Digital vs Traditional Marketing Communication Strategy Comparative Analysis in International Retail Business in Home and Host (Asian) Countries: Example of Tesco

The relevance of the research: nowadays there is a problem of a choice between the right mix of traditional and digital marketing communications for interaction with customers, in a field such as retail business this problem is especially relevant. This research compares different types of marketing communications at the home and host (Asian) countries for the retailers and identifies the factors that influence the choice of marketing communication strategy using the example of one of the most successful global retailers – Tesco and its marketing strategy in the home market of Great Britain, and in the Asian host countries. The structure of the research: the first chapter of the research is devoted to theoretical aspects and describes in detail the structure of marketing communication, its goals and objectives, its importance in the marketing mix. In addition, each element of marketing communications is described in detail (advertising, PR, sales promotion, personal sales, direct marketing). The second paragraph of the first chapter indicates the main trends of global retail digitalization which are the following: cross-platform communications as well as buying process, growing influence of VR and AR technologies during communication process, growing influence of mobile segment, online-offline conversion of customers interaction, phenomenon of “social shopping”, seamless united communication, advanced methods of digital data gathering. The second chapter of the research describes the case study of Tesco. The first paragraph of the second chapter describes the brief history of the company, its business model and marketing positioning, as well as the details of Tesco marketing mix. In addition, the crucial points of Tesco loyalty program and its role in the company's marketing communications strategy are described. This paragraph also considers Tesco's marketing communications strategy in the home market (the UK) in general, and its components in particular - traditional and digital communications. The second paragraph of the second chapter describes the transnational activities of Tesco in Asia (most attention is paid to countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand). We described in detail Tesco’s mode of entry at the Asian markets, as well as Tesco marketing strategy in these countries. Also in this chapter of the research the digital marketing communications in South Korea are described - this country was taken into consideration because it is the most striking example of Tesco's digitalization in Asian markets. The crucial element of the second chapter and the research as a whole is a comparative analysis of Tesco's marketing communications strategy at the home market (the UK) and at the South Korean market. The third chapter summarizes the results of the research and confirms the hypothesis of the research. It also gives an answer to the question, which factors play a crucial role while choosing the proper mix of marketing communications in the global retail business. The findings of the research are accompanied by the recommendations which are supposed to be useful for marketers, analysts and the Board of Directors of retail companies. In conclusion, this chapter discusses the possible limitations of the research, the prospects for further work in this direction. The object of the research is the marketing communications in international retail business The subject of the research is marketing communication strategies of Tesco in home and host countries The hypothesis of the research: In developed Asian countries (as exemplified by South Korea), the main emphasis while choosing a marketing communications strategy is more efficient to do in favor of digital communications. The digital / traditional communications ratio in this case will be more moved towards the digital communications compared to the UK home market.