A

MARKETING MANAGEMENT OF REEBOK BRAND

Submitted to
INDUKAKA IPCOWALA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (I2IM)
CHAROTAR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(CHARUSAT)
Prepaid by
RATHOD SHIVANGI
ID No: 21MBA109
BBA PROGRAMME,
SEMESTER VI
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
DR. PRANAV DESAI
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
CHAROTAR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(CHARUSAT)

INDUKAKA IPCOWALA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (I2IM)

CHAROTAR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(CHARUSAT)
AT. & PO. CHANGA – 388 421 TA: PETLAD DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT
MARCH-2022
 DECLERATION

I RATHOD SHIVANGI student of the Semester II, MBA Programme at

Indukaka Ipcowala Institute of Management (I2IM) Hereby Declare that project
report for Marketing Management of Reebok is The Result Of My Own Work.I
Also Acknowledge The Other Works / Publications Cited In The Report.

Place:Changa Signature

Date: 18 April , 2022 RATHOD

SHIVANGI
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On the outset of this report, I would like to extend my sincere thanks towards
the entire personage who have helped me in this report. Without their active
guidance, help, cooperation and encouragement I would not have headway in
this report.
I am extremely thankful and pay my gratitude to my Professor Pranav Desai
for his valuable guidance and support on completion in this project.
I also acknowledge with a great sense of reverence, my gratitude towards my
parents and my family members, who has supported me morally as well as
economically.
At last, but not least gratitude goes to all of my friends who directly or
indirectly helped me to complete this report.
INDEX
 INTRODUCTION

Reebok International Limited is an American fitness footwear and clothing

manufacturer subsidiary of brand management company Authentic Brands
Group since March 2022. It was established in 1958 in Great Britain as a companion
company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had been founded
in 1895 in Bolton, Lancashire. From 1958 until 1986, the brand featured the Union
Jack in its logo to signify the origins of the company. The company was bought by
German sporting goods company Adidas in 2005. The company's global headquarters
are now located in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Seaport District, with regional
offices in Amsterdam, Montreal, Hong Kong, and Mexico City.

Early history
In 1895 Joseph William Foster at the age of 14 started work in his bedroom above his
father's sweetshop in Bolton, England, and designed some of the earliest spiked
running shoes. After his ideas progressed, he founded his business "J.W. Foster" in
1900, later he joined with his sons and changed the company name to J.W. Foster and
Sons. Foster opened a small factory called Olympic Works, and gradually became
famous among athletes for his "running pumps". For pioneering the use of spikes, the
company's revolutionary running pumps appear in the book Golden Kicks: The Shoes
that changed Sport. The company began distributing their shoes across the flag of the
United Kingdom which were worn by British athletes. They were made famous by
100m Olympic champion Harold Abrahams (who would be immortalised in the Oscar
winning film Chariots of Fire) in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris.
In 1958 in Bolton, two of the founder's grandsons, Joe and Jeff Foster, formed a
companion company "Reebok", having found the name in a South African dictionary
won in a sprint race by Joe Foster as a boy. The name is Afrikaans for the grey
rhebok, a type of African antelope.
In 1979 an American businessman named Paul Fireman took notice of Reebok at
the Chicago NSGA (National Sporting Goods of America) Show. Fireman negotiated
a deal to license and distribute the Reebok brand in the United States. The division
became known as Reebok USA Ltd. Later that year, Fireman introduced three new
shoes to the market at $60. By 1981, Reebok reached more than $1.5 million in sales.
 Logo evaluation

1958–1977

1977–1993 Alongside With GB Union Jack Flag Logo (used on

Princess, Freestyle and Classic models), but in the Pump models this
logo was used without the flag and write only in letters.

1993–1997 (used on Ventilator models)

1997–2000

2000–2005

2005–2008

2008–2014
 2014–2019

2019–present

Marketing Strategy of Reebok

Reebok is an English apparel and footwear company and since 2005 it is a subsidiary
of the sports giant Adidas. It produces and distributes ranges of products for running,
fitness, clothing, and footwear.

Reebok is the sponsor of The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion), Spartan Race,
CrossFit, etc. The headquarter of the company is in Boston Massachusetts with its
regional offices in Montreal, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Mexico City. In the year
2010, Reebok established its brand in India.

In the Indian market, it has a share of 47% in the sports footwear and apparel
category. Reebok has now expanded in Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well.

Segmentation targeting and positioning in the Marketing

Strategy of Reebok
Reebok has segmented the market according to different ages and targets all the
customers who want to be fit and are adventurous and sporty. It offers ranges of
products on footwear, fitness equipment and apparels for men, women, and kids.
The product ranges have been segmented according to age and the required comfort
and design for different age groups.

Targeting:
Focusing on the consumers have been an important part of Reeboks deigns of the
products and also its marketing strategy. The urban consumers from the upper-middle
class are the target market.

Consumers who follow niche discipline like combat MMA and Cross-fit are also
being targeted by the brand. Reebok has an exclusive deal with Cross-fit and has
become the exclusive provider of apparel, footwear, and accessories for the brand .

Positioning :
Reebok’s positioning is very unique in the market and it understands that the
consumers are unique and has different requirements. The positioning of Reebok is to
celebrate the distinct qualities of people and appreciate what makes them who they
are. It celebrates, authenticity and individuality.

In its #FitToFight campaign encouraged women to fight and be physically, mentally

and socially fit. Reebok claims to be a woman-first brand and also a feminine brand.

Mission:
Always Challenge and Lead through Creativity
“At Reebok, we see the world a little differently and throughout our history have
made our mark when we’ve had the courage to challenge convention. Reebok
creates products and marketing programs that reflect the brand’s unlimited creative
potential.”

Vision:
Fulfilling Potential 

“Reebok is dedicated to providing each and every athlete – from professional athletes
to recreational runners to kids on the playground – with the opportunity, the products,
and the inspiration to achieve what they are capable of. We all have the potential to do
great things. As a brand, Reebok has the unique opportunity to help consumers,
athletes and artists, partners and employees fulfill their true potential and reach
heights they may have thought un-reachable”

Competitive Advantage of Reebok

Adidas as parent company:

Reebok was acquired by Adidas for $3.78 billion and this was a game-changing
moment to help Adidas dethrone Nike from its position as no. 1. Adidas’s global
presence and strong brand recognition have helped Reebok target newer markets more
efficiently. Adidas has helped nurture Reebok and also big investments
in advertising and marketing of Reebok.

Targeted advertising:
Reebok is a more targeted brand with a high concentration on categories such as
CrossFit and has tied up with UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and MMA
(Mixed Martial Arts). The MMA is globally dominated by Tapout, Venum, Bad
Boy, etc.

Strong in the women’s segment:

In International Women’s Day, Reebok India released the campaign #BruisesCan Be
Good. This was to honour the bruises an indication of mental toughness and physical
strength of women. It was a campaign to show how important it is to teach girls and
women the art of self-defense.  This campaign was along the lines of #FitToFight
campaign. The strong positioning of the brand has helped it have a stronger focus and
also a point of differentiation.

BCG matrix of Reebok

Reebok was acquired by the Adidas group and for the group, both the brands
Reebok and Adidas fall under the star category of the BCG matrix.

Despite the tough competition faced by Reebok in the sports and fitness industry, it
is doing decently well in the market. Reebok’s sales are America fell by 15% in
2017 but the brand performed well in China showing double-digit growth of 25%.
The brand requires the huge investment of marketing and advertising and
strong innovation to have a better foothold in the market because the sports
industry is growing and the opportunities are huge.

Distribution Strategy of Reebok

The company has 100 exclusive stores spread across India and also has a retail
presence from 2500 multi-brand stores. The brand has been adding one store each
week and also has an ambitious plan to open a store every 72 hours. The brand also
leverages the strong distribution network of Adidas in the major cities of India.

The brand has also taken advantage of the online stores and has an organized web
system that handles the distribution of the products. The brand has also merged
with other online stores to sell its products.

Brand equity of Reebok

In the year 2017, it obtained the status of the most valuable brand and has acquired
a very high brand value of $1.2 billion. The brand has been doing well in the
market and speaks of elegance and style in sports.

The innovative campaigns and product portfolio has helped build the identity of

the brand. It has a unique identity, designs, reputation, and heritage. The brand has
helped Adidas drive its future sales growth and improvement of profits.

The products of Reebok has a tough look, representing the extreme lifestyle. The
entire brand architecture of Reebok has revolved around inspiring new heights of
achievement for the consumers and for the brand itself.

Market analysis :
Reebok has implied a strategy to have a tie-up with many channels across India to
promote its product at different levels, this has helped Reebok improve its market
share in the urban and rural India.

Reebok has been expanding its price ranges, product variety, geographical
presence and also the promotion channels. The key markets of Reebok are the Asia
Pacific which includes countries like korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, China
and India

The consumers love for sports is moving beyond cricket in India with the
emergence of tennis, badminton, football as well as yoga and CrossFit. Sports
apparel and equipment is said to become the next big industry by 2025. India’s
market is doing very well with the growing economy and increasing disposable
income. Reebok can have a first mover’s advantage with terms of a brand whose
sole focus is fitness.
Customer analysis :
Reebok has always claimed itself to be a customer-focused brand.  To make the
customer’s shopping experience smoother, it has its products displayed in different
categories for ‘Walking’, ‘Aerobics’, ’tennis’ ‘cricket’, ‘CrossFit’, ‘Boxing’ etc.
the main target customers of Reebok are women. It is a single place for all the
equipment needed for Combat Training.

The brand is targeting more specific customers who are into CrossFit, Martial Arts,
etc.  and creating a point of differentiation. This has helped Reebok gain a different
set of customers that are unique from Adidas and Nike.

Promotions in the Marketing Strategy of Reebok

The brand is using channels like social media, advertisements, billboards, online
advertising, TV, etc. to promote its products. Reebok is trying to establish itself as
the brand focused on the women’s fitness market.

The ad campaign “Your move” focused on this matter.  For sports products, it has
used celebrities like M.S. Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, etc. We see the brand doing the
number of sponsorship, for instance, it sponsored sports kits for the IPL teams like
Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, etc.

The “Run Easy” campaign was very profitable for the brand that emphasized
running as a social and fun activity. Reebok also promotes its products through
infomercials to create impulse purchase. To promote its products the brand also
puts up a clearance sale two times a year to clear its older stocks and to make
consumers happy.

Four P Components of Marketing Mix

Product
In alignment to the Marketing strategy discussed in previous section, Reebok has
strategically launched various new products in Men’s and Women’s segment. This
study has described all those products range launched by the company in recent
past. Broadly speaking, the product range of Reebok consists of footwear, apparels
and sports related accessories.

Shoes
ReeTone: Reebok conducted a survey and concluded that Women are busy and
don’t always find the time to fit in their daily workout. Based on this relevant
consumer need, in 2009, Reebok launched the Easy Tone footwear collection that
allows consumers to "take the gym with them". Easy Tone is based on Reebok’s
proprietary "moving air" technology. It involves two balance pods under the heel
and forefoot of the shoes that create natural instability with every step, forcing the
muscles to adapt and develop tone. Building on the huge success of Easy Tone in
2009, Reebok will launch an integrated marketing campaign around the world in
2010 under the motto of "ReeTone". Reebok is also expanding its footwear
offering into the running and training category, launching Run Tone and Train
Tone in 2010.
ReeGym: Through Reebok’s partnership with Cirque du Soleil, the brand will
continue to develop new inspiring workout experiences and product collections to
strengthen its position in the gym. The overriding aim of this collaboration is not
just to create physically demanding workout routines, but to create exercises that
are fun, unique and enjoyable. In spring 2009, Reebok and Cirque du Soleil
launched JUKARI Fit to Fly, taking inspiration from the theatrical and
physically demanding artistry of Cirque du Soleil. Building on this, in 2010
Reebok and Cirque du Soleil are launching JUKARI Fit to Flex – a workout that
enhances flexibility and muscle tone with the help of a specifically designed
JUKARI band. The JUKARI training experience is accompanied by a fully
integrated women’s fitness range, the Reebok Cirque du Soleil collection, which
combines the performance demands of the workout with the creativity of Cirque
du Soleil. In addition, Reebok launched the On the Move collection of apparel
and footwear, created for the needs of a woman’s busy lifestyle. The collection
is versatile and able to be mixed and matched in or out of the gym.
Reebok – Apparel: The apparel is inspired by the ‘alter ego’ concept of sport
and fashion and can be combined with the footwear for a confident, total look.
Rich, luxurious fabrics from the fashion world of Emporio Armani have been
infused with cutting-edge Reebok technologies to maximize comfort, fit and
performance. Signature fashion detailing inspired by crocodile skin changes
according to movement in the fabric and expresses a dynamic visual effect
during performance. For men, the apparel features sophisticated key colour
ways of black, misty grey and white, punctuated with fashion tones such as
fluorite yellow for a confident, sexy look. Sleek, fitted running tanks and tops
incorporate reflective branding, zip closure, bonded mesh panelling as well as
Play Dry, a moisture management system that wicks away perspiration. Stylish,
highly functional running tights employ isolated compression for optimized
functionality. Long-sleeve technical tops utilize 2-way front zip detailing and
elbow articulation. Running shorts incorporate X-static, an anti-microbial,
odour free, anti-static thermo-regulation technology.

Price
Reebok follows the common pricing strategy. Their main aim is to survive and grow
in the market. But as such Reebok follows maximum market skimming strategy.
Whenever Reebok unveils a new technology in market they set a high price for it.
Reebok starts for such products with high prices and then slowly drop prices over
time. As Reebok can sense that whenever they launch a product they have sufficient
number of buyers for that product and Reebok keeps the price high so that they are
able to control the demand, earn more profit and communicate to buyers with high
price that the product is superior. Reebok usually follow skimming strategy but when
it entered into the apparels and other accessory market in India it followed penetrating
pricing, i.e. Reebok set low prices for apparels to attract the customers at the start to
an introductory price, and as the products became more popular the prices were raised
to a normal level. Companies usually set their prices to stay ahead in the market.
n 2006 when Nike and Puma were also getting popular among youth, Reebok came up
with destroyer pricing strategy and set deliberately very low prices hoping that the
competitors cannot match it and in fact it helped Reebok acquiring a major share.
Reebok usually puts its product on Sale for clearance purposes two times a year.
Reebok came to India in the mid-90s mainly to develop the middle segment of 69 the
foot wear market in Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia, and as a
fallback in the event of an interruption in Chinese supplies. The annual threats of
adverse action against Chinese imports in to the United States, prior to the admission
of China to the World Trade Organisation in 2001, were noted in each Reebok annual
report as having a potentially negative financial impact. Reebok was the first among
the big three that identified India as a huge emerging market and a sourcing base for
global exports. In order to combine the popularity of its soccer and athletic brand with
the popularity of football and basketball enjoyed by Reebok, Adidas-Salomon bid
$3.8 billion in early August 2004 to acquire the latter. This deal has created a $11
billion sportswear giant and poses a formidable threat to arch rival Nike.5.3

Promotion

Advertising Agencies
To promote its brand, Reebok has been taking services from advertising agencies for
quite some time now. During 2004-2007, McGarry Bowen was Reebok’s brand
agency globally. During this period, Reebok had done advertising and marketing for
various products. Pump sneakers advertisements, "Two People in Everyone" ad
campaign, Runner’s head game- I am What I am ad campaign were all under this
advertising agency. In March 2009, Reebok changed its advertising agency to DDB
Worldwide. This agency handled Reebok’s brand advertising and marketing
communications as Reebok is trying to establish its brand in the women’s fitness
market. The ad campaign "Your Move" was done under this agency. However,
Reebok handed its regional advertising business to WPP subsidiary Soho Square,
which was supposed to manage Reeboks key markets in the Asia Pacific including
Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Australia and India and China.

Key Market Segments

Reebok has started to shift its focus on specific market segments. It has developed
a clear road map for its key businesses going forward: Own Women’s Fitness,
Challenge Men’s Sport and Revive Classics.

Promotional Methods
Reebok offers great deals on footwear, apparel, and fitness equipment for women,
men, and kids. The company uses various promotional tools to bring awareness
among its customers. It offers discounts, vouchers, coupons and custom made
sneakers on their products. Apart from this, Reebok uses various media tools to
promote its brand and create awareness about the products. Reebok uses television
commercials, print ads, billboards, online advertising, sponsorship events and
various advertising campaigns for its promotion.

Print Media Advertising

Reebok promotes its products through print media advertising which includes
newspapers and Magazines. It also includes outdoor billboards, transit posters, the
yellow pages, and direct mail. In India, Reebok features its print ads on magazines
like Filmfare Magazine, Cineblitz Magazine, Stardust Magazine. The recent
popular print ad campaign of Mahindra Singh Dhoni and Bipasha Basu were
featured in these magazines.
Newspaper
Reebok also features its ad in supplement papers of national dailies like HT City of
Hindustan Times, Delhi Times of Times of India, Mumbai Times of Times of
India.

Television Media
Reebok uses many celebrities in India to shoot in a television commercial for
promoting its different categories of products. For sports related products, it has
primarily used Indian Cricketers such as M.S. Dhoni and Rahul Dravid. Recently,
It has signed a deal with the great Sachin Tendulkar as well. Reebok uses this
marketing tool to gain recognition for its products and promote specific stores or
products. Reebok had used various sportsmen and non-sportsmen as their brand
ambassadors. In terms of general fitness; Reebok usually endorses famous models
of Bollywood stars.
The Reebok segment is comprised of the Reebok brand, Reebok-CCM Hockey and
Rockport. In 2008, the Reebok brand has further refined its strategy considering
the brand’s heritage and values, consumer insights and positioning within the
adidas Group portfolio. Inspired by its roots in sport and women’s fitness, Reebok
developed a clear roadmap for its key businesses going forward: Own Women’s
Fitness, Challenge Men’s Sport and Revive Classics. Central to Reebok’s brand
heritage is the courage to challenge convention. Unlike many other brands, Reebok
is committed to make fitness fun again – challenging men and women to fulfil their
potential in sport and in life by providing them with the opportunity, the products
and the inspiration to have fun staying in shape. In 2008, Reebok commercial of
"Your Move" ad campaign featured celebrities like Bipasha Basu and Mahindra
Singh Dhoni.

Infomercial
Reebok also does its marketing through infomercials. There are two types of
infomercials, described as long form and short form. Long form infomercials have
a time length of 30 minutes. Short form infomercials are 30 seconds to 2 minutes
long. Infomercials are also known as direct response television (DRTV)
commercials or direct response marketing. The main objective in an infomercial is
to create an impulse purchase, so that the consumer sees the presentation and then
immediately buys the product through the advertised toll-free telephone number or
website. Infomercials describe, display, and often demonstrate products and their
features, and commonly have testimonials from consumers and industry
professionals. Reebok arrange several infomercials in the sports-based program.
Reebok first infomercial was on April 2001 for the Reebok Core Board, a
stationary muscle- training program. It was a 28-minute infomercial which
demonstrated the system, including the work out regimens, user testimonials and
the system

Internet
Online purchase and marketing has been a great revolution in last 2-3 years in
India. Thus, Reebok is also selling its same products as they do in stores through
web as well.Reebok.com has not done much to promote its web site, but they do
put their web site address at the bottom of all their television commercials and
print advertisements.

Sponsorship Advertising
To cater to its major market sports playing people, Reebok had sponsored many
sports both internationally and nationally. The company had tie-ups with various
sports for providing apparel, footwear and cricket equipment’s Reebok has
sponsored sports kits for the great rich Indian Premier League teams, such as the
Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai
Super Kings and Deccan Chargers in the first edition of the league held in
2008.Reebok also became the official partner of Force India on February 2009.
Force India - India’s only Formula One Team - is all set to speed its way into the
fast-paced lives of more and more Indians by partnering with premier sports and
lifestyle products giant Reebok as its official apparel and footwear merchandising
partner for the next 5 years. After inking the association in 2008, the partnership
between Force India F1 team and Reebok has rolled out with the 2009 Force India
Team wear collection.

Film Promotions
Reebok, the world’s leading sportswear brand, is unveiling its ‘My Name is Khan
Collection’, showcased in the most awaited movie of the year starring Shahrukh
Khan, Kajol and other stars. The new range consists of footwear and apparel and
will be available across Reebok stores in the country.
Reebok Taglines Development
Tag lines always give a brand its identity as well as a momentum, if it is used the
right way. It is very important to develop a catchy corporate tagline in addition to a
great corporate logo that will effectively communicate in one sentence what
services or products your company sells. Over the years Reebok has constantly
changed its taglines and highlighted on different aspects of fitness. Reebok’s
taglines are focused on women fitness - where it has deep roots; men’s fitness and
training, to be credible an athletic footwear brand; and classics. In 2008, Reebok
has signed an endorsement with Bipasha Basu to make fitness fun with Reebok.
Reebok pinpointed the consumer insight that women perceive exercise as a boring,
and would work out more often if the gym was fun. Reebok tried to make fitness
fun again through an exciting partnership with top instructors from around the
world. Reeboks challenger approach was to provide consumers with the choice to
take the boredom out of working out. Running online, out-of-home, in-store, and in
print, the campaign features fun, engaging taglines such as, "Less work, more play.
Fitness is what you make of it. Your Move In 2006, Reebok had a tagline "Run
easy". The Run Easy campaign took 180 degrees turn from traditional sport
advertising. It addresses the majority of runners, emphasizing on running as a
social activity and more importantly, fun. The campaign was well liked by the
people and Reebok had created a companion site called GoRunEasy.com to
emphasize the social aspect of running. Some of the other Taglines of Reebok are:
"Have Fun While You Run" "I am what I am" "Take the gym with you" "Eye
candy for your feet" "little Said, greatly felt.

Place
Reebok reaches out to its target customers through its 1000+ exclusive stores, 200+
shops in the shop outlets & 2500+ dealer outlets. The footwear franchise provides
a range of footwear such as for Adventure, Basketball, and Casual and Cross
Training. The Reebok franchise also has shoes for Running, Soccer, Tennis,
Walking and basic sandals for the men. The clothing and footwear franchise has its
apparel section for the women and men. Reebok India’s footwear and athletic
apparel market share was 54 percent as 2009 came to a close, up from 51 percent
the year before. That’s a far cry from Reebok’s United States numbers. The
company was the first to introduce women’s athletic shoes in 1982 and once
enjoyed a dominant share of that market. The company had just a 2 percent share
of the women’s footwear market in2009, down from an almost 9 percent share just
two years ago. Reebok was purchased by German sports wear giant Adidas in 2006
as the companies sought to catch U.S. market leader Nike.

Store selection strategy

The sportswear giant is targeting a bigger share of both the lower and upper ends
of the market. Has it got the balance right? Reebok had some time back hired an
international agency to help it identify locations for its stores on the basis of
income pockets. The agency devised a plan that looked good on paper: Divide each
city according to the postal codes. The assumption was that people covered by one
post office would have somewhat similar incomes. Within no time it was proved
that the formula will not work. The Greater Kailash post office in New Delhi, for
instance, is a high-income neighborhood but also includes the mid-income locality
of Zamroodpur. Should Reebok then put up a store there or not? What products
should it stock? For Reebok, the country’s largest seller of sportswear and apparel,
this is a challenge it has to wrestle with every day. It wants to become a mass-
market brand, and the location of stores holds the key to that. This, mind you, is
not the first time that its market research and assumptions have gone awry. When it
first entered India in the early-1990s, it had assumed that every car owner could be
a potential buyer for expensive Reebok sneakers. It proved to be a gross
overestimation of the market’s potential. Little did it realise that cars were bought
on installments here, and a large number of drivers didn’t own the cars — these
were provided by the office. In fact, India is the only market in the world where
Reebok has such dominance in the market place.

Franchise model
In 2009 Reebok joined hands with the largest integrated franchise and retail
solution provider Franchise India Holdings Limited (FIHL) in order to expand the
franchise opportunity. Interestingly, all of Reebok’s stores in India are franchisee-
owned. The Company has taken great pains to deal with the accompanying trouble
of maintaining brand consistency in such retail models. It is very choosy in
selecting our franchisees and even our sales team. But once on board, every month,
the company sends their own sales people visiting each Reebok store to address
any issues that crops up. Besides, the company tries to always stay on top of new
trends through product proliferation, brand extensions and segmentation strategies.
For example, Connaught Place, Delhi where Reebok has four stores and each of
these stores offers different things in a different ambience to different consumers,
adding that the one floor of the first store has lifestyle products and the second
floor has sports goods. Another store only displays apparel for women, while the
third store is for the kids. Such a segmented retail strategy allows Reebok to rake
in Rs.2.5 crores annually from Connaught Place itself."

Store layout and design

Taking retail to new heights, Reebok’s new store offers the finest shopping
ambience to customers with products displayed by categories such as ‘Running’,
‘Walking’, ‘Aerobics’, ‘Tennis’, ‘Cricket’ and ‘Lifestyle’, to help customers make
better purchase decisions. Built across 2 floors with individual customized sections
for fitness, sports, lifestyle etc, the store offers a world class shopping experience.
It’s the only single brand store with an escalator built inside the store with two
floor high glass wall carrying footwear, built in a circular fashion around it. So it’s
literally a ride through a maze of footwear, giving you a complete sense of the
brand coupled with an over whelming sense of stylized shopping and delight of
choice. With the focus on service and exceptional ambience paramount to Reeboks
objective to providing an experiential shopping experience, the newly opened
Reebok store promises to offer a larger-than-life feel to the customers. It offers
different segments for both men and women like sports and fitness footwear,
apparel, accessories, fitness equipment and the lifestyle section. A stupendous
cornucopia of women’s dance, fitness, training, and sports collection is also
present at the store. The store also has a corner– KREATE YOUR OWN SHOE in
which a customer can actually design their own shoe by choosing the colour, lace,
type of sole etc and buy it too! Reebok India commands a 51% market share in the
premium sportswear industry. It plans to increase the store count from the existing
500 to over 600 before the next financial year. Reebok reaches out to its target
customers through its 500 exclusive Reebok Stores, 200 Shop in the shop outlets &
2500 dealer outlets. Reebok’s Managing Director for India, Mr. Subhinder Singh
Prem expressed his delight at the opening of their largest single branded store in
the world. "The opening of biggest Reebok store in the world in the city of
Hyderabad is indeed a proud moment for us. With 500 stores across the country
and now the launch of this store, we hope to delight our customers with greater and
more easily accessible choice. The store would house all categories of Reebok
sports, fitness products and our Lifestyle collection catering to both men &
women."

Marketing Challenges
Reebok had some time back hired an international agency to help it identify
locations for its stores on the basis of income pockets. The agency devised a plan
that looked good on paper: Divide each city according to the postal codes. The
assumption was that people covered by one post office would have somewhat
similar incomes. Within no time it was proved that the formula will not work. The
Greater Kailash post office in New Delhi, for instance, is a high-income
neighborhood but also includes the mid-income locality of Zamroodpur. Should
Reebok then put up a store there or not? What products should it stock? For
Reebok, the country’s largest seller of sportswear and apparel, it has to wrestle
with this challenge every day. It wants to become a mass-market brand, and the
location of stores holds the key to that. This is not the first time that its market
research and assumptions have gone awry. When it first entered India in the early-
1990s, it had assumed that every car owner could be a potential buyer for
expensive Reebok sneakers. It proved to be a gross overestimation of the market’s
potential. Little did it realise that cars were bought on installments here, and a large
number of drivers didn’t own the cars — these were provided by the office. But it
has got over the initial hiccups. Though fourth in the global sweepstakes after
Adidas, Nike and Puma, it leads the pack in India with a 53 per cent share of the
branded sports footwear market (estimated size: Rs 3,500 crores per annum).

Mass vs class
Detractors and competitors, however, say that the company’s strategy may take the
sheen off the brand. "You can’t be a prestigious brand and at the same time sell it
for under Rs 1,000. Also you will compromise on quality and these shoes are
known for their performance. You can’t be both a mass as well as a class brand,"
says a rival. Reebok is aware of the challenge. One way to overcome it is to
segment the market, and have sub-brands for each segment. For instance, Reebok
has created a segment for health- and figure-conscious women. It has launched
Easy tone footwear which promises to help tone the legs and butt. These are, of
course, global products launched recently and available at a stiff price starting from
Rs 4,999. Similarly, to cater to the fashion-conscious, Reebok has tied up with
designer Manish Arora for the Fish Fry range. It’s a small market but if offers a
style statement and that gives the brand an extra dimension. Reebok recently found
that people above the age of 60 prefer to use sandals in their morning walk with
friends. The company caught on to the potential when he saw his father and his
friends not using sports shoes while walking in the morning. For the mass market,
Reebok has bonded well with cricket. It has set up exclusive cricket stores which
stock pads, wickets and other cricketing gear. It has extended its sponsorship with
Kolkata Knight Riders by opening an exclusive store in Kolkata which sells KKR
merchandise. As many as nine players in the Indian cricket team use a Reebok bat.
It has benefitted from tying up with cricketers much before they become stars.

Price barriers
The biggest challenge in front of company is to produce quality products at even
lower prices and break the existing price barrier. The company has brought down
its entry level price from around Rs 1,390 a few years ago to Rs 990 now. And, of
course, Reebok’s research and development centre abroad are working to break
new price barriers. For that, company is also experimenting with new mediums
which will supplement his already large advertising budgets. The focus now is to
leverage social websites and offer consumers knowledge about its products. One
idea which has been floated is to set up Reebok Clubs across websites were people
can exchange notes on fitness and Reebok products, and give their independent
opinion. The company feels it can extract more value this way than from an
advertising campaign. But different markets and segments have different
requirements and aspirations from a sportswear or lifestyle brand. So how does
Reebok cater to the varying choices? Data shows that consumers are changing their
old pair of shoes much faster than before. Middle-class buyers now change their
footwear every three months, down from eight to 12 months earlier. And at the
lower end of the market, consumers are changing once in every 15 months
compared to three years earlier. "The customer who buys entry-level Rs-990 shoe
upgrades to the next level just like you upgrade your car. And as he is already
hooked on to Reebok; so, his next shoe will also be the same brand, provided of
course we offer him wide variety and a new offering at every level and price
point," say she. So, Reebok launches over 42 SKUs every month and at least new
footwear technology every two months.
Recommendation
Reebok has been very cleverly playing its marketing strategy for last few years. It
has been segmenting its market very precisely and then aggressively promoting
their products specifically to that segment. For example, Women’s segment or kids
segment. Recently, it has launched reetone category specifically for women. In
terms of price as well, Reebok has been offering its products at different price
levels for different targeted segments. Its products range from Rs. 500 onwards.
Thus, it tries to cover everyone from mass to class. Reebok has also expanded its
apparels section now along with shoes, which is gaining popularity day by day. In
1990s, Reebok stores were only present in metros, however, nowadays; it has
opened its stores in remote areas as well. Also, in metros, it has opened its
specialized stores as women’s, kids, apparels or shoes stores. Reebok has also tied
up with many strategic channels in India to promote its brands at different levels,
which helped it to grow its market in urban as well as rural areas. In conclusion,
Reebok has been expanding its products categories, price range, and geographic
presence and promotion channels over the last decade. Despite being acquired by
Adidas, Reebok brand has been growing at a good pace. The above strategies have
been very successful till now and we recommend Reebok to continue doing these
things. In addition, Reebok can also explore the segment of formal wear, where it
is not present at all. With growing Indian economy and large number of working
people, Reebok can very well tap this market. Reebok has already established its
brand in the market and it can leverage its brand to enter in new segments. Also,
Reebok should promote Indians more to go for physical exercises, for which
maybe it can announce monetary incentives as well, such as Discount coupons at
Reebok outlets if one loose n kgs of weights in n number of days. Thus, we
recommend Reebok to continue expanding its reach in new areas, geographies,
segments and cover the whole class as well as mass.