Kevin Aris, Kathryn Delaney, Mike Lacy

SPM466-602 Group: MK2

October 16, 2014

Reebok Proposal

1. Recommended Decision (Mike)

Our team has decided to go in an unprecedented decision with Rebook in creating golf shoes

that double as casual footwear. Similarly to boat shoes, these shoes may be worn for their

primary purpose—on the golf course—or off of it.

2. Decision Criteria (Mike)

The biggest reason behind deciding to enter the golf/casual footwear market is simply

because Reebok has not stepped into it before. Also, this helps us (at Reebok) make Reebok

“cool” again; an opportunity to target people of different ages and genders. Boat shoes have

grown in popularity over the last ten years, and we feel that there is an abundance of consumers

for a similar casual footwear product. Boat shoes are not simply worn on boats; people (men and

women alike) can be seen wearing boat shoes to the store, out to dinner, or even “dressy” events

such as banquets and formals. We expect our product to fill a similar need for our consumers.

While Golf is one of the more expensive sports in the world (Kelley, 2014), it is still

increasing in popularity among people of all ages. It is common for younger men and women, as

well as older men and women, to play a round or two annually—some play far more than that.

Golf shoes can cost anywhere from $60 to $250, with the higher end of that price range being the

more common cost for golf shoes—shoes solely intended for use on the golf course. With our

product, we aim to offer a low-cost shoe that has more value due to its dual usage. Therefore, we

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feel, beginners and experienced golfers alike will be drawn to our product, increasing its

exposure amongst die-hard golfers and casual tee-timers.

The “cool” factor certainly plays into our decision here. People are paying more attention to

golf and professional golfers, but the pros are not the only ones drawing the attention within the

sport. Many professional athletes of sports such as pro football and pro basketball are avid

golfers (Esteban, 2011). Movie stars and other celebrities have been seen and/or have posted

evidence of themselves on social media trying their hand at a round of golf. We do believe that

through the usage of endorsements that our product can be associated with “cool” and associated

with “popular” as are many products that these highly influential athletes endorse today.

At Reebok, we feel that “cool” is nearly impossible to portray without an endorsement,

sponsorship or tie to some sort of athlete or celebrity in today’s marketing world. With the rise of

social media in the lives of our beloved superstars, more people than ever before are able to get a

glimpse of what a day-in-the-life is like for their favorite athlete or celebrity. From what movies

they watch, what restaurants and bars they frequent, to what they wear—specifically, what goes

on their feet—we feel that through a celebrity endorsement we can attain that level of “cool” that

Reebok has been longing to reclaim.

Through our endorsement, the followers of this athlete will see first-hand when and where

our product can be worn; be it the golf course, out to dinner, or out in the yard on their own

property. The relationship between our endorser and Reebok will not only be a boost for our new

shoe, but we feel for our brand as a whole, putting the brand of Reebok with a new, relevant

name in the sports world; more importantly, the global world of sports. Reebok’s global market

share is nowhere near where the company would prefer it to be (Bryan, 2013), and this is another

opportunity to get to the next level.

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We want to distribute this product globally. It will be associated with major golf tournaments

around the world, with the majority of our advertising dollars being spent to get push the

product’s exposure out to these events. Sporting goods stores such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, as

well as golf merchandise websites will be able to carry and sell this product.

3. Proof of Recommendation (Kevin)

All throughout history consumers tend to purchase things that are both practical and

functional. Products that have more than one purpose yet are still fitting into the current trends in

which society has deemed “cool”, allowing some brand names to really exceed over its

competition. Therefore the product that we have created will fit perfectly into the sport footwear

market, projecting Reebok to the top of the industry and providing Reebok with the necessary

exposure to reenter the world of “cool”.

The golf culture is slowly, but surely modernizing itself with the personnel that it’s

associating with, the attitudes of professional golfers, and overall style of apparel, equipment,

and footwear. This new and unique style is attracting the interests of the younger generations, but

still retaining the loyalty of the older generations. Ultimately, children and teenagers want

something that is cool and what the professionals have, while the older generations want

something both practical and functional as stated above. Creating a hybrid golf shoe that can be

used for more then just golfing will fit perfectly into this universal market. A classic looking

casual shoe design, with rubber grips on the bottom for the golf course, but still retaining the

necessary practical appearance of your everyday sneaker. The hybrid golf shoe design has been

up and coming within the past few years so we feel that Reebok is not to far out of the hunt to

provide this market with the best possible product out there. The younger generations are seeing

their favorite professional golfers use these golf shoes, therefore allowing us to tap into the

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necessary “cool” factor that children and young adults want to be associated with. Besides from

being stylish, these shoes are very lightweight (due to the lack of hard plastic spikes), very

durable, and are also extremely comfortable leading us into the adult-senior market. Ultimately

what we are trying to accomplish is providing a unique style of footwear, practical for more

consumers then simply the niche golf market.

4. Critique of Options (Kathryn)

Reebok has tried to set themselves apart from their competitors in recent years. Reebok has

concentrated its efforts to become a world leader in the workout, exercise and fitness category.

This effort was supported and enhanced by the Reebok CrossFit Games that started in 2011

(Janoff, 2013). Although Reebok has taped into this new market, we still fall behind our

competitors in sales which is why we have created another new product line. We considered a

variety of product lines before deciding on our golf shoe line.

One product line that we considered was a Triathlon shoe. The number of marathon and

triathlon participants continues to increase; this is a result of an increased number of events

which makes them more accessible and an increase in training clubs have made it more popular.

Over the last 15 years, marathon participation has increased 2.5% each year (Weekend warriors,

2014). Participants of triathlons wear two different shoes because one is designed for the running

portion while the other is for the cycling. The shoes that we already are designing for CrossFit or

our general running sneaker are very likely already being used by triathletes as their running

sneakers. This means that we would only be creating a cycling shoe. Reebok already creates a

cycling shoe but it does not meet the standards for a triathlon cycling shoe because triathletes

look for a heel-loop which allows them to be put on easily, a single strap for fastening, and a stiff

sole (Janukavicius, 2014). Although there could be many advantages to breaking into this

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market, we are hoping to differentiate ourselves and find a new market. We have already broken

into the exercise and fitness market; triathlons fall into this same category. Instead of creating a

new shoe, we would just be making minor adjustments to an existing shoe which is not the

direction we are looking to take our product line.

The other idea that we had was a dress shoe line. The line would be for our athletes to wear

when they have to dress up for an event or press conference. However, this line would go against

part of Rebook’s values which is to empower its consumers to be fit for life (Mission and values,

2014). A dress shoe does not promote the idea of fitness. Although it would allow Reebok to

break into a completely new market, the dress shoe line does not fit with the goals of our

company and it would be very difficult to become established in that market. In addition, we do

not have the leathers that would be necessary to produce a quality dress shoe. We would have to

invest a significant amount of money into materials and machinery and it is not likely that we

would see a return on our investment.

5. Major Disadvantages of Recommendation (Kevin)

Any new product or service that a company tries to propose in a new market, will always

have some disadvantages associated with the decision. Things such as, “will this product actually

sell?” or “will the leading competitors in the market knock us out right away?” all play a crucial

role in whether or not this will ultimately be beneficial for the company, or just simply an ill-

advised investment. These are all very valuable pieces to the puzzle and things we really need to

take into account when planning to create a hybrid golf shoe. Although we are looking to utilize

the hybrid golf shoe design to our greatest advantage, we will never be successful if we cannot

create something even just slightly different then our competitors. Companies such as Ecco,

Adidas, and FootJoy are already established as leading brands for this type of footwear and it

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may be hard for consumers to stray from these companies. Consumers tend to be somewhat

brand loyal to the leading companies in any industry, purchasing products they already know and

that they can trust with their money. This is where we at Reebok need to come up with a plan to

get these consumers looking at our products once again. Creating an elite design is essential to

differentiate ourselves from the competition and providing consumers with the new sense of

urgency and attraction toward our product opposed to falling back into their general habits of

staying within that comfort zone.

Another disadvantage that we may come across is the acceptance of the product by the

consumers. Questions like, “What if our universal market does not like our design and we remain

at the end of the consumer list?” or “Will children and younger adults think these shoes are

cool?” all are essential factors leading into the decision making for the continuation of our

product development. Although this shoe is designed for men and women of any age, a leading

component in the attraction of the shoe will come down to design and comfort.

Finally, our greatest disadvantage is whether or not the consumers will be willing to

spend the money to get these shoes. It is quite clear that within the past five to eight years the

United States economy has been at a low and consumers are saving their money for the basic life

needs and shying away from things that they want. Although promoting a shoe with dual-

functionality is an absolute benefit for the Reebok organization, there will still be many

consumers feeling the effects of the repression and simply not feeling the need to spend the

money on shoes like these. Ultimately, there will always be consumers that are loyal to the

leading competitors in the industry, but there are also people who are willing to try out new

products that are stylish, comfortable, and practical and these are the people the Reebok must

attract.

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6. Action Plan

a. Product (Mike)

We hope to capture the market for golf and casual shoes with a style that is casual enough to

wear in any situation, while maintaining a performance edge with features that are new in

today’s golf footwear market. According to Gary Van Sickle of Golf.com, "people mistakenly

thought that heavy shoes equaled stability. You'd go, 'Yeah, I've gotta break it in, it cuts into my

heel and my dogs are barking, but dammit, that's a golf shoe.' If you can get just as much traction

and performance in a shoe that's lightweight and comfortable, why wouldn't you wear it?" (Van

Sickle, 2013). That is the idea of the design for our new shoe, Axis. The shoe is lightweight and

waterproof. Many golfers complain about their feet being wet after a rainy round of golf; our

shoe would eliminate that problem. The soles of the shoes have a 3-D rubber hexagonal pattern

for added stability and all-weather traction. The rubber material offers the durability that could

not be found in the old spiked golf shoes. We will not make these golf-shoe features so blatantly

performance-enhancing that they take away from the consumer’s ability to wear our product as

casual footwear. Parents are dressing their children in boat shoes such as Sperry’s and Ralph

Lauren boat shoes, while middle aged men and women—teenagers and college students—also

wear this style of footwear for multiple occasions. No matter your age or gender, there are

several ways and reasons to wear boat shoes with varying styles and outfit combinations

(Woodhall, 2013) which is what we are hoping to imitate with our new “cool,” casual shoe.

b. Price (Mike)

The price of our product gives us an advantage over our competition without a doubt. As

stated before, most golf shoes range anywhere from $60 to $250. Our Reebok Axis would cost

$79.99 unless it was a customized order, in which case, it would cost $99.99. Similar to NikeiD,

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this customizable option allows consumers to create a shoe tailored to their favorite color

scheme, their school color scheme, or whatever they choose. There are more casual, few-times-

per-year golfers out there than there are die-hard competitors. These folks will surely be staying

away from pricier golf footwear options, and we feel that they will be drawn to our product that

offers them a more affordable pair of shoes; our shoe is located in the middle range for golf

shoes. Also, the added benefit of these doubling as casualwear is something we hope to push,

giving the consumer the feeling of added value. By allowing the consumer to try out product and

essentially ‘enter’ into the market of Reebok golf, we feel that if we make a great first impression

with a low-cost shoe, these same consumers will be more likely to purchase new models of

Reebok golf shoes, even if they are at a higher price. These repeat customers and a higher level

of notoriety within the golf market is an ultimate goal we hope to achieve while maintaining our

primary goal of becoming “cool,” allowing consumers to wear the product casually.

c. Promotion (Kevin)

The initial promotion of our product is crucial to the overall success rate. We at Reebok

already know and understand that there are other brands that are more established in the golf

industry, but we feel that promotional events will lead to the ultimate success of our product.

Initially we need to get the product in established golf stores throughout the country. Stores such

as Golf Galaxy, Golfsmith, and the PGA Outlets are already well known and reliable in the

industry. This is why the utilizing these stores will transfer some of that mentality to the

consumers. Seeing the Reebok brand associated with a reputable image will put consumers at

ease showing that we are providing them with a reliable product. Along with these stores it is

100% necessary to get a short commercial on the golf channel, to once again promote our brand

name with one that consumers already trust and want to associate with.

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Along with these golf specific companies, we feel that it will be in our best interest to team

up with the general sporting goods companies as well. Corporations such as Dick’s Sporting

Goods and will allow us to show the rest of the general public that Reebok is striving to be a top

competitor in the market again and that our new product is something “cool”. A key aspect that

Reebok focuses on is “fitness and fashion.” By teaming up with these large scale sporting goods

stores, it provides us the opportunity to really stress the comfort and functionality of the product.

By creating a hybrid design allows the market to open up on a larger scale than those just

focused in the golf industry and provide the opportunity to expand the market into all genders

and all ages based on a simple, yet cool design that will help attract consumers.

d. Place/Distribution (Kathryn)

Not only do our consumers care about the product that we are selling and the price, they are

also interested in where they can purchase the product. It is important to consider our target

market as well as market trends when determining where to sell the product. With both our target

market and market trends in mind we have decided to offer our product both in stores as well as

online. The large retail stores that we would partner with include Dicks Sporting Goods, Golf

Galaxy and Golfsmith International. Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. is a full-line sporting goods

retailer that offers an extensive assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel and

footwear in a specialty store environment. Dick’s Sporting Goods also owns and operates Golf

Galaxy, LLC, a golf specialty retailer and ecommerce website (About Dick’s, 2014). Golfsmith

is the largest specialty golf retailer in the world. The business operates as a cohesive, multi-

channel retailer that offers customers the convenience of shopping either through their roughly

150 retail locations (Appendix A) or their online sites (About Golfsmith, 2014).

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In the past few years, there has been a shift away from retail shopping to online shopping.

Online shopping provides customers with convenience, the ability to research the product, and

compare prices (Kaplan, 2011). In order to keep up with this trend, we would also sell our

product online. Our customers would be able to find our shoe on sites such PGA Tour Superstore

as well as the online sites for the retail locations that were mentioned above. In addition,

customers would be able to not only purchase their golf shoes through the Reebok website, they

would be able to custom order their shoes on the site. The ability to customize their golf shoes

allows the customer to pick exactly what they like and need in a golf shoe. The customizable

option will appeal to the younger demographic of golfers that we are trying to reach.

Lastly, many golfers purchase their golf gear from on-course pro shops and these pro shops

find the products they want to sell at various merchandise shows. A growing number of golf

merchants have found such multi-use apparel lines at men’s and women’s wear trade shows

across the country (Whalin, p.3). We would participate in these trade shows that are held all over

the United States as a way to get our product out to the public and hopefully into golf pro shops

as well.

We have to ensure that our product is visible in the marketplace to potential customers.

Reebok does not have any retail locations. On the other hand, their competitors such as Nike and

Puma have many retail locations. Nike, for example, operated a total of 756 retail stores

throughout the entire world back in 2011 and that number just keeps growing (Total number of

Nike retail stores, 2014). In order to compete, we have to make our product available to as many

consumers as possible and through many distribution channels.

e. Public Relations (Kathryn)

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A well planned and executed public relations strategy can extend word of mouth beyond the

influence of just flyers or advertisements and it can help give credibility to the company

(Beesley, 2012). Introducing a new product line is not always easy and getting consumer to

know about and purchase the new product is even more difficult. Public relations can help to

ease this introduction. Reebok would utilize various public relation techniques to introduce the

product in a positive way to consumers as well as maintain a positive relationship that can

potentially foster consumer allegiance.

Attending golf events is one method that Reebok would use to make it known to the golf

world that they have a new product for golfers. Appearing at events like these is a great way to

not only show off our new product but also interact with potential customers in an attempt to

build a positive relationship. Reebok has put to together a number of charity events to raise

money. In an attempt to raise money and also raise awareness about our new product, we would

host a Charity Golf Tournament. In the past, Reebok has created events to raise money for the

Mike Modano and the Todd Wagner Foundations which help children that have been neglected

and to help keep them safe (Reebok heroes, 2013). The charity golf event would have teams

made up of celebrities as well as the general public. Reebok can promote the new shoe by

celebrities wearing the shoes for the tournament as well as giveaways. All proceeds would go to

the two foundations and Reebok is able to associate themselves in the minds of their potential

customers with the game of golf.

Social media is another public relations tool that Reebok will use. Social media is often used

to market a product or service. However, these sites can also be for public relations because it

can help establish a direct line of communication between Reebok and the consumer. We would

use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These sites allow us to post about our golf

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shoe as well as see if others are wearing our shoe and what others are saying about it by tracking

hashtags. Users of these sites enjoy when a company or celebrity comments on a tweet or

Instagram photo. Using these sites would not only be a way to ensure that we are establishing a

relationship with our customers; we can also monitor how they are reacting to using our product.

7. Major Risks and Responses (Kevin, Kathryn, Mike)

We have carefully considered our marketing mix to most effectively reach our target market

by making a new product, the Reebok Axis, which is reasonably priced and accessible. We have

developed plans to promote the product as well as build a positive relationship with our potential

customers in an attempt to build consumer allegiance. Unfortunately, there are risks involved

with each part of our marketing plan.

a. Product

Although the new trend is fashion as well as function, there are many people that would not

buy into this idea. Many older golfers like to keep their golf shoes separate from their casual

shoes. In addition, there is a long standing rule in the game of golf that players are dressed head

to toe very nicely. Some people may feel that our shoe does not fit that old style of golf shoes

that they are used to wearing.

b. Price

We have priced our product in the middle range compared to other golf shoes. However,

people rarely want to purchase the $60 shoes because in their minds, the lower price means

lower quality. Our price is not much higher than that mark. It is possible that our potential

customers may see that price and think that the shoe is poor quality. We have priced the Axis so

that it is affordable for our target market but it may deter golfers from trying our product just

because they believe they are getting more for their money with a more expensive shoe.

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c. Promotion

The promotion of this product is essential to the growth of not only increased sales of the

product, but also to prove to the world that Reebok is still a competitor in the market. Therefore,

if there is a lack in promotional efforts we will not be able to reach our anticipated markets and

our product will not be successful. This shoe was designed for a universal market, but we may

have not taken into consideration that just because all can wear this shoe, doesn’t mean that all

are going to like it. Secondly, we need to ensure that the large amount of money that we are

investing to promote our product actually reaches the market in a positive light. Promotional

activities and surveys are essential to the collection of data that we will need once the actual

product is released.

d. Place/Distribution

We have taken the time to consider various distribution channels that our potential customers

will be able to use to purchase our product. However, it is not guaranteed that consumers will use

these channels. One disadvantage if a customer can only purchase our product through an online

site, if there are no store locations nearby, is that they do not have the opportunity to try on the

product first to find a good fit. This may deter new customers from buying our product strictly

online. One risk of the trade shows is that a representative of a golf pro shop may not want to sell

our product in their shop. The pro shop is a very competitive environment, on-course shops have

found it necessary to modify their merchandise and service emphasis in order to provide products

and services not available from any other merchants (Whalin, p. 1). Although not all pro shops

operate in this way, we may not be able to get our product into as many pro shops as we had

anticipated.

e. Public Relations

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Public relations involve dealing with both positive and negative publicity. The goal is to

promote the positive publicity and find ways to eliminate or resolve any bad publicity. Bad

publicity is sometimes inevitable. There are going to be people that like our product and those

that don’t like our product. Unfortunately, on average, people tell nine others about a positive

experience with a service or product but they tell twice as many about a negative experience

(Survey, 2011). We cannot control some of the reasons why a customer does not like our product

but we will have to work hard to avoid the spread of the negative ideas about our shoe. In the

sport industry, athletes are in the spotlight which can help or harm their career. Unfortunately for

companies that endorse these athletes that have done something to hurt their career, the

companies also receive bad publicity. For example, Nike received bad publicity when golfer

Tiger Woods was in the news for his affairs. Nike is still receiving criticism from the public for

include him in advertisements (Elliot, 2013). It is possible that any athlete that we choose to

endorse our product could create a poor image for our company.

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8. Appendix

Appendix A: States with Golfsmith retail stores (About Golfsmith, 2014)

No Stores

Multiple store locations

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