MARKETING
PLAN BLUE SKY CLOTHING, INC.
Executive
Summary
This five-year marketing
plan for Blue Sky Clothing has been created by its two founders to secure additional funding for growth and to inform employees of the company’s current
status and direction. Although Blue Sky
was launched only three years ago, the firm has experienced
greater-than-anticipated demand for its products, and research as shown that
the target market of sport-minded consumers and sports retailers would like to
buy more casual clothing than Blue Sky currently offers. They are also interested in extending their
product line as well as adding new product lines. In addition, Blue Sky plans to explore
opportunities for online sales. The
marketing environment has been very receptive to the firm’s high-quality
goods—casual clothing in trendy colors with logos and slogans that reflect the
interests of outdoor enthusiasts around the country. Over the next five year, Blue Sky can
increase its distribution, offer new products, and win new customers.
Company
Description
Blue Sky Clothing was
founded three years ago by entrepreneurs Lucy Neuman and Nick Russell, Neuman
has an undergraduate degree in marketing and worked for several years in the
retail clothing industry. Russell
operated an adventure business called Go West!, which arranges group trips to
locations in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, before selling the enterprise to a
partner. Neuman and Russell, who have
been friends since college, decided to develop and market a line of clothing
with a unique—yet universal—appeal to outdoor enthusiasts.
Blue Sky Clothing reflects
Neuman’s and Russell’s passion for the outdoors. The company’s original cotton T-shirts, baseball
caps, and fleece jackets and vests bear logos of different sports—such as
kayaking, mountain climbing, bicycling, skating, surfing, and horseback
riding. But every item shows off the
company’s slogan: “Go Play Outside.”
Blue Sky sells clothing for both men and women, in the hottest colors with the
coolest names—such as sunrise pink, sunset red, twilight purple, desert rose,
cactus green, ocean blue, mountaintop white, and river rock gray.
Blue Sky attire is
currently carried by small retail stores that specialize in outdoor clothing
and gear. Most of these stores are
concentrated in northern New England, California, the Northwest, and a few
states in the South. The high quality,
trendy colors, and unique message of the clothing have gained Blue Sky a
following among consumers between the ages of 25 and 45. Sales have tripled in the last year alone,
and Blue Sky is currently working to expand its manufacturing capabilities.
Blue Sky is also committed
to giving back to the community by contributing to local conservation
programs. Ultimately, the company would
like to develop and fund its own environmental programs. This plan will outline how Blue Sky intends
to introduce new products, expand its distribution, enter new markets, and give
back to the community.
Blue
Sky’s Mission And Goals
Blue Sky’s mission is to
be the leading producer and marketer of personalized, casual clothing for
consumers who love the outdoors. Blue
Sky wants to inspire people to get outdoors more often and enjoy family and
friends while doing so. In addition,
Blue Sky strives to design programs for preserving the natural environment.
During the next five years, Blue Sky seeks to
achieve the following financial and nonfinancial goals:
Financial
Goals
1. Obtain
financing to expand manufacturing capabilities, increase distribution, and
introduce two new product lines.
2. Increase
revenues by at least 50 percent each year.
3. Donate
at least $25,000 a year to conservation organizations.
Nonfinancial
goal
4. Introduce
two new product lines—customized logo clothing and lightweight luggage.
5. Enter
new geographic markets, including southwestern and Mid-Atlantic States.
6. Develop a successful Internet site, while maintaining
strong relationships with retailers.
7. Develop
its own conservation program aimed at helping communities raise money to
purchase open space.
Core
Competencies.
Blue Sky seeks to use its
core competencies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, in which
competitors cannot provide the same value to consumers that Blue Sky does.
Already, Blue Sky has developed core
competencies in
(1) offering a high-quality, branded product whose image is
recognizable among consumers;
(2) creating a sense of community among consumers
who purchase the products; and
(3) developing a reputation among retailers as a
reliable manufacturer, delivering the requested number of products on
schedule. The firm intends to build on
these competencies through marketing efforts that increase the number of products
offered as well as distribution outlets.
By forming strong relationships with
consumers, retailers, and suppliers of fabric and other goods and services,
Blue Sky believes it can create a sustainable competitive advantage over its
rivals. No other clothing company
can
say to its customers with as much conviction “Go Play Outside”!
Situation
Analysis
The marketing environment
for Blue Sky represents overwhelming opportunities. It also contains some
challenges that the
firm believes it can meet successfully.
Table A illustrates a SWOT analysis of the company
conducted by
marketers to highlight Blue Sky’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats.
The SWOT analysis presents
a thumbnail sketch of the company’s position in the marketplace. In just thre
years, Blue Sky has built some
impressive strengths while looking forward to new opportunities. Its dedicated
founders, the growing number of
brand-loyal customers, and sound financial management place the company in
good position to grow. However, as Blue
Sky considers expansion of its product line and entrance into new
markets, the
firm will have to guard against marketing myopia (the failure to recognize the
scope of its business)
and quality slippages.
As the company finalizes plans for new products and expanded Internet
sales, its
management will also have to guard against competitors who attempt
to duplicate
to products. However,
building strong
relationships with consumers, retailers, and suppliers should help thwart
competitors.
Competitors
In The Outdoor Clothing Market
The outdoor retail sales
industry sells about $5 billion worth of goods annually, ranging from clothing
to
equipment. The outdoor apparel market
has many entries. L.L. Bean, REI,
Timberland, Bass Pro Shops,
Cabello’s, and Patagonia are among the most
recognizable companies that offer these products. Smaller
competitors such as Title IX, which
offers athletic clothing for women, and Ragged Mountain, which sells fleece
clothing for skiers and hikers, also grab some of the market. The outlook for the industry in general—and
Blue
Sky in particular—is positive for several reasons. First, consumers are participating in and
i8nvesting in
recreational activities that are near their homes. Second, consumers are looking for ways to
enjoy their leisure
time with friends and family without overspending. Third, consumers are gaining more confidence
in the
economy and are willing and able to spend more.
While all of the companies
listed earlier can be considered competitors, none offers the kind of trendy, yet
practical products provided by Blue Sky—and none carries the customized logos
and slogans that Blue Sky
pans to offer in the near future. In addition, most of these competitors sell
performance apparel in high-tech
manufactured fabrics. With the exception of the fleece vests and
jackets, Blue Sky’s clothing is made of strictly
the highest quality cotton, so
it may be worn both on the hiking trail and around town. Finally, Blue Sky
products are offered at
moderate prices, making them affordable in multiple quantities. For instance, a Blue Sky
T-shirt sells for
$15.99, compared with a competing high-performance T-shirt that sells for
$29.99. Consumers
can easily replace a
set of shirts from one season to the next, picking up the newest colors,
without having to
think about the purchase.
A survey conducted by Blue
Sky revealed that 67 percent of responding consumers prefer to replace their
casual and active war more often that other clothing, so they are attracted by
the moderate pricing of Blue Sky
products.
In addition, as the trend toward health-conscious activities and
concerns about the natural
environment continue, consumers increasingly relate
to the Blue Sky philosophy as well as the firm’s
contributions to socially
responsible programs.
The
Target Market
The target market for Blue
Sky products is active consumers between the ages of 25 and 45—people who like
to hike, rock climb, bicycle, surf, figure skate, in-line skate, ride horses,
snowboard or ski, kayak, and other
such activities. In short, they like to “Go Play
Outside.” They might not be experts at
the sports they engage in,
but they enjoy themselves outdoors.
These active consumers represent a
demographic group of well-educated and successful individuals; they are
single
or married and raising families.
Household incomes generally range between $60.000 and $120,000
annually. Despite their comfortable
incomes, these consumers are price conscious and consistently seek value in
their purchases. Regardless of their age
(whether they fall at the upper or lower end of the target range), they
lead
active lifestyles. They are somewhat
status oriented but not overly so. They
like to be associated with
high-quality products but are not willing to pay a
premium price for a certain brand. Current
Blue Sky customers tend to live in northern New England, the South, California,
and the Northwest. However, one future
goal is to target consumers in the Mid-Atlantic states and Southwest as well.
The
Marketing Mix
The following discussion
outlines some of the details of the proposed marketing mix for Blue Sky
products.
Produk
Strategy
Blue Sky currently offers a
line of high-quality outdoor apparel items including cotton T-shirts, baseball
caps, and fleece vests and jackets. All
bear the company log and slogan, “Go Play Outside.” The firm has researched the most popular
colors for its items and given them names that consumers enjoy—sunset red,
sunrise pink, cactus green, desert rise, and river rock gray, among
others. Over the next five years, Blue
Sky plans to expand the product line to include customized clothing items. Customers may select a logo that represents
their sport—say rock climbing. Then they
can add a slogan to match the logo, such as “Get over It.” A baseball cap with a bicyclist might bear
the slogan, “Take a Spin.” At the
beginning, there would be ten new logos and five new slogans; more would be
added later. Eventually, some slogans
and logos would be retired, and new ones introduced. This strategy will keep the concept fresh and
prevent it from becoming diluted with too many variations.
The second way in which
Blue Sky plans to expand its product line is to offer items of lightweight
luggage—two sizes of duffel bags, two sizes of tote bags, and a daypack. These items would also come in trendy an
basic colors, with a choice of logos and slogans. In addition, every product would bear the
Blue Sky logo.
Distribution
Strategy
Currently, Blue Sky is marketed through
regional and local specialty shops scattered along the California coast, into
the Northwest, across the South, and in northern New England. So far, Blue Sky has not been distributed
through national sporting goods and apparel chains. Climate and season tend to dictate the sales
at specialty shops, which sell more T-shirts and baseball caps during warm
weather and more fleece vests and jackets during colder months. Blue Sky obtains much of its information
about overall industry trends in different geographic areas and at different
types of retail outlets from its trade organization, Outdoor Industry
Association.
Over the next three years, Blue Sky seeks to
expand distribution to retail specialty shops throughout the nation, focusing
next on the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.
The firm has not yet determined whether it would be beneficial to sell
through a major national chain such as REI or Bass Pro Shops, as these outlets
could be considered competitors.
In addition, Blue Sky plans to expand online
sales by offering the customized product line via Internet only, thus
distinguishing between Internet offerings and specialty ship offerings. Eventually we may be able to place internet
kiosks at some of the more profitable store outlets so consumers could order
customized products form the stores.
Regardless of its expansion plans, Blue Sky fully intends to monitor and
maintain strong relationships with distribution channel members.
Promotional
Strategy
Blue Sky communicates with consumers and
retailers about its products in a variety of ways. Information about Blue Sky—the company as
well as its products—is available via the Internet, direct mailings, and in
person. The firms’ promotional efforts
also seek to differentiate its products from those of its competitors.
The company relies on
personal contact with retailers to establish the products in their stores. This contact, whether in-person or by phone,
helps convey the Blue Sky message, demonstrate the products’ unique qualities,
and build relationships. Blue Sky sales
representatives visit each store two or three times a year and offer in-store
training on the features of the products for new retailers or for those who
want a refresher. As distribution
expands, Blue Sky will adjust o meet greater demand by increasing sales staff
to make sure it stores are visited more frequently.
Sales promotions and
public relations currently make up the bulk of Blue Sky’s promotional
strategy. Blue Sky staff works with
retailers to offer short-term sales promotions tied to event and contests. In addition, Nick Russell is currently
working with several trip outfitters to offer Blue Sky items on a promotional
basis. Because Blue Sky also engages in
cause marketing through its contribution to environmental programs, good public
relations have followed.
Nontraditional marketing
methods that require little cash and a lot of creativity also lend themselves
perfectly to Blue Sky. Because Blue Sky
is a small, flexible organization, the firm can easily implement ideas such as
distributing free water, skiers, and discount coupons at outdoor sporting
events. During the next year, the
company plans to engage in the following marketing efforts:
·
Create a Blue Sky Tour, in which several
employees take turns driving around the country to campgrounds to distribute
promotional items such as Blue Sky stickers and discount coupons
·
Attend canoe and kayak races, bicycling events,
and rock climbing competitions with our Blue Sky truck to distribute free
water, stickers, and discount coupons for Blue Sky shirts or hats.
·
Organize Blue Sky hikes departing from
participating retailers.
·
Hold a Blue Sky design contest, selecting a
winning slogan and logo to be added to the customized line.
Pricing
Strategy
As discussed earlier in this plan, Blue
Sky products are priced with the competition in mind. The firm is not concerned with setting high
prices to signal luxury or prestige, nor is ti attempting to achieve the goals
of offsetting low prices by selling high quantities of products. Instead value pricing is practiced so that
customers feel comfortable purchasing new clothing to replace the old, even if
it is just because they like the new colors.
The pricing strategy also makes Blue Sky products good gifts—for
birthdays, graduations, or “just because.”
The customized clothing will sell for $2 to $4 more than the regular
Blue Sky logo clothing. The luggage ill
be priced competitively, offering a good value against it competition.
Budget,
Schedule, And Monitoring
Though its history is short, Blue Sky has
enjoyed a steady increase in sales since its introduction three years ago. Figure A shows these three years, plus
projected sales for the nest three years, including the introduction of the two
new product lines. Additional financial
data are included in the overall business plan for the company.
The timeline for expansion of outlets and
introduction of the two new product lines is shown in Figure B. The implementation of each of these tasks
will be monitored closely and evaluated for its performance.
Blue Sky
anticipates continuing operations into the foreseeable future, with no plans to
exit this market. Instead, as discussed
throughout this plan, the firm plans to increase its presence in the
market. At present, there are no plans
to merge with another company or to make a public stock offering.
