Adidas Porsche S2 sports shoe are perfect for high school athletes who compete in many multiple events.
This will be a sponsor for the participants of the forthcoming event, which is the Olympics 2012.
Some of the main features of Adidas Porsche S2 sports will be as follows;
• Adidas Porsche S2 is lightweight, well cushioned track spike.
• Nylon meshes upper combine’s lightweight and breathability (allowing the passage of air and moisture).
• Synthetic leather trims improves durability.
• Pre-molded sole provides optimized comfort and cushioning.
• Replaceable spikes.
Price:-
Price strategy will be premium pricing for the Adidas Porsche S2 female. Whereas Adidas Porsche S2 will be a sponsored for some the well known participants of the Olympics’ 2012 for example Usain Bolt and these shoes will be available only in the European market. Adidas Porsche S2 female will be available in all the markets where Adidas Porsche S2 men are available.
Place:-
Again the distribution channel would be the same as the Adidas Porsche S2 men’s shoes. That is the Adidas outlets and their retailers.
Promotion:-
As mentioned before that Adidas has come with a creative idea. Adidas main promotional strategy for Adidas Porsche S2 men and female is the Adidas Porsche S2 sports; this is because the main idea behind sponsoring the Olympics 2012 by their new Adidas Porsche S2 sports is to keep its Adidas Porsche S2 in the public focus. This technique of sponsoring main events like the Olympics has been a great success to Adidas. In the year 2008 Adidas has sponsored sportsmen and women, 295 footballers, 64 rugby players, 71 tennis players, 24 basket ball players, 8 golfers. By this most consumers by their product for the name and the prestige they get by wearing it. For example some consumers might by the Adidas Porsche S2 because it was the brand that the world’s fastest runner Usain Bolt wore. Other promotional strategies which will be used for the Adidas Porsche S2 female will be at the same as the Adidas Porsche S2 men.
1.2 Evaluate the benefits of segmentation for businesses
Company must work harder to ensure that their marketing has the greatest impact possible.
Increasing competition makes it difficult for a mass marketing strategy to succeed. Customers are becoming more diversified and firms are constantly differentiating their products relative to competitors.
When the focus is on segmented markets, the company's marketing can better match the needs of that group. Market segmentation allows firms to focus their resources more effectively, and with a greater chance of success. Marketing, product and brand managers are continuously being asked to increase their return on investment. They're constantly searching for new information about their markets, and new ways to approach them.
This is where market segmentation comes in.
Divide and Conquer
Market segmentation focuses on that subset of prospects that have the greatest potential of becoming customers and generating revenue.
Companies who segment their markets match their strengths and offerings to the groups of customers most likely to respond to them.
- Differentiate your products and services to meet your customer needs and desires.
- Design or redesign new products and services to meet your market needs.
- Find hidden needs and make improvements to your existing products.
- By selecting and focusing on the most responsive segments to the exclusion of others, marketing can be created to more effectively fit your consumers. Finding, understanding and focusing on the needs of your best customers can make you a market leader.
- Target your marketing mix to the customers most likely to want your products or services
- Identify behaviors and buying motives for your products.
- Identify your most and least profitable customers.
- Help you avoid unprofitable markets.
- Increase brand loyalty and decrease brand switching.
Learning more about your competitors makes you more effective
- Improve your competitive positioning to be more accurate and better differentiate you from the competition.
- Reduce competition by competing in a more narrowly defined market and establishing a niche. Market segmentation is a proven way of improving profitability. By focusing on individualized sub groups, you're better able to meet their needs and gain higher market share and profits.
- Refine your pricing to maximize revenue.
- Find markets where you can increase your price.
- Optimize your marketing resources and get the most impact for your investment
- Focus and match your activities to things you can do effectively and profitably When segmentation is done right, you get the highest return for your marketing expenditure.
Segmentation strategies:-
Segmentation strategies for the female Adidas Porsche S2 will be similar as the males Adidas Porsche S2. Female Adidas Porsche S2 will be available launched in all the countries where the male Adidas Porsche S2 will be available and the demographic variables such as the age, income, socioeconomic status will be the same as to the males Adidas Porsche S2. Also the psychographic and the behavioral variables will be also the same. After segmenting the product Adidas should consider the marketing mix of the new female Adidas Porsche S2 which will be launched in the mid of 2011.
2.1 Examine the advantage of branding in relation to a product a student has researched.
Many people dream of having a successful business like McDonalds, KFC, 7-11, Coca Cola, Pepsi and others. Business or product should be brand to make the customers remember it easily. Like for example in Pepsi you may hear “the choice of a new generation”. In McDonalds you may hear “tender licking good”. If the children will hear them they would automatically mean that it Pepsi soft drink or a chicken from McDonalds and etc., not only the children but the adults too. This will make you remember easily.
Branding will make your product run ahead of other product that does not have a trademark. There are many ways to brand your products like finding a good phrase that will make people remember always. It could be funny or serious. You may also make a
banner with unique logo and lettering, it also a branding. Hiring a model is also considered a branding like for example if you hire Madonna to endorse condom then every time we will see her, will remind us about condoms. So in short branding can be done through words in radio and TV commercials, Banner ads using lettering and logo and a model to endorse the product both radio, TV and banners.
Multi Billion Dollars Companies are branding their products and services and even their companies.
Here are some of the benefits of branding:
To the buyer:
• Help buyers identify the product that they like/dislike.
• Identify marketer
• Helps reduce the time needed for purchase.
• Helps buyers evaluate quality of products especially if unable to judge a products characteristics.
• Helps reduce buyer’s perceived risk of purchase.
• Buyer may derive a psychological reward from owning the brand, Rado or Ford.
To the seller:
• Differentiate product offering from competitors
• Helps segment market by creating tailored images, IE Contact lenses
• Brand identifies the company’s products making repeat purchases easier for customers.
• Reduce price comparisons
• Brand helps firm introduce a new product that carries the name of one or more of its existing products...half as much as using a new brand, lower co. designs, advertising and promotional costs.
EXAMPLE, Gummy Savers.
• Easier cooperation with intermediaries with well known brands
• Facilitates promotional efforts.
• Helps foster brand loyalty helping to stabilize market share.
• Firms may be able to charge a premium for the brand.
The important is you make your products and company known easily through branding. Without branding, your product will not be visible and it might be mistaken as fake.
Branding and packaging has always been to protect and contain a product. Branding and packaging has been important for the consumers to recognize a product by its size, brand name, logo etc. Adidas also position themselves as a brand for success and they have used some of the famous athletes, showing wearing Adidas products. Adidas formed relationship with some of the world’s famous players such as the FIFA world player Zinedine Zidane, David Beckam, Raul, Michael Ballack, Kaka etc. Adidas used some of the famous players and found it effective to promote their brand. This approach has been a success in the European countries.
2.1 Design a SWOT analysis for a company with which the student is familiar.
SWOT analysis:-
STRENGTHS
- Established brand name - this means that Adidas has already built up a good reputation and it has a large market share within its industry.
- Good retail links - Adidas has established good links with shops and outlets, which sell Adidas’s products.
- Integration with Porsche - Two companies of high reputation integrates, there ismore recognition.
- Good reputations for quality – Adidas and Porsche have built up a good reputation over the years for the quality of their goods.
WEAKNESSES
- A large amount of finance is required for research and development of the products, therefore their prices are high – this means that Adidas require a large amount of funds so that they can carry on producing top of the range products.
- Adidas Porsche design S2 will not be affordable for everyone; they have segmented according to the demographic geographic segmentation, which is the income, socioeconomic status and according to cities and etc.
OPPORTUNITIES
- New products – One option, which Adidas could take, is producing new products.
- Make deals with sports stars – Adidas could try to persuade more sports stars to wear their products by offering them deals, including David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, and Stephen Gerrard etc.
- Expand distribution network – Adidas could also export their products to new countries where their goods weren’t previously sold.
THREATS
- Competition – Adidas’s competition includes Nike, Reebok, Puma, Umbro, Diadora and otto etc.
- Inflation of materials would cause prices to rise, therefore fewer customers would buy Adidas’s products – this means that if the prices of materials used were to rise then this would cause the prices of Adidas’s goods to rise, as the products would be more expensive to make. This would mean that not as many people would buy their goods at higher prices.
3.1 Evaluate external influences when promoting a specific product.
Businesses operate in an external environment in which as well as competition from rivals businesses have to take account of legal, political, social and economic influences.
A (Social, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological) analysis is often carried out by business planners which enables them to develop more informed strategies (i.e. long term plans).
Social factors
Relate to change is society and social structures. Changes in the structure of the population, and in lifestyles and behavior affect buying patterns.
Legal factors
Relate to changes in . Businesses must be careful to keep within the law and to anticipate ways in which changes in laws will affect the way they must behave.
Economic factors
Relate to changes in the wider economy. A growing economy provides greater opportunities for businesses to make profits, so businesses welcome rising living standards.
Political factors
Relate to ways in which changes in government and government policy can influence business.
Technological factors
Provide opportunities for businesses to adopt new breakthroughs, innovations, and inventions to cut costs and develop new products.
A business producing confectionery like Cadbury Schweppes examines SLEPT factors in designing new products. For example, social factors that it needs to be aware of include changing patterns of eating. Today many consumers like to eat 'on the go' so bite sized chocolate treats are in great demand to top up consumers energy supplies. Legal factors to be kept an eye on include European Union regulations about the content of products that can be advertised as chocolate. Economic factors relate to changes in living standards and how these affect consumptions patters.
Technological change is particularly important today, for example, the development of new technologies that have enabled variations on chocolate bars to be produced in an ice cream format. Political changes are closely tied up with economic ones and relate to changing governmental influence. For example, a change from a Labor to a Conservative government would affect taxation policies which would impact on the cost of chocolate production.
Environmental scanning:-
The process whereby businesses examine the external environment to identify key structural changes in the world around them which affect demand and supply conditions for their products.
3.2 Analyze marketing objectives when planning a promotional campaign.
Marketing Objectives of Adidas Porsche S2:-
Adidas Porsche S2 is a new product which has been launched recently to the European countries and will be launched to Srilanka in the mid of December 2009. Following will be some of the objectives of Adidas.
- Adidas Porsche S2 will be launched to the Srilankan market by the mid of December 2009.
- Build brand image – Adidas already has a very good brand image, they need it to expand it even more by integrating with Porsche. Whereas even Porsche racers will be interested in buying the Adidas Porsche shoes which will be targeted for the car racers.
- Adidas Porsche S2 women’s apparels will be launched by the beginning of 2011.
- To increase the profit margins at least by 10% of Adidas shoes (excluding the boots, slippers and sandals)
- To sell around 100 pairs of Adidas Porsche S2 shoes in 1 year within the Colombo outlets.
These will be some of the marketing objectives set for the Adidas Porsche S2 and following will be the STP strategies of Adidas Porsche S2.
Again STP is an acronym for:
- Segmentation
- Targeting
- Positioning
4.2 Examine internal and external sources of information available to a business when planning an expansion.
Internal sources of secondary information
Sales data:
All organizations collect information in the course of their everyday operations. Orders are received and delivered, costs are recorded, sales personnel submit visit reports, invoices are sent out, returned goods are recorded and so on. Much of this information is of potential use in marketing research but a surprising amount of it is actually used. Organizations frequently overlook this valuable resource by not beginning their search of secondary sources with an internal audit of sales invoices, orders, inquiries about products not stocked, returns from customers and sales force customer calling sheets. For example, consider how much information can be obtained from sales orders and invoices:
· Sales by territory
· Sales by customer type
· Prices and discounts
· Average size of order by customer, customer type, geographical area
· Average sales by sales person and
· Sales by pack size and pack type, etc.
This type of data is useful for identifying an organization’s most profitable product and customers. It can also serve to track trends within the enterprise's existing customer group.
Financial data:
An organization has a great deal of data within its files on the cost of producing, storing, transporting and marketing each of its products and product lines. Such data has many uses in marketing research including allowing measurement of the efficiency of marketing operations. It can also be used to estimate the costs attached to new products under consideration, of particular utilization (in production, storage and transportation) at which an organization’s unit costs begin to fall.
Transport data:
Companies that keep good records relating to their transport operations are well placed to establish which are the most profitable routes, and loads, as well as the most cost effective routing patterns. Good data on transport operations enables the enterprise to perform trade-off analysis and thereby establish whether it makes economic sense to own or hire vehicles, or the point at which a balance of the two gives the best financial outcome.
Storage data:
The rate of stock turn, stock handling costs, assessing the efficiency of certain marketing operations and the efficiency of the marketing system as a whole. More sophisticated accounting systems assign costs to the cubic space occupied by individual products and the time period over which the product occupies the space. These systems can be further refined so that the profitability per unit, and rate of sale, are added. In this way, the direct product profitability can be calculated.
External sources of secondary information
The marketing researcher who seriously seeks after useful secondary data is more often surprised by its abundance than by its scarcity. Too often, the researcher has secretly (sometimes subconsciously) concluded from the outset that his/her topic of study is so unique or specialized that a research of secondary sources is futile. Consequently, only a specified search is made with no real expectation of sources. Cursory researches become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dillon et. al3 give the following advice:
"You should never begin a half-hearted search with the assumption that what is being sought is so unique that no one else has ever bothered to collect it and publish it. On the contrary, assume there are scrolling secondary data that should help provide definition and scope for the primary research effort."
The same authors support their advice by citing the large numbers of organizations that provide marketing information including national and local government agencies, quasi-government agencies, trade associations, universities, research institutes, financial institutions, specialist suppliers of secondary marketing data and professional marketing research enterprises. Dillon et al further advice that searches of printed sources of secondary data begin with referral texts such as directories, indexes, handbooks and guides. These sorts of publications rarely provide the data in which the researcher is interested but serve in helping him/her locate potentially useful data sources.
The main sources of external secondary sources are (1) government (federal, state and local) (2) trade associations (3) commercial services (4) national and international institutions.
Adidas is planning for expanding its Adidas Porsche S2 for the females too. Whereas Adidas Porsche S2 which is going to be launched by the mid of December will be a men’s apparel. Adidas Porsche S2 for the females is not launched to any market, as for the plan Adidas will be launching the Adidas Porsche S2 by the mid of 2011.
The main reason for this expansion is to increase their total sales annually and also to increase profit growth. In the year 2009 total sales for Adidas were 15.3 billion euro’s and their profit growth was 11%. Adidas recognizes that their consumers make purchase decisions based not only the brand but also the availability, convenience and breadth of product offering.
Bibliography
S.K Gupta & S.Jain, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management,s.chand publications.
Russell S .Winer, Marketing Management, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hooley, G. J., Saunders, J. A. and Piercy, N.F., 1998. Marketing Strategyand Competitive positioning. 2nd Ed. London.
Baker,M. J,2000.Marketing Strategy and Management.3rd Ed.
Basingstoke. Macmillan.Doyle, p., 2001. Marketing Management and Strategy. 3rd Ed. London.
A. Vinod, 2004. Marketing Management. Calicut University