What Drove Reebok to Change Their Positioning Strategy - Assignment Example

In 1982, when the aerobics fitness craze started, Reebok introduced its lifestyle athletic shoes which changed the positioning of Reebok from an athletic shoe brand to a lifestyle shoe brand. The shoes of the company got popular not only in athletic wear but also in casual wear. In 2009, Rebook recognized the changing trends and positioned itself as a premium sports brand that offers a lifestyle brand by focusing on fitness and training.

The heritage and roots of Reebok are associated with fitness/training therefore, by positioning the brand as a lifestyle shoe, Reebok not only fulfilled the changing needs of the consumers but also developed a clear roadmap for its key businesses going forward (Khurana, 2010). What segments are they targeting today and why did they choose these segments? The change in positioning strategy from athletic shoes to lifestyle shoes helped Reebok to target various market segments. The company attracted the youth involved in cheerleading, gyms, and aerobics and average consumers (Womenreebok, 2011).

Therefore, the major target market segments of Reebok are the youngsters involved in fitness and training activities of all kinds because Reebok recognizes fitness and training as a lifestyle of the youth. Reebok created a new brand to target new target markets as well as having special collections launched from time to time named by different brand names. Is this a sound product/brand strategy? Why? Elaborate on the pros and cons of adopting this type of branding strategy. In 2002, Reebok launched its Rbk brand by offering a collection of street-inspired footwear and apparel to young men and women.

In 2005, the company introduced Rbk Hockey to offer the most visible and in-demand hockey brands. In 2009, the company launched Jukari Fit to Fly workout (Reebok). These examples give evidence that to target new markets; the company has been launching different collections under different brand names. Reebok is pursuing a multi-brand strategy. This strategy helps the company to achieve the best market coverage. Since the foot and apparel market is a segmented market and a single brand of Reebok cannot help the company to provide qualities at the same time, therefore, a multi-brand strategy is the most effective strategy for the company.

This strategy has provided tactical flexibility to Reebok to limit the extension of competitors and it also hinders the entry of new competitors in the market. However, the multi-brand strategy makes it challenging for Reebok to protect its main brand image. Therefore, to protect the image of its main brand name, Reebok developed a brand Box to target the casual street-wear market while keeping its original brand distinct for the athlete market (Kapferer, 1997)