TEST 1

In this programme, were going to look at international marketing: specifically at the way
companies develop and implement international marketing plans.
International businesses are now faced with considerable challenges. How do they clearly
explain the brand values of their products to a global audience? Do products that have
been created in one country need changing to achieve successful adoption in other
countries? Does international advertising work?
These are questions being tackled by all the major multinational companies around the
world today.
Sony Entertainment Robot, Europe manufactures and markets the AIBO, a robotic dog.
This is not a toy; its a real robot, packed with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence.
We spoke to Wallid Norris, marketing manager for Sony Entertainment Robot, Europe,
about the importance of marketing in a modern multinational company, and how Sony
develops and implements its own international marketing strategies. First, however, lets
find out about the key features of the AIBO brand.
Wallid: The AIBO brand is really a totally new concept. No ones ever come up with an
entertainment robot. The AIBOs really the first ever commercialized entertainment robot
and its all about entertaining companionship and over time, more and more functionality
in terms of digital lifestyles, so, one example is AIBO can connect to the Internet,
download MP3 files, play them back, dance along this is really the idea of the AIBO
brand.
How important is marketing?
Wallid: Good marketing is important. Its a fundamental for a business to survive and to
grow in the competitive environment were in. And marketing is really all about
communication with the customer and building a relationship with that customer which
will hopefully lead to a sale.
How does Sony develop its marketing plans?
Wallid: The international marketing plans for Sony products are really developed based
on customer surveys, so really trying to understand who the customer actually is, and
really creating the whole marketing strategy around that - seeing what information
sources they use, whether its the web, whether its magazines or newspapers really
trying to build the marketing around that, and then going further and working on the
positioning of the product and then working on the distribution strategy as well. Where
should Sonys products be sold? Is it on the high street? Is is on the web? What kind of
marketing mix is necessary to achieve that? And all that is really developed from the base
of a customer survey. Thats really the most essential, Id say.
What techniques do you employ to implement the marketing plan?

Wallid: We try to use all the latest technologies in communication and all the various
channels which are available to us. So, on the one hand, we use the media. So when, for
example, when a new product is coming out, well have a press release, maybe organize a
press conferene to inviting journalists from a particular country or from across Europe
to represent and demonstrate the new product. So thats on the PR side. Then in terms of
marketing communication, again trying to use the latest technology in terms of web
marketing, designing web pages which will give a teaser or a good insight into the
product. In store, theres a lot work done in store to communicate on new product, new
brochures, etc. And then with TV commercials as well. All the above the line techniques,
like the TV, radio adverts, print adverts, those channels are also used. We tend to go for a
big bang approach so well try to ensure that press and the PR announcements, the
product launches are really done simultaneously, so on the same day across the world.
Thats really to try and capture as much exposure, as much momentum as possible around
the product launches.
In Europe the implementation of the marketing strategy is done by, essentially by the
European headquarter. The strategic thinking is really coming from this department and
then by working with the local sales companies, which are essentially Sony companies
based in the various European countries, they will execute, they will implement the
marketing for each Sony product.
How does marketing into different countries affect the marketing mix?
Wallid: Essentially, the Sony brand has a global outlook. Its a very strong brand and in
the development of the brand there may be some subtle differences in each area but that
is done more to be able to comply with the local culture, wording, the language that has
to be used, but the essential Sony brand, that is the same across the world.
How do you use e-marketing?
Wallid: E-marketing is a very interesting tool that we use in our marketing mix. In terms
of the communication, in terms of building a relationship with our customers, we use email marketing really to develop the knowledge the customers need to maybe purchase
an AIBO. So, for example, we have monthly AIBO newsletters where well have product
news, information about AIBO events and also customer testimonials to share the
experience of AIBO users with the market. So e-mail marketing is essential to our
communication and this really fits into our website theres really a lot of crossover
between the e-mail and the information that can be found on the website.
How do you use relationship marketing?
Wallid: The idea of using non-paid ambassadors is really trying to capture the enthusiasm
and the passion of these owners. In tersm of the AIBO, the best person to talk to you
about an AIBO is really the owner himself. Hell be able to tell you about the life of the
product, the experience, some funny anecdotes so capturing the owners experience is
second to none, its a massive boost to our marketing. Every three to four months in each

country we organize an AIBO community event, a Club AIBO event where owners and
fans, AIBO fans from across the country will converge and really have a fun afternoon
together discussing the product, organizing competitions arount the product, and races
AIBO races and games and quizzes. Its really a great way to stimulate this community
and although we let the community organize their own events, were always present in a
certain way where we use these events to get feedback from customers, product ideas
and really develop a close relationship with them. This is very essential as far as Im
concerned.
How do you gauge the success of your marketing plan?
Wallid: Measuring the success of marketing plan is again listening to the customer, so we
with our community marketing were really able to judge if our actions are having a good
impact or a negative one. So were very often listening in to the forums and actually
participating to see what the discussions are and see the level of satisfaction. Another
measure of our marketing plan success is the sales, of course.
TEST 2
Successful business, is all about relationships: good relationships within the business
organization, good relationships with suppliers and good relationships with customers.
Get any one of these elements wrong and they all suffer. Sales go down, staff morale
drops and everyone loses.
In this programme, were going to see how one company successfully manages all three
types of business relationship.
Office Angels is a recruitment consultancy. They supply around 7,000 temporary staff
and 9,000 permanent staff per week to a whole range of different industries around the
UK. Their success is a result of the quality of the relationships they have with their own
employers, their clients who are looking for staff, and job applicants that they place in
work.
In a recent survey, Office Angels was ranked in the top ten Best companies to work for.
It was found that employees like each other more at Office Angels than at almost any
other company in the survey.
We asked their Managing Director, Paul Jacobs, to tell us about the secrects of creating a
happy workforce.
How do you promote good business relations within Office Angels?
Paul: Its a fun environment at Office Angels. Its a very competitive environment;
unquestionably our people are sales people, and theyre driven by targets. So they work
hard and they want to play hard as well. Every year, for example, we have a huge awards
dinner at Christmas time. We also take our top teams away abroad every year to fantastic

locations and celebrate their successes with them. We have incentive schemes going on
all round the year. We have flexible benefits that we offer our staff too, so they can trade
holidays for CDs if they want. And we spend a lot of time working with people, keeping
them happy. The longevity of our staff in our branches has a direct link to the success of
our business. The longer our staff stay with us, the more customers will keep coming
back. And one thing we know is that customers hate change; so if theyre talking to the
same consultant year in year out, theyll constantly come back. If there are a lot of
changes, then theyll take their custom elsewhere.
So keeping our people happy is an absolutely essential ingredient in the success of our
business. And were always looking for ways and means and novel ideas to make people
smile at work.
I think the thing about Office Angels with 90 branches and 600 staff spread around the
UK is to try to keep people informed, to get buy-in from staff. So, internal
communication is absolutely critical. If our people believe firmly in what were trying to
do; if they understand the targets and the goals the culture of our business, and they buyin totally to that, then because its fragmented, I can trust them to go out and spread the
good word amongst our applicant base and our customer base.
How do you promote good business relations with your customers?
Paul: I still believe very firmly in the adage that people buy people. And I believe very
firmly in getting out staff, my people, my colleagues in front of our customers. In the
end its not going to be the case that a customer will use Office Angels, although the
name over the door is a super brand name; people know our name very well, were
regarded as the best-known consultancy in the UK. More importantly its about our
customers believing and trusting the people that theyll be dealing with in our branches.
And I dont believe you can do that by telephone conversation alone or electronically via
e-mail. I really think it comes back to the old-fashioned method of getting in front of the
customer, spending time with them, really understanding who they are, what theyre
about and understanding much more about the organization and only then in my
opinion will a customer pledge to use us.
I believe that our customers like the people that they deal with in out business, they know
them because we make massive efforts to get to know our customers. We constantly see
them; we speak to them regularly; we are genuinely interested in their business and
genuinely interested in getting the right people that seek our help to find them permanent
work or temporary work and so a combination of all the elements around us are the
reasons why I believe customers come back to us over and over again. Plus our people
love working for Office Angels and the one thing that customers will understand very
well is sincerity and when they talk about loving working for us, if they dont believe in
that, then the customers will see through it. The fact is they do love working for Office
Angels; were regarded as one of the best employers in the country to work for and that is
something that our staff feel to the core of their being. So I think that comes through;

enthusiasm always sells and ultimately I think people use us because we are passionate
about what we do.
How do you see business relationships developing in the future?
Paul: Were a company that prides itself on its internal promotion opportunities. We have
great people working for us. We have to provide them with opportunities to develop their
careers. And opening new branches and developing our branch network if a great means
of captivating our employees and giving them opportunities to open their own businesses,
not only for their own benefit, in terms of their personal growth, but to the benefit of the
business too. Obviously we want to continue to develop our client base. We provide
7,000, 8,000 temporaries a week. We would hope to double that inside the next four to
five years. We place 9,000, nearly 10,000 people in permanent work a year. Again we
would like to double that by the next four to five years. And that well achieve through
the development of our network over that period of time. I think the futures very rosy for
the company. We are an organization that has embraced technology but we havent lost
sight of the fact and never will lose sight of the fact that customers want to deal with a
real live human being and I think thats a very important element of our business, the fact
that we employ compelling personalities, the kind of individuals that our customers want
to talk to time and time again.
TEST 3
Whether youre a business supplier, a consumer or a company carrying out business
transactions electronically, the online world is now part of all our lives. Many businessed
have tried to develop online, and some have succeeded. Originally it was thought that
online businesses had to be organized and run in a totally different way from traditional
types of business. But recently its been discovered that to be successful online requires
many of the traditional skills: strong marketing, quality products and excellent customer
service.
Since it was launched in 1995, Amazon has become the biggest online retailer in the
world, with a customer base of over 10 million. The company has revenues of over $4
billion, growing by more than 20% a year.
And yet many e-businesses have failed. We spoke to Kes Nielson, Senior Vendor
Relations Manager for Amazon UK, about what makes a successful e-business.
What type of company is best suited to trading online?
Any company can trade successfully online as long as it retains an absolute focus on the
needs of the customer. So, to be successful online you have to identify a real need and
address that need and relentlessly focus on it. Expertise is useful. Being prepared to
innovate and being at the forefront of technology, all these things are important, but
ultimately answering customers needs is the key to trading successfully online.

How has Amazon remained a successful e-commerce company?

Kes: For Amazon, though, the key elements that made us successful in year one are really
still the things that are making us successful ten years later. And thats really all about
great value for customers and convenience. The change has just been in just how much
content and how fast we can get that to customers and so things like digitization of books
and searchable text, video content streams online all these things have made the
Internet a much more pleasant, enjoyable and enriching experience for customers.
What is the key challenge for Amazon in the future?
Kes: The key challenge for an e-commerce company like Amazon is living up to the
promise that we make on our site. We have hundreds of thousands of titles on the site
where on a daily basis we are promising customers that we will dispatch them within 24
hours of receiving their order. And hundreds of thousands of times every week those
customers are reveiving items through their letter box or on their doorstep because weve
worked extremely hard throughout our supply chain with suppliers and with our own
logistics people and with our delivery partners to ensure that we have a very, very smooth
networking for living up to the promise that we make on our site and thats really where
weve managed to achieve what we have in the last ten years and stay there where so
many others have failed.
What benefits does e-commerce offer the customer?
Kes: What we really try to do is create a tailored experience which is something
completely different to what you can get from a high street shopping experience. And
thats absolutely crucial for us and we regard it as one of our key, unique propositions
really, as a retailer. So we will e-mail customers based on their preferences that theyve
demonstrated to us through previous shopping habits. And were able to be very, very
targeted about that. And we understand, based on a customers history with us, that we
can predict very, very accurately what it is that they might want to buy from us in the
future, and we know from all the research that weve done that thats something that
customers really, really do appreciate and enjoy from Amazon.
How much physical infrastructure does an e-commerce company need?
Kes: We dont require a huge amount of infrastructure. Our store we only have one
store its online, its on a server, its not on the high street. What we really require is a
little bit of office space, a lot of server space and some very big warehouses. And
currently in the UK we now have three warehouses weve just opened a third to cope
with our expansion into some of the heavier product lines, consumer electronics and
some of those non-media product lines.
What sort of people use your site the most?
Kes: We aim to appeal to everybody, whatever background, whatever economic status,
and certainly whatever age group. And the beauty of Amazon, and the beauty of e-

commerce is absolutely that it can do that in a very, very personal way, and that the
shopping experience is different for everybody who joins us and the kind of things that
they will see, the kind of products that they will see, will depend on their habits when
theyve shopped with us in the past. Everybodys interested in price. Everybodys
interested in getting the products that they want easily, conveniently and at the best
possible value. And in that way I think we have a real advantage over traditional high
street retailers who perhaps are pinned down to a particular demographic or a particular
area of town or a particular brand. And we can really be everything to all people.
TEST 4
Many businesses see attentive, personal customer service as key to their business success.
Any dialogue with a customer can potentially improve that customers perception of the
company. Furthermore, treating your customers well and getting to understand their
needs can lead directly to more business.
A company in the UK banking sector that prides itself on its customer service is Halifax
Bank of Scotland, known as HBOS. Its success in a competitve market depends not only
on the quality of its products, but just as importantly on the quality of its service.
We asked Andrew Deighton, Head of Service for the telephone and Internet banking
division of HBOS, to tell us about the business and its relationship with its customers.
HBOS is a big business