1) What is the current positioning for Paez and how is this expressed in

its behavior/practices/products/etc.
 Current positioning is a small company creating traditional products that leverage and
add value to the traditional Argentina product
 Authentic, started the company in Argentina where the shoes originated
 They pledged to be transparent, social responsible and their mission was to support
education and entrepreneurship
o They supported this by giving Argetne entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn at
the company, leverage its distribution network and obtain financial assistance
o They also created an agreement that their employees had to finish high school
 Paez wanted to build their brand on the Argentina tradition which is why they wanted to
stay true to the location and product itself

2) How well does their performance (consumer perceptions) match that positioning and
how successful (or not) has it been?
 Currently with this positioning, they have experienced large growth percentages (113%
in 2013 and 79% in 2014)
 Argentina was 23% of the company’s sales, 79% of its total sales in south America, which
I think shows that they have been successful in traditional markets
 They targeted people based on their traditions and the fact that they were not your
typical big named brands. They appreciated their customers and those that were loyal
they rewarded, I think this helped them create success as well

3) What are the challenges they are facing, relative to their current positioning and
performance.
 The major challenges they were facing was the location in Argentina and the grow they
were experiencing
o The Argentina government had strict import barriers and foreign exchange
controls
 Inflation was high and it made it hard to attract investors
o This left a lot of uncertainty for their business
o They wanted to stay true to the Argentina tradition but it was not necessarily the
right thing to do if they wanted to continue to grow their business
 Another challenge was the growing competition
o Other brand such as TOMS, were creating similar products but with new,
different designs
o TOMS also has such a large presence in certain markets such as the U.S that
makes it difficult to Paez to move in
 Paez also has a very narrow product line and just sells the alpargatas where as their
competitors offer much large product lines which could hinder the growth of the
company. If people are not aware of this type of shoe, they might not learn of Paez.

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 4) Which of the five brand positioning options would you recommend for Paez, and why
do you think that is the best value proposition for them?
 I think Paez should utilize option 1. They should stick to their original roots and
stand for being an authentic alpargata company. By utilizing this they have the
ability to continue to grow their market share in South America and use this
success to try and enter the American marketplace. They can speak to the
originality and authenticity and tie this together with the quality and durability of
the shoe as well. I think that if they were to use the bargain price option, it might
cut down on the quality of their brand because most people think that if you are
paying less, the quality will not be as good. Along the lines of authenticity, I think
they should stay true to their “Classics” line and market that the materials and
products used are authentic, the company started where the shoe originated and
they offer comfort and durability that the shoe has always been known for.
Customers who value tradition and authenticity would value is positioning and
continue to be loyal customers and most likely attract more customers with the
same beliefs.

5) Can you think of any alternative positioning options?

 I think that Paez has the option to create one large brand image and then within
the different marketplaces they do business in, they could adapt their brand
positioning depending on the strength of competitors
o For example, maybe in the U.S they could push their authenticity but also
create a value story or a value line of shoes that are cheaper than TOMS
to get those in the U.S interested or more familiar with the brand.
Whereas in Argentina where their brand is already more well known, they
could continue to play on the in store experience with being authentic
and creating an environment where customers consistently want to come
back to.

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