize the brand identity elements. The most important and potentially the most impactful ones are classified as core identity elements. These elements are the primary drivers of the brand-building programmes. The balance of the elements are termed the extended identity. They serve to help define the brand, make decisions as to what actions and programs are compatible with the brand and drive minor programs that will have lesser impact and take modest resources. Core identity: ‘A friend you can trust’ and ‘quality with great taste’ Extended identity: ‘Providing comfort at your home’ and ‘bringing you a smile’ 3. The brand essence The brand essence is the single thought that captures the heart of the brand. The purpose of an essence is to communicate the brand internally. Therefore, the brand essence of Milky Holland is: “Commitment to successful – a qualitative brand, which consumers can always rely on’

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9.2 Financial plan

2016 2017 2018

Both countries Both countries Both countries

Revenue 338.688 564.480 846.720

Costs 318.240 530.400 795.600

Total 20.448 34.080 51.120

Investment 20.000 20.000 20.000

Total income 40.448 54.080 71.120

Gulfood Dubai 10.776 13.344 -

SIAL Paris 10.750 11.800 -

Company visits 3.000 3.000 3.000

Marketing materials

Brochure 285 285 285

Banners 60 - -

Samples 2.000 2.000 2.000

TV commercial making - 5.000 10.000

Advertising

Designer 1.000 2.000 2.000

Advertisements 10.000 20.000 20.000

Social Media 2.000 2.000 5.000

Gifts for customers 300 600 1.000

Total 80.619 60.029 43.285

Income - expenses -40.171 -5.949 10.795

Revenue and costs has been calculated the following way: - The buying price per tin = $0,40 - The margin is 20%, thus $0,08 making the selling price $0,48 - Assuming 12 containers will be exported = 705.600 (see figure 3 to see how many tins fit in a container: 2.450 x 24 = 58.800) - Revenue = 705.600 x $0,48 = $338.688 - Costs = 705.600 x $0,40 = $282.240 In 2017, 20 containers are assumed to be sold and in 2018, this amount is 30 containers.

- Shipping costs around $3000 per container6

6 Costs received from Maersk by phone call

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Costs for the Gulfood fair have been calculated with help of the website of Gulfair (Gulfood, Stand Prices, 2015). The website shows the prices of a stand: $642 per sqm. There has been chosen for 16 sqm. Costs for stand = 16 x $642 = $10.272 + $504 = $10.776 Hotel = $300 (with help of Booking.com) Travel = $690 (with help of Skyscanner.com) Other expenses = $300 budget Costs for the SIAL Paris fair have been calculated with help of their website (Paris, My Calculation, 2015). The total price for a stand: $10,000. Hotel = $300 (with help of Booking.com) Travel = $150 (with help of Skyscanner.com) Other expenses = $300 budget

- Brochures have been calculated with help of cewe-print.nl - Banners have been calculated with help of bannershandel.nl - Costs for making a TV commercial has been estimated. In year 2016, only one type

of TV commercial shall be made for both countries while in the next years, more TV commercials shall be made (f.e. one especially for celebrating id-al-fitr) and thus more money shall be spent on advertisements in 2017 and 2018 compared to 2016

- The amount for advertisements and social media are an estimated budget for both countries together

- The designer costs are estimated by hiring a freelancer who will be hired for five times in a year (2016) for designing advertisements and the other years the designer will be hired more often

- The costs for gifts for the consumers increase every year in case Milky Holland acquires more customers

Figure 3: amount of sweetened condensed milk tins in a 20feet container

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9.3 Promotion material Facebook ‘Coming soon’ picture

Facebook advert

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Brochure Page 1:

Page 2:

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Page 3:

Page 4:

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9.4 Critical self-reflection Senel & Co. is a trading company, which is the kind of company that I have never worked for. Therefore, it was a challenge to do research in the market of agriculture products (which is what they were importing and exporting) and especially in the market of evaporated- and condensed milk. I started out with a different kind of research and main question, which is stated in my plan of approach. This research was about entering a new market with Senel & Co. in order to grow. However, in the middle of my research I came to the conclusion that the research was too broad and I also got stuck. After talking to my company supervisor, he told me about the new company and that he would rather have a research about how to enter the Middle East and North Africa with evaporated- and condensed milk. I found that research more interesting, thus I discussed it with my school mentor and he gave me a go, to which I immediately started my research from the beginning. In the end, I could say that it really was a challenge to do another research. Time restriction did not allow me to create a complete plan of approach and this was one of the things that I felt was necessary in the end. A plan of approach is a good guideline and planning to conduct the research. Without it, I sometimes felt lost in how to conduct further research. It made me realize how important a plan of approach is. For several projects we had to create a plan of approach, but I always felt like it was not really necessary. Realization has struck me now. The use of theory and models was something which provided difficulties in the beginning, because we were always being taught to use the standard models (such as DESTEP, Porter’s Five Forces Model, Ansoff model, Treacy and Wiersema) which we are familiar with. However, it has been recommended to use other models as well. This was something I found difficult, because using other models which were new to me could be risky. More guidance in this could be useful for students in the future. Conducting field research about Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates proved to be difficult. I contacted many companies in order to conduct interviews by telephone and only several responded to help. However, some did not pick up the phone nor answer my e-mail even though we made an appointment. When conducting phone interviews, the respondents from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates all had a thick accent, which made it hard for me to understand them, but I still managed most of the times. I had one experience with a potential customers who rather had contact via Whatsapp and after asking a couple of questions, he became suspicious and asked for a photo of me because he wanted to know who he was talking to. This was something that I found odd, because when talking through the telephone you also never know who you are talking to. I still managed to receive the answers to my questions and then deleted him from Whatsapp. The reason I agreed to add him to my contacts, was because I experienced at Senel & Co. that many customers prefer to talk via a social app such as Whatsapp or Viber. Communication is sometimes difficult for me as I prefer to do things by myself. It is only in the last couple of weeks when I realized that it was necessary to keep a good communication between myself and my company supervisor and school mentor. The company supervisor provides information about the company and market while the school mentor guides you through your research process and gives advice. I have learned that it is alright to ask for help when needed, because even at the end of my course I can still learn a lot from other people who have more experience than me. About the competences, I have noticed that I am not actively busy with this on a daily basis. Certain situations require for you to improve on your competences, it is not something I

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actively search for to improve. There are certain competences which are more interesting to me than others and which I, thus, like to improve further. I have found that I like market research a lot, especially collecting data and information by desk research. Another competence I like a lot is marketing communication. This competence is what I have always liked, especially when writing the implementation plans for several projects in the past and also for the advice report for this research. All in all, the whole process of my thesis proved to be a good learning experience. I know my strong points, and my weak points in order to improve myself. After staying at Senel & Co. for five months, I know that it is not my environment to work at later. I would prefer to work with different products and to work at a company whose main focus is marketing and communication. I did my previous internship at a company which was focused on marketing in the entertainment world (in that company it was the theatre business) and I have learned about myself that I prefer to work in such an environment. After more than four years at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam, I know that I have improved personality-wise and I have learned a lot about being a Junior Business Consultant. All of the things I have been taught are planted in my mind and will provide a solid stepping stone for my future career.

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9.5 Evaluation company supervisor