The segments are often by sport, with Classic being a non-sport addition. The leading sport is running/jogging, which was worth $3.16 billion in 2008; classic was second with $1.98 billion and kids was third with $1.78 billion. Sport-specific segments, including tennis, basketball, soccer, skate/surf, outdoor/adventure and sports sandals are smaller, but can be high growth segments. Many of these segments are intensely competitive and the major players tend to compete in all segments vigorously. Thus, while K-Swiss has attempted to carve a niche for itself, it still faces intense competition from other differentiated providers.
The industry is dominated by two major key success factors -- marketing and design. Firms in the athletic footwear industry spent billions on marketing, including endorsements deals with athletes, advertising, and securing distribution networks. For smaller firms like K-Swiss, distribution is more difficult to achieve, but it is essential that the company be represented in major chain stores such as Foot Locker. Without this representation, K-Swiss could lose out on many customers. Design is a critical success factor in athletic shoes because of the attention to styling that most consumers pay. Shoes are turned over seasonally or annually, making fashion important. Again, there are economies of scale in design -- the biggest companies can afford the best teams of designers, putting smaller firms at a style disadvantage unless the smaller firms develop superior in-house design talent.
In recent years, there has been some consolidation in the industry. Adidas purchased Reebok in 2005 while Nike has added Umbro and Converse in 2008 and 2003 respectively. Puma has received significant investment from Gucci owner PPR. This trend towards consolidation has created a challenging environment for the remaining independent firms, who must now compete with massive global corporations that have tremendous economies of scale in marketing, merchandising,...
Celebrity Endorsement Strategy: An Investigation Using Nike's relationship with Federer as an example, the paper analyzes the use of celebrity endorsement strategy of the brands beginning from choosing the right celebrity figures until the final results of the strategy. Many industries promote their products by hiring the services of influential celebrities who advertise the products in question. The celebrity has to have various characteristics in order to be seriously considered
Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) are often confused as being actual "homes" for patients to be admitted in and given medical treatment and care. PCMH is actually a health care model based on which health care is provided to patients, under the supervision of physicians. The PCMH model of health care provides patients with continuous, comprehensive medical care, in order to increase the chances of achieving the goal of benefitting
The doors, are metaphors for the "gates of love" that any person would have wanted to be a part of http://homepage.usask.ca/~jrp638/abstracts/cody.html, para 7). Props such as the vessels carried by the women characters in the play also represent the womb for which horrifies Knemon when his daughter had offered Sostratos to fill in the shrine next door. The use of the hoe for which Sostratos had borrowed from Gorgias is
From this perspective, luxury brands may be desired be many consumers, but the more affluent are clearly more readily capable of such acquisitions, making them a natural target for luxury brands marketers. Although there is a growing body of contemporary knowledge concerning the influence of self-perception and self-image on luxury brand purchases, the study of these issues is certainly not new. In fact, as early as 1899, Thorstein Veblen developed
Foreign Policy of China (Beijing consensus) Structure of Chinese Foreign Policy The "Chinese Model" of Investment The "Beijing Consensus" as a Competing Framework Operational Views The U.S.-China (Beijing consensus) Trade Agreement and Beijing Consensus Trading with the Enemy Act Export Control Act. Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act Category B Category C The 1974 Trade Act. The Operational Consequences of Chinese Foreign Policy The World Views and China (Beijing consensus) Expatriates The Managerial Practices Self Sufficiency of China (Beijing consensus) China and western world: A comparison The China (Beijing
When regulations increase, the tendency to cheat might increase. 2.4 Switzerland/Denmark Examples for Organic Farming Ruth Rossier (2005), College of Agriculture, Auburn University, purports in the study, "Role models and farm development options: A comparison of seven Swiss farm families," Following not yet rewritten: with the framework of agricultural policy that has changed dramatically since the 1990s including the introduction of direct payments and the enforcement of various agrarian reforms (Agricultural Policy 2002
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