Situational Analysis of the UK Market for C. and J International Ltd - Assignment Example

?Module Clarks Shoe Company, number Word count of each part of the report Executive Summary (219 words) Introduction (316 words) Task One: Situational Analysis (805 words) Task Two: segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (483) Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Task One: Situational Analysis 6 S.W.O.T analysis of Clarks Company 6 PLEST Analysis 8 Task Two: Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning 10 Market segmentation theory 10 Bibliography 12 Executive Summary C. and J International Ltd. popularly known as Clarks Company is an international shoe company based in Britain with the company registering significant sales in shoes as at 2010. Clarks has also grown in terms of product innovation to establish new generation active footwear from the old manufacture of professional boots. Moreover, Clarks through its IT hub has managed to obtain customer engagement in that has helped the Company to gain a competitive edge against rival companies in the shoe industry. Clarks offers high quality products to the shoe market within competitive prices as they manufacture their shoes in Vietna (Chan 2011: 218). According to research, the improvement of living standards worldwide has allowed for increased consumer spending rates with an increase of professionals and their demand to dress the part. Remarkably, Clarks has utilized technology in many areas of its operations such as e trading and online retailing to boost its sales (Mort 2005: 57). Secure online transactions have made trading for Clarks to be easier and effective as it has grown to include home shopping. In order to achieve marketing segmentation success, Clarks must ensure that it breaks down its broad market that uses different avenues to access information. Lastly, will Clarks to continue to offer shoe varieties for women, children, and men and which the Company intends to increase its consumer market Situational Analysis in Clarks Shoe company Introduction C. and J International Ltd. popularly known as Clarks Company is an international shoe company based in Britain with the company registering significant sales in shoes as at 2010. The company stands as the thirty-third largest privately owned enterprise in the UK whose ownership is by the Clark family with eighty-one percent while the remaining fraction belongs to employees and other stakeholders. As at 2011, the company had at least one thousand stores in a hundred and sixty countries worldwide. The company started operation in 1825 through the Clarks brothers namely Cyrus and James who started by making slippers from sheepskins, but evolved to become of the leading global shoe brands in Europe and in other continents. In recent times, Clarks shoes have gained popularity in Jamaica through a popular Jamaican artist to the extent that they sell out on shoe shops only for thieves to target them. The iconic shoe styles attached to Clarks Shoe Company include Wallabees, Desert Treks and Desert Boots with C & J Clark brands including Indigo, Artisan, Bostonian, Ravel shoes and K Shoes, among a list of many others. In terms of consumers, Clarks offers shoe varieties for women, and men and which the Company intends to increase its consumer market through renowned pop stars, print advertisements and through social media. The advertisement features that Clarks utilizes are through posts on glamorous magazines and on websites, but still maintaining its marketing ideals. The use of print ads is essential for Clarks Company because of their intent to reach out to a wider women consumer target because most of them read glamorous magazines. Presently, this company has an average of $800 million in turnover with the annual shoe sales amounting to thirty eight million pairs of shoes. Clarks has also grown in terms of product innovation to establish new generation active footwear from the old manufacture of professional boots. Task One: Situational Analysis In order for Clarks Company to compete in a global shoe market, its positioning of its various stores is imperative for its operations. Clarks shoes illustrate class when retailing to consumers together with its rich company heritage, which denotes its continuous progress towards being the market leader in shoe retail. Key also is the IT department in North America, which is essential in rolling out the e-commerce trade and facilitating technology challenges that inhibiting the Company from achieving growth. Additionally, Clarks through its IT hub has managed to obtain customer engagement in that has helped the Company to gain a competitive edge against rival companies in the shoe industry. The strong global team established by Katsirubas Stevens, North America’s CIO has been effective in ensuring that Clarks maintains its niche in shoe retail together with the leadership and the partners that have held the company in check towards success. S.W.O.T analysis of Clarks Company Strengths The Company has an established reputable brand name in America Offers high quality products to the shoe market within competitive prices as they manufacture their shoes in Vietnam (Chan 2011: 218) The Company has immense control over its distribution market through its Directly Operated Stores in its country of operation The Company also strikes profits through product mixing of the various Clarks shoe lines (Thompson & Martin 2010: 122). Weaknesses Clarks has a narrow product range hence influencing a lower customer base Only has a limited possession of the female shoe market Only commands market presence at a fraction of the world market because of limited awareness of their products by the possible consumers Lower priced shoes also affect the profit margins of Clarks Company because of the competitive pricing Clarks cannot forecast fashion trends, which is a necessity for increased profit margins Opportunities Clarks focuses on product development and innovation in order to achieve varied audiences The young are also keen on trends as they have disposable income where Clarks focuses on manufacturing lifestyle supporting brands to fit the trends The increasing consumer buying power and demand is another opportunity that Clarks may use to develop a retail oriented consumer culture The emerging global markets are another area that Clarks can venture into in developing a globally recognized brand The underdevelopment of high end markets in foreign regions is another opportunity for Clarks Company The steady growth of the women’s shoe market as women tend to buy shoes irrespective of the economic climate (GB 2007: 39) The improvement of living standards worldwide has allowed for increased consumer spending rates with an increase of professionals and their demand to dress the part Threats International threat from global competitors leaves Clarks exposed to a reduction in profit margins in terms of other shoe brands and shoe substitutes available in the market Clarks may become unfashionable because the shoe products that they specialize in are fashion brands There is competition from similar products in terms of prices making Clarks shoe sales to be vulnerable Market lobbying in factories that make Clarks shoes because of the health hazards, injuries to the employees and children PLEST Analysis PLEST is an effective tool in strategic planning that is essential in ascertaining the influence of political, economic, social, and the technological factors for a company also including the legal and environmental factors. Political In the political aspect of the analysis, Clarks has to ensure that the environmental and ethical issues are of prime focus in order to ensure that the company maintains desirable working conditions. Clarks should strive to ensure that there are no cases of child labor reported in any of their shoe factories over any of them perceived to be sweatshops (Pynditt & Pedersen 2006: 45). This may in turn attract legal issues for the company that may amount to millions of dollars as a penalty. Economical The global recession had a significant influence on the value associated with footwear as it made fashionable shoes to be unattainable even for Clarks shoes. On the contrary, the available credit facilities have influenced young people and students to buy more shoes on debt rather than save for their future. Social Those that love shoes are keen on buying the trendiest shoes at whatever cost while many of them buy as per occasions while others to match their wardrobes. Ideally, women may buy uncomfortable shoes irrespective of the number of hours that they work making them to struggle to walk without, but the shoe craze is what drives them. Technology Remarkably, Clarks has applied technology in many areas of its operations such as e commerce and online retailing to boost its sales. Secure online transactions have made trading for Clarks to be easier and effective as it has grown to include home shopping. On the other hand, technology has also made Clarks to drag behind in terms of innovation and advancement as designers are now relying on the ideas made by others online. Task Two: Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning Market segmentation theory In marketing, market segmentation is a key practice in reaching out to broader target markets into divided consumer as per their unique needs using relevant media channels. Essentially, market segmentation allows a company to develop products that are different as per the needs of their market and applying different strategies to target them. In achieving this strategy, Clarks must ensure that it breaks down its broad market that uses different avenues to access information. In this regard, Clarks may advertise their tailored goods through specific avenues such as on the brand’s online magazine, where many of the online professionals may visit. The products on display here can be school shoes and women shoes that are the greatest income earners for Clarks as a company. The Jamaican culture has also helped in promoting Clarks chose in which music from Jamaica is slowly receiving international acceptance and intense airplay. With this, Clarks has become a household name in many nations that listen to Jamaican music especially those by Vybz Kartel who is iconic in mentioning of his Clarks shoe collection and influencing the masses to buy these shoes. Additionally, Clarks also developed the Originals Remixed, which is a sub-site of the main Clarks website that allows users to download music that makes the company more interactive to its consumers and uses this as a referral point to where their products are available. The remixes provided on this site has become acceptable among the Clarks consumers as their interviews and videos on the site showcase the various Clarks shoes as worn by those in the interviews, music videos, and by the DJs making the mixes. Further, Clarks has established a global team that intends to increase the popularity of Clarks Shoes across the globe, which is part of the restructuring process of the company. Clarks aims to increase its profitability and turnover by 2015 with the intention to capitalize on untapped markets in China and other fashion conscious regions other than the UK and the USA (Steele 2010: 628). The company also intends to establish new marketing heads in the regions that they intend to establish roots as they would be part of developing a global marketing strategy that would be impactful to its operations. The other strategic plan is to create marketing roles for men and sports, and also women and children's divisions to ensure that the segmented market groups have satisfaction with Clarks shoe products and that they also access the products as well. Further, there is a need for Clarks to establish a stable market brand that would help them in retaining their presence because the constant innovations tend to distort the brand in the market. Clarks will also improve on its digital capabilities in order to build its global brand presence as this has proven effective in online trading and potential market space to maximize on profit margins. Bibliography Great Britain. 2007. Sustainable schools: are we building schools for the future? London, The Stationery Office. Mort, D. 2005. Business Information Handbook 2003. Berlin, Walter de Gruyter. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=370738. Pyndt, J., & Pedersen, T. 2006. Managing global offshoring strategies: a case approach. Koge, Denmark, Copenhagen Business School Press. Steele, V. 2010. The Berg companion to fashion. Oxford, Berg. Thompson, J. L., & Martin, F. 2010. Strategic management. Andover, Cengage Learning. Vietnam Update Conference, & Chan, A. 2011. Labour in Vietnam. Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Read More