Reaching Target Markets

Successful international growth requires the development of a strategic view of markets and an ability to manage alliances effectively, including agents, distributors and other channel partners. Companies such as the Kerry Group and the Irish Dairy Board have dominated Irish exports in the food sector for decades, while Glen Dimplex has become a market leader in the international electrical appliances sector. Global computer sector giants like Dell and Intel have been successful for many reasons but primarily due to their ability to effectively manage international expansion out of their production base in Ireland.

Successful Irish exporting companies have fully accepted and embraced the new dynamics of international growth. They no longer confine themselves to selling in adjacent or primarily English-speaking markets. If they can offer a cost-effective solution to a customer’s need then they sell anywhere. Whereas historically, a customer would be concerned about buying from a supplier thousands of miles away, today that is no longer the case. In recent years, the internet has dramatically lowered barriers to international growth, making it possible to access customers in many different countries in a short time.

“Go-to-market” strategy is a term often used in the US to describe the strategy of reaching customers through multiple marketing channels. It is a simple concept that looks at trying to exploit many ways of reaching the customer. The options for reaching new markets and customers are ever increasing for firms based in Ireland and are principally:

• Direct selling through your own staff in the market
• Representatives
• Agents
• Brokers
• Franchisees
• Catalogue resellers
• Internet auctions and shop-fronts
• Distributors
• Systems Integrators
• Value-Added Resellers (VAR)
• Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)
• Private Label Resellers