Cases
Woodward Partners has helped a variety of companies increase their profits in Asia. Through a range of different client partnerships from traditional consulting projects, to acting as representative for the office to set up in Asia, or in-house strategic advisory, we have helped our clients identify the key issues to success. Some of our client success stories are listed here.
Client Success Story
Entering Asian Markets: Advanced Lifescience Instruments
The Challenge
A major medical devices company had developed a new product that delivered significant advantages over
other products in the market. The company wanted to develop a strategy to quickly penetrate Asian markets,
developing a significant footprint in those markets before competitors could emulate their technology.
The Approach
Woodward Partners adopted a three staged approach to establishing operations in Asia focused on getting the product to market quickly
while mimizing the risks involved.
Planning
- Preliminary business planning
- Market assessment
- Competitive analysis
- Evaluate regional entity
Implementation
- Establish distribution capability
- Establish service capability
- Executive sales & marketing activities
Management
- Manage distribution & service relationships
- Monitor and manage ongoing sales & marketing activities
- Evaluate and enter additional markets
The Recommendations
Woodward Partners recommended that the company utilize multiple distributors in each country. While it seems more convenient to
use one distributor for each country, Woodward’s market analysis clearly indicated that the size and breadth of the large markets like
China and India required multiple distributors to properly establish local connections within the segmented markets. By using multiple
distributors the company benefited from the close, personal relationships required to sell a new product.
Due to the results of Woodward’s market assessment, the country’s high rate of growth and lack of barriers to entry, Woodward advised
the company to begin the Asian expansion plan within the CLINICAL and research markets in India. Woodward’s strong recommendation
was to begin product registration of the clinical markets in China. In consideration of the time consuming and expensive registration
process in China, Woodward also advised pursuing the research market first. Finally, Woodward recommended that the company further
explore the Japanese and Korean markets for future opportunities.
The Results
Within six months of initial engagement, Woodward Partners successfully completed:
- An on-site evaluation of market potential and identification of appropriate markets,
- The development and implementation of market entry strategies tailored to each country,
- The identification of specific service partnerships through targeted personal interviews, and
- The evaluation of reputable distributors that best served the interest of the company
- The creation of a detailed timeline for specific recommendations ON the next steps to be taken toward implementation of
market exapansion
The Result
Within six months of initial engagement, Woodward Partners successfully completed:
- An on-site evaluation of market potential and identification of appropriate markets,
- The development and implementation of market entry strategies tailored to each country,
- The identification of specific service partnerships through targeted personal interviews, and
- The evaluation of reputable distributors that best served the interest of the company
- The creation of a detailed timeline for specific recommendations the next steps to be taken toward implementation of market expansion
As a result, the company has a stronger understanding of the opportunities and challenges within diverse medical device markets
throughout Asia. Strategically selecting key markets and evaluating distribution partnerships within Asia, Woodward effectively positioned
the company to maximize their opportunity to generate positive cash flow in a short period of time.
As the on-the-ground liaison, Woodward Partners acted to ensure that distributors and service partnerships were focused on the interest
of the company. The company was prepared to build its business on a solid foundation and realize its long term potential in Asia.
"Woodward Partners has saved us many thousands of dollars by helping us to understand pitfalls in
some of the countries in Asia that we would have never uncovered. That has saved travel and staff time
that would have been expended in exploring opportunities in countries that would have been difficult
to enter at our current stage. Woodward was able to uncover details about the market and the competition
that we would have never uncovered by contacting suppliers and distributors directly."
Chief Commercial Officer, Advanced Lifescience Instruments.
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Europost
The Situation
EuroPost, a large European postal company, had a small presence in Asia but was seeking new, long term growth opportunities in the region. The executive team specifically wanted to better understand customer needs, determine how to approach various regional markets, and identify what capabilities would be needed.
The Response
Woodward Partners delivered a clear plan for investing in key markets based on specific accounts and new partners and made solid projections based on market facts and an analysis of EuroPost's capabilities. The Woodward team also hosted executive workshops in Singapore, conducted on the ground research, built comparative market models, and evaluated unique risks across the target markets. The team then built an investment roadmap enabling EuroPost to leverage its strengths in important new markets.
The Result
Woodward's research exposed pending regulatory developments that ruled out otherwise attractive opportunities. We also revealed important organizational and cultural factors that limited the potential market opportunity for EuroPost's key services in certain markets and customer segments. Our team's decision matrices, roadmap, and supporting documentation enabled the executive team of EuroPost to factor key Asian markets into their global expansion plans with confidence.
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Dakota
The Situation
The regional management team of Dakota, an American industrial materials manufacturer, was seeking a new strategy for key Asian markets. Dakota had years of experience in the region - the company had grown organically and built a complex network of sales agents, distribution partners, suppliers, and joint venture partners - but growth had stagnated. The regional management team wanted to explore ways to position itself for growth in existing markets. After a series of executive workshops, it was discovered that significant collaboration issues were hindering growth.
The Response
Woodward delivered a clear and comprehensive picture of Dakota's value network, highlighting key communication and collaboration gaps. Woodward developed a fresh approach to country teams and regional support functions that enabled Dakota to better tap its strength, utilize its network of partners, and revitalize its joint ventures. These improvements positioned Dakota for growth in previously stagnant markets.
Woodward also hosted workshops in Singapore that revealed new issues and focused attention on key collaboration weaknesses. The Woodward team conducted field work that visualized the value network and validated key hypotheses. Our team then presented new organizational approaches to the regional Dakota team and hoped to obtain support for these approaches from the country teams.
The Result
Woodward worked closely with the Dakota teams throughout the region in workshops and through the fieldwork to separate underlying collaboration issues that had been hidden by various symptoms. The client adopted a series of measure to address various cost, team training, and failing joint venture issues. Our work enabled Dakota to root out core problems and focus its attention on significant new growth measures.
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TransCorp
The Situation
The regional management team of TransCorp, a large industrial products company, wanted to better understand why its growth was stagnant and why local competitors were capturing the growth in certain markets and international competitors in other markets. TransCorp had a long established presence in each of its key regional markets, and while each of its key markets was growing, the company was merely maintaining its low market share. The management team wanted to reevaluate its marketing approach in each market, including customers, channel partners, and competitive position. It was seeking a comprehensive approach across three of the largest regional markets.
The Response
Woodward delivered integrated marketing and channel programs for TransCorp's largest markets, focusing on new customer segments, channel partners, and pricing strategies.
The Woodward team hosted executive workshops in Singapore, conducted on the ground research, developed detailed value chain analyses, customer segmentation and competitive landscape models, and risk assessments for each market. The team then developed comprehensive marketing programs that enabled TransCorp to leverage its financial and technological strengths in its key regional markets. Woodward also supported efforts of TransCorp staff to replicate similar analyses in smaller markets across the region.
The Result
Woodward's output shed light on the complex web of influence surrounding the long lead time for purchase decisions of the company's product throughout the value chain. Our analysis pinpointed key decision makers, their primary concerns, and effective ways to reach them. Our work enabled TransCorp to focus its resources on the right opportunities and compete effectively in its key markets.
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