Marketing: Analysis of SustainU - Research Paper Example

12th November Analysis of SustainU Introduction SustainU is a company which was formed in 2009 and it USP is that it makes clothes from recycled fiber. Another thing which sustains claims is that its entire process of sourcing the yarn, spinning, knitting, sewing and printing is performed in USA. Hence the company claims to bring back jobs of textile industry which were outsourced from USA to third world countries like India and China. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis may be defined as a strategic planning method which can be used to evaluate the strengths, weakness and opportunities and threats associated with a particular business idea. (Gary Armstrong) Discussions of Opportunities 1) High end Private Labels During the financial turbulent times such as the present downturn in us economy the class of people who want to appear ethically and morally responsible are not the middle class people but the super rich. A recession affects the rich the least and in order to overcome the guilt feeling they have a guilt feeling which they try to overcome through various methods. (Bewley).Due to this guilt; the rich and famous will try to wear a brand which claims to bring jobs back to US and also cares about the environment. But for this idea to be transmitted proper marketing campaign needs to be organized. The apparels of the company should be associated with US economic recovery and the prevention of job losses in a way which is not “preaching” but “trendy”. High end private labels should be the primary focus of the company at present as they can charge exorbitant charges for these apparels and rake in huge profits. Although the company claims not to work for profit but cash generated through this method will help them in expanding through America. 2) Retail Market The company is right now focused on university market. This is a very niche market and the company needs to come out in the retail market if it needs to make a big impact and expand its market share. This is the area where they will face the real competition from producers who outsource their production from third world countries. The retail market is going to be very difficult but it cannot be ignored if the company wants to be in business for a long time. 3) Association with diversified Campaigns The company SustainU in its marketing campaign has not concentrated on its shirts or jeans – infect it has decided to concentrate on the things that they stand for which at present are environment viability of the company and its aim of bringing US jobs back from third world countries. These messages will have a great impact with the customers due to the economic downturn that the country is facing at present; however this message will be ignored by people 5 years down the line if the economic condition is not bad. In order to prove this point we should look at 2006 when the economy was booming – at that point of time everyone believed outsourcing is a good thing; all this changed with the advent of recession. So the company needs to keep evolving and concentrate on different messages in order to stay in business. Ethical Issues and Social Responsibility Issues The company takes the following issues head on – ecological impacts of the textile industry; outsourcing of US jobs to third world countries and the condition in which third world country laborers are made to work. The lists of issues that the company has decided to target are bang on target as these are the issues which concern America the most these days. However I would like to make one suggestion here – instead of outright opposing outsourcing the company should show the world how to do it. If the company needs to fight it out in the retail market; it needs to cut costs and outsourcing is the best way to do it. It needs to open a few factories in China and provide the employees all the benefits which they are denied till now. In this way the second issue which they target – the pathetic conditions in which workers in outsourced factories work will be better addressed. SustainU’s Immediate Environment SustainU is right now focusing on alternative campus clothing. In order to focus on this fact it has focused on finding partners of the same type. It partners include AORE which helps professionals and students in outdoor recreational activities. Its other partner is AASHE which is the association for the advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. It is also the official apparel provider for SOCCKET, Moog fest and bridge Day. If we analyze the type of partners that SustainU has we can come to the conclusion that they have focused exclusively on campus clothing till now. In order to increase their appeal the company needs to focus on more partners – one partner which will be ideal is Green Peace. SustainU aims to provide ecological friendly apparels and Green Peace is acknowledged world over for environmental action; by associating itself with this company they will be further able to boost their image in the minds of the people .Apart from this they can also partner with UNESCO and UNICEF. These organizations are known to everyone even outside the campus and will provide a platform for the company to expand their business. Future Strategy for SustainU’s Global Expansion SustainU is a company which promotes an idea – apparels are just incidental ; their main focus is on promoting the idea of preventing Us jobs from going to developing world , protecting the environment and the condition of the workers in the outsourced factories. At first look these issues seem to be concerning USA alone but these issues are global issues which are having impact all across the world. SustainU can look forward to expand globally but considering the fact that they are selling an idea – the idea needs to be local. Every country has different issues – it needs to find out these issues and present a different marketing campaign in each part of the world. These campaigns may even change from once country to another. Let us suppose that the company decided to expand in India – at present the country is in midst of a popular campaign against corruption – so if SustainU needs to focus on this issue in order to reach the masses. My recommendation at present will be to focus only on the US market; once the company has established a foothold here; it can then look at global markets but the idea that the company needs to sell in each market needs to be highly localized; something which worked in USA might fail completely in the USA. S o to expand globally the company needs to highly dynamic and needs to keep on changing in order to keep up with the times. The countries which can be targeted in the initial round of expansion can be Canada and UK as these countries offer a market which is similar to USA in its outlook and faces the same problems as faced by USA. Segmentation Targeting and Positioning Segmentation; targeting and positioning are based upon company’s objectives and missions. SustainU has the objective of promoting ecological sustainable clothing and bringing back US jobs. On the basis of this objective it has concentrated all its energies on the alternate campus clothing. We recommend dividing the market into three segments – the super rich, campus students and the middle class. Different marketing strategies need to be put in place for these three segments. The present strategy is perfect for campus students and the company needs to continue this positioning for the campus students. However they need to position as a private label which sells an idea in order to target the rich class. However the middle class is a segment which will fight only on the basis of costs. The company should either drop this segment; if they decide to enter the retail segment; they should provide the cloths on no profit. The company should not try to compete on price but rather promote ideas which are dear to the middle class. However we will suggest dropping this segment all together for the time being. It should focus on the campus segment as well as private labels for the super rich class of society – these segments are not overtly price sensitive and the company will not have to bring down prices. Market Research Here once again we will focus on the thing which SustainU is trying to sell – an idea, apparel is just the means to sell it. The company should focus its market research in order to find out the next big idea. The idea which will rock the nation and with which the youth identifies with. The company needs to conduct a market research in order to find out about this. Its target population should be youngsters or the campus students. The goals of the research should be to find out the issues which the youth is concerned about; which they feel should change. The company needs to use these ideas and target its marketing campaign on the basis of ideas which have emerged on the top on the basis of the market research conducted by the firm. Some questions which can be asked in order to gauge the nerve of the youth – what do you think is the situation of the country right now – both politically as well as economically? What issues do you think we need to address right now? Will you participate in solving the problem mentioned by you? How do you plan to participate? Bibliography Bewley, Truman F. Why wages don't fall during a recession. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1999. Gary Armstrong, Michael Harker, Philip Kotler, Ross Brennan. Marketing: An Introduction. New York: Prentice Hall, 2009. Read More