Page 239 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Customer Relationship Management

Notes
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Caselet Right Targeting

yka manufactures women’s shoes for aerobics, step aerobics, walking, running,
hiking, and cross training. Knowing full well that it would not be easy to compete
Rwith giants like Nike and Reebok for a new firm like Ryka in the athletic footwear
industry to capture a sizeable share, the founder Sheri Poe, right from the beginning
resorted to some unusual marketing strategies. For example, she had her footwear British
distributor deliver several pairs of Rykas with a personal note to fitness enthusiast Princess
Diana. The royal trainer told Ryka that the princess not only liked the fit, but was also
moved by the company’s donation of part of its profits toward stopping violence against
women. Ryka is Poe’s way of fulfilling her dream - running a business and also helping
women who are victims of rape, assault, and abuse.

The Ryka phenomenon began when Poe and several of her aerobics classmates realised
that they were experiencing back pain because their shoes didn’t fit right. Poe surveyed
department stores and athletic footwear shops, asking customers and sales people what
kind of shoes they wanted. She discovered that no one was paying attention to the women’s
market. The majority of the women’s shoes were designed simply as scaled-down versions
of men’s shoes. To get a proper and painless fit, women needed athletic shoes with higher
arches and thinner heels, but couldn’t find them. Poe decided that there was a future for a
company that made athletic shoes just for women.

Rather than cater to the whims of fashion, Ryka concentrates on manufacturing only
high-performance athletic shoes that fit a women’s foot. Rykas are anatomically correct
for women’s feet, and the company’s patented Nitrogen E/S system provides cushioning
and shock absorption for the heel and ball of the foot. Ryka Ultra-Lite aerobics shoes
weigh only 7.7 ounces, about one-third that of regular aerobics shoes. Ryka was the first
athletic shoe producer to develop market lightweight shoes specifically designed for the
ups and downs of step aerobics.

Source: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/case-studies/by-topic/marketing.html
9.3 Positioning

Positioning is the perception of a brand or product it brings about in the mind of a target
consumer and reflects the essence of that brand or product in terms of its functional and non-
functional benefits as judged by the consumer.

Example: Nestle’s Maggi noodles has been successfully positioned as the “two minute”
noodle in the minds of target consumers and has created a distinctive brand image. HUL’s soap
Lux is the “beauty soap” of female film stars and Dettol is the antiseptic for minor nicks and cuts.
BMW car is positioned as the “ultimate driving machine”.
As markets become more crowded and competitive with similar types of products, consumers
rely more on the product’s image than on its actual characteristics in making their buying
decisions.

Positioning Maps

Products or services are ‘mapped’ together on a ‘positioning map’. This allows them to be
compared and contrasted in relation to each other. This is the main strength of this tool. Marketers

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