Product: Nike (Chinese KungFu cloth shoes). The product a consumer product (B2C) existing sports market Australia ( confirm proper research, sport fact a viable Australian market). The product " Australia market. Nike Kung Fu Shoes in the Australian Marketplace

The Kung Fu techniques represent one of the most valuable components of the Chinese culture and heritage. Throughout the entire world, Kung Fu has helped increase the awareness and popularity of the Asian country, and within the state, it has helped the passing on of traditions from one generation to the next.

Throughout the years, Kung Fu has become increasingly popular within the Western Hemisphere and this also includes Australia. Here, there are numerous trainers willing to provide their services to people and even competitions are organized and hosted.

A challenge remains the completion of Kung Fu operations in safe conditions, which remains a top priority for the trainers, trainees and the Martial Arts Industry Association of Australia (Website of the Martial Arts Industry Association, 2012). While the safety issue is wide and cannot be addressed through a single effort, it is, at this stage, proposed for the specialized Kung Fu shoes to be better promoted and used within the industry in order to better ensure the safety of the participants. The expected outcome of this effort is that of a decrease in the number of injuries sustained in Kung Fu endeavours.

Table of contents

31. Introduction

42. Environmental scan

42.1. The organisation

52.2. Competitors / Industry

52.3. PESTLE

72.4. Primary research

83. New product concept

84. Target marketing

84.1. Segmentation

94.2. Targeting

94.3. Positioning

105. Marketing goal

106. The marketing mix

106.1. Product

106.2. Place

116.3. Promotion

116.4. Price

126.5. People

126.6. Physical evidence

126.7 The internet

127. Recommendations

References:

Appendices:

Appendix 1: SWOT analysis

Appendix 2: PESTLE analysis

Appendix 3: The questionnaire

Appendix 4: Segmentation

Appendix 5: Target market

1. Introduction

Kung Fu has been omnipresent in movies, songs and other forms of entertainment within the Western Hemisphere. This has lead to an increase in the popularity of the martial arts to a point at which people of all ages and cultural backgrounds engage in Kung Fu. Historically, it would have been necessary to travel to Asia in order to learn the art of Kung Fu from a master, but today, such services are offered by specialized trainers in all global regions, including Australia (McCoy, 2010).

A primary challenge encountered in teaching Kung FU in Australia is represented by a relatively high number of injuries among the practicants of Kung FU. The issue is continually addressed by the Martial Arts Industry Association of Australia and it is being addressed through safety policies. Nevertheless, despite these organized efforts, fact remains that it is up to each and every practicant to safeguard their selves and to prevent injuries. One specific means of doing this is represented by the usage of adequate shoes, namely specialized Kung Fu shoes.

The purpose of this report then is that of creating a research and marketing approach that could sit at the basis of an increased usage of Kung Fu shoes, and subsequently an increased sales volume for the company Kung Fu Shoes. The project spans throughout the duration of one year and it is placed within the Australian market place.

2. Environmental scan

2.1. The organisation

Kung Fu Shoes is a small size company, based in China and exporting products to various global regions, including Australia. The organization manufacturers the cloth Kung Fu shoes in the Asian country, using local commodities and labour force, which in turn translates into lower costs that those of products manufactured in other countries. Also, an important strength which has to be noted is that the company operates in a region rich in Kung FU culture and expertise.

In terms of the internal weaknesses nevertheless, it has to be pointed out that Kung Fu Shoes is relatively small, with limited resource availability to engage in powerful marketing operations. Additionally, the export of its products increases the operational and logistics complexities and also adds to the final retail price of the items.

The external environment in Australia however generates hope for business success due to the increasing popularity of Kung Fu in the country, as well as the need for more safety in the practice of Kung Fu. Finally, the external threats are represented by the high levels of competition raised within the field of sports apparel and shoes (Website of the Martial Arts Industry Association, 2012).

2.2. Competitors / Industry

The Kung...

On the one hand, there are the providers of specialized Kung Fu shoes, such as WushuKicks or Martial Arts Suppliers. The Kung Fu shoes of these two institutions are mostly available online as the companies are small size and specialized on products designed for the practicing of Kung Fu (Websites of WushuKicks and Martian Arts Suppliers, 2012). These companies operate in and serve niche markets.
The second category of competitors is represented by large size sports shoes and apparel, such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok and so on. These companies are large size multinationals, who have created advantages of scale economy and compete based on cost efficiencies as well as brand strength (Court, Freeling, Leiter abd Parsons, 1997).

2.3. PESTLE

In order to better provide recommendations for the Kung Fu Shoes Company, it is now necessary to assess the environment in which the company would be selling its products in Australia. This environment is best assessed through the PESTLE analysis, the acronym standing for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental.

In terms of the economic background, it has to be pointed out the, similar to the rest of the world, Australia was affected by the crisis. Nevertheless, the country quickly restored its economy and in 2009, registered the largest growth in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. At the level of individuals, these register the 19th largest income per capita in the world (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012) and their disposable income has only been limitedly impacted by the international recession.

At a political level, the country is a "federal parliamentary democracy and a commonwealth realm" (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012); it is divided into 8 administrative divisions and it is characterized by stable political regimes. Additionally, at this stage, it has to be mentioned that the government of Australia often offers support to small size business agents (Buchwald, 2011). Kung Fu Shoes should not, however, rely on this support, since it is mostly granted to support the development of the domestic companies.

At a social level, it is noted that the large majority of the population lives in the urban areas -- 89 per cent (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). The population is mainly extroverted and easy going, and the Australian consumers have high expectations from vendors (Buchwald, 2011).

The use of technologies and the development of technologies in Australia is rather increased, with increased emphasis being placed on the generation of electricity. There are 8.66 million main telephone lines in use, 22.5 million mobile telephones in use, 16.952 million internet hosts and 15.81 million internet users (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012).

From the standpoint of the legal background, Australia subscribes to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, with some limitations, as well as the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Finally, at the level of the environment, there is an increased awareness of the need to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The population focuses on changing light bulbs for sustained ecologic responsibility and ecologic challenges are raised by the extreme weathers in various regions of the country (Buchwald, 2011).

2.4. Primary research

In order to better understand the market place in which the Kung Fu shoes would be sold, it is also necessary to conduct primary research onto the market place. This research would be a qualitative one, with the use of the survey method. This method is efficient in the context of research as it allows the rapid gathering of data from numerous sources. The questions in the questionnaire (Appendix 3) were constructed based on the analysis so far conducted, as well as the specific needs and traits of the product. The sample would be constructed from Australian individuals (native born as well as immigrants) who practice Kung Fu. The questionnaire would be issued in Kung Fu practicing locations.

3. New product concept

The gap in the practicing of Kung FU in Australia is represented by a high incidence of injuries sustained by the people engaged in the art of Kung Fu. In such a setting then, the Kung Fu Shoes company proposes the extended usage of its shoes in an effort to improve the performances of Kung Fu, as well as the safety of the practicants (Kit, 2002). The uniqueness of the item will be represented by the promise for safety, as well as the usage of Chinese expertise and practice in the creation of the shoes. The shoes are lighter and safer, supporting as such the practice of Kung Fu (Graceffo, 2004).

4. Target marketing

4.1. Segmentation

An important step in the marketing strategy of Kung Fu Shoes China is represented by the identification of the customers to be addressed. In this effort, the segmentation theory is implemented.

"Market segmentation is therefore the…