Quebramar

: navigating through unchartered seas : designing a development strategy in Brazil

Abstract

International expansion has become a way to ensure companies’ growth, particularly within the fashion industry. Its competitive nature and its importance in conveying status, style and personal expression allied to the convergence of international fashion trends explain this urge for companies to tap the international arena. Quebramar is a recognized lifestyle fashion brand that has forged a fruitful legacy in the Portuguese market for clothes with a nautical casual look. However, after a restructure of ownership embodied in a strategic alliance with Lanidor Group, Quebramar believes that the time for building a global brand has come. Despite being present in some foreign markets, its overseas’ operations have no expression. Quebramar intends to address this situation by tapping fast growing markets with an increasing purchasing power that can be seduced by an unknown foreign brand. The present case study provides an overview of Quebramar along with a brief summary of the Brazilian retail landscape with a special focus on the apparel retail industry. Therefore, this dissertation proposes to assess not only the inherent motivations behind Quebramar’s internationalization decision to expand to Brazil but also its viability. Consequently, to identify possible drawbacks, trends and opportunities, a strategic analysis of the Brazilian market was conducted. Moreover, the main purpose of this thesis is to define and identify the best positioning approach in the foreign country, with a special emphasis on the adaptation of certain elements of its marketing mix strategy.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Simão Pires (Supervisor)