Star Athletics: Breaking Into The Fashion Industry

Competitive analysis is an essential part of strategic marketing where companies continuously monitor the business activities of its competitors gathering and analyzing industry information keeping up with the current trends and developments providing a perspective on the probabilities and possibilities of the future (Brannon and Divita, 2015). Athletics Supreme faces competition from its top three competitors. Dick’s Sporting Goods has made adjustments and shifted sales to meet changing trends in the area of sports now catering to serious athletes and children, and young adults at all levels of play. Foot Locker, Inc. is a leading retailer in athletic shoes and apparel mostly operating specialty stores malls across the United States. Walmart

Based on The Running Room’s current situation, Cisco considers a number of alternatives to her present marketing strategy. On one hand, she could continue to maintain a broad target market to appeal to both casual athletes--with more fashion-conscious products that aren’t necessarily running shoes--and serious runners, while attempting to tap into the growing market for women’s athletic shoes with expanded product lines for female athletes. This strategy would help her maintain her aging loyal customers, as she could offer athletic shoes that reflect the new exercise programs that they are becoming involved in instead of running. Conversely, she could narrow her target market to just serious runners, by investing in the high-end molded running shoes and the additional training and promotion that would be required to sell them. An analysis of The Running Room’s strengths and weaknesses can help her determine that the second strategy is the most worthwhile to pursue moving forward. As a former nationally-ranked runner herself, and with both a proven track record for catering to serious runners (who make up a majority of her sales) as well as the flexibility to switch product lines fairly easily, Cisco’s business strengths would support a shift to a more serious runner target market with relative

Nike may be typically known for focusing a lot of gear solely on athletes; yet, it is not just for them. Nike’s objective

Reebok and the NFL both were facing a decline and they both needed to enhance their brands, which the NFL has a negative brand impact because of poor product quality and negative brand experience perceptions and Reebok had to cut their endorsement contracts with key NFL players to budget out their sports marketing with the size of their current business. Reebok also wanted to create a new licensed apparel business and the NFL wanted to resurrect a business in decline due to competition among the licensees. The key goals for the NFL were to expand in the fan market of youth and women, improve their brand, and capitalize on the fitness and performance dimensions of the brand by entering the fitness equipment market (Hecox, 2016, p. 26). Reebok’s

This report has been created with the intent to analyze the athletic apparel industry with a specific focus on Lululemon Athletica, Inc., further refered to as Lululemon. In this report you will find that the strengths and weaknesses of Lululemon’s current strategies and future goals are analyzed and compared to that of its closest competitors. In conclusion to the analysis, recommendations have been made to potentially guide Lululemon Athletica, Inc. in a positive direction in regards to its future endeavors. The following

Lululemon Athletica Inc. thrived off its 5 key elements in their growth strategy which helped to acquire a stronger revenue base that enabled them to have a differentiated product line,design and culture. Trademarked fabric and technology helped their brand loyalty which enabled them to get products in and off the shelves in a 2 month period. Additionally 95% of its inventory was sold at regular price. This was attainable because of the strategic multi-channel approach used to enhance its market presence

Prince Sports can stay ahead of the changes they possibly face if they keep in mind when Linda Glassel said “It’s learning, it’s studying, it’s talking to people who understand where the market is going” (Pg. 241). In order to stay ahead and take on any challenges that come their way, they need to employ research methods that can help them solve their problems and come up with new ideas for marketing their products. Besides using the Five-Step marketing approach, there are specific aspects they should pay close attention to. As a part of step three, they need to collect data, both primary and

The sportswear industry is growing and becoming more competitive so the will be new producers and entries in the market with new ‘’aces up their sleeves’’. More competition in the market

6). This strategy is a major component of Nike’s business strategic level plan. In applying this strategy, Nike has attained a great deal of consumer insight, which it uses to offer uniquely designed premium products to the athletes. Still on product differentiation, Nike focuses more on research and development at a greater level. These unique features to Nike, have transformed the competition levels in this competitive industry, leading to a trend of a paradigm shift in the market. Most consumers opt for Nike branded sports products and apparels, at the expense of the other brand names.

All too common products success or failure rides heavily on how the product image characterized matches against the consumers associated beliefs for that same product when they contemplate on buying the product (Bhasin, 2016). Furthermore, the consumers’ willingness to buy based on those core beliefs and expectation of the product, further drives customers in reaching the final purchase decision. A company’s product can easily be short-lived or adopted quickly by a competitor company (Bhasin, 2016). Knowing this makes it critical for businesses to understand additional drivers associated with the customers shopping experience, along with the customer’s core belief and their expectation from the product purchase. Therefore, the following tables created provide details of Lululemon and Planet Fitness. This table shares each company’s core beliefs, basic product offering, customer expectation of a product and the company augmented benefits provided to the product for Lululemon Athletic Apparel and Planet Fitness.

Over the past twenty-five years we have had to reinvent ourselves many times. The first surge was with the Waffle Trainer and the running craze. When that slowed, we thought we ran out of market. We had another surge with basketball behind Michael Jordan, and cross-training with Bo Jackson. Then again, we Thought our growth was dead. Another surge came in 1995, when Nike became fashionable and athletic urban wear became king. But,that too ended in early 2008, as did the health of the Asian economy. There we were, with an over-extended brand. Each time we reinvented our company. In 1995, when we reached $3 billion in sales, we said $5 billion was the absolute limit. Three years later we were closing in on $10 billion. Each time we did succeed it was due, in part, to

Sport Apparel is a large industries with many firms such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Under Armour, the Gap, Athleta, Nordstrom, Lucy and Bebe store. Large industries allow multiple firms and producers to prosper without having to steal market share from each other. Large industry size is a positive for Lululemon Athletica. … This qualitative factor will lead to an increase in costs.

Competition is very fierce due to the number of companies competing for sales. Lots of money goes to marketing and promotions using various channels to reach the young demographic group of consumers who spend the most money on Nike’s products. Growth is slowing down in the athletic footwear industry. But new markets are emerging with high growth rates. These markets include extreme sports market and the corporate merchandise market.

Nike’s recent decline in market share and stock can be attributed to changing trends in consumer spending habits and apparel tastes. Nike can re-establish a competitive advantage in the short-run by implementing an innovative design team and brand ambassador. Long-run competitive advantage can be achieved by fully committing to a sustainable innovative business model or by incorporating innovative technology trends into their retail structure.

Nike, Inc. has been the world’s leading innovator and provider in athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for 50 years. Their mission has been to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world; if you have a body, you are an athlete. Arguably one of the most innovative companies in the world, Nike has built its brand into an iconic world-class powerhouse that continues to dominate the market with no signs of slowing up. Nike’s marketing and advertising have been breakthrough, aspirational, and legendary over the years, featuring high-profile athletes and heroes.