Samenvatting

Keune Haircosmetics Manufacturing B.V. is a Dutch company that specializes in professional
hair cosmetics. The company is now active in more than 70 countries and is looking to further
expand its market internationally. Although Mexico presents a significant opportunity for the
company to expand because of the importance that Mexicans place on physical appearance
and the large number of hair salons there, the company is not yet active there. This was the
main inducement for doing research on market opportunities in Mexico of which the central
question is:
Which entry strategy is recommended for Keune Haircosmetics to successfully enter the Mexican market?
Keune’s entry can be considered successful if the company obtains a market share of 5% within five years. The target group for the study was hair salon owners/managers in Mexico City and they were given a questionnaire, the purpose of which was to gather primary data on their willingness to work with a potential new brand in Mexico, among other information useful to the company. The results showed that the target group is definitely willing to work with new products; therefore, Mexico is definitely a potential new market for Keune.
The most recommendable entry strategy for Keune is to use a distributor, as the company wants to start as soon as possible in Mexico and a distributor would have superior market knowledge than Keune because the company would be new to the market. Starting with hair coloring products is recommended. These are Keune's best products as well as
the most used and therefore most important products in hair salons in Mexico. Once the hair
coloring products are well-established and successful, and brand awareness has been created, Keune can implement the next step, which is to introduce the rest of its product lines.