Reebok 2008 Annual Report Download - page 50

046 Group Management Report – Our Group Structure and Strategy — Group Strategy
Group Strategy
Our goal as a Group is to lead the sporting
goods industry with brands built on a passion
for sports and a sporting lifestyle. We continu-
ously strive to generate consumer excitement
and enhance brand profi tability by executing a
clear strategy. In everything we do, we are
focused on strengthening and developing our
brands to maximise the Group’s operational
and fi nancial performance and create share-
holder value.
Performance as core Group value
Our Group’s mission and strategy are rooted in our desire to
provide athletes with the best possible equipment to optimise
their performance. This philosophy originated with our brands’
founders Adi Dassler, J. W. Foster and Gary Adams whose
passion for sport inspired them to develop innovative sports
products and create new sports categories. We aim to consis-
tently perform at a level where we not only meet but exceed
the expectations of our stakeholders.
We strive to be closer to consumers than any of our competi-
tors, and our unique understanding of consumers enables us to
enhance their athletic experience. In support of these efforts,
we continuously optimise our sales and distribution processes
and improve our customer service efforts for our retail part-
ners. We make every effort to align our employees’ personal
objectives with our Group and brand targets and reward our
staff for high achievement see Employees, p. 070. Further, we
are particularly focused on ensuring best-practice social and
environmental standards see Sustainability, p. 067. A commit-
ment to constantly increase value for our share holders is
at the core of our activities. This commitment to top perfor-
mance differentiates us from other competitors and is a
unifying principle across our multi-brand organisation.
Leveraging opportunities across our brand portfolio
The strength of our brands is a key factor in our Group’s
success. Within our brand portfolio, we primarily pursue two
strategic priorities:
— Market penetration – gaining market share across all
markets in which we compete, and
— Market development – expanding into new markets and
addressing new consumer segments.
Our multi-brand approach allows us to tackle opportunities
from several perspectives, as both a mass and a niche player,
providing distinct and relevant products to a broad spectrum of
consumers. In this way, each brand is able to concentrate on its
core competencies. Across all brands, we focus on increasing
awareness and visibility, providing clear and consistent mes-
saging and supporting product initiatives at the point-of-sale.
In addition, our commercial success also depends on lever-
aging the scale of our organisation and sharing best practice
across our Group. In particular, we continue to prioritise the
development and further integration of our supply chain across
all brands, turning it into a long-term competitive advantage
for our Group see Global Operations, p. 064.
Leading position in markets worldwide
As a global organisation, we target leading market positions
in all regions where we compete. In Europe, where our Group
is the market leader in terms of sales, our strategy is two-
fold. First, we continue to strengthen our position in the major
Western European markets and strive to grow our brands
through well-coordinated efforts with key account partners.
Secondly, we are capitalising on the strong growth opportuni-
ties in the region’s emerging markets (i.e. Eastern Europe, the
Middle East and Africa).
In North America, we see signifi cant upside potential. As a
Group, we are number two in terms of sales, but we believe
we are currently under-represented in the North American
sporting goods market. Therefore, we target market share
expansion via a strong, consumer-driven product offering,
a diversifi ed distribution strategy, and visible and engaging
communication initiatives.
In Asia, where our Group is the market leader in terms of sales
with number one positions in several markets, our goal is to
strengthen and extend our market leadership position. Our key
priority in the medium term is expanding our business in the
region’s two most important markets: China and Japan. In
tandem, we will also continue to capitalise on opportunities
in other emerging markets in Asia such as India.
Finally, in Latin America, our Group’s fastest-growing region for
the last several years, we are focused on rapidly expanding our
business in the four most important markets: Brazil, Argentina,
Mexico and Chile. Our target is to take over market leadership
in terms of sales by 2010.