Case study LEVIS for Marketing Management

Bài tập tình huống Marketing Management Phân tích thị trường LEvis phân tích thương hiệu Levis Bài tập tình huống về Case Levis Tuyển tập các bài tập tình huống Marketing Tuyển tập các bài tập tình huống Marketing Quốc tế

EVEN LEVI’S CAN MAKE MISTAKES CONCEPTS NEEDED Market research Marketing model During the 1980s, Levi‟s U.S division was looking at ways of diversifying away from its heavy dependence on a jeans market that appeared to be saturated They had already introduced Levi‟s shoes, shirts and socks, which sold quite well among people who were already buying Levi jeans Now they wanted to move into the market for higher priced clothes, in order to attract a new type of customer to the Levi Strauss brand As menswear had always been their biggest seller, it was decider to concentrate on the male market first To decide how to meet this objective, a market research company was commissioned to investigate men‟s purchasing habits and attitudes to clothes (a Usage and Attitudes study) A large quantitative survey was conducted among a quota of 2,000 men who had recently spent at least $50 on clothing When analyzed, the survey revealed that the entire menswear market could be segmented into five types of buyer:      Type 1: Traditionalist (probably over 45; department store shopper, buys polyester suits and slacks, shops with wife) Type 2: Classic Independent (a real clothes horse; 21% of market, yet buying 46% of wool blend suits, buys at independent stores; expensive tastes) Type 3: Utilitarian (wears jeans for work and play; 26% of the market; Levi loyalists) Type 4: Trendy Casual (buying „designer‟, high fashion clothes, might buy 501s, but usually considers Levi too mass- market; 19% of the market) Type 5: Price Shopper (buys whatever and wherever the lowest prices are found; no potential for Levi; 14% of market) As the Type Classic Independent men fitted in with Levi‟s objective, the research company was asked to computer analyze the findings so that the behavior and attitudes of this specific group could be split out from the rest of the sample The large total number of interviews made it possible to have confidence in the reliability of the data from this sub- sample It emerged that Type men wanted traditionally styled, perhaps pin- striped, suit; that they like to buy through independent clothes shops or tailors, rather than at department stores, and that they liked to shop alone, whereas others liked having their wife/ girlfriend with them Classic Independent 21% Traditionalist 20% Utilitarian 26% Price Shopper 14% Trendy Casual 19% To tackle this segment of the market, Levi‟s decided to introduce „Tailored Classics‟ a range of high quality wool suits, trousers and jackets The research showed that these buyers valued quality and fit rather than low prices, so they decided to price their range 10% above that of the competition To avoid direct product comparisons and to ensure that not too large a sales force was needed, Levi chose to distribute through department store chains Having decides on this strategy, its acceptability to the target market was tested via a series of group discussion These were conducted by a psychologist who was to look for the real motivations behinds respondents‟ opinions or behavior The psychologist reported that the Type men had two misgivings: first they were concerned that the garments would be in standard fittings, and so would not provided the tailoring they wanted; second, although they could believe that Levi‟s could make a good suit, they still felt uncomfortable about the Levi‟s name One said: “When I think Levi think jeans If they‟re making suits I have to be convinced” Another felt that: “If I went to work and someone said: Hey, that‟s a good suit, Joe, who‟s it by? I wouldn‟t feel comfortable saying Levi” The company‟s marketing executives responded to this by deciding to concentrate on the separate jackets and trousers in the launch advertising, and let suits “slipstream” The Director of Consumer Marketing felt certain that: “The thing that‟s going to overcome Levi‟s image for casualness as no other thing can, is a suit that‟s made by Levi that doesn‟t look like all the other things we‟ve made Once that gets on the image that says: Oh, and they can also make a good suit when they put their mind to it” Soon after this decision, salesmen started contacting retail buyers After four months of selling to the trade, it was clear that the range‟s sales targets would not be met Even a price cut did little to redeem the situation and Tailored Classics achieved only 65% of its modest sales targets Levi‟s could only find consolation if they could learn why they went so badly wrong Sources: Channel 4: “Commercial Breaks”; The Financial Times