The iBell

International Marketing Strategy

Alyssa Kaine

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents.1
Moment of Truth2
Product Background.2
Environmental Analysis2-3
Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Theory...3
Strategic Suitability...3
Psychographic Segmentation.....4
Features and Benefits.......................4
Learning Activity: Vicarious Learning..........................5
Marketing Strategies..........................5
Points of Parity and Points of Difference....................6
Perceptual Maps.....................................................6
Brand Architecture......................................................7
Product Life Cycle Position.........................................7
Sustainable Competitive Advantage VRIO Analysis.......8
Development Direction...............................................8
Pricing and Market Entry Strategies...........................9
References........................................................10

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Moment of Truth
Youssef is a student at the local University and his friends have just arrived in town for
their first visit to his campus. Theyre hungry after their travels so they go to a restaurant
for lunch. Its another busy day in Morocco and the restaurants are swarming with
people since it is one oclock, the middle of lunchtime. After forty-five minutes of waiting,
the group had still not been given menus and the waiter hasnt come over to their table
once. Youssef can tell his friends are getting quite agitated when he looks out the
window at the restaurant across the street, sees they have service bells at every table
and everyone has been served and looks happy, and so he wishes he had taken his
friends to that restaurant instead.
Product Background
Koreas fast-paced and efficiency-driven culture has over time, forced almost all
restaurants to utilize the service bell. Its unusual to see a restaurant without them
unless its an extremely upscale one. Bringing this product to Moroccan restaurants
would be beneficial for their chaotic and oftentimes stressful atmosphere.
The goal is to implement the iBell into restaurants in the big cities of Morocco. This will
be done by sending salesmen to restaurants to present the idea to the owner and offer
them a free trial. Word-of-mouth is another key component that would benefit our
product since Moroccans rely on this mode of communication in business frequently 1.
The iBell is a two-fold product that includes the actual remote bells on the restaurant
tables with buttons for the bill, tea, call the waiter, and a cancel button in case of
accidents. The tea is a replacement for the traditional soju button in Korea since it a
much less common to consume alcohol in the Moroccan culture. It also uses a screen in
the middle of the restaurant that displays the table numbers in order of who rang the bell
first. So a restaurant guest presses a button on the iBell, their table number is displayed
on the screen, and the waiter will promptly assist them in the requested manner. While
we are selling this product to our primary customers, the restaurant owners, the
restaurant patrons are our secondary customers since they will also be using this
product and ultimately the owners make decisions based off of their customers wants
and needs. We want them satisfied and happy with their dining experience and the iBell
can make them feel less stressed and less likely to lose their temper.
Environmental Analysis
Investigating several types of trends in terms of Morocco as a country in its entirety
revealed quite a lot about the potential environment for the iBell. In terms of the
sociocultural trends it can be seen that levels of tourism have steadily been increasing
and the number of Moroccan residents eating out for lunch and dinner is growing 2. This
combination will lead to even more crowded restaurants in the crowded cities which will
require restaurants to become more efficient in their service in order to keep customers

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happy. On the technology front it was also discovered that Moroccans are becoming
more and more interested in the usage of technology. It is one of the worlds quickest
growing countries in this field3. While that trend will plateau eventually, its current state
will benefit the iBells potential growth in Morocco because individuals like new gadgets
they can try. So, seeing a restaurant that has this new electronic button service may
grab peoples attention. In terms of politics and legality, Moroccos relations with Korea
have been expanding and strengthening over the last 15 years 4. This means that
trading is becoming easier so importing a product from Korea to Morocco could be an
effective and rational approach for market entry.
Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Theory5

Strategic Suitability
After analyzing the environment it can be seen that the iBell can be successful in a
market with the trends found in Morocco right now. It aligns with the increasingly
crowded restaurants, technological curiosities, and blossoming relationship between
Morocco and Korea. The most significant dimension of the Hofstede Theory for the iBell
is the high level of Uncertainty Avoidance in Morocco. Their desire the future to be
explicitly defined and to have answers is very beneficial for our product since it will shed
light that during their restaurant experience through the ability to call the waiter at any
time and see the order of tables on the screen.

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Psychographic Segmentation
While there are two types of consumers, the primary and the secondary in the case of
the iBell, a closer look will be taken at specifically the secondary consumers. Although it
is important to keep in mind that the traits identified for the restaurant customers may
also apply to the restaurant owners. Considering the key values, attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors of our target consumer has illustrated the following type of Moroccan:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Tend to be temperamental
Lead a busy life, always on the go
Keep an open mind
Enjoys dining out
Likes to try new technology

Features and Benefits

The table below demonstrates what features our most important benefits are derived
from. Customer controlled interaction time with the waiter, privacy and time saving come
from the service bell itself. The time saved can be very helpful for the busy customers
and also the waiters as they can use the time to be productive in other tasks as
opposed to checking in on tables constantly. Putting the amount of interaction time a
customer has with a waiter into their hands gives them an increased sense of comfort
and could even combat temperamental customers. Customer uncertainty is decreased
with the screen displaying the table numbers in order and can also decrease stress on
the customers.

Features

Benefits
Customer controls interaction time... privacy!

Buttons to call for tea, bill, and waiter

Saves time for both customer and waiter

Displays table number on screen

Customer uncertainty decreases

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Learning Activity: Vicarious Learning
While the kind of research and analysis looked at so far reveals a lot about the product
and target market, it would also be helpful to expand this exploration as well. Utilizing
vicarious learning can give insight to a lot of unseen tacit knowledge. This will be done
before launching the product in Morocco in order to reveal any alterations to be made to
the product or the marketing strategy. The plan for this would as follows:
Setting: Noon, busy restaurant, large Moroccan city

Strictly OBSERVE customers using iBell

Do not ask questions or request feedback, it changes dynamic

Watch for:

Additional items/services requested

Frustrations with the product
Child interaction with the product
Reactions to the screen

Marketing Strategies
In order to accommodate our target market, weve decided to expand on two types of
marketing strategies. These are shown in the below graph. Using postmodern
marketing and the reversal of production and consumption condition, we can market to
our consumers on the idea of the customer is the one deciding when the waiter comes
to their table instead of the waiter deciding when the customer will see them. This will
appeal to those who are searching for uncertainty avoidance. Incorporating the
entertainment characteristic of retro marketing will use the new, fun technology aspect
of the iBell that Moroccans respond to in order to bring consumers in.

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Points of Parity and Points of Difference
POPs

Increases efficiency

PODs

Defined options
Repeated use
Choosing to interact with the waiter

The main point of parity common amongst all similar products is that they are all
working toward increasing efficiency. The differentiating factors of the iBell can be seen
in the table above. This information reveals that this product is a player in the customer
service industry.
Perceptual Maps

The figures above portray where the iBell compares against other products in the
market in terms of Complexity vs. Efficiency and Price vs. Efficiency. We use efficiency
in both cases since it is one of the most important factors in the customer service
industry. The iBell is compared to a traditional metal service bell, pulling a number as
you would at a meat counter, and an application that can take orders. While the iBell
falls below the application in efficiency, its ratio between efficiency to complexity and
price is superior. It offers significantly more efficiency than the service bell and pulling a
number while remaining relatively cheap in comparison to the application.

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Brand Architecture
Values:
1. Convenience
2. Customer Orientation
3. Transparency

Logo:

Reasons to Believe:
1. Puts YOU in control
o Added customer control gives them more comfort
2. Order of the table numbers that entered requests are displayed
o Public knowledge puts pressure on the waiter to respect the order
3. Successful in other countries where efficiency is important
o Korea and Indonesia
Product Life Cycle Position
The figure below shows that Morocco falls at the very beginning of this model. The
market is essentially wide open for the taking at this point. There is a lot of room to grow
there. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Korea can be found which means this
would not be a good market to go into. It is already saturated with this product so
entering it at this point would not promise any success at all.

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Sustainable Competitive Advantage VRIO Analysis

Value: This product brings value to the customer in the forms of comfort, efficiency,
entertainment, and much more. A service contract will also bring added security, a
warranty, assistance, face-to-face contact, and quick customer service.
Rare: This is the most important factor the iBell has on its side initially. There is nothing
in Morocco that is similar to the iBell right now and entering a virtually open market with
a product can be very beneficial.
Inimitable: Currently, the iBell is easily reproducible and that could be a challenge for
us since it will not take long for other companies to come into the Morocco with the
exact same product.
Organization: Working across the Earth could bring unexpected cultural differences
that will affect business tactics. Things could be lost in translation along the way.
The iBell is a first mover in this market which gives a large advantage over our (future)
competitors. That being said, they will also be able to learn from our mistakes as they
enter the Moroccan market which is a disadvantage for the iBell. While the iBell excels
in its rarity in Morocco, the fact that it is not inimitable at all poses a challenge. This can
be combatted by implementing service contracts with the purchase of our product. A 3
to 5 year contract that locks our customers in with our product is in large part how were
planning on sustaining for 5 years. In addition to this, there will always be research
going on to try and further develop the iBell and add more features.
Development Direction

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Bringing an old product from Korea to a new market means that the iBell falls into the
Market Development category which had a medium amount of risk associated with it.

Pricing and Market Entry Strategies

These two strategies are very closely related for the iBell and it has a lot to do with the
fact that this product is a first mover but it is easily copied so that wont last for very
long. The idea is to start off the pricing with a penetration method in order to get the
product in as many restaurants as possible. This is not where our company will make
money since we will be selling the product so cheap that it essentially forces our target
market to buy the iBell. IT will be so cheap that it doesnt make sense to pass up this
opportunity. It is in the service contracts that are paid annually that we will make money.
This switches the pricing strategy to differentiation since competitors are now in the
market.

The market entry strategy follows a similar concept. In order to quickly disperse the
product in Morocco and get as many iBells in circulation before competition arrives, they
will need to be exported from Korea to Morocco. This does take time but it is relatively
short in comparison to the time it would take to build a factory and produce iBells within
Morocco since there are currently no manufacturers of technical equipment that could
be contracted to make our product. The strategy then switches into a strategic alliance
in order to accommodate the service contracts in place. Our company would work
together with a technical repair and maintenance company that is local to Morocco.
They would offer support, repairs, face-to-face assistance, very quick customer service,
and have a great local reputation. Since our sustainability strategy depends so heavily
on this company and their service we need to ensure that they are reliable. Relying so
heavily on this technical repair and maintenance company is where our caveat falls. If

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this company is not great in what it does, we will lose out customers to a competitor. So
it may also be necessary to station one or two of iBells employees in Morocco for at
least the first year to ensure quality service.

References
1. Elouafiq, Ali. "Lessons Learned Building Startups In Morocco." IAfrikan. Disqus,
24 June 2015. Web. 11 July 2016.
2. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13629387.2013.836321#.V4ycJqIY
M1o
3. http://www.igdleaders.org/morocco-king-mohammed-vi-growing-connectingleading/
4. Kim, Jung-Ho, and Jin-Sang Lee. "Export-driven INdustrial Development in
Morocco: Prospects for Korean-Morocco Partnership." DBPia (2013): 133-59.
Web.
5. "Morocco." Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensons. ITIM INternational, n.d. Web. 13
July 2016.