Banking Services across International Borders: A Marketing Plan for CREDIPEMI 360º

Abstract

The main objective of this master’s thesis is to suggest a marketing plan for the banking entity Caixa Rural Vila-real, which belongs to Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, to internationalize its presence beyond Spanish borders. By doing so, the aforementioned entity would be able to implement its successful working model to foreign markets. In order to do so, CREDIPEMI 360º, banking service for businesses offered by the analyzed corporation, has been taken as its main product to attract potential customers. Bearing this idea in mind, this study has taken the Italian market as the first target towards a major internationalization process. In order to achieve this goal, external and internal analyses of the current situation of the company have been conducted. After that, a global overview of the situation of the firm has been reached by elaborating a SWOT analysis. Then, after having completed the previously mentioned steps, Italy has been selected as the most convenient country in order to increase the revenues of the firm internationally thanks to the CAGE distance framework and a study of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. In addition, a segmentation of the Italian market has been accomplished in order to, later on, target the potential customers and position the products and image of the firm. Furthermore, the main SMART marketing objectives have been stated so as to formulate the relevant marketing strategies related to the product, brand, distribution, price and communication decisions. What is more, a financial projection has been formulated for the correct internationalization process of Caixa Rural Vila-real to the Italian market. Finally, the conclusive remarks reached in the study, as well as its limitations and suggestions for further research, have been included.