Value Proposition for the Customers
If analyzed for the value that Bata was providing to its customers their value proposition may becategorized as follows.
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Reasonable quality at low or reasonable price
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Footwear for the entire family
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Footwear catering to various functional needs e.g. sports, casual footwear, formal-semi formal
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Conveniently accessible outlets in various parts of the country
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Prior to entry of local players and the Chinese imports, some sort of social visibility could also be associated with Bata, as it was one of the two major brands in the country then.
Position of the Firm
Variety
– Bata although traditionally had product lines catering to the middle class segment of thesociety, yet recently it had also targeted the higher income segment with certain products.
Needs
– In terms of the needs, Bata was in a way successful in positioning itself as a brand havingstores with products to meet the needs of almost all members of the family, since it had product rangesfor children, men, women etc.
Access
– Bata had positioned itself by employing various distribution channels (retail as well aswholesale) to enhance its access for the customers. Their nationwide retail network was one of their key strengths.
Sustainability of the Position
Initially Bata as has been elaborated was positioned as brand offering footwear products for the entirefamily members and for the people belonging to the middle class. But when its management decided toalso tap the premium segment of the market, their decision may be categorized as one which castdoubts about the sustainability of Bata’s desired position in the market.
Image
– In my opinion Bata’s image would be diluted as a result of it pursuing various segments andtrying to cater to their needs. Its traditional positioning would also be impacted and there would bechances of Bata not being able to provide an experience fit to its customers as per their expectations.
Activities
– The sort of activities which they employed e.g. manufacturing in-house as well asoutsourcing, having four categories of outlets (A,B,C,D) catering to various segments of the societyfrom upper to the lower ones, selling through retail as well as the wholesale channel, would not help inany way at conveying a consistent image to its customers. Hence it can be stated that they failed tomake any particular trade offs as far as the key activities were concerned.
Internal Coordination
– With Bata engaging a wide array of activities and practices it would bealmost impossible to maintain internal coordination and hence achieve optimization.
Sustainability of Competitive Advantage
The competitive advantage for Bata based on what they are currently planning to do i.e. trying to offer something for each and every segment would render them pretty uncompetitive. The various levels of fits, that a firm should strive for, would not be easily achievable for Bata given their current moves.The first requirement of having the activities consistent with their strategy would be tough to attain
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