Corporate Strategy and Direction of The North Face Inc.
Corporate Strategy and Direction of The North Face Inc.
The North Face, Inc. sneaker industry, is a highly sophisticated designer, distributor, and marketer of technically innovative sneaker products. We have built a strong, widely recognized line of products, and have been established as the world’s premier brand for outdoor apparel. Our sneaker line offers state-of-the-art technology that offers comfort, support, and style, backed by a lifetime manufacturers warranty so that our consumers are provided with all of the luxuries that they deserve.
2.0
Situation Analysis
The North Face, Inc., offers a wide variety of specialized sneakers, designed primarily for professional climbers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The North Face, Inc. offers incomparable state-of-the-art technology, which has satisfactorily led to increased levels popularity and customer loyalty. However, currently The North Face sneaker retains less than 5 percent of the market share due to the popularity and general distribution of our top competitors such as: Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Saucony.
Our North Face trail sneakers are primarily sold at specialty/outdoor sporting good stores for between $59.95 and $105.00. Adidas offers sneakers with minimal technology, which are trendy reasonably priced, with high-end retail prices of about $65.00. New Balance offers sneakers with limited technology, which are stylish and competitively priced, with high-end retail prices of about $80.00. Nike offers comparably priced sneakers, however like New Balance and Adidas, Nike’s channel of distribution is primarily centralized around general retail shoe/sneaker stores. Nike’s annual sales for 1999 were $8,776.9 M, approximately 35 times that of North Face which in 1999 had sales of $247.1 M.
The North Face, Inc., intends to accrue and retain unprecedented percentages of our customer base over the next decade. We believe that once a consumer purchases one of our products, that they will recognize how far superior we are to our competition and appreciate our intentions of staying there. The North Face, Inc., intends to create a shift in general consumer preferences, leading to an increasing demand for our highly functional products at the expense of fashion-oriented products. We seek to promote a superior acceptance of our outdoor apparel as casual wear, and we intend to encourage an increase in the technical sophistication of the products in this field.
2.1 Market Summary
The North Face, Inc. is a highly...