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Abstract
This report is a study made by the above team of five that aims at understanding how goods as common as shoe can also be branded. It also studies the evolution of brand Woodland in context of Indian market scenario. It would then concentrate to evolution of the brand in Indian since its launch till date and hence its path ahead. The report would culminate in what strategies would the team suggest meet up to present customer perception and hence
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Table of Contents
Table of Figures .................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Tables ..................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction: ......................................................................................................................... 4 Birth of Woodland: ............................................................................................................... 4 Journey of Aero Shoe Company ........................................................................................ 4 Mission of the brand: ......................................................................................................... 5 Woodlands growth and expansion since its birth: ............................................................... 5 Brand Woodland: .................................................................................................................. 6 Woodland product portfolio: .............................................................................................. 7 Change in the core value and brand personality: ................................................................ 8 Communication and platform of communication: .............................................................. 9 CSR activities to create a distinction ................................................................................ 10 Winning Strategies: ............................................................................................................. 11 No to mass market brand: ................................................................................................ 11 Woodland weaves new strategy around apparel ............................................................... 11 Going Green: ................................................................................................................... 12 Woodland to revive Woods .......................................................................................... 12 Woodland to go international: .......................................................................................... 13 Few not so successful strategies: ......................................................................................... 13 Initial launch ofsub-brand Woods: ................................................................................... 13 Channel for consumer communications: .......................................................................... 13 International vs. Indian customer segment: ...................................................................... 14 Communication from Woodland platform: ...................................................................... 14 Road ahead as per the Managing director: ........................................................................... 14 Teams suggestions to Woodland strategy ........................................................................... 15 References .......................................................................................................................... 17
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Current Product portfolio of Woodland [3] ............................................................... 7
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......................... 11
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Figure 4 Woodland - "Inspired by Nature" .......................................................................... 12 Figure 5 Altered Point of Purchase ...................................................................................... 17 Figure 6 Conventional point of Purchase ............................................................................. 17
Table of Tables
Table 1: Change in brand logo over years and product offerings ............................................ 8
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Introduction:
Indian shoe market is one of the most dynamic markets in the world
[1]
. India's
production capacityis second only to China. There are different valuations about the present Indian Shoe Market. Indian shoe market is estimated to beof Rs 11000 crores approximately. Woodland clocked revenue of Rs600 crores in 2010 and is targeting 25% increase [2] in the revenue by the end of this fiscal. They are also looking to expand globally. Indian shoe market is traditionally price driven and is dominated by unorganised sector, which makes entrance and exit barriers high and also making market more volatile and unattractive. The organised shoe market is dominated by Bata with a market share of 35-40%. Woodlandsparent company, Aero Shoe Company was operational asasmall manufacturing unit in Delhi as early as early 1950-60. Woodlands plant as on date is still scattered across the geographic of India. Woodland today has over 300 company owns company operated stores across 50 cities in India and covers a total retail space of around six lakh sq.ft. The average size of a Woodland store is 1,500-2,000 sq.ft. Woodland is one of the home grown Indian brands that haveexperienced rapid growth over the last two decades.
Birth of Woodland:
Woodland today stands for an iconic brand for shoes, clothes and accessories. But the brand was initially launched to target only a set of niche customers segment of the shoe market, customer that were looking shoes to support their longing for adventure. Lets explore a bit more of the Aero group before we narrow down to Woodland.
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In 1992, Aero Group launched Woodland[4] and it immediately caught the attention of outdoor enthusiasts. It brought with it an innovative collection designed to provide rock climbers, backpackers, hikers, trail runners, and outdoor lovers with the perfect tools to meet natures challenges. Soon enough the Woodland tree logo became synonymous with adventure. And as the calendar turned towards the new millennium, Woodland kept expanding its line of outdoor shoes, performance apparel, and equipment to cater to the needs of those always reaching for the horizon.
core value proposition of serving active men and women was still there.
apparels diversified to cater to age limit of teenagers and middle aged people also though the
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2011: Woodland today has more than 300 exclusive outlets in India. It also sells at 3000 retail shops and multi brand outlets. Woodland plans to open around 60 stores this year. Of these, half of the stores will be opened in tier 2 and 3 cities. Woodland also launches kids wear and Yoga collection in India this year. Woodland has also been aligning its business values to make it a green company.
Brand Woodland:
Woodland started off as rugged high quality premium casual shoe demanding a premium cost above Rs 1500. This segment remains its main focus from last 25 years.The brand carefully presented itself as an outdoor trekking kind of shoe which captured the imagination of Indian youth. True to its price, the brand delivered its promise on quality which ensured that the brand is perceived as a value for money brand. The careful branding has helped the brand to garner about 40% of the premium casual shoe market. By 2007, Woodland is a household brand with over 300 exclusive stores across the Indian. In 1992 at the time of launch of Woodland Indian shoe market was already occupied by players like Bata, Metro, Liberty and Khadims. Bata catered to formal shoes, Liberty had a mix of both formal and informal shoes and sandals. Other two players were mostly in the domain of sandals. The customer segment of rock climbers, backpackers, hikers, trail runners, outdoor lovers and others seeking adventures were not well catered to, this is where Woodland pitched itself in. At the time of launch Indian economy was in the process of liberalization. The period was marked with increasing disposable income. Consumers style aspirations were influenced and amplified thanks to the satellite television boom. People had enough money but were not able to find appropriate product to satisfy their needs. Woodland was positioned as an everlasting shoe which can endure extreme conditions and yet will be as comfortable as new thus establishing reliability with sophistication and ruggedness aspects of the brand personality. The early success of woodland in the opinion of AnupamBansal, then Executive Director, Liberty Shoes Ltd, ``what led to Woodland's success was that they came up with different styles and managed to make fashion statements.''
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alike other shoe makers into sports footwear and sports accessories.
Woodland has now entered in the domain like apparels and other accessories but not
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Jackets
Pullovers Fleece Tracksuits
Figure 1: Current Product portfolio of Woodland[3]
Fleece
There has been a distinctive change in the portfolio of the product hence then. Latest launch of woodland brand was targeted to kids section[7]. It also catered to yoga in Indian culture by its new product line called Woodland Yoga[8]. It is unique in terms of the style, utility and functionality of the product. We have started planning major events around
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currently adding 50% of their revenues.The great outdoor apparel and footwear brand
Yoga.It was launched its apparel category in 1998, which is again a successful move and
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Woodland has just launched its autumn/winter 2010 collection. The new collection is living up to the expectation of style and adventure that is now synonymous with the brand. The star of the winter collection is the jacket line. A comprehensive range of jackets from sleeveless to reversible jackets, detachable jackets, seam-sealed water repellent, jackets et al, made of cotton and synthetic material. To complement the winter look, Woodland offers its stylish and comfortable shoes. The range comes in casual styles with light-weight leather uppers. The next stellar line in this collection is the trendy front open hoodies and sweat shirts with kangaroo pockets. They are made out of brushed and sued fleece fabric for the warm and soft hand feel. Special wash effects have been created giving a casual yet youthful look to the garment in-line with the brand lineage. Sweaters have been knitted from a variety of imported yarns extending a rich appealing look and warmth to the exhaustive range. The styling constitutes basic plain to ribbed and cable structures. The entire collection comes in colourful and vibrant range like white, pink, red, blue, brown, black, navy, olive, khaki, army green. Accessories include trendy caps, wallets and belts.
1992
1994
2002
2009
Young explorer
Summer collection
Women Apparel
Woodland logo has been modified from time to time and from product offering to other. The only thing that remains same till today is the woodland tree. It can be see above that women apparel and young explorer had much different logo when compared to the tough and ruggedness of the original logo. The women apparel colour also matches to the taste and preferences of that customer group. Though this has changed over the period of time but it
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always focus to describe the meaning and objective of the company as well as product i.e.
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toughness. Some of the recent offerings from this brand only carry the woodland tree rather than carrying the whole logo of the brand. Tag line of woodland has been changing from Shoes for the true adventurer to Leather that Weather to Tougher than Nature and Inspired by Nature. But again the positioning was same rugged high quality premium casual shoes for the segment which is style conscious. Woodland is positioned as a shoe delivering an integrated adrenaline rushing adventure and not simply sports. It hit the cord with the adventure seeking consumers. It at the same time is focuses on comfort and long life. Woodland product positioning has been changing from rugged, outdoor shoe and apparel brand, the kind usually preferred by adventurists to more all-encompassing brand that targets from kids to women and all customer who look to have an all-terrain and all weather shoes and apparel.
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Woodland
itself
ownsfour adventure clubs. It also has associations with other clubsthrough which it promotes its
brand and creates equity for itself[3]. One of the most impactful medium
Figure 2: Billboard of Woodland shoes [9]
that
this
decade
has
brought up is the internet. Woodland also uses this medium, although not that effectively.The company is developing a gaming application on the lines of Farmville (an engaging gaming application) where a person would be finding route through a trail and locate a Woodland shoe. It is to connect brand and entertaining consumers as well. But the strategy is not working at all as the page has only around 112,000 followers. This is far less as compared to any international brand. One of the peculiarities that this group observes about the company is that most people conceive Woodland as a non-Indian brand. This perception can be attributed to use of foreign models and locations in all their advertisements.Over a period of time the content of communication also evolves. This evolution is rather disturbing when referred to Woodland. The message of communication has changed from all terrain shoe to tougher than nature shoe. But the brand offering has changed from shoe for an adventurist to lifestyle brand. This change in brand offering is not communicated through any media. Hence it can be concluded that the brand woodland has not being utilizing communication channel at its disposal appropriately and optimally.
clean environment and encourage the youth to plant trees and preserve nature. Eco-Lution is
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Lution. This one-of-its kind virtual campaign aims to point out the importance of a green
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the environment has tied up with MTV to bring about an innovative concept called -- Eco-
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Woodland and MTVs strong campaign towards the preservation of natural greenery through an innovative, user friendly internet destination site and the use of popular social networking sites such as Facebook. Woodland has joined hands with UNICEF to support UNICEF's water and sanitation district, program in
Chandrapur
eastern
Maharashtra. The partnership offers a platform for Woodland's customers to donate to UNICEF every time they make a purchase at a Woodland store. Funds raised through the program will be used for water quality and sanitation in 10 schools of the district. Woodlands eco-friendly movesare to establish the brand asglobal apparel and footwear brand. It has launched a series of biodegradable shoes and sandals that are sturdy, durable and aesthetically designed. The materials used are free of harmful substances. In fact, the Footwear Design & Development Institute, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, government of India has certified the shoes as biodegradable and eco-friendly[3].
Figure 3: WOODLAND and UNICEF Partner for Safe Drinking Water
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Winning Strategies:
No to mass market brand:
In a market dominated by sports and leather shoes, Woodland created a category for itself. Woodland never wanted to be an ordinary shoe. According to Mr Harkirat Singh MD, he never wanted this brand to be a mass market brand. So till now this brand is concentrating on the premium end casual shoe segment.Woodland targets the upmarket segment and is positioning itself as a rugged high quality premium casual shoe. This strategy helped it to stay focus towards its segment.
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profitably and able to leverage their brand equity to fullest extent. Now, the company is more serious about promoting its apparel business widely because itconstitutes about 50% to the company revenues. But this business is not well communicated to the target customer as the shoe business. Apparels are sold basically depending on footfall that the shoe market generates.
Going Green:
When Woodland thought of its time to go green, it was a well-planned and good strategy. The brand is striving to be as environment friendly as possible by following eco-friendly
concentrating
upon
those
customers who are looking for nature friendly products and are ready to pay premium for such products. Also it emphasizes its products as nature friendly, as good as nature and gives natural feeling in its communication. In 2010, Woodland partnered with MTV for a tree planting initiative named Eco-lution. Soon Woodland and MTV in association with NGO Give India will initiate the on-the-ground tree planting initiative across the winning cities. Pro Planet concept is helping the brand to place itself as consumers brand. Harkirat Singh, managing director, Woodland, says doing thinks like GO GREEN can go a long way in building rapport with the customer by showing that the brand really cares for the environment. That is the reasons they also spend Rs 30 crore to showcase a 'green' look. Its a long journey over the years from Leather that Weathers to being Pro-Planet.
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[5]
. Woods then
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seems to have worked out a different strategy for Woods. While currently Woods shoes, bags and accessories are being sold at Woodland stores, the company plans to open separate Woods stores selling only products under the brand to give it a distinct identity. Woods will have high-end mens and womens footwear, bags and accessories, priced much higher than the Woodland range. It will be targeting a niche market with small boutique stores in up market locations limited to the metros. Woodland is opening five such stores this year two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.Woodland Managing Director Harkirat Singh[5] hopes that now slowly but gradually Woods is able to attract the segment it made for.
Woodland to go international:
Woodland is about to go franchise internationally was news come to many with surprise as company never believed in franchise model. But it seems to be history. Company started building brand and profitably from it and in 2010, the international markets contribute around 25 per cent to the total revenue. Now Aero Group's footwear brand Woodland is planning to increase the share of its international markets to its overall revenue pie.
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Most corporate professional who comes into target customer of woodland have 6 days week and are not allowed informal shoes till late 2009. This could have also hampered sales of woodland brand.
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brand for the tough and outdoorsy customer. This brand ambassador will give the credibility that is required to undergo a transformation. For us, Woodland has a massive potential but has been undermining itself by only focusing on its shoes segment. While researching we found out that it takes almost 15mins to go through entire product line of Woodland. A company that has such massive variety, still doesnt use it to build a brand around it baffles our group. The entire product line has been mentioned prior to this. Woodland need to use its entire product range (that is of highest quality), and need to build a brand around the entire product variety. One of the important medium in todays world for any lifestyle brand is the internet. Woodland has its presence on the internet but it seems that the company has been seriously undermining this medium. Average sales of Woodland amount to 3lakhs per year, that amounts to approximate 40 60 customer over its lifetime. Number of likes that appear on its Facebook says a different story. The company organizes adventure clubs that are aligned to its brand image but are not well communicated and circulated on internet. We could start up by uploading videos of adventures performed by the adventure clubs. Secondly the Facebook and twitter pages needs to carry communication about the complete brand offering rather than sticking around with the toughness of its shoes. We were of view of launching a full fledge customer forum that would allow customer to add on to the brand product innovation and also allow strategies of woodland be pretested before its implemented on ground. This also might pool in customer involvement and hence help in faster growth of brand while also increasing customer brand loyalty. Woodland has been promoting various events that are in sync with its brand strategy. But now that the brand is evolving, it needs to look into sponsoring other various events like AXNs amazing race, National Geographics Man vs. Wild, National Geographics Ultimate Adventures, and National Geographics Survival Man etc. Current expansion strategy of Woodland includes expanding to tier 2 and tier3 cities while simultaneously increase the price brand to Rs. 2500 from Rs. 1500. To cater to the above strategic move we need to extend Woodland brand vertically (both upward and downward simultaneously). It would be preferable to have a sub brand that would cater to Tier - 2 and Tier - 3 cities (downward extension) and do a vertical upward brand extension by re-launching Woods that cater to the high end formal customers.
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woodland is similar to that of any other shoe brand thus not conveying brand personality in exact. Rather
Figure 6 Conventional point of Purchase
than
having point
a of
Figure 5 Altered Point of Purchase
conventional
purchase as shown in the left side figure below we would like to change the point of purchase looks and feel in synchronization to the brand personality.
References
1. Indian FootwearIndustry, http://www.indianshoebazaar.com/ind_india.asp 2. Woodland pins high hopes on International Markets, http://www.indiaretailing.com/news.aspx?topic=1&Id=4971 3. WoodlandWorldwide, http://www.woodlandworldwide.com/ 4. Facebook page of woodland original, http://www.facebook.com/woodlandadventure 5. Woodlands strategy of success: http://www.rediff.com/business/special/spec-woodlands-strategy-forsuccess/20101018.htm 6. Aero group plan to revive Woods brand: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/repositioning-aero-group-plans-to-revivewoods-brand/78630/0 7. Woodland steps into kids shoes: http://www.fashionunited.in/news/apparel/woodland-steps-into-kids-shoes120320100305 8. Yoga in style the Woodland way: http://www.fashionunited.in/news/fashion/yoga-in-style-the-woodland-way240620100705 9. Outdoor hoarding of Woodland shoes: http://adarena.blogspot.com/2006/03/outdoorwoodland-shoes.html 10. Consumer complaints, Indian consumer complaints forum, http://www.consumercomplaints.in 11. Woodland on firm footing: http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2000/05/25/stories/112502c4.htm 12. WOODLAND. A leading shoe brand in India
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http://triptikakkar.blogspot.com/2010/04/woodland-leading-shoe-brand-in-india.html 13. The Adventure with shoes: http://www.thfdigital.com/interview/show/slug/the-adventure-with-shoes 14. Eyeing youth, shoe brands put e-foot forward: http://www.technologyreview.in/business/32317/ 15. WOODLAND and UNICEF Partner for Safe Drinking Water: http://www.unicef.org/india/media_7035.htm http://www.unicef.org/india/partners_7149.htm
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