Pretty nice, huh?
Standardized strategy to enter the Swedish market
The Swedish market is very similar to Finnish market, so large-scale adaptation is not necessary. However, there has to be a slight level of adaptation in regards of the language and the currency in Sweden: The Pöllöt website has to be made available in Swedish and English (currently only in Finnish), and the prices of the sunglasses have to be shown also in Swedish krona (currently shown only in euro).
The main focus when entering the Swedish market is doing slight product innovation according to the customer questionnaire – extending the product catalogue with new models and colors and providing customers with different customization possibilities. These can also increase sales in Finland, so it is a development focus in the Finnish market as well.
Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning
- Segmenting: First, the target segment is urban people who constantly follow the latest fashion trends. When the company gains a foothold in the market, the customer segment can be widened accordingly.
- Targeting: People who use social media and read blogs. It is important to note that in the Nordics, the fashion blog culture has mainly started in from Sweden, so it can be assumed that Swedish people follow fashion blogs actively if they are interested in fashion.
- Positioning: We first start small with the objective to gain market share especially in the quality sunglass segment. The main driver for Pöllöt is the affordable price of their sunglasses and differentiation from “mainstream” quality sunglasses with their customization possibilities and environmentally friendly materials.
PESTLE and market analysis
In our market analysis, we concluded that the Swedish optical industry is similar to the Finnish one, though twice as big. Same rules apply for the seasonality of sunglasses as well as for the market share of them as products. We also found nothing threatening in our PESTLE analysis of Sweden: political, economical, social, technological, legal, and environmental situations are all very similar to those in Finland. In short, we can say that whatever works in Finland, works in Sweden too.
Aims & objectives in Sweden
The first aim, even before entering the Swedish market, is to create word-of-mouth buzz and make the Pöllöt brand known also in Sweden. The objectives for entry are to begin sales to the Swedish markets and try to gain retail and blog partners for further development of sales. The easiest way to start this internationalization is to translate the Pöllöt.fi website content into Swedish and make international delivery possible.
Brand strategy & product portfolio
There is no reason why Pöllöt should not introduce their full product portfolio to the Swedish market, especially when sales are mostly done online.
Before entering the market, it would be important to have the customization possibilities available. These laser carving and "design your own Pöllöt" options should be in the front line of the brand strategy, complementing the delivery of the main values: quality, environmental friendliness and fun.
Although percieved to be a fun and informal brand like it essentially is, it should be emphasized that Pöllöt sunglasses can also be used in a formal events. According to our customer survey, formal events were the least popular situations for using wooden sunglasses. However, this is not and unprecedented thing to happen and marketing models of other brands that have encountered similar problems, such as Havaianas, could be studied as examples of how to tackle this issue.
After careful consideration, we conclude that the brand name does not have to be changed or modified, because in our opinion, it represents the Scandinavian origin beautifully and the letter Ö is used also in Sweden. Moreover, Ö is internationally recognized as a "cool" Scandinavian letter; for example, there are stores in Japan that are named in Finnish, like Ehkä Söpö ("maybe cute") and Otan Tämän ("I will take this"). It is worth mentioning that if Pöllöt enters the Norwegian market some day, the local design of the name could be customized with the Norwegian equivalent of Ö: Pølløt!
Key messages & communication tools
The key message we would like for the company to deliver to the customers is that Pöllöt is a unique Scandinavian brand and first wooden sunglass brand on the Scandinavian market. The main attributes of the Pöllöt brand, which are quality, environmental friendliness, and fun, should also be emphasized.
The main objective in communication channels is to use mainly online resources, because of the limited financial resources at the moment. A general picture of the ways to market online and the different options are presented below.
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| Simplified online marketplace map (Mayer, Chaffey, Johnston & Ellis-Chadwick 2008, 54) CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| Online communications tools
(Mayer, Chaffey, Johnston & Ellis-Chadwick 2008, 314) CLICK TO ENLARGE |
Social media platforms are by far the most important tools for Pöllöt. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram should be updated often. This is line with our interview with Pöllöt owners, who stated that they would like to hire one employee to be in charge of the social media updates and responses to customers. When internationalizing, communication should be in different languages, so establishing different Facebook/Twitter/Instagram pages for different countries should be considered. The other options are to start posting updates in different languages or post all updates in English.
Fashion bloggers are another key tool for Pöllöt to create word-of-mouth advertising; by sending a pair of sunglasses to a popular fashion blogger and requesting a post about them, large numbers of target customers can be reached.
Increasing the amount of visibility in Google by using keyword searches is also vital. Getting Pöllöt website and Facebook page into top ten search results for searchwords like "wooden sunglasses" can improve the amount of visitors and thus brand awareness drastically.
Creating a LinkedIn profile and using the service as a tool for networking with other professionals on the fashion business can do wonders for Pöllöt, but also improve the ability of people to follow the actions they take. Through LinkedIn the company could gain more visibility in the professional community, and the main point of a LinkedIn profile is that the company would be recognized as a fashion company that is an active part of the professional community.
Customer interaction can be improved by updating the webpage in such a way that it is easy for customers to contact Pöllöt in case of complaints or questions. The FAQ should be comprehensive and an adjacent contact form should be created, and they should be easy to find to maximize customer satisfaction.
Distribution channels
Because of the limited financial capital that the company has, the focus of marketing and sales should be to use channels that require limited amount of financial contributions.
As mentioned, it is a prerequisite for internationalization to have the website available in Swedish and English, so that the local customers can get further information about the product, company and sales.
To get a more in-depth contact with the main customer group, it is very beneficial to get in contact with the most popular fashion bloggers in both Finland and in Sweden. The company could deliver unique, customized Pöllöt sunglasses for the bloggers. Reinforcing especially the new attributes of customization at the Swedish market would be a great way of showing off the uniqueness of the products. This could create a word-of-mouth buzz and a "chain reaction" within the communities that are most into following current fashion trends.
When looking at the results from the customer questionnaire we conducted, one can clearly see that it is important to start the word-of-mouth information flow. After contacting the fashion bloggers we recommend the company to head for fashion events and try to establish relations with local eyewear retailers.
It is important that the customer has the possibility to order the product home and try on the glasses before making the purchase decision. As can be seen from our customer questionnaire, some people were hesitant in buying the sunglasses because they didn't have the opportunity to try them on first. The free return policy of 30 days should apply for international deliveries as well, and payment by invoice should be included in the payment options in Finland.
Conclusions & recommendations
With relatively easy adaptations and low costs, Pöllöt can enter the Swedish market, although there is still a lot to do before that can fully happen. The more difficult parts of the internationalization process, which are increasing sales and brand awareness, are heavily dependent on successful activity on social media platforms and the ability to establish partnerships with fashion bloggers.
Our top five priority issues before entering the Swedish market:
- Making Pöllöt.fi website available in English and Swedish
- Establishing international free delivery and free return policy
- Promoting products to Swedish fashion bloggers and creating word-of-mouth buzz for the brand in social media in other languages - this includes hiring an employee to be in charge of the social media updates
- Expanding product portfolio (new models and colors, corrective lenses, eyeglass frames) and making customization options available (e.g. laser carving, "design you own Pöllöt")
- Contracting local Swedish retailers and creating professional networks to establish connections within the industry
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| Pöllöt sailing to Sweden - Good luck fellows! |
