Reebok 2013 Annual Report Download - page 95

adidas Group
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2013 Annual Report
Group Management Report – Our Group
91
2013
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02.6
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Other Businesses Strategy
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Rockport Strategy
Maximising men’s and women’s business under
one brand roof
Rockport’s heritage of leveraging advanced athletic technologies in
casual shoes was originally conceived around men’s footwear. However,
the brand’s promise – “style made comfortable” – is also ideally suited
to and relevant for women’s shoes. By infusing adidas athletic shoe
technologies within a broad range of styles (e.g. heels, boots, wedges),
Rockport aims to deliver the “no compromise” combination of style
and comfort, which is a true and largely unfulfilled consumer need
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PICTURE 09.
09
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Rockport
Total Motion pump
With this strategic approach, Rockport can target the same consumer
type in both the men’s and women’s business. With only 24% of
Rockport’s total sales in the women’s business, expanding the product
offering and distribution reach of this part of the business is the
biggest growth opportunity for Rockport. While the brand promise
applies equally to both genders, Rockport also understands that both
genders have significantly different requirements in terms of product
offering, particularly in servicing the higher demands and depth of
assortment to be relevant to the female consumer. Therefore, the brand
made significant investments in world-class design and development
capabilities in 2013 by opening the Rockport Design Studio in the Veneto
region of Italy. With this studio, Rockport has access to the best talent
and industry knowledge in the field of women’s design, fashion industry
know-how and technical shoe development.
Distribution and point-of-sale expansion strategy
After successfully establishing the Rockport brand strategy and
positioning over recent years, brand recognition has increased and its
positioning appeals to a broad consumer base. The Rockport appearance
continues to become more dynamic and focused on product storytelling
by emotionalising the brand’s unique product benefits to consumers. To
support growth, a high-quality distribution network and strong execution
of the brand at the point of sale globally is critical. Therefore, Rockport
has a number of key strategic initiatives in place to improve and expand
the brand’s representation in the marketplace:
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One global range built with clear channel-specific segmentation and
price architecture and supported with aligned operational capabilities
and go-to-market strategies to be competitive in each channel.
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Tailored local distribution strategies to maximise the business across
all channels and geographies. This includes intensifying relationships
with premium retail accounts in key wholesale markets such as
the USA as well as expanding the own-retail footprint, to further
strengthen the brand’s image in the marketplace.
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Online retail excellence through industry-leading e-commerce and
digital capabilities, for both wholesale and retail, driving convergence
to the omni-channel strategic vision.
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Elevating presence at the point of sale, through significant investments
to further connect with the consumer on an emotional level in both
own-retail and wholesale environments.