Case Study Tv Guide

L.A. Gear is an athletic shoe manufacturer that is struggling in the athletic footwear industry. The company is ranked number three following Nike and Reebok. L.A. Gear is well known to its female customers due to their fashionable shoe line. To be able to gain some ground on the other shoe manufacturers L.A. Gear is going to have to develop a men's shoe line and capture some of the male buyers. This is not going to be an easy task since Nike and Reebok spend an extensive amount of money on their advertising campaigns including celebrity spokesmen. L.A. gear not only needs to capture the male buyers but they also need to maintain their female customers so a delicate balance is needed. An extensive research and marketing campaign will be necessary to penetrate this market and still maintain its loyal customers and brand recognition. Once the research is gathered a full scale marketing campaign will follow once the new direction of the company is determined.

An extensive research study will be initiated determining what the male customers want in an athletic shoe. These studies will take place online, by ground mail, and by telephone. Once the information is gathered the various types of men's shoes will then be developed focusing on the most popular needs determined by the survey results, which will include a question regarding price. L.A. Gear will then compare the needs of the customers to the industry leaders and determine how the leaders achieved the needs of the male customers and what opportunities L.A. Gear could use to "one up" the competition. L.A. Gear's shoes already focus on comfort, style, and fashion and will now include high performance.

After the direction of the new shoe line has been developed, a price of each shoe will need to be determined to see if a profit can still be made. The price will be benchmarked against other shoes in the same category to make them competitive in the buying market. L.A. Gear may even try to undercut the prices if they are still able to maintain a profit to entice the consumers to try their new product and gain their loyalty. They must be careful though not to make them to inexpensive because they want the customer to feel that these are the shoes they need to perform better and the expense would be well worth it. Also, if celebrity endorsements are determined a necessity the cost of these endorsements will also have to be rolled into the total cost of the shoes.

The location of the shoes will play a key role in its success. As proven already in L.A. Gear's past history, selling to discount outlets, swap meets, and 7-Eleven hurt the company's image. Loyal customers began to doubt the quality of shoes due to their selling locations. L.A. Gear will place the new line of sneakers in full-price department stores and shoe stores. This will help maintain the quality image that the company will need to succeed. Consumers will also be able to purchase their tennis shoes online. The website will be user friendly and attractive to use for the online buyers.

The promotion of the new line is very important. An extensive campaign focusing on performance and fashion of the sneakers will be very important to its success. A celebrity endorsement will play a key role in the company's success. It has been proven through Nike and Reebok that celebrity endorsement campaigns have improved shoe sales. Michael Jordan's endorsement of Nike shoes back in the 1980's put Nike on the maps and improved sales drastically. Every young boy wanted Nike shoes. The profits of these campaigns have far outweighed the costs. Advertising opportunities will need to be researched thoroughly. The target market will be determined and then the opportunities to advertise to that market will be emphasized. One suggestion would be to advertise during televised sporting events because the viewing population is mainly males. A possible sport figure endorsement would help in this area. Another option would be to advertise on MTV to capture the young males and possibly gain customer loyalty in their later years.