Personal Reflection

ASICS is an established brand in a field that is characterised by co0mpetition from other leading companies dealing with similar products. Making fundamental changes in the product line is a pivotal strategy to enable the brand to gain competitive advantages for the future. Diversification or the expansion of the product line is a key growth strategy to increase its market share. Since the brand is already established, there is a need to capitalise on its existing products to make the necessary changes that will help to improve its future performance. The changes can take some forms, for instance, introducing new versions of the existing products, upgrading the current goods, as well as developing entirely new products (Pulido Polo 2018, p. 59). ASICS enjoys a reasonable market share in different parts of the world, and the brand is known and used by many people hence, the practical changes concerning its product line should be limited to making necessary improvements and modifications of the existing products. The company ought to rely exclusively on customer data to make the significant changes in its product line. The customer data includes the experiences of customers and what they think should be modified to meet their needs. The consumer opinions must be used to guide the modifications that need to be made on the existing goods. With the increased awareness about environmental conservation, some of the leading manufacturers and suppliers have started to deal make sports shoes that are friendly to the environment (Liu 2013, p. 218). A majority of customers wish to have products that have minimal harm to the environment. Since ASICS enjoys a good market share across the world, it should change its market line by modifying its existing goods by using materials that can degrade when disposed off. Such changes will boost its competitive advantages since many customers will prefer its products over other brands.

b. Channels to Market

            Channels to market refer to the various methods that an organisation uses to access the potential consumers. The marketing channels play a significant role in determining the ability of a company to expand its market share over its competitors. There is a need for ASICS to implement necessary changes in its channels to market to realise its objectives. The current markets are characterised by the increased use of digital marketing channels since a majority of contemporary consumers have easy access to various digital platforms. ASICS ought to implement digital channels to market predominantly via the use of emails in addition to social media marketing (Vogt 2016, p. 175). The maximisation of the digital electronic marketing strategies will enable the brand the brand to offer partners with customised social media and email campaigns they can send to buyers through automated marketing platforms. The channels to marketing should incorporate landing pages, personalised emails, as well as gated content assets to capture the details and information from consumers which is useful in influencing fundamental decisions (Fleming and Hawes 2014, p. 230). The most common channel used for marketing is digital media. The company ought to change its current methods of connecting with consumers mainly via its agents located in different parts of the world to incorporate utilisation of digital media platforms to link with consumers. The migration to exclusive use of social media is significant in enabling the brand to gain future competitive capacity because the channel is useful in connecting many people on a common platform despite their geographical location. E-commerce involves online marketing and selling of goods and services. In the case of ASICS, the organisation can display its products through several media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, in addition to other platforms that will make the content visible to many people. The channels must also permit potential customers to make their orders online and wait for delivery (Herndon 2016, p. 172).

c. Communications

             Communications are fundamental in determining a brand's ability to compete effectively with its competitors because methods of disseminating information influence the effectiveness of information and how recipients react to it. All the communications should be focused entirely on the targeted consumers. The methods used to pass information as well as the content should rely on market needs and consumer behaviours (Kreutzer 2018, p. 12). The communications should mainly talk about the things that the potential customers would like to hear for example the critical features of the products, the prices, and why they are the best on the market. The communication should always make consumers develop the interest of acquiring the goods. The communications should also be consumer specific to ensure that the desired outcomes are attained. Since ASICS specialises in sports footwear, the messages ought to be specific for sports people (Veendrick 2017, p. 358). The information should be designed in a manner that helps the target population to understand how the products will be useful about their sporting activities. Brand communication must also capitalise on the existing digital communication channels to ensure that the information reaches the prospective consumers in time and the most effective manner.

Question 2: Personal Reflection

            The corporation has laid down measures to complete a new five-year strategic plan known as the ASICS Growth Plan (AGP) 2020. The company aims at using the new policy as its basis for sustainable global growth and is also used to help the organisation achieve its net sales of JPY750 billion in the financial year 2020. The analysis of the business suggests that it is on the right track to meet its 2020 goals since it has created a strategic plan that will help to grow its market share. ASICS has proper plans to overcome the challenges that have been brought by the changing nature of the market and consumer needs. A significant problem facing the company is the blurred difference between fashion and sports since a majority of the youths are now using the sporting footwear as their casual fashions. To overcome the challenge, the company has plans to diversify its products to ac accommodate such market changes. ASICS also plans to increase its dominance on major global markets to maximise its income generation (Veendrick, 2017, p. 332). The corporation has allocated resources for expansion by selling running shoes in the US, and China. Also, the changing consumer behaviour concerning methods used in the acquisition of information has forced the firm to migrate to digital communication and using the internet for marketing. The company is currently capitalising on the presence of social media platforms to connect with consumers.  

Reference List

Fleming, D. E., and Hawes, J. M. 2014. Sales and Negotiations Within Marketing Channels. Journal of Marketing Channels, 21(4), 229-231. doi:10.1080/1046669x.2014.945341

Herndon, N. C. 2016. BRICS, Brexit, and Beyond: International Dynamics of Marketing Channels. Journal of Marketing Channels, 23(4), 171-172. doi:10.1080/1046669x.2016.1224297

J.M. Veendrick, H. 2017. Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and ASICs. Nanometer CMOS ICs, 321-380. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47597-4_7

Kreutzer, R. T. 2018. Social Media und Social-Media-Marketing. Social-Media-Marketing kompakt, 1-19. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-21147-9_1

Liu, X. 2013. Socialization and Intergenerational Change of Environmental Consciousness in China. Chinese Environmental Governance, 213-226. doi:10.1057/9781137343680_10

Pulido Polo, M. 2018. Acts or events? A perspective from the marketing mix. IROCAMM-International Review Of Communication And Marketing Mix, (1), 56-66. doi:10.12795/irocamm.2018.i1.04

Vogt, R. 2016. BRICS, Brexit, and Beyond: International Dynamics of Marketing Channels—An Overview. Journal of Marketing Channels, 23(4), 173-179. doi:10.1080/1046669x.2016.1224299