Alfamart brand communication on expansion retail business in the Philippines
Ashri Esy Fatria, Daniel Susilo, Rismi Juliadi Universitas Multimedia Nusantara
Received: 01-01-2023, Revised: 30-01-2023, Acceptance: 02-02-2023
Abstract
In a guideline, the global brand company is broadly positioned around the world. The application of a global brand ought to too be indivisible from the part of the branding and key communication that makes difference in companies entering global market. The global brand communication strategy used by Alfamart to deliver strong brand awareness to Filipino customer mind and made Alfamart's brand positioning as a super minimart that serves the community. According to the above exposures, Alfamart is considered a successful brand in Indonesia that expand its global retail business in Philippines since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is exciting research, Alfamart has not become the primary choice of minimart in the Indonesian market itself. It is also inseparable from the brand communication strategy used by Alfamart to build brand awareness in Filipino consumers' minds. This research method is case study, continuing to data analysis using the pattern matching of the informant insights and findings. The authors focus on describing the strategy of Alfamart Philippines to communicate its brand awareness in the community. The research findings are that Alfamart has expanded rapidly to open more than 1.200 stores since 2014 to help the community for jobs and serve groceries product especially frozen food as
"extended pantry" for underserved community in Barangay. Alfamart’s accessibility and brand positioning as super minimart for Filipino customers built strong brand awareness as a global brand from Indonesia.
Keywords: global brand, Alfamart Philippines, global business communication, brand communication.
INTRODUCTION
The global brand itself has a definition as a emblem that makes use of the identical call and logo, is recognizable, available, and conventional in numerous areas of the arena that proportion worldwide principles, values, positioning strategies, and advertising and across the world coordinated management (Steenkamp, 2017). Nowadays, many of companies compete in an more and more more difficult and complicated environment. Main
Vol 6, No 6 2022 Halaman 600 - 630
attention for alternate liberalization, advances in technology, communications, and infrastructure, and the growing convergence of patron tastes are riding businesses to combine emblem operations throughout borders and to pursue economies of scale. On the opposite hand, there are nevertheless deeply rooted cultural, administrative, political, and monetary variations among nations and areas that have an effect on neighborhood patron tastes, and countrywide protectionism, which require managers to take an extra custom designed method to run a globally increasing emblem business (Schlegelmilch, 2016). The various factors riding worldwide integration and neighborhood responsiveness suggest that businesses want to locate the proper stability among worldwide integration and neighborhood responsiveness if manufacturers are to excel (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
A brand wishes to be added via the call, logo, symbol, and provider merchandise offered, so each business enterprise should layout a emblem structure approach (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). Brand structure serves to make clear brand consciousness and some information and talk similarities and variations among character services and products. In addition, brand structure additionally improves brand image with the aid of using maximizing the switch of fairness among manufacturers and people to explore trial and repeat purchases (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). In constructing a brand structure approach, businesses want three essential steps (Kitchen &
Tourky, 2021):
1) outline the brand's ability in phrases of its "marketplace footprint",
2) perceive the product and provider extensions a good way to permit the brand to acquire that ability,
3) outline the brand and positioning factors related to the unique services and products for the brand.
Pursuing a conventional worldwide, multinational or global approach is not enough. Instead, executives want to shift to a transnational approach and expand the vital skills to control more than one and regularly conflicting- strategic objectives (Schlegelmilch, 2016). From a strategic advertising standpoint, this creates a few challenges. Companies want to combine advertising as a worldwide function, growing companies ready to seize understanding in one-of-a-kind elements of the arena and leverage it globally.
In addition, company headquarters should be touchy to the idiosyncrasies of its numerous markets and aid and control every of its various subsidiaries, in addition to its incorporated network. At the identical time, it has no longer forget about the strategic and managerial price that local systems can deliver to its organization (Schlegelmilch, 2016). Based on geographical proximity, marketplace similarity, and political, managerial, or value considerations, areas constitute a bridge among the pursuits and views of neighborhood subsidiaries and the worldwide headquarters (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
But after all, a global brand business strategy must have risks that arise. By relying on a global brand strategy, the management of an organization or company will become more complex, and the risk of misapplying a global brand can also destroy the value of the company (Steenkamp, 2017). In principle, global brands have more or less the same reputation around the world, if the brand is a luxury brand, it will be valued
globally. For example, the alcoholic beverage brand Heineken has a premium position in most parts of the world but is a mid-range brand in its home country (Steenkamp, 2017). For most global brands, the brand marketing mix is diversified to meet local needs and compete with local competitors (Steenkamp, 2017). For example, Coca-Cola soft drinks are sweeter in the Middle East than in the United States because Coca-Cola adapts to consumer tastes in each of its global expansion regions. However, the brand, logo, and packaging are similar around the world and consumers can easily distinguish Coca-Cola from its global competitors (Steenkamp, 2017). The issue is not logo uniformity, or rather, whether or not the company offers essentially the same product in its global expansion regions (Steenkamp, 2017). Another example is fast food restaurants such as McD that have successfully expanded globally in Indonesia and other Asian countries, only in McD Asia selling white rice because rice is the staple food of Asian people (Steenkamp, 2017).
The implementation of global brands should also not be separated from the role of branding and strategic communication that helps companies enter other countries. The branding process is the main key in every company or corporation's communication to market products through advertising (Schlegelmilch, 2016). The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as "a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers"
(Schlegelmilch, 2016)".
The widespread COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia has slowed down global business lines and forced businesses to rack their brains to survive the pandemic. Business people must also adapt to the limited mobilization that occurs during the COVID-19 pandemic, with policies in each country to carry out lockdowns. As explained in the infographic data below, it can be seen that almost all countries in Southeast Asia experienced an economic slowdown in the second quarter of 2020, only Vietnam survived with positive economic growth at 0.36%, while Indonesia's economic growth was at -5.32%. Then Malaysia recorded negative economic growth in the second quarter of 2020 at the deepest figure of -17.1% and was followed by the Philippines -16.5%, Singapore -13.2%, and Thailand -12.2%.
Figure 1. COVID-19 Taking Down Southeast Asia's Economy Source: (Jayani, 2020)
The lockdown policy has also hampered the distribution of retail goods as one of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For retail businesses to continue to run in the pandemic era, there must be a special business strategy as a form of adaptation to the lockdown policy. Many small retail stores find it difficult to switch to digital transactions, so the sales of these retail stores are declining. Meanwhile, retail industry businesses with large market capitalization such as department stores, supermarkets, and minimarkets can certainly also experience the same difficulties. However, in contrast to Indomaret's competitor, Alfamart, is quite good at maintaining its retail business amid the pandemic situation that has strangled various business sectors. Alfamart itself was able to survive the pandemic with a decrease in net profit at the end of the third quarter of 2020 with a fairly small figure of 1.85% when compared to net profit in the third quarter of 2019 (Hafiyyan, 2020).
This certainly raises many questions about how Alfamart managed to use a new business strategy to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, in the previous history from the 2015-2018 period, Alfamart's sales performance was always below Indomaret, as shown in the infographic data display from tirto.id as follows. The infographic can be interpreted that Alfamart in Indonesia has not become the main choice of retail minimarket brands. However, why did Alfamart in 2020 successfully withstand a decline in net profit compared to its competitor, Indomaret, which has always excelled in Indonesia.
Figure 2. Sales Performance of Alfamart Versus Indomaret 2014-2018 Source: (Gumiwang, 2019)
Meanwhile Figure 2 shows Alfamart's market share in Indonesia itself is still inferior to Indomaret's market share, which has dominated the minimarket retail industry since 2014. Figure 2 ilustrates periode from 2015 to 2018, Alfamart's sales performance has always been below Indomaret, for example in 2015 Alfamart's performance was at Rp 48.26 Trillion while Indomaret reached Rp 49.44 Trillion, then in 2018 Alfamart managed to score sales of IDR 66.81 Trillion and Indomaret IDR 73.37 Trillion (Gumiwang, 2019). One of the strategies revealed is the expansion of Alfamart outlets in Indonesia and neighboring countries (especially the Philippines). What attracts researchers' attention here is the expansion strategy of 1,000 Alfamart outlets which chose the Philippines as a global expansion area. The global market expansion strategy in Southeast Asia used by Alfamart is quite impressive because Alfamart has invested in the Philippines since 2014.
Alfamart's expansion received a positive response from the Philippines population so throughout 2020 Alfamart managed to open 1,000 new outlets.
The global brand expansion strategy used by Alfamart can make Alfamart maintain sales performance and net profit sustainably. This made Alfamart also win the award as the best retail business in Indonesia in 2021 for being able to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The condition of the Philippines in 2020 was also affected by the Covid- 19 pandemic, an economic slowdown also occurred in various business sectors as well as in Indonesia according to the katadata infographic above.
However, the Philippines welcomed Alfamart's expansion positively, even Alfamart there was able to serve the needs of fresh chicken according to Philippine market demand. Before Alfamart several convenience stores also expanded such as 7-Eleven, Ministop, Lawson, and FamilyMart, using the Japanese-style convenience store concept that provides seating for consumers to relax or chat.
However, the expansion of some convenience store brands has not received a positive response like Alfamart. This is because the local Filipino population prefers to shop at stalls or grocery stores near the house which Filipinos usually refer to as "sari sari" or supermarkets that provide various needs and are close to the residence at affordable prices. The existence of a gap between the convenience store and supermarket market in the Philippines, makes Alfamart carry a new concept of minimarket as a supermarket or referred to as a super mini market. Where Alfamart sells almost the various needs of Filipino families and enters remote areas of the Philippines (BMPLUS, 2020). At the beginning of the expansion in 2014, Alfamart entered into a joint venture cooperation with SM Corporation, which is a giant retail business corporation in the Philippines, so Alfamart dared to expand in the Philippines by opening 1,000 outlets (“Indonesia’s Alfamart to Expand Retail Footprint in the Philippines | Retail News Asia,” 2015). By carrying out a new concept, namely Alfamart's super minimarket in the Philippines, the public is facilitated to buy household goods close to the location of residence, for example, the target market in the city of Manila also responds to Alfamart's new concept quite positively.
Based on above explanations, Alfamart is considered successful in building a global retail business in Southeast Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic which is widespread throughout the world. In Indonesia, Alfamart is still the second choice for shopping at minimarkets from its competitor Indomaret during 2014-2018. However, in 2020, Alfamart was able to withstand a decline in net profit at -1.85% compared to Indomaret's net profit, which fell significantly by 80% amid the pandemic situation. This phenomenon raises researchers' questions as, to why Alfamart has successfully implemented brand communication in expanding its global retail business in the Philippines, while in the Indonesian domestic market itself, the Alfamart minimarket brand is still the second choice by Indonesian consumers. In addition, how Alfamart implements brand communication strategies to build strong brand awareness in the Philippines compared to other minimarket competitors.
The results of the interpretation of previous research related to this study are ten studies that are used as references with grouping based on title, problem, theory and concept, methodology, and research results. For previous research that uses the theme of brand communication. For example, the four previous studies examined the implementation of brand communication using social media, such as Facebook. Previous research examined the influence of social perceptions and Facebook on consumer attitudes towards brands, where the results of the study explained that high social perceptions lead to a higher sense of consumer relationship commitment to the brand, brand image affects consumer attitudes towards the brand, brand trust will arise from the mediation of consumer relationship commitment to the brand (Hammick & Ju, 2018). In addition, other studies also examine the effect of global brand distribution on the level of brand popularity on social media, where global brand promotion through social media is an effective tool in the international market (M. Y. Kim et al., 2019).
In addition, four other studies have been reviewed previously, and five other studies raise research topics interpreting brand communication
advertising content, such as how luxury brand communication differs from premium brands which include symbols and advertising rhetoric used by brands (Gurzki et al., 2019). Then one of the studies also explained the typology of brand communication advertising during the COVID-19 pandemic, by adopting lockdown regulations as a positive message to protect the public from the spread of the plague using images and advertising discourse (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2022).
Further research has also examined how self-related brand image impacts the effectiveness of persuasively framed advertising messages at different constructive levels (D. H. Kim et al., 2019). Then other research discusses a case study of the Apple brand advertising strategy that uses emotional narratives to influence Apple consumer behavior in the North American region (Luke & Emmett, 2021). Then another study explained the topic of brand communication and how consumer perceptions influence the brand authenticity of FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) products (Dwivedi
& McDonald, 2018). Strong brand authenticity is formed from brand marketing communications built by companies through an integrative perspective of consumers (Dwivedi & McDonald, 2018).
Furthermore, the researcher decided to narrow down the topics of previous research on brand communication. So, the researcher examined that most of the brand communication studies with global businesses answered the phenomenon of how to choose the right brand communication strategy to enter the global business environment, utilize the use of social media to build brand image or brand popularity, design advertising content with positive messages, examine consumer perceptions of product brand image. However, from previous studies, no one has raised the phenomenon of global brand success which is still the second or third choice in the brand's home country.
So, researchers want to raise the novelty of the phenomenon of Alfamart's brand communication that has successfully expanded to the Philippines and become a global brand with a sustainable business during the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the world economy (especially Southeast Asian countries) in 2020, when Alfamart is still not the first minimarket brand of choice for Indonesian consumers.
METHODOLOGY
Researchers use a post-positivistic paradigm approach using a qualitative approach. Researchers want to answer the formulation of problems regarding the phenomenon of the Alfamart brand which has successfully become a global brand with strong brand awareness in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Alfamart is still the second choice brand for consumers in Indonesia. So that researchers need research that can explain the answers to the formulation of the problem in detail and can provide a construct of social reality in the field of global brands.
The nature or type of this research is descriptive because it relates to the research objectives to be carried out by researchers, to find out the details of the application of brand communication (brand positioning, brand image, brand awareness, and Filipino consumer behavior). Alfamart is building a global brand expansion, while Alfamart has not become the number one minimarket brand in Indonesia. Researchers also hope to provide additional
understanding for companies that want to build a global brand, as well as help brand managers choose the right brand communication strategy at the global level and choose which country is right for global expansion.
Researchers used a case study research method by observing data collection from official website of Alfamart, online news article in Philippines, and social media (Facebook, Youtube, and Viber Messenger), conducting interviews with key informant and informant for 45-60 minutes online through the Zoom Meeting teleconference application. Researchers use key informant sharing session class about global brand marketing of Assistant Vice President Leasing, SM Corporation (business partner Alfamart Philippines), online interview Chief Operating Officer of Alfamart Philippines with Philippines Retail Association in Youtube and Filipino consumer informants, their experience and cooments has been analyzed in triangulation analysis. Researchers interviewed two Filipino female informants with different backgrounds of age, residence, marriage status, and profession, which are part of Alfamart Philippines brand communication research, namely:
1. Emmie B. Dalisay, Dean of Business Administration at the University of the East Philippines. She is a female informant in her 50s who is married and resides in a rural area called Batangas and every day she travels from home to the university where she works in the urban area. Thus, she was able to provide an opinion on the comparative facts of the differences in the expansion of Alfamart outlets in urban and rural areas of the Philippines. For preference of using digital communication media, informant Emmie still uses are Facebook and Email everyday.
2. Janet Ramos, Vice President of TaskUs (Outsorcing Business) and Doctoral Students of AUF Professional Schools. Janet Ramos is a female informant who is around 30 years old, still single, and works in a top management position and has a house in the downtown areas (Metro Manila). Also, Janet Ramos is a busy young woman working in two professions at once who actively uses a smartphone. So Janet has a digital savvy mindset to keep up with the development of digital media, especially the networking applications Instagram, Twitter, Viber, Whatsapp, and Snapchat. In addition, Janet also still enjoys reading printed newspapers to broaden her knowledge about current and credible news issues in the Philippines.
As for data triangulation, researchers reviewed Mr. Harvey Ong's interview with Philippine retail media broadcast on December 28, 2020, regarding his leadership experience for approximately 30 years and Alfamart's success in expanding in the Philippines despite the difficult pandemic conditions. Researchers also analyzed the Communication and Global Brand class meeting on November 24, 2022, which had the theme "Sharing Session about Global Marketing with Sheila Salamanca - SM Corporation Retail Group". Researchers want to get data that can support or rectify the results of interviews with Alfamart Philippines consumers, so researchers examine statements, points of view of thoughts, and opinions from the perspective of Alfamart Philippines companies and Alfamart Philippines' main business
partners. Below are details about each participant informant source that discusses Alfamart's global expansion from the perspective of Alfamart Philippines and Alfamart Philippines' partner companies:
1. Mr. Harvey Ong, Chief Operating Officer, Alfamart Philippines 2. Ms. Sheila Salamanca, AVP Commercial Leasing, SM Corporation
Retail Group- Alfamart Philippines' Business Partner
Based on the novelty of the research topic initiated by the researcher, the researcher used a qualitative approach with a case study method.
Researchers assume that in this way informant interview can provide ideas and thoughts about shopping experiences, consumer perceptions of brands, brand communication, and situation in Philippines.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As a result of interviews with informants, online data findings, and matching brand communication theory, there are some interesting findings observed by researchers. Alfamart does the right brand positioning as a super minimarket in the Philippines, where Alfamart sells the basic ingredients that consumers need. The products presented are also complete, there are even fresh chicken products, frozen meat products, ice cubes, rice, and family essentials need. Alfamart is the first retail brand to do brand positioning as a super minimarket because other competitors (7-Eleven, Ministop, FamilyMart, and Lawson) do brand positioning as convenience stores located only in big cities as the informant explanation. Perceived positioning clarity to underscore the credibility of the overall brand narrative against competing products. From a brand signaling perspective, brand positioning clarity refers to the clarity of brand-related information (Dwivedi & McDonald, 2018). This clear brand positioning is positively related to consumer perceived brand credibility, largely due to consumer belief that a brand that is willing and able to deliver the promised product sends a clear signal. The second method involves the mediation effect that brand communication articulates brand positioning, which in turn shapes brand credibility (Dwivedi & McDonald, 2018).
Consumers seem highly branded and can be very receptive to branded marketing communications. Consumer reviews of brand marketing communications help clarify brand positioning and influence brand credibility. The management implication of this indirect impact of brand marketing communications on brand authenticity is that investments to improve the positioning clarity median score are important (Dwivedi &
McDonald, 2018). According to the researcher's analysis, Alfamart does not compete with other convenience store brands because Alfamart's product differentiation and brand positioning are different. The law of consistency helps clarify brand positioning and promote what the brand stands for (Moin, 2020). A consistent brand message also helps create positive sentiment.
Brands must convey a consistent brand message and experience across all brand touchpoints. For this reason, some luxury fashion brands prefer to discard unsold items rather than put them up for sale (Moin, 2020). This helps you stay out of the short-term profitability trap and maintain your brand positioning. It turns out that current CEO Tim Cook follows the same
style as Steve Jobs while Apple launches new products. This allows you to provide a consistent message to your customers (Moin, 2020).
The main identifier of a product is a brand, because brand reflects the personality and positioning to communicate to the consumer. Brand ease consumer for distinguishing one product, service, manufacturer, or retailer from another. Building a strong brand to gain a sustainable competitive advantage over the long term (Martínez-López et al., 2016). It can make companies to increase the consumer loyalty, reduced vulnerability to competitor marketing communication, creating positive customer reactions cab increase profit margin business (Martínez-López et al., 2016).
Figure 3 describes for the research flow that Alfamart opens outlets to enter close to the location of community settlements in the Barangay area and sells all essentials need such as "sari-sari" stores with a more comfortable and modern shopping concept. "Sari sari" stores offer reasonable prices, flexible credit terms, sell a variety of basic consumer goods, and are often found on streets and neighborhood resident area (Gano-An & Gempes, 2020). Retail stores, popularly known as "sari sari" stores, are thriving in the Philippines.
Background:
Alfamart is considered successful in building a global retail business in Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is interesting to study, because in the Indonesian market itself Alfamart has not become the main choice of consumers to shop at minimarkets, such as Indomaret. However,
Alfamart has successfully expanded massively amid the difficult economic conditions of the Southeast Asian COVID-19 pandemic. This is of course also inseparable from the brand communication strategy used by Alfamart to build strong brand awareness in Filipino consumers.
Problem Statement:
Why Alfamart has successfully implemented brand communication in expanding its global retail business in the Philippines, while in Indonesia's domestic market, the Alfamart
minimarket brand is still the second choice by Indonesian consumers. In addition, how Alfamart implements brand communication strategies to build strong brand awareness in the
Philippines compared to other minimarket competitors.
Literature:
Brand Communication Global Brand Concept Glocal Communication Strategy
Research Methodology:
Qualitative – Case Study Data observation
Informants online interview
Triangulation analysis of findings and literature
Result of Research:
Alfamart brand communication targeting underserved community at Barangay.
Alfamart outlet expansion increasing job vacancy and fulfil the needs of essentials product of community at rural areas, who is the housewives as homemaker of the family. The housewive have limited internet and transportation access. So, Alfamart Philippines reach their rural location to ease
the accessibility by walking or riding bicycle in their neighborhood area.
Figure 3. Flowchart of Research Flow
These retail outlets tend to be small, home-based, and are typically run by 'nanai' or mothers who do not participate in the realities of the formal sector and are clearly responsible for household chores (Gano-An & Gempes, 2020).
But, from the first informant explanation when the Philippines government run the lockdown policy, the sari sari store owner has limited access to go to the downtown to buy the essentials good from their supplier such as Puregold Supermarket. So, Alfamart use this chance to expand their outlet into Barangay to grab the essentials need of underserved community and add more employment for Alfamart stores.
Alfamart conducts brand campaigns by prioritizing employment welfare as Alfamart crews for the community or Barangay. This is because the welfare or economic conditions of the communities in Barangay are smaller than in the big cities of the Philippines. Alfamart realizes that the rapid growth of microenterprises has created significant livelihood opportunities, especially for struggling Filipino families in Barangay. Alfamart continues to open outlets and expand in Barangay areas massively, so that Alfamart outlet crews can more easily reach the outlets where they work.
The COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Alfamart Philippines, Harvey Ong, often tells a story in every discussion or media interview about an Alfamart crew named Michael whom he met during a visit to one of the outlets. The Alfamart crew continues to work despite traveling three hours from home to the Alfamart outlet where he is on duty. In Harvey Ong's explanation, Michael continued to work because he felt that his teammates at the Alfamart outlet needed his performance to serve consumers in the Barangay. Harvey Ong campaigned a communication message to the Filipino consumers that Alfamart has a solid work culture and pays attention to the ease of access of its workers by opening outlets in the Barangay area so that workers have easier access to Alfamart outlets to work. This Alfamart storytelling suitable that brand management increase their symbolic value, can also use to review thematic and formal repertory to uncover unique meanings and codes in comparison to the competitors, and identify space for storytelling opportunities (Gurzki et al., 2019).
According to the analysis of the researcher's findings, Alfamart uses brand positioning as a super minimarket and brand image as a connection kitchen to target consumers of housewives who manage the home needs of the consumer community in Barangay. Alfamart's consideration of expanding outlets in the Barangay area is because their main target consumers are housewives who cannot be away from home. After all, they have to take care of children or take care of daily home needs. This is even more interesting to examine because the researcher conducted in-depth interviews for approximately 45 minutes with informants who have two different profile backgrounds, the first informant is a mother who works as a dean of a business university who lives in a rural area (Batangas) and the second informant is a single young woman with a career as a Vice President of an outsourcing company who lives in Pampanga, Angeles City (Nearby province of Metro Manila Philippines).
The researcher observed that the results of interviews with the first informant who lives in the countryside already have a strong brand awareness of Alfamart, the first informant stated that Alfamart is very rapidly growing in
the peripheral areas of the Barangay province and also feels comfortable shopping because of its close access to the residence, fresh and quality products, and the flexibility of the Loyalty Point program with SM Corporation (Alfamart Philippines partner). However, the second informant who lives in the capital city of Metro Manila, said that she only shopped at Alfamart a few times along her travel route. The second informant also stated that she prefers 7-Eleven, which has been operating in Manila for a long time, over Alfamart.
This is because Alfamart advertisements are rarely found in theaters or television, in contrast to 7-Eleven, which carries out an onslaught of advertisements in electronic media and social media so that in the second informant’s mind the 7-Eleven brand is still attached. In addition, Alfamart crews are also uncommunicative in delivering product promos when the second informant is shopping. This is following Alfmart's expansion strategy in the Philippines which focuses on opening outlets in Barangay areas, targeting target consumers such as the first informant, a mother who lives in a rural area or Barangay.
Why do companies globalize?
The main excuse why companies globalize, and the way manufacturers input unique countrywide markets, in large part relies upon on the strategic targets of the brand to follow the needs of its essential customers (Schlegelmilch, 2016). If a company's intention is to benefit get entry to to raw materials to reduce its dependence on providers, it engages in so-called integration in its price chain and the selection of markets might be driven by the area of raw substances and or the provision of domestic company partners that could help the global expansion approach (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
On this context, managers frequently talk over with the advantages of the so-referred to as first-mover benefit, i.e., the advantage a company profits from getting into a market early (Schlegelmilch, 2016). Such advantages may be gained by innovations in proprietary technologies, underlying assets, which include potential distribution partners in a country, or growing pricing strategies for customers (Schlegelmilch, 2016). The potential benefit can be offset via new entrants, who can capitalize at the investments made through the first mover, for instance, if the first mover has to spend quite a few cash educating the market about the advantages of the new era (Schlegelmilch, 2016). Global brand beginners can take benefit of such marketing investments and focus on emphasizing the differential blessings of brand- particular products. businesses which are past due to worldwide expansion can also look ahead to market uncertainties, along with which industry requirements will dominate. Once the market is mapped out, brands can focus on brand assets a great deal greater successfully (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
Brand communication is a shape of public relations interest through speaking through messages to the audience, which is usually inside the shape of classified ads. In idea, two content traits of brand conversation in social media stand out at the macro level. First, brand communication content on social media is characterised by means of a blurred line among logo verbal exchange and different content. manufacturers often use native advert formats and content advertising and marketing on social media (Voorveld, 2019). The second function is that facts can be used to make branded content
material extra relevant. A phenomenon referred to as personalized advertising, which objectives precise businesses of humans and is defined as
“advertising tailored to character traits or interests and alternatives”
(Voorveld, 2019).
Channel characteristic consult with what provides the advertising message to the consumer, example the media used for delivering brand communication message. In principle, social media is regularly treated as a speciesof a channel or medium, like tv, radio, magazines, and so forth (Voorveld, 2019). But, social media systems vary in lots of approaches, together with modalities, non-public and public get right of entry to to content, types of connections, and toughness of content material access (Voorveld, 2019). some other related assignment with social media channel characteristics is that in brand communication applications, social media is normally used in aggregate with other media instead of as a stand-alone interest. furthermore, consumers regularly integrate social media with different virtual and conventional media within the direction in their consumption. Theoretical and conceptual issues of brand communication in social media offer vital facts for future studies questions (Voorveld, 2019).
These advertising messages are not always commercial, but brand advertising strategies need to be selected by matching company goals and stakeholder interests (Rajagopal, 2019). Brand advertising includes non- personalized mass media communication to meet company objectives. Below are several types of brand advertising in addition to general commercial advertising (Rajagopal, 2019):
1. Social awareness including human rights, Health, Population 2. Promotion of public services
3. Awareness of innovation, rewards, and facts of development 4. Development of value market products
5. Company image and employee welfare
6. Placement of award-winning company profile advertisements 7. Argumentation on controversial issues
It is recognized that some conventional and stubborn consumers prefer the traditional approach with a producer-driven market where consumers are passive recipients (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). This is more likely in less developed countries where channel systems, especially digital channels, are still not connected to fast internet connections. Some consumer segments may prefer to purchase products and services through personalized sales- based distribution (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). In other words, they still want a personal shopping experience where they can review and rate products and services directly. In many cases, especially in the service sector, distribution- driven systems tend to survive because they prioritize end-to-end location coverage, especially in retail distribution businesses (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021).
Based on the exposure above, Alfamart Philippines also still uses a traditional marketing communication system by expanding massively to open outlets. Where their branding and promotion focus on direct selling marketing communication methods, when consumers come directly to shop and Alfamart employees will directly inform them of products that are on promo.
This is following the market share targeted by Alfamart Philippines, namely
the homemaker market, namely mothers. Convenience stores in general in the Philippines still do not target the homemaker market, the majority only do business in the teen market or young people who like a consumptive lifestyle. Alfamart Philippines is present in the homemaker market and began to dominate the market, by expanding massively to open outlets in rural locations (Barangay) in the Philippines. Alfamart Philippines' marketing strategy adapts to target consumers, namely homemakers who cannot leave the house for a long time and rarely use social media because they are busy taking care of the house.
Nowadays, many of businesses are considering communication as a key aggressive gain of advertising and marketing itself to be integrated (Kitchen &
Tourky, 2021). As an example, of all of the advertising blend variables, only advertising is charged with the responsibility of advancing merchandise, offerings, and brands. Brand need to be covered, nurtured, and evolved into global brands and global manufacturers (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). However for consumer, the only actual equity of the brand is the organizational package of expertise approximately the brand they use or understand, which relates to the capabilities, advantages, and accessibility of service products.
Communication convinces clients to remain dependable to the corporation, product, service, or courting with the brand (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021).
Figure 4. The Stages for Developing Integrated Marketing Communication of Global Company
Source : (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021)
Communication creates and keeps brand loyalty and brand equity.
Product design, packaging, remarkable brand names, pricing techniques, location, and accessibility (or distribution) environment are all sorts of communication (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). This exposure is underneath the brand communication method of Alfamart, being remarkable brand call with a mixture of blue and red shades makes consumers' eyes recognize the Alfamart brand. Then Alfamart additionally makes use of an aggressive pricing approach, location, and an surroundings of accessibility this is convenient for consumers due to the fact it is very close to home. In order that, consumers only walk or ride a bicycle by wearing home clothes to buy essentials need in Alfamart Philippines. Figure 5 below outlines the relationship between integrated communication at the company level and
integrated marketing communication at the brand level through four stages, shown in Figure 4.
a. Tactical Coordination
Companies in this first stage focus on the insight of one view, one voice, integrating advertising, sales promotion, public relations marketing, direct marketing, and the Internet. The company also look for to maximize combination among all elements of the promotional mix and maximize all potential exposure to the brand through all communication channels.
Following marketing communication theory, brand messages have numerous type in advertising content, but the same core values will be portrayed repeatedly to give ads exposure to consumers (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021).
Generally, consumers will respond in different ways because consumers' fields of experience and backgrounds are different. This approach does not rely on understanding the dynamics of the market being served; it does not conduct market research and is almost a pure use of direct selling orientation such as the communication strategy employed by Alfamart Philippines which uses direct selling methods.
b. Redefining the Scope of Marketing Communication
In the second stage, companies adopt an outside-in perspective (as opposed to an inside-out). This is align toward marketing focusing on exchanges that satisfy the needs of consumers and companies with a focus on consumer perceptions (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). Besides of integrating tactical perspective, businesses also seek all the potential contacts a consumer may have with a product, service, brand, or company. In the early stages, companies should start considering integrated communications from multiple perspectives to align all communications with consumer needs and perceptions (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). At this stage, Alfamart defines the scope of marketing communications in the Philippines, on location strategy and an atmosphere of convenient accessibility for the target consumer homemakers (mothers). Housewives and working mothers who are busy taking care of household chores and they do not have time to absorb advertising exposure on digital channels or other print media channels. So Alfamart Philippines focuses on direct communication from Alfamart outlet employees with homemakers when they shop. This direct communication aligns consumer needs and consumer perspectives on the Alfamart brand provides a convenient accessibility and is close to the homemaker's home.
c. Application of Information Technology
In the third stage, companies begin to arrange data to identify the impact of integrated communication programs on key target markets over time to activate marketing event (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). However, analyzing the need on the market served, will turn raw data into consumer brand knowledge (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). Here, Alfamart only expands its outlet locations to remote villages in the Philippines. Because Alfamart's main consumer segment is mothers, Alfamart only does branding at outlets and
conducts promotional activities directly at Alfamart outlets. This certainly invites curiosity in the community around the outlet and attracts the attention of the community to shop. This is because Alfamart uses the direct selling method, where consumers will experience exposure to promo product information directly when visiting Alfamart Philippines outlets.
d. Financial and Strategic Integration
The fourth stage is the highest level of integration, where the emphasis the marketing database derived from stage three, stages one, and stages two to drive marketing strategic planning using consumer information, taste, and demography (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). Companies in this stage will tend to re-evaluate the financial information infrastructure to return the investment of brand communication which is believed as sales, market share, ROI (Return Of Investment), and contribution margin (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021).
This fourth stage is following Alfamart, which is quite good at maintaining its retail business during a pandemic situation with a decrease in net profit at the end of the third quarter of 2020 with a fairly small figure of 1.85% when compared to net profit in the third quarter of 2019 (Hafiyyan, 2020).
Functionally, brand advertising can be divided into two categories, namely image advertising, and advocacy advertising. Image advertising is designed to mobilize opinions about the company and create an image through the benefits of the company's products (Rajagopal, 2019). Alfamart's continuous expansion in several neighboring countries, especially the Philippines, is also inseparable from the use of brand communication strategies, which use the right brand positioning. Alfamart does brand positioning as a super minimarket, where Alfamart Philippines sells the basic ingredients that consumers need. The products presented are also complete, there are even fresh chicken products, frozen meat products, ice cubes, rice, and so on. Alfamart is the first retail brand to do brand positioning as a super minimarket because other competitors (7-Eleven, Ministop, Lawson) do brand positioning as convenience stores and supermarkets whose outlet locations are in big cities. Below is a display ad on Alfamart Philippines' website, which declares Alfamart's brand positioning in the Philippines as a super minimarket:
Figure 5. Brand Positioning of Alfamart Philippines as Super Minimarket Source: (Shop Alfamart - Home Page, n.d.)
As seen from the Alfamart website advertisement above, there are various product differentiations sold by Alfamart, which as a whole are products that are the daily basic needs of Filipino consumers. Some of the products sold by Alfamart Philippines are ready-to-eat foods, canned foods, beverages, frozen foods, vitamins and medicines, household needs, milk, and laundry needs. Product differentiation packaged by Alfamart on website advertising, through the tagline "The Super Minimart, Always here for you!"
is one form of brand communication released in multimedia content advertising on the website to attract the attention of more Filipino consumers online. The advertising strategy is in line with the understanding that brand advertising is generally packaged in multimedia and reaches a larger segment of the target audience in substance (Rajagopal, 2019).
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning or often referred to as STP is the first step that every brand needs to consider for marketing. STP defines the marketing strategies that companies must use to compete in the market share both locally and globally (Schlegelmilch, 2016). Mistakes are often made in this first step, and they often have fatal consequences that can hurt the company financially. Market segmentation aims to divide the market into smaller units to respond to consumer demand.
Then targeting steps build on the results of segmentation where the company evaluates the interests of each segment and create a single target or several target markets that affecting the company's marketing communication strategy to define the brand. The last stage of STP is positioning a clear, unique, and desirable brand place in the consumers mind. A product differentiator must have a clear Unit Selling Proposition (USP) to differentiate it from competitors' offerings and make it more attractive to targeted consumers (Schlegelmilch, 2016). Alfamart also carries a USP as a super minimarket selling essentials and located in the Barangay area compared to competitors, such as 7-Eleven, Ministop, FamilyMart, and Lawson which tend to sell products with the concept of convenience stores on big city access roads only.
Alfamart's competitors in the Philippines tend to position the brand as a convenience store that offers luxury products and access in big cities only.
Meanwhile, Alfamart succeeded in building STP and brand positioning as the first minimarket outlet that serves a variety of basic family needs with a location near the settlement of Barangay consumers, who are mostly housewives. In 1963 an writer criticized marketers and advertisers in his book, The female Mystique, accusing them of being involved in confining and controlling women through the family and they glorified the role of the housewives (Crawford et al., 2021). Communication researchers have substantially tested how women and men are portrayed in mass media, particularly in advertisements, to see if they agree to gender stereotypes or traditional roles. Frequently the usage of content material evaluation as a research technique, gender role research has checked out numerous parameters of gender portrayal, which include physical traits, occupational popularity, management roles, and personality trends (Crawford et al., 2021).
Communication researchers observe the women and men portrayed in advertisements, to look if they conform to gender stereotypes or traditional gender roles (Crawford et al., 2021). regularly using content material evaluation as a studies approach, gender role research have looked at various parameters of gender portrayal, along with physical characteristics, occupational status, management roles, and personality tendencies (Crawford et al., 2021). A few findings on the role of ladies in advertising and the outcomes of advertising and marketing strategies on consumers via the lens of social gaining knowledge of idea, and observed that marketing plays a function in facts retention in addition to our attitudes closer to merchandise (Crawford et al., 2021).
They concluded that advertising each displays and shapes society, suggesting that while advertising and marketing displays societal norms, it additionally reinforces current stereotypes (Crawford et al., 2021). Whipple and Courtney (1985) reviewed nine research carried out within the 1970s and early 1980s that examined the portrayal of women's roles, product category interactions, and communication effectiveness as perceived via consumer (Crawford et al., 2021). Primarily based on these findings, they suggested four strategies. First, advertisers should in shape the gender of the version with the product picture. Second, the setting must be healthy using the product.
Third, depictions of non-traditional roles are greater effective than traditional roles. Fourth, any portrayal must be sensible and natural, to avoid stereotypical portrayals. groups are increasingly aware about ladies's growing purchasing energy and need to show ladies to more market possibilities (Crawford et al., 2021).
Following the informant's discussion, most housewives in Barangay have to take care of the household with several small children, so they cannot leave the house for a long time. Alfamart fills this market gap, by opening as many outlets as possible in the Barangay area to make it easier for housewives to access Alfamart outlets. Most consumers in these Barangay communities travel to Alfamart on foot or by bicycle. So, they are more comfortable shopping at Alfamart close to where they live just by wearing "daster" or
"sando" home clothes. This can be examined more deeply through some of the advertisements that Alfamart airs on the Alfamart Philippines Facebook group page, as below:
Figure 6. Alfamart's Advertisement Emphasizes as an "Extended Kitchen"
Source: (Philippines, 2023)
The display of Figure 6 above that highlights the message "Pantry Must Haves!" which can be translated as Alfamart wanting to instill brand awareness in the minds of the consumer community to buy products in Alfamart Philippines advertisements to complement the needs of the community kitchen. The advertising campaign is by Alfamart's brand communication message described by Harvey Ong, COO of Alfmart Philippines, that Alfamart is a "extended pantry" for Barangay consumers who do not have the large capacity of refrigerator to store meat, fish, and seafood every day. Thus, almost every day the community around Alfamart can buy frozen meat, fish, seafood, and bacon products for daily side dishes.
Figure 7. Screenshot Results of Frozen Food Products on Alfamart Website Source : (Shop Alfamart - Home Page, n.d.)
To the researcher's explanation above, Alfamart sees a gap in the community's need for quality frozen food products such as beef, chicken, seafood, and bacon. Alfamart captures market opportunities by delivering the message of advertising frozen food products in every outlet to make it easier for the community to fulfill their family protein nutrition. Alfamart Philippines provides solutions to the needs of communities that do not have sufficient refrigerator capacity to store frozen food needs, by shopping for frozen food products at Alfamart with close access from where the community lives.
Figure 8. Screenshots of Frozen Products of Alfamart Philippines Source : (Bustos, 2018)
Seen in Figure 9 in the video layer capture of a Filipino Youtuber, Mikey Bustos, who made video content about the habits of a Filipino mother shopping at Alfamart signaling to her son only by advancing her lips to point to items that must be purchased at Alfamart. Of course, the mother's lip-
signing habit makes the son confused about the product in question, because of the many products sold by Alfamart. In the video content, various Alfamart products are displayed on display shelves, and one of them is a refrigerator scene containing ice cubes and various frozen meat products. From the Youtuber video content, consumer perceptions will be formed that Alfamart provides various household needs of the Barangay community, from frozen food products to ice cubes, sauces, spices, and others. So that consumer perception will fulfill Alfamart's brand position as a "one-stop solution" super minimarket that meets the household needs of mothers in the Philippines.
Barangay community mothers who are busy taking care of home needs do not need to bother shopping because Alfamart provides access as an “extended kitchen”, where the community only needs to walk or pedal a bicycle to shop for basic needs. So that the mothers of the Barangay community can save energy, time, and money when they have to shop for their family's monthly needs.
Some of the research findings above are in line with the understanding that companies position their brands in the market through strong marketing communications, brand attributes, use value, and competitive differentiation.
A brand represents the consumer experience and has less to do with individual products and services than brand value (Rajagopal, 2019). In this scenario, a company's manufacturing competence becomes less relevant than its ability to understand consumers and manage the brand, as the production division is always outsourced to other divisions. In practice, this means that categories of brand products and services that are less connected to consumers can be developed and expanded from the previous core brand value (Rajagopal, 2019).
This explanation is following the researcher's findings, when Alfamart by positioning the brand as a super minimarket that serves all the needs of the community in the Barangay area, Alfamart wants to connect with consumers through a complete product offerings from breakfast products, to frozen food, sanitation, and laundry, as well as staples to build communication, brand attributes, use value, and differentiation of Alfamart products. Alfamart's brand communication strategy, which builds a promise as a super minimarket to the target Filipino consumers, makes they believe and trust Alfamart's products and services.
So, loyalty is formed because consumers feel their needs are connected to Alfamart. According to the exposure of the the first informant, Alfamart is currently opening outlets in remote areas of the Philippines sporadically, because informants can find Alfamart outlets every few meters close to the location of the informant's residence and office. The first informant also explained that Alfamart is his main choice because Alfamart presents products that are always fresh and of high quality at prices that are more affordable than competitors. This first informant's exposure is following Alfamart's brand promise and campaign to provide shopping convenience with easy accessibility and close to where the consumer lives or works.
“Glocal” Communication Strategy of Alfamart Philippines
Branding is the key driver of any corporate communication. Brands are core strategic assets for companies and represent the values that consumers
are willing to pay for. Branding is a brand constructs the reviews through which the consumer lives with its products. Media or social equipment turn out to be in particular relevant channels for wearing out stated experiences;
they help to put together particular and valuable brands in addition to to enhance their popularity and impact (Martínez-López et al., 2016). Next, the basics of branding, starting with the term brand architecture, which describes how an organization structures and names the brands in its portfolio (Schlegelmilch, 2016). This is followed by the distinction between brand identity (what the company can control) and brand image (how the brand is perceived).
On the other hand, for start-ups company, strategic communication is an essential element of what they're approximately, despite the fact that branding may additionally occur as an afterthought. The manner framework branding attracts on the sector reviews of start-united states of america in specific levels of growth and highlights the (differential) patterns in how those groups understand and practice strategic communication throughout the 4C dimensions: Craft, cultivate, Curate, and (re)Calibrate (Chaudhri et al., 2022).
The discussion on branding basics concludes with a discussion on brand extensions and their various permutations, such as line extensions, brand endorsers as well as brand alliances, and co-branding.
The challenge of branding, consumer-brand relationships, brand equity strategies, and branding as a societal group has turn out to be so complicated nowadays that reaching consumer interest for brands has come to be a big assignment throughout locations and markets (Rajagopal, 2019). It could be defined as globalization that opened many options to construct branding strategies through social media and the internet further to traditional strategies (Rajagopal, 2019). Branding strategies need to be evolved with specific recognition on the market and target segments in which businesses plan to release the brand. The company must build branding strategy integrating the subsequent practical areas (Rajagopal, 2019):
• brand attributes
• market segments
• positioning and services possibilities
• brand line optimization
• rate sensitivity
• distribution and retail brands management
• income management
• brand communication and advertising
• brand studies
There are many stumbling blocks to global brand standardization, such as historical, legal, and language reasons, as well as various cultural differences.
Two other barriers to global branding are religious labeling, which may not be universally appreciated, and the persistence of local brands (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
Therefore, when looking at a company's brand portfolio, eliminating or downsizing local brands is not necessarily the path to success. A mixed brand portfolio, which includes both local and global brands, is often referred to a category contained in primarily global brands. Recognizing that advances in technology have created an ever-expanding set of channels through which
businesses can communicate, there are four key elements: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
The balance between achieving greater local relevance and fulfillment of the benefits of running global campaigns often leads to the development of “glocal”
communication strategies (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
Customers or consumers and target audience are key factors to the success of the management, so there must be a method to identify and evaluate these people or companies (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). Typically, customers are ranked based on the revenue stream they have generated in the past and their potential in the future. In addition, potential customers can be evaluated based on the revenue stream they can generate for the business in the future (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). The ad campaign integrated marketing communications with six media launch variations, showing how to make a name, having appeared in cinemas, social media, and pre-advertisement. In addition, posters appeared in taxis and print media, and celebrities and social influencers endorsed and endorsed the advertising campaign (Kitchen &
Tourky, 2021).
Businesses must be able to view customers and prospects as assets worth nurturing and protecting (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021). The company as a communicator must manage these assets in such a way that they generate the greatest profit for the company. Therefore, the organization's limited resources must be directed to the best customers or prospects, to continue existing revenue streams or create new or increased revenue streams (Kitchen
& Tourky, 2021). The company must direct its communication resources to the customers and leads that are most likely to yield the best returns.
Inherent in this approach is the requirement that there be a way to identify or evaluate clients and investment prospects. If we can't gauge consumers or estimate the return we can get from investing in consumers, there's no way to determine how much brands should invest in operations. communication or a way to measure a company's profitability (Kitchen & Tourky, 2021).
Alfamart's brand value has always been to serve the Barangay community by opening stores to attract jobs and meet the basic needs of communities or residents living in rural areas of Barangay. Alfamart also instills a brand image of being an “extended kitchen” for the consumer community, where consumers still feel at home. This is due to the condition of communities that rarely have refrigerators with large capacities so they often shop for frozen food needs almost every day. Barangay consumers cannot stock much beef, chicken, seafood, and bacon due to insufficient capacity of the refrigerator. In addition, Alfamart consumers can still wear home clothes or makeup, because Alfamart's access is in the alleys near consumer settlements. Serving the community is Alfamart's brand value campaign which is often echoed by Harvey Ong, Alfamart's COO. The brand communities of Alfamart refers to consumers who live in the Barangay area or can be understood as a rural area that is still left behind from urban areas.
Each Barangay area is inhabited by around 50-100 households led by a village leader called "Captain" (Mallari et al., 2020). The life of the Barangay community still includes marginalized settlements (Mallari et al., 2020).
Previous research on brand communities has well documented the benefits for marketers and businesses. Fans of traditional offline brand
communities willingly spend time on consumption-related activities (e.g., attending special company events, commenting on others' decision-making processes) (B. Kim et al., 2021). In return, extending the knowledge and dedication of other members. Similarly, there are numerous studies that have examined consumers engaging in co-productive, value-added activities to form brand communities on other social networks (B. Kim et al., 2021). Once a brand community is formed, it becomes a main point for developing strong brand loyalty and expressing connection with the brand (B. Kim et al., 2021).
So, introduced the three core components of brand community that are easily found in traditional social communities (B. Kim et al., 2021):
1) Shared consciousness refers to “the intrinsic connection members feel to each other and their collective sense of difference with other members who do not belong to the community”
2) Rituals and traditions perpetuate the meaning, history, traditions, and cultural norms of a community that enable members to commit to the brand
3) Moral responsibilities and obligations, it involves helping other members solve problems and sharing knowledge about product usage
Brand advertising is related to incidence of brand expenditure and brand value because advertising aims affects the company's production efficient costs to build brand value (Rajagopal, 2019). Brand value measurement is used in financial analysis to calculate the productivity of capital assets or company profit (Rajagopal, 2019). One of the brand advertisements used by Alfamart Philippines is placing advertisements for local Filipino snack products in the Manila Times online newspaper, as below:
Figure 9. Alfamart Filipina Advertisement in Online Media Manila Times Source : (“Alfamart Partners with Manila Catering for Line of Frozen Snacks
| The Manila Times,” 2021)
Alfamart continues to innovate product differentiation by launching Alfa Freeze in collaboration with Manila Catering Corp (MCC). The initial product of Alfa Freeze is frozen chocolate bananas with a variety of toppings favored by Filipino consumers. This is following the "Glocal" communication strategy, where Alfamart adapts global communication campaign standards to suit the tastes of local Filipino consumers by launching Alfa Freeze products with catering companies in Manila.
Figure 10. Online Ads of Lutong Bahay Recipes at Official Website of Alfamart Philippines
Source : (“LET’S SHOP – Alfamart,” n.d.)
Figure 11. Alfa Meals Ads Promote Turon as Filipino Local Meal Source: (Philippines, 2023)
As above the Figure 10 show the other of “Glocal” communication strategy of Alfamart Philippines is serving Lutong Bahay recipes, the local Filipino meal, that being captured from brand advertisement on Alfamart website. Figure 11 also promote Turon their local sweet snacks in Alfamart PH Facebook to deliver message to consumer that Alfamart is their extended pantry through advertisement. One way of conceptualizing the impact of the terrain on the content and use of the communication blend to the local expansion area is to distinguish between situations where cross country standardization isn't possible and situations where it's possible but not desirable.
Global brands frequently need to balance or exchange their global campaigns to fit local consumer tastes to compete with competitors to generate earnings, due to the fact nearly all environmental elements along with political, financial, social, technological, and legal arrangements will affect the standardization of cross-border communication (Schlegelmilch, 2016). The similarly exciting set of things are those in which adjustments inside the communication combination are optionally available. Therefore,
companies might also decide to pay attention their communication on distinct dispatches in special requests. Advertising and marketing decolorizing products makes experience in Asia, given unique esthtetic ideals (Schlegelmilch, 2016). Variations in consumer comprehensions and responses provide farther motives that communication can also need to be acclimated. For the reason that complete standardization is frequently insolvable or undesirable, the balancing act among reaching a better original fit and serving from the benefits of running a global campaign continuously outcomes inside the improvement of “Glocal” communication strategies (Schlegelmilch, 2016).
However, it must be admitted that researchers find it difficult to find online data sources for Alfamart that serve ads on social media or other online media. Even the official Alfamart Philippines website only lists Email, Facebook, Linked In, and Viber Messenger contacts.
Figure 12. Screenshot of Social Media Contact in Alfamart Filipina Website
Source : (“LET’S SHOP – Alfamart,” n.d.)
Figure 13. The Example of Online Group Community of Alfamart Customer in Viber Messanger Channel