Expanding In The Chinese Market An Effective Marketing Strategy For Spanish Wine Firms

China is one of the fastest-growing wine markets in the world.Wine businesses from major wine-producing countries have been focusing on this market.Spain is the third larger wine producer worldwide and due to a drop in its local consumption resulting in a huge oversupply,has targeted China as an export destination.However,the market share and reputation of Spanish wines has not been as good as expected,its wine is often associated by the Chinese consumers as cheap,low quality or bulk,which does not represent the reality of these wines.Spanish companies have neither understood the Chinese market very well,nor efficiently set up their strategies to approach it.This study aims to help Spanish wine companies to improve performance and overcome the problems that they are currently facing in the Chinese wine market.Some recommendations and an effective marketing strategy are provided at the end of the thesis.By following the strategic planning theories,the study presents an analysis of the Spanish wine industry in China,where the strengths,weaknesses,opportunities and threats are identified through the external and internal analysis and gathered in the SWOT Matrix.The study reveals that Chinese do not use wine for daily consumption,instead they use it for gifts or assert position,they lack of ability of distinguish or appreciate the real quality of wine and the country of origin of this spirit influence the consumer's purchasing decision.Therefore,it is of vital importance for Spanish companies to focus in compete with image,appearance,and perception instead of price or quality,promote the "Spain" brand and Invest in educating the consumers about wine,so they can appreciate quality in the future.A combination of premium price,high-class promotion and high-end distribution channel ensuring the online market,as well as the expansion in cities of second and third level,is an effective strategy.