Term Paper on The Marketing Management of Apex Footwear

Marketing Management (MKT301)

Section: 02
Spring 2017

Submitted to,
Ms. Iffat Tarannum
Lecturer
BRAC Business School

Submitted by,
Arghya Sanaddar 14304023
Ayeman Mohammad Intesher 15204089
Abdullah-Al-Mahmud 14304016
Jesmin Suriya Anckon 14104098 Md.
Javed Khan 15104025
 Date of Submission: 30th March, 2017

Letter of Transmittal

30th March, 2017

Iffat Tarannum
Lecturer
BRAC Business School
BRAC University

Subject: Submission of term paper.

Dear Miss,
We are pleased to present you our term paper on Apex Footwear with this letter, the subject
matter of our paper being “The Marketing Management on Apex Footwear”.
It was a really enlightening experience, making this paper we have applied our knowledge of
Marketing for making this paper which helped us to increased our insights on Apex Footwears
marketing management. This also gave us an opportunity to do a market survey and analyze
the results with graphs and tables.
We tried out best to maintain the guidelines you provided while making this report. To make
this report, we have conducted various secondary researches, references of which are provided
at the end of this report. We have tried our best to make this report look presentable,
informative, and authentic.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to work on this assignment. It has been a wonderful
experience to work on these companies under your guidance and supervision. If you need any
assistance in interpreting our analysis, please do contact us.

Sincerely Yours,
Arghya Sanaddar
On behalf of the group members.

Acknowledgement
We would like to thank you, Iffat Tarannum miss, for asking us to make this report and helping
us while making this report. Also, while making this report, we gained some valuable
information about Apex Footwear and marketing management, which enhanced our overall
knowledge.
While making this paper, we had to gather all the information about Apex Footwear, conduct a
survey about their product and analyze them. While doing so, we had to work with each other,
which made us better friends, helped us understand that working together is better than
working alone because each member can help other when others are facing difficulties and
make us further understand that we are one.
We have used secondary sources while making this paper (as mentioned in the letter of
transmittal). All secondary sources are listed under References.

Executive Summary
In this research our basic goal was to analyze the essential components that represent the
current financial condition of APEX Footwear limited. The tool that we used to measure the
performance are PESTLE Analysis, BCG Matrix, SWOT Analysis, Competitors Analysis, and
Porter's Five Forces. By analyzing these tools, we need to figure out how APEX is performing
and what will be their future position.
We also did an extensive consumer research of APEX Footwear to gain knowledge of the
consumer perception towards this brand. At the end, we tried to answer some of the questions
which will give the complete idea about what would be the best strategy for APEX to maintain
their business by answering the product differentiation, channel and distribution. In this part,
we also tried to measure the pricing and promotion of APEX Footwear as well.
We divided the whole term paper in three chapters and in the First chapter we did the internal
analysis. This include PESTLE which showed us that in the Social and Technological factors APEX
is doing well. We fiured out that as a market leader they have strong Strength and
opportunities and they are working on their weakness. In BCG Matrix, they we have come to
know that which business of APEX Group are doing well and which are not. Furthermore, we
also distinguished the POP and POD to figure out where the main differentiation occurs in the
APEX's product.
In the second chapter, we did the external analysis by conducting a consumer research and find
out that most of the feedback was positive about APEX as the continuously positioned their
product as a quality product. We set mix type of questions so that we can have the clear and
diverse view of the consumer's.
In the third and final chapter our goal was to measure their current strategy by answering up
some very related question. Such as we find out that their positioning and segmentation was
right and they may try to come up with new pricing strategy. We also found that they mainly
differentiate their product by Durability and Style and their distribution channel is very good
apart from that they need to fix some issue regarding their communication strategy. They have
very big budget for advertising and promotion but they are struggling to maintain their diverse
brand under the APEX Footwear. At the end, we tried to recommend some steps to compete
with their competitors.
 Table of Contents

Topics Page No.

Chapter One…...............................................................................................1-14
Analyzing Mission Statement (Arghya)……………………………………………...1
Analyzing Vision Statement (Arghya)……………………………….………………1
PESTLE Analysis (Arghya)……………………………………………….…………2
BCG Matrix (Arghya)……………………………………………….……………….6
SWOT Analysis (Ayeman)……………………………………...………………...…9
Competitor Analysis (Ayeman)……………………………………………………..11
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis (Ayeman)……………………………………………12
Analyzing Marketing Activities (Mahmud)…………………………………………13

Chapter Two (Javed and Anckon)…………………………………….....15-19

Chapter Three……………………………………………………………..20-23
Market Segmentation Strategy(Ayeman)………………………….…….....……….20
Positioning Strategy(Ayeman)…………………………………….………………..20 Product
Strategy(Arghya)……………………………..……………………………20 Pricing Strategy (Mahamud)
……………………………………………….……….21

Communication Strategy (Javed)………………...……….………………………...21

Distribution Strategy (Javed)…………………………….,,,……………………….22 How Apex
Should Fight Their Competitors(Arghya)………………………..…….22

References…………………………………………………………………24
Appendix……………………………………………………….....……..25-28
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Chapter One
Internal and External Environment Analysis

Analyzing Mission Statement

Apex is a leading Footwear manufacturer in Bangladesh which 'Vision' is 'Honest Growth'. To
achieve this vision, they try to execute some unique activities in their regular business process
which are called the 'Mission' of a company. According to their official website this activity
includes sustainable growth, vendor of choice for the customers, create value for shareholder,
complaint with the global best practice and standard and be a responsible global citizen. All
these activities represent that Apex as a very responsible as well as dynamic business entity
who is intended to be a long term profitable business through customer and shareholder
satisfaction. Apex is continuously delivering high quality product through their sophisticated
technology that causes minimum harm to the nature. Furthermore, they are also one of the
most successful companies in their business arena which provide sufficient dividends to the
shareholder. These activities show us that they are in the right track to achieving their 'Mission'
every day.

Analyzing Vision Statement

As we mentioned earlier that Apex's vision statement is 'Honest Growth'. With the help of our
thorough research and conversation of one of their store manager we have come up with that
this statement represents a long term profitable company with the help of best quality
products and services to satisfy the customers. Since the beginning of the company they always
tried to make best products by using the latest technology which causes least harm to the
environment and also make job for many people. Furthermore, they always transparent about
their business process which make them very successful. In a nutshell, their Vision is to be a
sustainable company in the long run which also create genuine value to the customers.
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PESTLE Analysis
PESTLE analysis is a very important tool to analyze the external environment in which the
company is operating and the result of this analysis is used to identify the threat and weakness
and what will be the chances that the company or product will be successful.
As we mentioned earlier that APEX is the market leader in the footwear business in Bangladesh
that is why it was very important for them to do the PESTLE Analysis thoroughly. In our
research, we tried to explore the PESTLE environment deeply so that it can help us to
understand their business process clearly.

Political Factors
Every business entity is operated within a country and the country is run by the government.
Politics is the main mechanism to run the government efficiently. Since the victory, Bangladesh
came across a long path in which many political parties came into the power. As a 'Secular
Democratic' country we have our own constitution which is protecting our rights in this
country. The main obstacle in operating a business in Bangladesh is the political regulation. As
APEX is a manufacturing company they need to deal with many politics related problems here.
We will be discussing the event which are related to the business process of APEX. The main
factors of Political environment are as follows:
Raw Materials: To produce quality footwear APEX need best quality raw material like leather,
shoe lace and many other things. Most of the leather they imported from India and to import
them they need to fulfill the import requirement.
Taxation: Tax is another very important thing to consider in political environment. In
Bangladesh, corporate tax for registered company is 27.5 percent. Fluctuation in taxation
create problems in the business operation.
Political lobbying: The store manager of APEX Mohakhali branch told us that in many cases to
get a good position for a store, political connection is required. By the political connection, a
business can get a good place for their business.
Economic Factors
Economic factor is another vital factor that can determine the fate of the business. As in current
situation there is no political conflict in Bangladesh that is why the Economic condition is more
or less good. Like APEX every other business is having this good economic condition to flourish
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their business. We will be focusing the core economic factors that is effecting the business of
APEX and those are as follows:
Interest rate: As APEX is a public limited company that is why they can gather capital from both
banks and the share market. In the case of banks and other financial corporation the interest
rate is very high and this rate is changing frequently. For that reason, coordinating the capital,
return and profit is tough.
Consumer's Buying Capability: Currently Bangladesh is a lower middle income country and this
situation will be changed as our government took steps to make it a middle-income country by
2020. As the purchasing power increases people will buy costlier product. In this way, APEX will
be benefitted as it produces upper class footwear.
Quality Footwear Demand: Demand of good quality shoes are increasing in Bangladesh. People
tend to buy more branded product like never before. Furthermore, in Bangladesh we have
many occasions in which we like to put good shoes.

Social Factors
As a quality footwear manufacturer APEX has lot to do in the Social environment in Bangladesh.
It is also a lifestyle brand. We have many occasions like Eid, Puja, Pohela Boishakh etc and in
this occasion, we all try to dress well. For that reason, we buy shoes as an accessory. APEX
always tried to focus on this aspect of people's life. APEX also provide many promotions in
these occasions which we will be covering in the promotion part. The most important social
Factors are:
Lifestyle: Nowadays people are very much concern about their lifestyle and without a proper
clothing it will not be proper. To be a maintain a complete lifestyle it is also required to choose
good shoes. In this case, APEX has got some very great opportunities as it is a market leader in
Bangladesh for quality shoes.
Increasing Youth: Over the year’s young population in Bangladesh has grown much faster. It is
almost 1.9 billion of young people out of total 7.3 billion. Young generation is the main target
market for APEX and their most of the product represent youth.
Social Classes: APEX mainly target the middle class to upper middle class people in Bangladesh.
As we mentioned earlier that purchasing capacity is growing that is why people are upgrading
from their current social class. And that is why market for APEX is expanding day by day.
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Sexual Orientation: The ratio of population in Bangladesh is Female 51% and male 49%. With
this information, we can say that female population is a very attractive market to deal with.
And in APEX they have the wide range of footwear for females.
Media Responsibility: Currently we have more than 45 channels and in these channels
advertisement is showing frequently. Advertising is very important tool to attract customers
and APEX as a market leader they always try to inform their valuable customer about their
product through advertisement in these channels.

Technological Factors
Technology is simplifying our lives in every step. It is affecting our personal life to business
process. In this environment, we will discuss the technology that APEX uses to produce their
products. Also, how technology is helping APEX to maintaining their business process every day.
Machinery: According to their official website they implemented a bunch of technologically
upgraded machinery which reduces the time to make product as well as increases the working
environment. These machineries include Cerim lasting machine, Mollina lasting machine,
Temperature control machine, Iron fox machine etc.
Advertising through Social Media: APEX is constantly maintaining their advertising technique
by actively giving advertising and promotional offer in the social media like Facebook. Online
Shopping: They recently launched their online website which is Apex4u.com. in this website
customers, can order their product very conveniently.
Legal Factors
In Legal environment, there are factors that protect the rights of the workers as well as it deals
with many laws. Relevant legal factors that are connected to the business of APEX are
described in the following:
Employment law: As APEX is a manufacturing company that is why employment law is very
important for them. Currently APEX has 5900 trained workers who works five days in a week
and 40 hours in a week in accordance to the government rule.
Health and Safety for Workers: APEX is very renowned for the facilities that they give to the
workers. It includes medical care, free immunization for the children of employees, free
vaccination, child care and workers profit participation fund.
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Consumer Law: APEX produce their products using high quality materials that causes no harm
to the consumer’s health. Recently in some product like leather bags and wallet they are using
vegetable tanned leather which is very high quality as well as safe for health.

Environmental Factors
We know that every business entity should take care of their surrounding environment so that
their business process does not harm the environment. APEX is using state of the art
technological material that causes the minimal harm to the nature. Also, they are operating
their business process according to the government's environmental rules. Most important and
related environmental issues are discussed below:
Technological Equipment’s: As we mentioned earlier that APEX is using best possible machine
to minimize the environmental damage. It is worth mentioning that they are using best waste
disposal machine to dispose the waste.
Tree Plantation Program: They are also doing the 'Green Environment" program in which they
plant thousands of trees across the country.
BCG Matrix

Currently APEX has mainly Seven Strategic Business Units (SBU's). its parent company is Sayed
Manzur Elahi Enterprise which hold all these SBU's. The SBU's are following:

1. APEX Footwear Limited

2. APEX Pharma

3. APEX Tannery Limited

4. GREY Advertising Bangladesh Limited

5. Blue Ocean Footwear Limited

6. Quantum Consumer's Bangladesh Limited

7. APEX Investment Limited

In this analysis, we will try to figure out which SBU's will fall under what category.
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It is also worth mentioning that in Bangladesh among all the SBU's that APEX has, only the APEX
Footwear is mostly publicized and also it has the most market share. We will have short
description about every SBU's which will help us to identify the category of that specific SBU.

APEX Pharma: APEX Pharma has started in 1975 to deliver the best quality pharmaceuticals
products in the country. Since then it is trying to established and trying to compete with the
major competitors in Bangladesh. Currently it has 0.27% market share.

APEX Tannery Limited: In Bangladesh APEX Tannery is one of the biggest producer and of
leather and tannery product and they are also exporting those items in China, Japan and Italy. It
is also one of the major revenue generators of APEX Group. It is holding 15% of market share
currently.

GREY Advertising Bangladesh Limited: It is one of the leading Advertising brand in Bangladesh
also it is one of the leading SBU's in APEX's portfolio. It has established in 2002 and comprising
51 professionals. It has won the best advertising award from 2003 to 2007 consecutively.

Blue Ocean Footwear Limited: It is the joint venture of APEX Footwear and Green ocean
company to produce world class leather footwear which are exported in China, Japan, Taiwan,
Vietnam. It is also a growing business which hold approximately 10% of market share.

Quantum Consumer's Bangladesh Limited: It is a joint venture company between Quantum

research India and APEX Enterprise Limited and it does the market research. It provides
research, expert opinion in Bangladesh also in other countries. Since the establishment in 2004
it has conducted 500 studies in consumer behavior, buying pattern, HR development etc. But it
is struggling to compete with the market leaders.

Apex Investment Limited: It is one of the oldest brokerage house in Bangladesh which provide
capital and share market solution in both individual and corporate level. It is also a leader of
portfolio management service in Bangladesh and its market share is quite high.

So, by analyzing the above information and with the help of our research we can categorize the
SBU's in the following category:
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Star

In this category 'APEX Footwear' and 'Apex Tannery limited’ would be perfect because they
produce the most cash because of their high market share and also, they consume the most
cash investment because of their growth rate.

Cash Cow

'APEX Investment Limited', 'Grey Advertising Bangladesh Limited' and the "Blue Ocean
Footwear Limited' would fall under this category because they produce more cash than they
consume. Also, they are growing in a slow industry but they have relatively high market share.
APRX also does not invest much in these SBU's. Furthermore, it generates enough cash to bear
the daily expenses.

Dogs
In this category, the 'APEX Pharma' would be best because this is a very saturated low growing
market in which there are lots of players and APEX Pharma also do not have the good market
share also. As we mentioned earlier that it has only .027% of share and it also does not produce
enough cash to maintain its own expenses.

Question Mark

'Quantum Consumer's Bangladesh Limited' has low market share in growing market. Nowadays
information became very important to start a business and to gain that information many
research firms are there. This SBU's of APEX is having hard time to gain the market traction.

By analyzing the above information, we may say that as the APEX Footwear and Tannery are
the Star SBU's that is why they need to invest in it continuously.

As the cash cow, does not need much publicity and marketing that is why we think that holding
the Cash Cow companies would be better decision for APEX Group.

APEX Pharma is no longer generating the enough cash and also in some worst cases it is making
loss that is why APEX can be consider the selling of this company to others.
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As the question marks come to the Quantum Consumers Bangladesh they may invest into it or
may rebrand it.
Star Question Mark
1. APEX Footwear Limited 1. Quantum Consumer Bangladesh
2. APEX Tannery Limited Limited
Cash Cow Dog
1. APEX Investment Limited 1. Apex Pharma
Market
2. Grey Advertising
Growth Rate
Bangladesh Limited
3. Blue Ocean Footwear Lim-
Market ited

Share

Table: Visual representation of BCG Matrix of APEX

SWOT Analysis
We have done the SWOT analysis of APEX by research and the help of product manager. The
SWOT analysis determines the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of APEX. The
SWOT analysis are given below-

Strength
Market Leader: APEX is one of the market leader of shoes in Bangladesh. Apex is continuously
delivering high quality product through their sophisticated technology that causes minimum
harm to the nature. This makes them to stay as market leader.
Distinctive design: APEX made distinctive design of shoes than their competitors. Because of
this the customers have ability to choose their desired product from a wide range.
Best quality: APEX has maintained their quality. They always give the best quality products and
services to the customers with attractive design.
Reliable brand: APEX is one of the oldest footwear brand in Bangladesh. The customers choose
our brand and pay a premium price for our products because the brand is reliable and the
products lifetime is higher than our competitors.
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Weakness
Maintenance of the brand: APEX is market leader so to keep their position in top they need to
expense a lot in promotion, marketing, adverting and in all areas. In a nutshell, we can say that
to stay as a top footwear brand and maintain the market share they need to spend a lot of
money that’s why maintaining the brand is difficult for them.
Stores not available everywhere: APEX has their stores in center of the district or in popular
areas of the district. They need to give more outlets so that people can buy their shoes at ease.

Opportunities
New machinery: There are some advanced machines which are available in other countries also
some are in develop process for advanced leather tanning and cutting. If they can bring this
machine in our country, it will help them to make products in ease.
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Purchasing capability: Bangladesh is currently a lower middle income country and this situation
will be changed as our government took steps to make it a middle-income country by 2020. As
the purchasing power increases, people will buy costlier product. In this way, APEX will be
benefitted as it produces upper class footwear. This is one of the biggest opportunities for
APEX.
Taste: The lifestyle and taste of people are changing. People want to wear some brand shoes
now a day. Shoe is one of the factor of proper clothing. This is one of opportunities for APEX to
make some unique and premium design products.
Online shopping: People are now buying their necessarily goods through online shopping. Apex
has recently launched their online website which is Apex4u.com. People can buy shoes from
wide range in this website conveniently.

Threats
Local shoe manufacturer: The local shoe manufacturer can be threat for us as they can offer
shoes in cheaper price. Many local shoe manufacturers are already available and also it is
increasing day by day.
Tannery industry shifting outside of Dhaka: As per government order tannery industry need to
shift outside of Dhaka which is currently in Hazaribagh area of Dhaka. Because of this reason
the production cost should increase as a result the product price should also increase. This is
one of threats they need to handle carefully.
Main competitors: Our main competitors such as Bata, Lotto, Bay Emporium, Orion are
bringing some new technology also providing good quality shoes to the consumer. We need to
keep delivering high quality product through our latest technology so that we can stay as a
market leader.
Competitor Analysis

We have done the competitor analysis which is pop and pod for apex by research and asking
the product manager.

POP

The main Point of Parity which may also be in common in our competitor's product are given
below-
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Price: The price is almost same between the top brands which are Bata, Orion, Lotto, Bay
Emporium. The pricing is important to keep same or high as our competitors because it
determines the future of our business.

Raw materials: The raw materials of shoe are almost same between all the shoe companies
whether it’s local or from top brand.

Packaging: The packaging is more or less same among our competitors.

POD

The things which differentiate from our competitors are given below -

Durability: The durability of our product is very good. This is the reason for which our shoes last
longer than our competitor. We always try to give the best quality products to our customer.
We don’t compromise our quality by any means. That’s why we are the market leader and
people choose our product.

Unique design: We try to make unique design for our shoes that differentiates us from our
competitors. Customers get to choose from a wide range of unique design.

Colors: We had brought few different colors shoes and sandals in the market to attract our new
customer and all other customers.
High quality: The quality of our shoes is top notch and premium. We give the best quality
products and services to our customer by using the latest technology which causes least harm
to the environment.

Attractive outlets: We have many attractive outlets all over the country from where the
customer can choose their desired product.
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Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Porter’s five forces analysis is very important because we get to know the business current
position clearly and our threats in future. We have done the Porter’s five forces analysis for
APEX footwear.

Threat of New Entrants : The threat of new entrants is high as the production cost of shoes
are not that high also they need low capital for starting up a shoe business. Another reason is
the permitting and licenses are not that much strict Because of these two reasons we can see a
lot of local shoe dealer is increasing day by day and it will go on.

Threat of New Substitute: The threat of new substitutes is low. Because you can’t replace
shoes with something. People must wear something and there are no alternatives without
wearing shoes.

Bargaining power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is low. Apex can’t easily
switch to suppliers as there are many suppliers available in the market.

Bargaining power of Buyers: The bargaining power of buyers is high. As there are few
topquality brands available also there are many local dealers from where the customer can buy
the shoes.

Competitive rivalry among industry: The competitive rivalry among industry is medium to high.
Because there are few top brands available who can compete with Apex. They are Bata, Orion,
Lotto, Bay Emporium.
Analyzing Marketing Activities

Pricing

From the very start, Apex shoes was charged at a premium price. Some of the shoes were even
out of middle class people’s capacity. They price their shoes based on its quality and their
target market only. As people are more price conscious in our country and Apex could not
reduce the price of their shoes in accordance with the purchasing capacity of the consumers
they were falling behind in the market. So, in order to cope up with their competitors and
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attract more customers Apex reducing their price and seems to be following going rate pricing.
Although Apex’s price is already low compared to foreign brands like Nike, Adidas etc.

Product

Apex shoes has always been more sophisticated than any other local branded shoes in our
country as their leathers are imported from foreign countries. Apart from that the durability of
apex footwear is a lot better than the other shoe brands. For women, they have FitLite
collection, apex petals, conform collection, Biomechanical Footwear etc. For Men, they have
Boots, active walker, Athletic Runners and many more. Ariya Hiking boot, Breeze Athletic Knit -
A-Last series and petal boots are some of their latest designs. To create their brand value, they
are always making sure that all their shoes are high quality and also have better durability.

Places and Showrooms

Apex have created their own showrooms all over the country and almost all the Apex
showrooms are decorated very nicely. Apex keep increasing their showrooms and already their
outlets are accessible from most parts of the country. In all their showrooms, they have
different selves for different products. So, its customer friendly and they can easy to find out
the desire product and choose the best one as they demand. And Most of the Apex showrooms
seems to be in the central point of the town or area.
Promotion and Discounts

Apex has always been following different discount offers on different occasions just like their
competitors to attract more customer and increase their sales. They give big discounts on big
occasions like Eid, Ramadan, Puja, Christmas etc. Currently there's 70% sale discount going on
some selected apex shoes.
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Innumerous Designs

Apex keep making new and various types of shoes to attract the customers. They have different
design variation for Gents, ladies and kid’s footwear. Along with that they are also keeping the
latest and most up to date shoes as the customer demands.

Creating Own Brand Personality

Now a day they are focusing on making the kind of shoes that reflects their band personality.
They are trying to produce shoes that will be unique and different from the other brands like
Bata and others in terms of quality, color, design and price. There are different types of shoes.

Target Market

In terms of their target market Apex is doing quite well. However still they have not yet been
able to become an effective premium brand in the footwear industry of our country. Majority
of the apex customers are upper middle class and the price of their shoes are very much
affordable to them. But they also have shoes for the lower income middle class.

Chapter Two
Understanding the Customers

We prepared few questioners about Apex Footwear and conducted an online market survey.
114 people responded to the survey and shared their opinions. We found some interesting
feedbacks which are described by showing graphs below:

Customer’s Brand Preference Rate

In our research, we asked the customer which
brand does they prefer to purchase shoes. 61
people out of 114 people chose Apex Footwear
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as their preferred brand which is 53.5%. More than half. Bata is in the second place with 36.8%.
Jennies only is in 2.6%. Few people gave Lotto,
Adidas as their preferred brand which is at 7%. So, we can clearly certify that, as a brand Apex
Footwear has large number of preference over other brands.

Customer’s Purchase Rate

Furthermore, out of 114 people, 101 of them purchased products from Apex Footwear. The
rate is at 87.7% which is huge. Only 12.3% of the people haven’t bought anything from Apex
Footwear.
Therefore, Apex Footwear seems to have
much popularity amongst their customers. They are successful in communicating with them.
Different Approaches to
Communicate Customers
Different people gave different opinion
about how they knew the brand. 55.3%
people said they knew Apex Footwear
from their friends and family. 22.8%
people said TV advertisements. 13.2%
said they saw it on the newspaper. 5.3%
saw it
on online sites. 3.5% people close the option “others”. Many of them mentioned they knew
about the brand by watching billboards or visiting their outlet randomly while shopping.
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Customers Purchasing and Spending

Rate
According to our survey, 47.4% customers
purchase one to three shoes yearly. 36% buy
three to five shoes and 13.2% of the customers
buy five to seven shoes. 3.5% purchase more
than seven shoes a year. This can help Apex to
figure out the demand of their products yearly
and they can supply accordingly.

On the other hand, we found that, the most number of people are willing to spend 1000Tk to
3000Tk over a shoe, which is 61.4%.
Moreover, 26.3% people wants to
spend 500Tk to 1000Tk, 10.5%
people wants to spend 3000Tk to
5000Tk and lastly, 1.8% people
wants to spend more than 5000Tk
over a shoe. Therefore, Apex
Footwear should be aware of these
things before pricing their products.

Quality and Price Rates

In our survey, we asked them about the quality
of Apex Footwears products. 89 out of 114
people have positive replies which is 78.1%. On
the other hand, 21.9% of the people are
dissatisfied with Apex footwears products. Few
people commented Apex should improve the
quality of the leather which they use in their
shoes. Also, some said they should make shoes
which lasts longer.
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On the other hand, 68.4% people are not satisfied with Apex Footwears pricing. Only 31.6% are

satisfied with their pricing. Few people also

commented that they should lower their price
rate. As we all know, Apex’s main target
customers are upper middle class people.
Therefore, what they can do is, they can
target lower middle class people too and
produce few products with lower price rates.

Reliability
In our survey, we found that, only 15.8% people strongly agrees that Apex is a reliable brand to
them. Therefore, we can say that these
15.8% customers are Apex’s loyal customer.
Most of the people just agreed with this fact
that Apex is a reliable brand which is 32.5%.
26.3% peoples stand was neutral. 21.1%
people disagree about the fact that Apex is a
reliable brand. Lastly, 4.4% Strongly disagrees
Apex as a reliable brand. Therefore, we can say that, most of the people’s stands are positive
when reliability of Apex Footwear is concerned.
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Best Feature
According to the reports of the
survey, the best feature of Apex is
their Product Quality. 52.6% people
thinks that the product quality of
Apex is their strongest point. The
second-best feature is their classic
design within is 34.2%. Moreover,
10.5% thinks that Apex’s products have affordable price.

Rate of Increasing outlets and Starting an

Online Shopping Site
In our survey, 71.1% people thinks that Apex
should increase their outlets. The number of
outlets of Apex outside Dhaka is not up to the mark
I think. They may increase their outlets. On the
other hand, 28.9% people disagrees with the fact
that Apex increasing their outlets. They think that
they already have enough outlets.
But they should rather focus on
online shopping site. In our survey,
30.7% People strongly agree what
Apex should open an online
shopping site. Also, 25.4% people
also believe about the fact that
Apex needs an online shopping site. Although 18.4% stayed neutral and 14% disagree and
11.4% people strongly disagreed about the fact that they need an online shopping site.
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Old Customer vs. New Customer

In our survey, we found that, majority of
the people, which is 31.6% uses Apex
Footwears products for more than five
years. 34.2% of the people uses Apex for
less than five years and 23.7% people
used it less than a year. Only, 10.5%
people we can see here said, they never
used Apex Footwears products. Therefore, we can clearly see that, Apex Footwear has already
established themselves as a brand in the market and in the minds of the customers. Which is
the reason they have so many old customers.

Discounts and Membership Cards

Apex Footwear had a 70% discount offer. In our survey, only
45.6% percent knew about the offer. Rest 54.4% people did
not even hear of the offer. Which is really disappointing.
Therefore, I would suggest Apex to promote their sales
events more so that everyone knows about the offer. In that
way, they will have more potential customers which will
ultimately turn into loyal customers someday.

In our survey, we only found 3.5% people who

owns Apex membership cards. To hold down
to their customers they need to create more
loyal customers and give them memberships
cards. Then the margin of 96.5% people
without membership cards will decrease.

Chapter Three
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Formulation of Strategy
 P a g e | 21

Market Segmentation Strategy

APEX footwear is doing Demographic segmentation to acquire new market strategy. We don’t
think APEX footwear should change their existing market segmentation strategy. They are
dividing the market on few variables which is age, gender, income. The demographic market
segmentation is perfect for acquiring new market strategy as it is always associated with
consumer needs and wants. Apex has shoes, sandals and accessories for different age which
are kids, teens, and adults. They also have different products for men and women. Last of all
they have segmented the market based on income. They have separate brands shoes and
sandals for middle class to upper class. For middle class men, they have the local made shoe
and products which is apex and sprint and for higher class they have imported brand which is
venturini, maverick, dr mauch. For middle class women, they have sprint, dr mauch, nino rossi
and for higher class they have mocchie. So, I think that they should not change their existing
market segmentation strategy as they are the market leader.

Positioning Strategy
The positioning of our brand is ok. Apex is known for classy, sophisticated and high quality
brand in the minds of the target market. They are continuously delivering high quality product
through their sophisticated technology that causes minimum harm to the nature. They are the
market leader by this we can understand that they exactly know their goals.

Product Strategy
Since the beginning, APEX Footwear is trying to differentiate their product mainly by 'Durability'
and 'Style'. As we discussed earlier that APEX positioned their brand as a quality footwear for
the middle to upper middle class that is why they need to bring the product which design is
decent as well as fashionable also. Most of the customers of APEX are from different middle
class people and they are very conscious about their design. Apart from that in Bangladesh we
have verity of occasions in which we tend to buy the new design shoes and APEX is creating a
real difference in this category with the help of their professional designers.
One more very important differentiation strategy is 'Durability'. As a market leader, they need
to keep their quality up to date and with these qualities they achieved the Durability of the
 P a g e | 22

products. As a brand for the various middle class people APEX need to ensure the durability
because middle class people are very conscious about Durability and they mostly purchase a
new pair of shoes in different occasions.

Pricing Strategy
Now we know that Apex is following perceived pricing and their target market is mainly middle
class to upper class people so they are not really focusing their price for the lower-class people.
As most of the people in our country are lower class people apex is losing a large number of
customers basically because of their pricing which is not affordable for the lower classes. In
order to gain more customers and be more dominant in the market they can make another
segment of their product which will be following value pricing and will only focus on the
lowerclass people. Another way they can approach to gain lower class people is by following
the going rate pricing, which can be done by following the same price as Bata or other
company’s price for this class people.
They are only following promotional prices for some major occasions for their shoes. Apart
from the occasions like Eid, Puja or Christmas (some major occasions) they can give discounts
or establish special pricing for the other time of the year. They can also create/campaign
attractive events of their own and reduce price during that time to increase their sells.

Communication Strategy
Apex Footwear uses many strategies to communicate with their customers. Media
advertisements is the most common one of them all. They use attractive TV commercials to
grab their customer’s attention. Also, they give many print media advertisements through
newspapers and magazines to communicate with their customers. Apex Footwear give
advertisements on an online Facebook page named “Footwear Republic” where they give
updates about their latest products and also, during events, they give updates about their
promotional offers in this page. They also give online advertisements on web. To grab their
customer’s attention, they give many promotional offers on occasions like Eid. In addition to
 P a g e | 23

that, they do direct marketing like giving leaflets to promote their products. Billboards are
another way Apex Footwear communicates with their customers.

Distribution Strategy
The distribution channel of Apex Footwear is quite good. Apex Footwear has outlets all over
Dhaka city. They also have outlets outside Dhaka as well. As their prior target customers are
upper middle class people, that’s why they focused on the urban part of the countries for giving
outlets. Apex usually uses rented trucks or courier service to distribute the products outside
Dhaka city. The products come directly from their factory.

How APEX Should Fight Their Competitors

In this research, we tried to find out the total marketing strategy of APEX Footwear limited. We
have covered the PESTLE analysis to find out the total picture of their business, SWOT analysis
which showed us in which criteria they are doing well and in which they need to develop.
Furthermore, we also covered the BCG Matrix to find out the whole scenario of APEX Group
and their SBU's. apart from that we tried to find out how the differentiate their product from
others, how they communicate and distribute products, how the price their products. We also
tried to find out their special promotion as well. We also did an extensive consumer research by
asking them relative questions about the performance and quality of their product.
By analyzing all of the above criteria we find that they became the market leader or fight the
competitor to sustain in the market by maintaining these three steps:
1. Product quality
2. Strong Market Presence
2. Satisfy the Shareholder's interest
In our research one very specific thing that we find is APEX is consistently the market leader
over two decades. That is possible by maintaining the product quality. For any business or
company maintaining the product quality is the best and simple way possible to sustain as well
as compete against their competitors.
 P a g e | 24

APEX has the most market share in the footwear arena and they are consistently holding that
share by the strong market presence. To do that they are aggressively advertise their product
through various sources like Physical billboard ad, online ad etc. As a market leader, they also
have huge budget for the advertisements and the promotional materials. Their promotional
activities are also helping them to maintain the market presence.
Last but not the least as they mentioned in their vision that they need Honest Growth that is
why like the consumer they are also very careful to the shareholder or owners. They give the
promised dividend to their shareholders from their net profit. By maintaining these three steps
they mainly compete with the competitors.

References
Growth–share matrix. (2017). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth–share_matrix

Narole,. (2017). BCG matrix with example. Slideshare.net. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from
https://www.slideshare.net/9579764806/bcg-matrix-with-example

SWOT analysis. (2017). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis

Welcome To Apex Footwear. (2017). Apexfootwearltd.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from

https://www.apexfootwearltd.com/apex_footwear/

APEX PHARMA. (2017). Apexpharmabd.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from

http://www.apexpharmabd.com

APEX PHARMA. (2017). Apexpharmabd.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from

http://www.apexpharmabd.com/apex-tannery.php

APEX PHARMA. (2017). Apexpharmabd.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from

http://www.apexpharmabd.com/gray-advertising.php
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APEX PHARMA. (2017). Apexpharmabd.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from

http://www.apexpharmabd.com/apex-investments-limited.php

Apex Footwear Limited (AFL). (2017). Apex4u.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017, from
http://www.apex4u.com

Appendix

1. Which brand do you prefer to purchase shoes?

BATA
Apex Footwear
Jennies
Others

2. Where did you heard about Apex Footwear?

News Paper
Friends and Family
TV Advertisements
Online

3. Have you ever purchased anything from Apex Footwear? Yes No

4. Are you satisfied with the quality of their product? Yes No

5. “Apex Footwear is one of the most reliable brands in Bangladesh”. What is your
standpoint regarding this statement?

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

 P a g e | 26

6. How many pair of shoes do you buy every year?

One to Three
Three to Five
Five to Seven
Above Seven

7. How much price are you willing to spend over a shoe?

500Tk to 1000Tk
1000 to 3000Tk
3000 to 5000tk
Above 5000tk

8. Are you satisfied with Apex Footwears pricing? Yes No

9. What are the things that Apex Footwear should improve?

10. Do you think Apex Footwear should increase their outlets? Yes No
11. From which outlet of Apex Footwear do you shop from?
Uttara
Gulshan
Dhanmondi
Mirpur
Others
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12. “Apex Footwear should open an online shopping site?” What is your standpoint
regarding the statement?

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

13. Are you satisfied with Apex Footwears customer care service? Yes No

14. What will be your first priority while purchasing Apex Footwears products? Mention
below:

15. What do you think is the best feature of Apex Footwears products?

Classic Design

Product Quality

Affordable Price

Others

16. “Apex Footwear should diversify their collection” What is your standpoint regarding the
statement?

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

17. For how long have you been using Apex Footwears Products?
 P a g e | 28

Never Used
Less than a year
Less than five years
More than five years

18. Did you hear about Apex Footwears 70% discount offer? Yes No 19. Do you
have Apex Footwears special membership discount card? Yes No

20. Share us your experience about using Apex Footwears products?