Case study

Alshaya: The House of Brands (Adapted from Kotler, et al. 201 1) Alshaya was founded in 1890 as a trading company between India and the GCC countries. The scale and variety of products were not very wide, but very suitable for the market. Four generations later, in less than 100 years, particularly in 1983, Alshaya realized the growth potential in the market. People all around the Arab world were travelling to shop for its fashion products in the US and Europe. The trend became very wide, and people started searching for their preferred brands in the local market. Accordingly, Alshaya acquired its first international franchise, Mothercare. Mothercare is a British retailer specializing in products for expectant mothers and young children. The brand was a huge success. Alshaya then expanded quickly to 55 retail brands; including fashions, footwear, food services health and beauty, pharmacy, optics, home furnishings and office supplies brands. Today, Alshaya operates more than 2000 stores in 15 countries. It positions its basket of brands as "carefully chosen to bring the highest quality products to the region's premier retail locations." Looking at Alshaya's portfolio, one can see that the organization has grown to become a tycoon in retailing international brands in the Arab world and beyond. Alshaya's operations span the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt. It has recently expanded its operations to Russia, Cyprus, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Alshaya focuses on brands that sell convenience products, shopping products, and specialty products to ensure that they have the best coverage of shopping customer base. The launching of the brands that Alshaya retails is fast and vibrant. In 2008, Alshaya opened the first H&M in Oman. Soon after, and with more stores opening, the H&M brand became very popular in the Middle East and Africa. In 2009, Alshaya signed an agreement with Office Depot and that was a success too. In March 2009, they launched Payless into the Arab world market and operates 22 stores in four countries; Kuwait, KSA, Bahrain and UAE. In March 2010, they opened the first Pottery Barn Kids retail store in Dubai. Also, in the same month, American Eagle was opened in the Middle East. Throughout the last few years, many more brands have been launched by Alshaya in many destinations around the Arab world and beyond. Alshaya told the Financial Times newspaper: "Whenever there's something that makes sense and we understand how we can turn it around or encourage it to take on more aggressive expansion.....we look into it."IMore Value to its Customers Alshaya's huge success can be credited to the choice of brands it delivers to the market. Another view would argue that the locations where it positions its brands are very strategic, and with the brand names, are guaranteed to build a success story. Nevertheless, the marketing communication campaigns that they create cannot be discredited. One of the campaigns which was launched in 2007 saw Alshaya collaborate with MasterCard, giving away 10% discount promotion in Kuwait. M Ihab Zaghlour, the vice president of Middle East MasterCard said, \"MasterCard is very pleased to launch the MasterCard & Alshaya 10% promotion in Kuwait, cooperating closely with the Alshaya Group which represents many international retail and restaurant brands and with participating customer bank.\" The Alshaya group is thrilled with the MasterCard & Alshaya 10% discount promotion. Through continuous efforts to understand the market needs and follow world trends, Alshaya continues to be the house of brands for the region. 1. Choose one of Alshaya's brands. Select a product from this brand and discuss the bundle of benets it provides the customer (core/actual/augmented). 2. Choose one of Alshaya brands and discuss its chosen target market. What is the positioning strategy for this brand? 3. What is Alshaya's distribution strategy and how does it add value to its customers? 4. Alshaya has effectively collaborated with MasterCard as part of its promotional campaign. This represents one-way Alshaya are adding value to their offerings. In what other ways can Alshaya add value and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty