Selling Ready-to-Drink Tea in Southeast Asia: C2 Green Tea in the Philippines (A)

Between 2004 and 2011, the Universal Robina Corporation (URC) launched its first ready-to-drink bottled tea product, C2, in three Southeast Asian markets: the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. URC’s founder hoped to replicate the success that ready-to-drink tea had achieved in China and Japan. Because of the differences in competitive tactics and consumer preferences in each market, URC needed to modify its strategic plan for each to improve the likelihood of achieving success with C2. These cases encourage students to discern which characteristics are most important for success and thereby determine the profitability of each new international venture.<br><br>In addition, the cases explore several issues pertaining to the internationalization of an emerging market firm — particularly one lacking the advantage of being based out of a larger developing country like India, China, or Brazil. Based in the Philippines, URC did not have a sufficiently large domestic market to subsidize its international operations or an internationally known brand or national characteristic to achieve leverage in new markets.<br><br>The cases provide a comparative illustration of expansion into three different markets. Case (A) illustrates a local market expansion, while cases (B) and (C) describe international expansions. In each case, students are encouraged to understand the type of localization strategy required to ensure the success of the product launch. Students will also realize that despite being neighbours, the three Southeast Asian countries in these cases have such diverse tastes and consumer preferences that knowledge and experience gained from one market will not necessarily translate to success in the others.

The primary teaching objectives of these cases are:<ul><li>Comparing and contrasting the strategies required for launching a product in three diverse Southeast Asian markets.</li><li>Evaluating constituent decisions towards achieving growth by geographic market expansion.</li><li>Clarifying the similarities and differences between the business contexts of China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, especially in terms of beverage sectors.</li></ul>These cases are suitable for use in discussions about growth by product and international diversification in courses on corporate strategy, business policy, and/or international management (business) — particularly when discussing growth and competitiveness options in relation to organization and strategy. Since URC’s products are mainly successful in its domestic market, the cases emphasize issues concerning the decisions and management strategies underlying expansion into new areas after a company has experienced considerable success in its own geographic market.

• International Expansion
• Emerging Markets
• Consumer Goods
• Beverages
• Philippines
• Vietnam
• Indonesia