MBA Essay可以这样写,本文实际上是一篇MBA Marketing Report,主要内容是分析分析了匡威查克全明星系列鞋类在美国的市场,并对其他竞争品牌进行了比较。作为MBA Essay,形式可以很多样化,主要还是根据课程作业的要求进行,小编这次提供了一篇Report形式的MBA Essay范文供各位参考,完全符合留学生课程作业MBA Essay格式要求,下面一起来看一下:
MBA Essay范文
用以美元为单位的净销售额来描述市场数据的图表也被包括进来以支持这些发现。报告根据人口、心理和行为因素对卡盘市场进行了细分,然后重点介绍了帆布鞋的目标市场。还包括卡盘相对于竞争对手的市场地位。报告描述了产品的营销组合及其对市场地位和顾客购买行为的影响。此外,从目前和未来的机会来看,这种做法也受到了批评。最后,报告对市场进行了总结。
The report analyzes the market for Converse’s Chucks All Star range of footwear in the United States of America and includes a look at other competitive brands for comparison. Graphs depicting market data in terms of net sales in US dollars have been included to support the findings. The report segments the market for Chucks on basis of demographic, psychographic and behavioral factors and then moves on to highlight the target market for the canvas shoe. Also included is the market position of Chucks relative to its competitors. The report describes the product’s marketing mix and its influence on the market position and customers’ buying behavior. Also, the approach has been criticized in terms of current and future opportunities. Finally, the report draws a conclusion of the market . Introduction to Converse and Chucks All Star 匡威查克全明星简介 这一切都始于1908年,当时侯爵M.匡威在马萨诸塞州马尔登成立了匡威橡胶鞋公司。该公司最初是一家橡胶鞋制造商,为男性、女性和儿童提供防冻橡胶底鞋。到1910年,匡威鞋业公司每天生产4000双鞋,但直到1912年,它才开始生产网球运动鞋。1917年,该公司推出了世界上第一款帆布高性能篮球鞋,并命名为“全明星”,从而彻底改变了篮球运动。五年后,半职业篮球运动员查尔斯·查克·泰勒正式加入匡威,成为美国第一位体育运动员代言人;查克的签名是在两年后的全明星赛中加上的,在接下来的四十年里,“查克”,正如他们所知道的那样,是人们应该拥有的鞋子,尤其是在篮球场上。 It all began in 1908, when Marquis M. Converse launched the Converse Rubber shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts. The company started as a manufacturer of rubber shoes, which offered winterized rubber soled footwear for men, women, and children. By the year 1910 the Converse Shoe Company was producing 4,000 shoes daily, but it was not until 1912, that it first began producing athletic shoes for tennis. In 1917, the company revolutionized basketball by introducing the world’s first canvas high-top performance basketball shoes, that it named the “All Star”. Five years later, a semi-professional basketball player, Charles “Chuck” Taylor officially joined Converse as America’s first sports player endorser; Chuck’s signature was added two years later in the All Star patch and for the next four decades, “Chucks,” as they became known, were the shoes to have, particularly on the basketball court. 美国参与二战(1941年)使匡威进入了一个新阶段,开始生产靴子和雨披。匡威为美国陆军航空兵设计了A6飞行靴,即使在战后,这些鞋仍然是政府发行的用于军事训练的运动鞋。匡威在战争中的努力获得了陆军、海军和美国财政部的多项荣誉。 The involvement of America in World War II (1941) took Converse into a new phase and it began manufacturing boots and ponchos. Converse designed the A6 Flying Boot for the U.S. Army Air Corps and even post the war these shoes remained the government issued athletic shoes for military training. For its war efforts Converse received a number of honors from the Army, Navy, and U.S. Treasury. 匡威鞋成为青少年中的头号鞋款,在50年代,青少年穿匡威鞋是青少年叛逆的象征,出于同样的原因,匡威鞋在70年代和80年代继续流行。 Converse shoes became the number one footwear among the teenagers, who wore them as a symbol of youth rebellion in the 50's and for the same reason they continued to be popular in the 70´s and 80´s. 但正是在80年代后期,匡威的知名度开始下降。一系列不幸的事件和错误的决定导致匡威在2001年申请破产。2003年6月,耐克以3.05亿美元收购了匡威,此后,耐克在其广告上的投资超过400万美元。如今,匡威有超过1000种不同类型的卡盘在市场上销售给个人和组织,所有这些卡盘的目标都是一样的- But it was in the late 80´s that Converse’s popularity started to decline. A series of unfortunate events and bad decisions lead Converse to file for bankruptcy in 2001. In June, 2003 Nike bought Converse out for $305 million and has ever since invested more than four million dollars into its advertising. Today, Converse has over 1,000 different types of Chucks selling in the market to individuals and organizations, all with the same goal – “WEAR A SHOE THAT MAKES A STATEMENT”. As mentioned in the mission statement of the company: “Our MISSION is to deliver personal service to our customers knowing that soon we will become friends. Our hope is that we provide the same shoes that our owner’s father wore for cross country in 1965, and his grandfather wore to play stickball in the streets of Philadelphia in the 30’s.” This report is an outcome of an analysis of marketing strategies used by Converse in the United States of America. The main purpose of the report is to indicate the market segmentation and target customer base of Converse’s most famous range of shoes, the Chucks or Converse All Star, in the U.S. The report further analyzes the position of Converse in the footwear industry in comparison to its competitors; the positive and negative aspects of the positioning strategies. It further discusses the product, pricing, promotional and distribution strategies and their influence on the buying behavior. Market Segmentation, Target Market and Positioning of Chucks 市场细分、目标市场及定位 Converse claims to be the first shoe company to launch footwear with ‘Self Expression’ and till date Chucks enjoy the status of being the most popular shoes with this advantage. Despite this fact, Converse prefers to focus only on certain preference clusters and chooses target marketing over traditional mass marketing. The market for the Chucks All Stars has primarily been segmented according to demographic factors, namely, age and income. Furthermore, the company also divides the market on basis of psychographic factors like lifestyle and personality. Behavioral factors, like attitude and user status, have also been used to segment the market further. The product goes beyond segmenting the market on basis of gender, by offering shoes for both men and women, and also unisex shoes. The market for the Chucks has been segmented on basis of the following factors: Demographic – Under this factor the U.S. population is primarily categorized on basis of age, discretionary income and generation. The age groups have been split into four parts, namely: under 13, 13 to 19, 20 to 35 and above 35. *Further, the income groups have been divided into: 0 income (students), $ 1 to $ 30,000 (young entry-level professionals) and above $ 30,000 (upper middle class). The generations have been segmented into baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), Generation X (those born between 1964 and 1984) and Generation Y (those born after 1984). Psychographic – For this factor the market has been categorized on basis of lifestyle and personality. The population of the U.S. has been segmented on basis of lifestyle into seven groups, namely: Resigned – Rigid, authoritarian, chauvinistic (older) Mainstream – Domestic, conformist, conventional (Part of the mass, favoring big brands) Aspirer – Materialistic, acquisitive, image conscious, attractive more important than quality of contents (Younger, clerical/sales type occupation) Succeeder – Strong goal orientation, confidence, work ethic (Top management) Explorer – Energy-autonomy, adventurous (Younger – students) Reformer – Freedom from restriction, intolerant of bad taste ( Higher education) Behavioral – The market has been segmented on basis of loyalty status into Hard-core loyals, split loyals, shifting loyals and switchers. Also, attitudes of the American populace have been used to factor the market into: upbeat enjoyers, insecures and financial positives. Converse has analyzed web users’ online activities to figure out who is most likely to be interested in its product, which enables them to place ads on whatever sites those consumers are visiting. For example, behavioral segments important to the footwear industry, such as “fashion-interested,” “outdoor sports enthusiast” or “soccer mom,” would be based on where the user has gone and/or what they have done on various web pages. Share of U.S. Footwear Retail Sales by Consumer Group and Major Product Category, 2008 (%) Target Market With respect to the segments classified above, the Chucks have been made to target two age groups: the Teens, ranging from 13 to 19 years of age and the entry-level professionals ranging from the age of 20 to 35. The Chucks are designed for both male as well as the female consumers with different variations and patterns for both. The product also offers a unisex range to its consumers. Chuck’s marketing strategy also targets the zero, mid and upper range income groups. The marketing focus lies mainly on the younger generation, Generation X (Gen X) and Generation Y (The Echo Boomers), who fall in the ‘Aspirer’, ‘Explorer’ or ‘Reformer’ category based on lifestyles. *The shoes became very popular with rock musicians, and younger generations wore them for their distinctive looks, colors, and comfort and as an alternative to the high priced high performance shoes made by Nike and other companies. They were considered a leisure shoe and also were purchased because they were fashionable.* People from inner-directed hierarchy of stages, particularly “I-am-me” and “Experimental” lifestyles are being targeted. Product Positioning of Chucks relative to its competitors Converse once stood for athletic footwear. Now the brand has developed into a fashion statement for the retro-modern sub-culture prevalent in today’s generation and is marketed as a ‘Classic shoe’ for the new generation. Converse has obtained a good position in the buyers’ mind through better product attributes, price, quality and image, offering the product in a different way than the competitors do. The company offers the product in a variety of colors and styles at an affordable price with high branding, which ultimately helps to position the Chucks, in the buyers’ perspective, as trendy yet simple shoes. Converse has adopted the ‘Cultural Symbol Approach’ to position Chucks in the market by associating the product with the basketball legend Chuck H. Taylor and appending his signature with the brand logo. The brand value of Converse is such that owning a pair of Chucks is equivalent to owning a piece of history, which apparently is a value offered by none other in the market. The Product User Approach for positioning the Chucks relative to its competitors. Another advantage Converse enjoys over its competitors is the association of the brand with music. The shoe became associated with puck rock and counter culture after being worn by the bands The Ramones and Blondie, who communicated with both strong music and fashion statements. The Ramones used the shoe as part of their street image with black leather jacket and blue jeans whereas Blondie gave the shoe a glossier menswear revamp creating an alternative suiting look as band members wore red and black colored Chucks with tight black pants, black jackets, shirts and ties on the cover of their Parallel Lines LP. Adopting the ‘Product User Approach’ to position the Chucks Converse have also collaborated with designer John Varvatos and worked on several innovative marketing and charitable projects. They also released a collection of Converse shoes inspired by Kurt Cobain featuring artwork sourced from Cobain’s journals. Cobain was often seen wearing Converse and was wearing Chucks when he killed himself. The Converse Cobain collection has earned a mixed response from Nirvana fans who have noted that Cobain was particularly concerned about corporate appropriation of counter culture value. The unique selling proposition (USP) of Converse All Star is their simple design, wearing which the consumers declare the ownership of the old-school essence. The classic 2-ply canvas and rubber sole has been the only design that Converse shoes have revolved around and always will. Apart from the image value provided by Chucks, the product also provides its consumers with a diversity of patterns and colors to choose from, a most attractive attribute for the youth. Moreover, Chucks also come in low ankle height design and high boots to suit the style of every individual. The Chucks also compliment almost all outfits for both the genders. Be it under skinny jeans, or a short skirt, Chucks can give a trendy look to all. The big broad colored laces in the shoes can easily be arranged by youngsters in different ways to give a new look on every arrangement. It has also been a fad amongst youngsters to paint the shoes highlighting their individualism. *Therefore, Chucks are more than just shoes. Marketing Mix and Market Position of Chucks This section describes the way Converse uses the tactical marketing tools for marketing Chucks in the United States. This section will cover the product attributes, pricing, distribution channels and promotional activities of Chuck Taylor All Star. Product The benefits provided by Chucks can be classified into three groups: The core benefits of the product comprise of the fact that Chucks are classic kicks that fit any look. They provide a perceived look of self-expression, free-spirit and creativity for every owner. Also, Chucks are easy to care for and teens prefer them because of the low maintenance feature that comes from a simple canvas and rubber design. The actual benefit of the shoe is its exquisite quality for a reasonable price. The Chucks use 2 ply canvas and a sturdy rubber toe-guard, which looks trendy and at the same time protects your feet. Although Chucks are not designed for athletics, they feel pretty comfortable and have a relatively simple design. Another special quality is their ability to transcend cultures; they appeal to punks, rebels, athletes, and kids. Another benefit of chucks is that they come in an unimaginable range of colors and also are packaged in color-themed shoe boxes, making it more appealing to the target consumer base. One of the most important features of chucks is that they provide the consumer with a variety of choices in terms of designs and patterns. The consumer can choose from hi-top, low-top, X-Hi and Slip-On. Above all, Converse is a recognized brand in the market of canvas shoes. Because of this, even after Nike took over Converse, they carried on the range with the same brand name. Augmented benefits include, the consumers being offered with an option to buy a customizable shoe with user-generated content, allowing users to design and select colors for the entire shoe. Consumers are able to create unique custom canvas shoes by uploading their own designs, patterns, illustrations, images and text, and then preview their shoes instantly. Users can also embellish their shoe designs with preset colors and patterns. The shoes are embellished and assembled from scratch within 24 to 48 hours, which enables consumers to receive their shoes in one to two weeks. Apart from all these benefits offered by Chucks, they also come in limited editions for those who want an exclusive shoe. Converse keeps coming up web exclusive offers to increase sales and make consumers revisit the site frequently. The sales and purchase agreement of Converse also offers an easy return within 30 days if the consumer happens to be unsatisfied with his online purchase. If purchased at high-end retailer, satisfaction guarantee Price Converse’s Chucks are priced quite reasonably relative to its competitors. On one hand, where brands like Sketchers, Vans, Levis, Adidas and Lee Cooper, offer the same quality and style for a high price, Converse All-Stars don’t usually cost more than $35-60. Chucks are positioned to suit practically every pocket. Consumers can also avail the ‘Just Reduced’ and ‘Last Chance’ offers on particular shoes while purchasing online. The company usually provides discount coupons or vouchers on in-store purchases which can be utilized at the time of the next buy. Place/Distribution Converse has 53 outlets in the Unites States located in all major cities like California, Florida and Texas. (www.converse.com) Apart from exclusive Converse Stores, the product is also distributed to major retailers and is sold to the consumer through a variety of channels. According to data from BIGresearch, in the years 2006-2008 BIGresearch, nearly 18% of adult consumers have no preference for a particular branded outlet, 12% of consumers shop most often at Wal-Mart and Payless for footwear. Promotion Apart from competing in price, Converse has to fight for market share through strategies like strengthening brand image and product proliferation. The brand image of Converse is created by extensive marketing campaigns and celebrity endorsements. The product has had a collection of classic advertisements after Nike invested a sum of $4 million post its takeover of Converse. The figure below shoes the growth in the sales of Converse after Nike pushed its promotion. Nike, Inc. Net Sales of Cole Haan, Converse & Other Products and Percent of Total Net Sales, 2005-2009 (in millions $) Source: Nike, Inc. annual reports and press releases. Chucks have been marketed by famous personalities like Chuck H. Taylor, The Ramones and Will Smith from the field of sports, music and entertainment respectively. Converse has been actively building up a presence within the hip, indie/alternative music youth culture for the better part of the past decade, in particular emphasizing its retro-tinged Chuck Taylor All Star brand. Previously, the company has tapped musicians like Tokyo Police Club and Matt & Kim to design shoes and sponsored collaborative singles from blog-hyped acts, including a recent release from Best Coast, Kid Cudi, and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij. The company also sponsors rock concerts, a kind of event associated with the target market. Since Converse is more like a community, a part of its advertising is done by its existing consumers through Word of Mouth (WOM) and internet blogs. Influence of Marketing Mix on Buying Behavior for Chucks 营销组合对购买行为的影响 Though the marketing mix needs to be updated on a regular basis to suit the variable needs of the existing customer base and to foray into newer markets, Converse has always promoted Chucks as an affordable trendy shoe for youngsters. With its classic customizable range of kicks, Chucks directly meets the need of creativity and self-expression for the youth. Also, the association of the brand with music since decades is a strong attraction to the followers of punk rock. Colors, styles, fashions, and what is likely to be “hot” are important criteria in the design of fashion footwear, and Chucks meet them all. Moreover, Converse is a renowned brand for canvas shoes and this brand familiarity influences the buyer’s decision to purchase Chuck Taylor’s each time he walks into a store with the intent of buying a pair of shoes. Chucks are reasonably priced and therefore are more likely, than its competitors, to be purchased. The frequent discounts and offers that Converse comes up with play a significant role in attracting the customers. The vouchers earned on in-store purchases work to persuade the customers to shop at Converse again. With several factory stores in the important cities of the country, Converse has made the purchase of Chucks quite convenient for its customers. Comforters are also lured by the option of website purchases and the availability of the shoe in ubiquitous retailers like Wal-Mart and Payless. The association that Converse has made with the celebrities from all spheres of life, sports to music to media, has helped it make a positive impression on minds of the targeted younger generation. The followers of indie/punk rock also relate with Converse much more than with any other brand, owing to Converse’s sponsorships of music events. Also, since Converse is a recognized brand, customers tend to buy Chucks since influencers or the reference groups possess the shoe. Conclusion 结论 Converse is a recognized brand in the fashion footwear industry, which positions its Shoe, Chucks All Star, as a shoe of self-expression. The product is reasonably priced and targets the younger generation of students and young professionals. With a variety of designs and colors, high quality standards and relatively low pricing, Chucks are amongst the most preferred shoes in the target market. Converse promotes Chucks through a number of distribution channels and celebrity endorsements. Overall with its marketing activities Chucks has been a successful brand. The only area in which Chucks are lagging is the athletic footwear segment which is huge market to be forayed in. MBA Essay结论部分总结匡威是时尚鞋业公认的品牌,它将旗下的查克全明星鞋定位为一款自我表现的鞋款。该产品价格合理,面向年轻一代学生和年轻专业人士。并提出查克拥有多种设计和颜色、高质量标准和相对较低的价格,是目标市场上最受欢迎的鞋款之一。此外MBA Essay还提到匡威通过多个分销渠道和名人代言推广查克。总的来说,凭借其营销活动,查克一直是一个成功的品牌。本站提供各MBA Essay写作指导服务,如有需要可咨询本平台。 |