INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

Minor Project Report

On

International Marketing – CASE STUDY OF REEBOK

Priyanka Vaid (A9920122000733)

MBA INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

MINOR PROJECT (PGMIPR57)
DECEMBER 2023
Word Count
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

Abstract

International Marketing can be explained as the exchange of services and

products across nations. This process of organising and carrying out the
pricing, advertising, and distribution of products and services in the same
all over the world. Companies nowadays are not limited by their national
borders. The economics are growing rapidly and making space for more
competition and aggressive marketing due to the customers’ changing
needs, choices, preferences, and tastes. Therefore, business must act
quickly to meet client requests through well-defined marketing strategies.

This paper discusses the marketing strategy of REEBOK International Ltd.

to understand approaches that made them successful as a global brand.
Reebok International Ltd. is a global athletic footwear and apparel
company.[3] Reebok produces and distributes fitness and sports items
including shoes, workout clothing and accessories, and training
equipment.

The purpose of this research is to carry out the market analysis which
includes the Marketing Management, Business Plan, Corporate and
Marketing Strategies, SWOT Analysis, PESTEL, Marketing Mix, Value Chain
Model, TQM, Branding and Brand Elements along with 5Ms of Advertising.

We have primarily collected data through online browsing of different

article and journals and explained our results through various graphs and
diagram.

As per the findings and analysis we have recommended Reebok that it can
also explore the segment of formal wear, where it is not present at all. Also,
focus on finding the most promising customers (kids and women) and
introduce more products or improve current ones to satisfy potential
increase in demand.

Keep expanding into current and future foreign markets by being

aggressive and the worldwide leader of the footwear industry.
Contents
About ‘Reebok’ 1
Early History 1
Highlights throughout the Journey 2
Product Lines 3
Marketing Management (Theory 2000 – 2010 & Theory 2011 – 2015) 4
Mission – Vision – Business Plan – Corporate Strategy 6
Reebok’s Mission 6
Reebok’s Vision 6
Corporate Strategy 7
Business plan 7
SWOT Analysis 9
PESTEL ANALYSIS OF REEBOK 10
Michael Porter’s Five Forces: 11
Barriers to Entry: 11
Buyer Power: 12
Supplier Power: 12
Threats of Substitutes: 13
Rivalry within Industry: 13
Marketing Strategy: 14
Core Marketing Concept: 14
Market Segmentation: 15
Marketing Mix (7P) + 4C: 16
The Seven P Components of the Market Mix 16
The 4C Components of the Market Mix 17
Value Chain Model 18
TQM (Total Quality Management)– Loyalty – Quality & Control 19
Brand & Branding 20
Brand 20
Branding 20
Brand and Branding Aspect of Reebok 20
Box Analysis of Brand Elements 22
Brand Elements 22
The Brand Dynamic Pyramid: 24
Bonding: 24
Advantage: 25
Performance: 25
 Relevance 25
Presence: 25
Mass communication 27
a) Advertising budget and campaign cost: 28
b) Sales promotion and budget 29
c) Events and sponsorships: 30
d) Public relation (PR) 31
e) Corporate Social Responsibility: 31
Marketing Budget & expenditure 32
Pricing strategies 33
Recommendation 34
Conclusion 35
References: 36
About ‘Reebok’
Reebok International Ltd. is a global athletic footwear and apparel company. Reebok
produces and distributes fitness and sports items including shoes, workout clothing
and accessories, and training equipment. Reebok is the official footwear and apparel
sponsor for UFC, CrossFit, Spartan Race, and Les Mills.

Early History
Reebok's history began way back in 1890, when a shoemaker named J.W. Foster
developed the first known running shoes with spikes, enabling athletes to run faster
than ever before.

Hoops Vibe's Very Quick Call: The history of a sneaker company is a wild ride.
Highlights throughout the Journey
• In 1982, the company made a move that took the sneaker industry by surprise,
and sent sales through the roof. Reebok introduced the first athletic shoe for
women. This move helped Reebok grab the majority of the market share in the
early 1980’s.
• Then in 1989, Reebok introduced the Pump to the basketball world to take on
the ‘Nike Air’. These shoes were designed specifically with basketball in mind.
• Reebok decided to look for endorsements as a way to increase brand
awareness when their sales started to decline during 90s and Nike took the
top spot.
• In 1996, they roped in NBA newcomer Allen Iverson as a target. From 1996 to
2000, Iverson and Reebok had a lot of success promoting the brand. With
Iverson quickly becoming an NBA superstar, his shoe which was known as
“The Answer” was selling at a fast pace and helping to bring Reebok back to
the forefront of the industry.
• Then in 2005, during NBA All-Star weekend Reebok introduced the new ATR
(Above the Rim) Pump, this time the pump is located on the outer ankle of the
shoe. It again allows for the athlete to get a perfect fit. During the 2005 All-
Star game, NBA superstars Allen Iverson and Yao Ming showcased the ATR
Pump to the world. Shortly after the new ATR Pump debuted, Reebok was
shook up once again.
• Late in 2005, they were bought out by Germany’s Adidas-Salomon for $3.78
billion. The reason for this merger was quite clear in the sneaker
industry. Reebok and Adidas were constantly fighting out for second place
behind sneaker giant Nike. They felt that by joining forces, they may be able to
overtake Nike and become the number one sneaker manufacturer in the
world. But they still had a long way to go since in 2004, Nike had
approximately 36% market share in the United States shoe industry; whereas
Adidas and Reebok combined had about 21%.
• From there on their main focus on Reebok was to establish it as a leading
fitness and training brand.

Product Lines
The product line of a Reebok retail outlet generally consists of sports accessories. The
product line is divided into four sections:
1. Shoes
2. Apparels
3. Sports Equipments
4. Exercising/health products
5. Personal grooming
Marketing Management (Theory 2000 – 2010 & Theory 2011 –
2015)

According to Marketing Management (Theory 2000 – 2011), Marketing

Management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting,
keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating
superior customer value.
Reebok divided its potential customers into groups based on common sets of
characteristics, hobbies and professions to both male and female genders such as,
basketball players, hockey players, tennis players, dancers, trainers, yoga and etc.
Reebok has always made efforts to vibe with the customer for its apparel range as well,
that contributes 45 per cent to the company’s turnover. According to consumer’s need
and requirements Reebok would innovate, create, and offer sport and fitness apparels
for both male and female genders whether they are for yoga, dancing and sports
related even for children. In this manner they have managed to conquer a huge
consumer base for each of the fitness and sport sections with superior taglines such as
‘Be More Human’ and ‘I am what I am’ that creates inspirations and emotional
communication to the consumers which are more appealing.
Also according to Marketing Management (Theory 2012 – 2015 ±), Marketing
management depends on the size of the business and the industry in which the
business operates. Effective marketing management will use a company's resources to
increase its customer base, improve customer opinions of the company's products and
services, and increase the company's perceived value.
Sportswear is a huge industry where Reebok is one of the top players giving intense
competition to high end brands such as Nike, Fila, Adidas, Puma and more. Hence,
going along with such high brands Reebok has managed to keep their marketing intact
through interacting with consumers for its apparel range and improve the quality and
product lines keeping in mind the needs and requirements of their customer

base.
They have even roped in top celebrities in their own field as brand ambassadors who
are themselves into fitness from the world of Cinema and Cricket such as in India,
John Abraham (who is known as the fittest Man in Bollywood), Nargis Fakhri who
herself is a fitness freak and M.S Dhoni. People look up to them and when such high
profile celebrities are endorsing the brand Reebok and using the apparels, it pursues
people in to using them too. Therefore, so far Reebok’s marketing management has
been going well.
From Left to Right - John Abraham (Actor and Reebok India Brand Ambassador), Erick
Haskell (MD, Reebok India), Nargis Fakhri (Actress and Reebok India Brand Ambassador) and
Somdeb Basu (Brand Director, Reebok India)

Mission – Vision – Business Plan – Corporate Strategy

Reebok’s Mission

Challenge and lead the fitness world through creativity

At Reebok, we see the world a little differently and throughout our history
have made our mark when we've had the courage to challenge convention.
Reebok creates products and marketing programs that reflect the brand's
unlimited creative potential.

Reebok’s Vision
Fulfilling Potential
Reebok is dedicated to providing each and every athlete - from professional
athletes to recreational runners to kids on the playground - with the
opportunity, the products, and the inspiration to achieve what they are
capable of. Everyone has the potential to do great things. As a brand, Reebok
has the unique opportunity to help consumers, athletes and artists, partners
and employees fulfill their true potential and reach heights they may have
thought un-reachable.
Corporate Strategy

Reebok’s mission is to challenge and lead the fitness world through creativity and
their vision is to provide products to different athletes in order to help them achieve
their goals.
Reebok has launched a global brand strategy to position itself as the world’s primary
fitness brand featuring sportsmen including Lewis Hamilton and cricketer MS Dhoni
in a campaign to support their desired direction.
The brand says the strategy was designed to “change the way people perceive, define
and experience fitness” and achieve Reebok’s ambition “to bring fitness to the world
and be seen as the world’s fittest company”. Reebok has identified the fitness sector
as a “significant opportunity” and it hopes to “own this space” around the world.
The campaign, which includes a partnership with fitness program Cross Fit was
launched showcasing “The Sport of Fitness has Arrived” campaign.
Throughout its history and again today, Reebok's success has been based on its
courage to challenge convention: developing innovative products, creating new
markets, and creating the latest athletic style. Inspired by its roots in fitness, Reebok
is a global sports brand that is committed to empowering consumers to be fit for life.

Business plan
A business plan is a formal statement of business goals, reasons they are attainable,
and plans for reaching them.
Reebok’s main focus and plan has always been to be the top player in sportswear
industry and even after Adidas acquiring Reebok in 2005, as part of the strategic
business plan was a clear indication of it by any means. Adidas and Reebok have
taken clear positions in the marketplace. While adidas is targeted at competitive
sports with its Sport Performance division based on innovation and technology, and
towards the sports lifestyle, fashion consumer with its Sport Style division, Reebok
has become the fitness and training brand for active and casual sports.
Their main focus and objective since has been to establish Reebok as the leading
fitness and training brand.
Even after its merger with Adidas, the Reebok brand has continued to execute its old
strategy, positioning itself focused on fitness and training. Based on its roots and
heritage in fitness/training, consumer insights and positioning within adidas group,
Reebok developed a clear path for its key businesses going forward: Own Women’s
Fitness, Challenge in Men’s Training/Sport and Revive classics. Unlike many other
brands, Reebok is committed to make fitness fun again-challenging men and woman
to fulfill their potential in sport and in life by providing them with the opportunity,
products and inspiration to have fun staying in shape.
SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
1. Reebok is amongst the top 3 largest seller
of athletic footwear and athletic apparel in 1.The brand faces tough problem from fake and
the world. duplicate sales

2. Reebok brings out the perfect 2. Being a popular brand means any controversy
combination of technology and fitness each affects brand image considerably
year in its products.
3. Going for too many segments leads to company
3. New technology makes the firm to be able mot being able to handle all of them well, this may
to make better shoes. cause company to loss its market share in the long
run.
4. Able to enter into different markets and
gain market share from it..
5. Utilize market research and development
trying to find our consumer’s preference.
6. Reebok sponsors international teams,
clubs, players from all sports like football,
cricket, basketball, motorsport, etc

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

1. The market is large, and the increasing 1. Facing strong competition in the casual market as
demand is expected. competitor’s products are trendy, fashionable, and
modern.
2. Lifestyle section can be expanded and can
be given more focus. 2. Rapid changes in technology and consumer
preference occurring in the footwear and apparel
3. More tie-ups with sports academies and
markets contribute to significant risk factors in the
schools worldwide
Company’s operations.
4. Newer technology development or
innovations can help company to get more
profit and market share on its future sales.
 PESTEL Analysis Of Reebok

POLITICAL ECONOMICAL
• Controversial Advertisements are • Poor Economy would lead
always subjected to criticism by to lower purchase and
politicians. consumption of Reebok
• Provide training sessions to employees products that might affect
as per standard the sales and market share.
• Help countries decrease
unemployment rate.

SOCIAL/SOCIO-CULTURAL TECHNOLOGICAL
• With change in lifestyle and increase • Reebok spends a lot on their
in income people tend to focus more in research and development
fitness and therefore increase sector as well as advanced
consumption. technology would help to
• Focus on people who are into sports improve quality of the
anf fitness. products that will lead to
more sales and market
share in the long run.

ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL LEGAL
• Tackling challenges of climate change • Risk of legal violation in
• Waste disposal and recycle terms of human rights,
environmental issues.
• Risk of contract
manufacturers copying of
products.
• Corporate Social
responsibility beyond legal
obligation.
• Trade agreement to
safeguard business
operation.

Michael Porter’s Five Forces

RIVALRY
• DEGREE OF RIVALRY:

• Range of products
• Brand & customer

• DEGREE OF RIVALRY:
• Range of products
• Brand image & customer loyalty

Barriers to Entry
• Access to inputs - Access to inputs is easy
• Access to distribution - opportunities is limited because of the top brands
which have already recognized in market.
• Switching cost - are low
• Government policies - permitting and licenses are not that strict.
• Intellectual property - Patents and other types of proprietary intellectual
property are effective in limiting industry entry.
• Capital requirement – with regard to startup capital, it may be little costly
because start up is labour and capital intensive.
• Brand identify – dominated by branded products and strong brand loyalty.

Buyer Power
• Brands identify – high end brands and large companies in the industry set
prices points for their products.
• Substitutes available – except athletic, orthopaedic, dancing shoes all other
types can be substituted by normal sandals.
• Product differentiation – low
• Buyer’s incentives – seasonal sales offered by reputed brands and stores.
 • Buyer concentration versus industry – buyers are less concentrated, reduces
buying power.
• Buyer volume – don’t buy in large quantities.
• Price sensitivity – buyers are more sensitive to price.

Supplier Power
• Major firms can switch suppliers quickly without worry of a significant
decrease in quality.
• Threat of forward integration – low due to high entry barriers.
• Supplier concentration – fragmented
• Any supplier that meets quality standards for the company will be able to
supply these commodity goods.

Threats of Substitutes
• Can be substituted except for athletic shoes by normal sandals.
• Switching costs are low.

Rivalry within Industry

• More of an emphasis on non-price competition.
• Firms instead try to increase their range of products to capture more of the
market.
• Brand image and customer loyalty is huge in this industry, which leads to the
brands competing in advertising.
Marketing Strategy
Reeboks main advantage has been that it understood the consumer base very well
and has made an effort to grow alongside. For instance, when the company came to
India, all that the consumers wanted were an international brands of footwear and
Reebok gave them that at an affordable price." Today, with sports becoming
fashionable, the bulk of the sales come from the Rs 2000 to Rs 4000 segment
compared to two years ago when most of the sales would come from the Rs 1000 to
Rs 2000 segment. One aspect to Reeboks success has been its ubiquitous retail
chain.

Core Marketing Concept

The fact cannot be denied that the athletic shoe brand market has been emerging to
be extremely competitive and a few brand names such as Adidas, Reebok, Nike, and
Puma have successfully captured certain market segments. These brands recognize
the need to retain their market position and work towards market growth in the
process. Adidas and Reebok, for the sake of exemplification have proven the fact that
besides high quality products, a good market communication strategy and mix is
vital for survival and simultaneous growth in a market which is constantly driven by
a competitive atmosphere.

Market Segmentation
Market Segmentation involves aggregating prospective buyers into groups that have
common needs and will respond similarly to the marketing strategy.
It plays a key role in the marketing strategy. When considering market segments,
reebok considers the following group:
1. Athletes – runners, aerobics, dancers, tennis players, basketball players and
etc.
2. Non – Athletes – comfort and style; conscious walkers and children.
Please note, that for Reebok the primary market group is ‘Athletes’. Therefore,
according to this information the best segmentation for ‘Reebok’ is Demographic
Segmentation.
• Firstly let’s talk about ‘Age segmentation’, as the key consumers would be
athletes who are players and dancers which indicates that they will be mostly
young people focused on their fitness and includes people belonging to
schools, college, universities and young executives. The age varies from 10-15,
18-25 and 26-33.
• Secondly, gender segmentation as Reebok distributes products as per
requirement of both male and female. Reebok designs different shoes,
clothing and accessories based on male and female genders. For example, the
shoes made for male gender are mostly black and blue with leather and male
centric design. However, the shoes for female are mostly in pink, purple and
white with more feminine design.
• Other segmentations that are required for Reebok are ‘Benefit segmentation’
and ‘wage rate segmentation’. It is very important for marketers to analyze
variables such as, the degree to which the products will be beneficial t the
consumers and frequency of using it. Reebok has always produced shoes and
accessories keeping in mind it’s target consumers and how it will benefit them.

Marketing Mix (7P) + 4C

Marketing mix:
• Winning companies will be those who can meet customer needs economically
and conveniently and with effective communication.
• The marketing mix of Reebok has a focused market. It also has been
campaigning on the product, price, promotion, place, people, process and
physical evidence.

The Seven P Components of the Market Mix

The 4C Components of the Market Mix

Value Chain Model

TQM (Total Quality Management)– Loyalty – Quality &
Control

Total quality management (TQM) is an organization-wide approach to continuously

improve the quality of all the organization’s processes, products, and services.
Product and service quality, customer satisfaction, and company profitability are
intimately connected. TQM ran into implementation problems as firms became
overly focused on how they were doing business and not the why they were in
business.

As it relates to the strengthened bond between Reebok employees and the CrossFit
brand they are trying to enhance and promote, It was impressive step taken that how
Reebok apparel and footwear experts actively seek feedback from the CrossFit
athletes.

Part of this is explainable from the simple perspective that Reebok is new in the
CrossFit world, and as such, must rely on the expertise of the competitive CrossFit
athletes to gauge elements of style and fit.

But because Reebok has invitingly welcomed CrossFit trainers into their suburban
Boston headquarters as full-time Reebok staff, the individuals responsible for
designing the apparel and footwear have a firsthand perspective of how to maximize
the usefulness of the products they ultimately sell to Cross Fitters and other fitness
consumers alike.

Brand & Branding

Brand
A traditional definition of a brand: “the name, associated with one or more items in
the product line, which is used to identify the source of character of the item(s)”
(Kotler, 2000). The American Marketing Association(AMA) define a brand as “a
name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify
the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from
those of competitors”.
Branding
Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand. It’s all about
creating differences between products. Marketer’s need to teach consumer’s “who”
the product is by giving it a name and other brand elements to identify it as well as
what the product does and why consumers should care, Branding creates mental
structures that help consumers organize their knowledge about products and services
in a way that clarifies their decision making and in the process, provides value to the
firm.

Brand and Branding Aspect of Reebok

Reebok mostly brands itself as specializing in exercise and fitness. Cross Fit is their
main selling point, as it provides everybody with a chance to compete and perform in
the activity no matter what the age. They realized the market for the ever-expanding
fitness craze was there for the taking and they seized the opportunity. Being as many
people do not know of Cross Fit competitors, they realized they needed somebody to
represent their image that had similar objectives. This is where Reebok signed Ronda
Rousey and Jon Jones. Both of these people are fighters in the UFC and Reebok
realized that the same training that the fighters of MMA do compares to the training
of many fitness and Cross Fit participants.

Reebok has been a major fitness brand for long time now and they choose to
concentrate only on that. Even though it is an American-inspired global trend, it has
gained success in Indian market as well. Since Indians have become equally
conscious about being fit and active, sports brands have become a big hit in India
too.
Tracing back into their history, Reebok has always focused on new comfort
innovations for people. Thus, even if people are doing their daily runs or playing
sports, the Reebok sports gears do not disappoint them.
Reebok dedicates to make fun products unlike other sports brands leaving people
with a plethora of options to choose from. Their slogan Fit for Life surely does spark
and rub inspiration into people.
Recently also Reebok changed their logo, the new logo coincides with the brand’s
“singular” focus on fitness. It endorses a specific set of activities training, running,
outdoor, yoga, dance and aerobics” as specified in the press release - that Nike and
Adidas are not placing as keen a focus on. The new logo Reebok Delta has three
distinct parts each representing the changes – physical, mental and social.

Figure: Reebok Logo’s and new Logo launching

Reebok is strongly been placed in Indian markets. There are so many Reebok
products that have been instantly picked up by the people no sooner did it hit the
market. The exclusive “Reebok Originals” showrooms that have recently opened in
the cities have already created a buzz among the people (Lima Aier, 2014).

Box Analysis of Brand Elements

Brand Elements
Brand elements can be chosen to both enhance brand awareness and facilitate the
formation of strong, favorable, and unique brand associations (Keller, 2003). A
number of broad criteria are useful for choosing and designing brand elements to
build brand equity (Keller, 2003): (1) memorability, (2) meaningfulness, (3) aesthetic
appeal, (4) transferability (both within and across product categories and across
geographical and cultural boundaries and market segments), (5) adaptability and
flexibility over time, and (6) legal and competitive protectability and defensibility.
Each brand element will have its own strength and weakness. Key to brand equity is
the mixture and balance between the different elements in their verbal and visual
context to maximize their collective contribution (Keller, 2008):

Figure: Brand Elements

Offensive Role Defensive Role

Memorability Transferability
Meaningfulness Adaptability
Likability Protectability
On the offensive side, to build brand equity, brand elements should be memorable
and distinctive, easy to recognize and easy to recall the sticky factor. Secondly, brand
elements need to be meaningful to convey the descriptive or persuasive content. It
means whether the customer is able to identify the right product category as well as
whether the brand element is credible in this product category. Hence, the
descriptive dimension is a determinant of brand awareness and salience. Persuasive
in this context

Memorability Transferability

Reebok Reebok
How easily consumers recall and recognize the How useful is the brand element
brand element — for line or category extensions —

Reebok brand name is very much memorable Reebok has developed a roadmap
which targets the women and
kids sports, Revive
classics, challenge Men’s sports,
Develop a variety of products.
 Meaningfulness Adaptability

Reebok
Brand elements may take on descriptive or
persuasive meaning —

The new Reebok Delta symbol represents the

positive and transformative change that fitness
can have on a person’s life.

Likability Protectability

Reebok Reebok
Do customers find the brand element Brand elements that can be
aesthetically appealing — legally protected internationally
—
Reebok and that it endorses a specific set of
activities — “training, running, outdoor, yoga, Reebok is a well-recognized
dance and aerobics” their products cover all international brand and doing
these sectors and it’s a very much likable to the business over 100 years so it’s
consumers. well protected brand.

Box Analysis of Six Brand Elements

Means a determinant of brand image and positioning. It is the specific information

about particular key attributes and benefits of the brand. This could even reflect
brand personality. Last offensive criteria, likability, reflects aesthetical appealing like
the brand style and brand themes (Keller, 2008). On the defensive side, to maintain
brand equity, brand elements should be transferable in such a way that they can
cover more than one product, product line, market segments, geographic boundaries,
markets and cultures. Secondly, brand elements need to be adaptable and flexible in
time to remain relevant. Protectability is the last defensive criterion and considers
the legal and unauthorized competitive infringements of the brand (Keller, 2008).

The Brand Dynamic Pyramid:

The brand pyramid is a model that illustrates the steps by which a customer
establishes loyalty to a particular brand. The model can be visualized as an inverted
pyramid with five levels. As one moves up the pyramid, from the narrow point to the
broad base, customer loyalty increases in direct proportion to revenue potential.
Different sources refer to these levels by different names, but they remain the same
in essence.
The pyramid, as shown, illustrates the five key stages that customers go through with
a brand, starting with basic awareness and finishing with complete loyalty.
Bonding:
Here, customers have established a bond with the brand. They've determined that
cost, advantage, and performance are all at levels that they're happy with.
They've also formed a strong emotional attachment to the brand; the brand has
become an integral part of their self-image, and helps represent who they are. This,
in turn, encourages them to exclude other brands in favor of this one.
Customers at this level are also likely to be vocal advocates of the brand, which helps
build further awareness within their family, social, and professional circles.

Advantage:
At this level, customers have determined that there is a distinct advantage to using
the brand, compared with others. They're also beginning to associate the brand with
their emotions and with their sense of self.

Performance:
Here, customers begin comparing the brand with others, to see whether it delivers on
its potential.
They're also starting to associate the brand with a specific identity, and they're
beginning to recognize it and associate with it. By now, the brand is on the
customer's "short list" of brands to choose from.

Relevance
At this level, customers start to think about whether the brand meets their wants and
needs. It's here that they begin comparing the cost of your products with respect to
the value these provide.

Customers begin asking questions like:

• "Does this brand fit my needs?"
• "Is it in the right price bracket for me?"
• "Is it worth it?"
Presence:
At this level, customers are aware of your brand, but little else. They may have tried
your products and services before, but they have little or no emotional attachment to
them.
The Brand Dynamic Pyramid of Reebok

Mass communication
The objective for mass communication is to build awareness and create engagement
with consumers. We will use various tools and Medias to communicate with Reeboks
target audience.
Awareness Engagement
Television (TVC) Television
Print (Newspapers, Magazines etc.) YouTube
Out Of Home advertising (Billboards) Facebook
Online Banners Instagram
Pre-rolls (YouTube video commercials) Twitter
PR Buzz

For our communication route we are going to go with Reebok’s recent tagline “Be
more human”. In this campaign they adopted a more humane approach to urge their
consumers to live up to their full potential. It is the culmination of Reebok’s re-
branding campaign that started roughly five years ago and includes the creation of a
new symbol (the Reebok Delta), strategic partnerships with vigorous events
(i.e. Spartan Race) and combat sport athletes (i.e. Jon Jones and Johny Hendricks)
as well as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and new footwear and apparel that
caters to the fitness fanatic. A major part of Reebok’s recent growth is a commitment
to CrossFit, which has catered to a massive number of fitness oriented
individuals. Fortunately for Reebok, there is an emerging base of consumers for the
type of tough fitness mentality that Reebok has re-focused on persuading.
Storyline
Since Reebok symbolizes a fit lifestyle, tough attitude and strength, in our
communication we will feature famous sportsmen/women from all genres. We will
show Dhoni from Indian cricket team, Michael Phelps as he is a world renowned
swimmer, Maria Sharapova the famous tennis player, Gerrard from the football
scene. We will show how hard these players work to be who they are and to be
successful in their field. We want to portrait the humane side of these players to
inspire and motivate our audience that hard work and determination makes it
possible to achieve ones dreams no matter how difficult it is. All our communications
including TVC, social media videos, campaigns and print ads will be based on this
storyline.
a) Advertising budget and campaign cost:
In this budget we will include TVC and video production cost, billboard and print ads
designing cost and banner ads and media buying costs.
An annual timeline of our advertising campaign is given below:
Media 1 quarter 2 quarter 3 quarter 4 quarter
st nd rd th

Online banner ads

Mobile app banners
YouTube channel/pre-rolls
TVCs
TV show sponsorship
Event sponsorship
Newspaper ads
Magazine
Billboards
Online promotional contests
An estimated budget for the above mentioned campaigns is given below:
 Media 1 quarter
st 2 quarter
nd 3 quarter
rd 4th

quarter
Online banner ads 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000
Mobile app banners 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,000
YouTube channel/pre- 100,0000 100,0000
rolls
TVCs 700,0000 700,0000
TV show sponsorship 500,0000 500,0000
Event sponsorship 300,0000 300,0000
Newspaper ads 200,000 200,000 200,000
Magazine 250,000 150,000 200,000
Billboards 200,000 300,000
Online promotional 10,000 10,000 10,000
contests

Total 34,270,000
USD

b) Sales promotion and budget

Our marketing plan includes various stores driven sales campaigns and online
campaigns to increase engagement with our consumers. The Medias used for these
promotions will be social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, twitter,
instagram, online banners. Our plan is to develop a successful digital media
campaign that will generate traffic to their website and stores resulting in increasing
sales. Keeping in line with our initial campaign “Be more human” we can arrange
contests where people can meet the famous players, or we can feature the aspiring
contestants on social media platforms.
An annual budget for sales promotion is given below:
Media 1 Quarter
st 2 Quarter
nd 3 Quarter 4 Quarter
rd th

Online Media buying $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000

Celebrity endorsement $100,0000
In store promotions $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Additional costs $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000
Total 1,135,000 USD

c) Events and sponsorships:

To cater to its major market sports playing people, Reebok had sponsored many
sports both internationally and nationally. The company had tie-ups with various
sports for providing apparel, footwear and cricket equipment. Reebok has sponsored
sports kits for the great rich Indian Premier League teams, such as the Royal
Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super
Kings and Deccan Chargers in the first edition of the league held in 2008.Reebok
also became the official partner of Force India on February 2009. Force India -
India’s only Formula One Team - is all set to speed its way into the fast-paced lives of
more and more Indians by partnering with premier sports and lifestyle products
giant Reebok as its official apparel and footwear merchandising partner for the next
5 years. After inking the association in 2008, the partnership between Force India F1
team and Reebok has rolled out with the 2009 Force India Team wear collection.
We would suggest creating more affiliations with under privileged teams and
women’s sports teams to spread Reeboks name in the root level of sports.

d) Public relation (PR)

Maintaining a good PR is very important especially when you are a billion dollar
Multinational Corporation. Reebok has its own PR department that handles all its
communications both online and offline. Our plan is to communicate about the
aspiring heroes from our online campaigns and their life stories through online
blogs, articles and webs. This way we can highlight what role reebok is playing to
boost people in their daily lives.

e) Corporate Social Responsibility:

Reebok pays special attention to workers’ rights to freedom of association, both

because it is a core labor standard but also because the company believes that
informed, empowered workers can be the most effective defenders of workplace
rights. In China Reebok began an elections experiment in 2001. This has shown that
despite restrictions on freedom of association, elections of worker representatives are
possible within the country’s legal framework. This involves (not uncontroversial)
cooperation with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. In 2006 Reebok plans to
carry out evaluations of worker participation projects in Chinese factories.
The issue of human rights is a priority that requires the engagement of the business
community, but it also requires activism. In this respect Reebok goes further than
most companies. Every year Reebok celebrates human rights defenders through its
Human Rights Award, its Young Activist Program and other initiatives. In 2005 one
of its US$50,000 award recipients was 23 year old Charm Tong who fights for the
rights of ethnic groups in Myanmar, particularly the Shan people. She co-founded a
network of human rights monitors on the Thailand-Myanmar border, established a
school for young refugees and helped to bring to light violence against the ethnic
women by the Myanmar military.
In Asia Reebok has also supported women’s rights projects in Cambodia, labor
rights projects in Thailand, China and Indonesia as well as providing support for
refugees and victims of trafficking.
The Reebok Report notes that it is not always simple or easy to address human
rights issues in a business setting, but it is always well worth the effort. As more
companies are engaging in human rights issues then the more we can convince
others to take on the challenge of engaging with the issues. With its increasing power
in a world of globalization business has a duty to do this and should not shy away
from international obligations so to do. The more that business does, the more we
can help those who lack the freedoms enjoyed by many of us.
Marketing Budget & expenditure

In August 2005 Adidas bought Reebok for 3.8 billion dollars and turned it around.
Now Reebok itself has billion dollars marketing budget and sales has increased
satisfactorily. Reebok is mostly popular is European regions. Their latest marketing
budgets of the previous years are given below:

First quarter net sales development by segment

1) MEAA includes Middle East, Africa and other Asian markets.
2) Rounding differences may arise in totals.

Pricing strategies
Reebok follows the common pricing strategy. Their main aim is to survive and grow
in the market. But as such Reebok follows maximum market skimming strategy.
Whenever Reebok unveils a new technology in market they set a high price for it.
Reebok starts for such products with high prices and then slowly drop prices over
time. As Reebok can sense that whenever they launch a product they have sufficient
number of buyers for that product and Reebok keeps the price high so that they are
able to control the demand, earn more profit and communicate to buyers with high
price that the product is superior. Reebok usually follow skimming strategy but when
it entered into the apparels and other accessory market in India it followed
penetrating pricing, i.e. Reebok set low prices for apparels to attract the customers at
the start to an introductory price, and as the products became more popular the
prices were raised to a normal level. Companies usually set their prices to stay ahead
in the market.
The biggest challenge in front of a company is to produce quality products at even
lower prices and break the existing price barrier. The company has brought down its
entry level price from around $20 a few years ago to $15 now. And, of course,
Reebok’s research and development centers abroad are working to break new price
barriers. For that, company is also experimenting with new mediums which will
supplement his already large advertising budgets. The focus now is to leverage social
websites and offer consumer’s knowledge about its products. One idea which has
been floated is to set up Reebok Clubs across websites where people can exchange
notes on fitness and Reebok products, and give their independent opinion. The
company feels it can extract more value this way than from an advertising campaign.
But different markets and segments have different requirements and aspirations
from a sportswear or lifestyle brand.
Data shows that consumers are changing their old pair of shoes much faster than
before. Middle-class buyers now change their footwear every three months, down
from 8 to 12 months earlier. And at the lower end of the market, consumers are
changing once in every 15 months compared to three years earlier. So Reebok
launches over 42 SKUs every month and at least a new footwear technology every
two months.

Recommendation

Reebok has been very cleverly playing its marketing strategy for last few years. It has
been segmenting its market very precisely and then aggressively promoting their
products specifically to that segment. For example, Women’s segment or kids
segment. Recently, it has launched reetone category specifically for women. In terms
of price as well, Reebok has been offering its products at different price levels for
different targeted segments. Its products range from $15 onwards. Thus, it tries to
cover everyone from mass to class. Reebok has also expanding its apparels section
now along with shoes, which is gaining popularity day by day. In 1990s, Reebok
stores were only present in metros, however, nowadays; it has opened its stores in
remote areas as well. Also, in metros, it has opened its specialized stores as women’s,
kids, apparels or shoes stores. Reebok has also tied up with many strategic channels
in India to promote its brands at different levels, which helped it to grow its market
in urban as well as rural areas.
In conclusion, Reebok has been expanding its products categories, price range, and
geographic presence and promotion channels over the last decade. Despite being
acquired by Adidas, Reebok brand has been growing at a good pace. The above
strategies have been very successful till now and we recommend Reebok to continue
doing these things.
In addition, Reebok can also explore the segment of formal wear, where it is not
present at all. With growing Indian economy and large number of working people,
Reebok can very well tap this market. Reebok has already established its brand in the
market and it can leverage its brand to enter in new segments. Also, Reebok should
promote Indians more to go for physical exercises, for which may be it can announce
monetary incentives as well, such as Discount coupons at Reebok outlets if one loose
n KGs of weights in n number of days. Thus, we recommend Reebok to continue
expanding its reach in new areas, geographies, segments and cover the whole class as
well as mass.

Conclusion

Conclusion Focus on finding the most promising customers (kids and women) and
introduce more products or improve current ones to satisfy potential increase in
demand. Keep expanding into current and future foreign markets by being aggressive
and the worldwide leader of the footwear industry. Accelerate funding for numerous
marketing campaigns in order to get to specific markets or customer groups Focus on
improving working conditions and human rights at international manufacturer
centers and at the same time increasing their productivity Implement product
diversification with company’s newest technologies.

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