PESTEL ANALYSIS OF PUMA (UK)
Political factors – The two political factors affecting the market of PUMA company in the UK can be adverse political developments and uncertainty (Fernandes 2019). The economy of the UK has recently faced massive economic and political costs due to the exit of the British from the EU. This has reduced the living standard of the people, and therefore, they would be highly reluctant to buy premium products of Puma Company.
Economic factors – There are many economic factors affecting the market of Puma Company in the UK. The global economic growth of the UK has been moderate after the Brexit case. However, the income of the private households of the UK has been quite high, and it may act as an opportunity for Puma as these households are likely to spend money on sporting goods. Despite this opportunity, the company may suffer from the volatility risks of the currencies.
Social Factors – Most of the social factors would create opportunities for the company. This is because most of the consumers in recent days opt for healthy lifestyles and more exercises (Müller 2017). Notably, in last days women are more indulged into sports, which have increased the rate of customers for Puma. However, the company may suffer due to the convergence of sportswear in the new environment.
Technological Factors – The two technical factors are influencing Puma positively are increased popularity among customers for technology and smart textiles. The availability of modern technology has led to enhanced personalisation among customers.
Legal Factors – The only legitimate factor affecting Puma Company positively in the market of UK is the robust compliance management system of the judicial authority in the UK economy. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Environmental Factors – The Company uses sustainable raw materials for manufacturing its products. Some of these environment-friendly materials are BCI cotton, blue sign polyester, FSC certified paper and cardboard. The company is also looking for cutting down hazardous solvents while producing polyurethane.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
The top competitors of Puma Company are Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance and ASICS.
Puma is considered a leading company in the industry of sports shoe and apparels. The company is well recognised for developing and designing the clothing and footwear that is mainly inspired by sports (Ahmad et al. 2018, October). However, it is actively facing competition from its eminent competitors. One of these competitors is Nike, which manufactures sports shoes for men and women. Another competitor is Adidas, which not only produces sports goods but also produces lifestyle goods, shoes and apparels. The third competitor is Reebok, which is a subsidiary of Adidas and manufactures sports kits for sports events.
TARGET MARKET
Puma targets men and women of young age ranging from 16-28 years. The customers are outgoing and love sports to the maximum extent. At the same time, customers should be adventurous and ready to take risks. They also love to live for the current moment. As Puma designs its products keeping a trendy note, it targets those customers who are fashionable and stylish (Schmid 2017). The customers should be like quality products and loyal to big brands. Along with sports, customers should also be interested in cars, technologies as well as movies. The customers should use the internet regularly for entertainment and communication.
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Puma Company uses three kinds of distribution channels for distributing its products. The three channels are the wholesale channel, retail chain, which is entirely owned and operated by Puma and eCommerce stores. Out of all the channels, the most profitable would be the eCommerce channel as expected by Puma (Hisrich and Ramadani 2018). Through its wholesale channel, the company plans to build joint product and marketing strategies with its key accounts. In retail, Puma has recently set up a new store that has newly developed innovative designs. The design has been rolled out worldwide to different other countries such as Hong Kong, Istanbul and many others.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The strategic position of Puma is quite strong, and it has excellent opportunities in the market of UK. The company has an influential corporate culture that bolsters its capabilities through optimal utilisation of human resources. To develop its strategies and tactics comprehensively, the company can ensure that its strategy highlights the originality of its manufactured products. The company can build a good corporation brand in the sports industry. The company should look out for more strategies to increase its popularity among the customers. Some of the products of Puma has been copied by its competitors, which has posed a significant challenge to the company (Prasad 2018). This is a common problem, which is widely visible in the sports industry. The company should come up with techniques to create such products that cannot be copied. Another issue with the company is that it has a low level of product diversification as compared to its competitors. The company should diversify its products through diversification of its business into a similar section of apparels.
References
Ahmad, I., Ali, T., Nazir, A. and Kamal, S., 2018, October. Social Media Competitive Analysis of Shoe Brands on Customer Experiences. In International Conference on Intelligent Technologies and Applications (pp. 205-215). Springer, Singapore.
Fernandes, C.C.M.S., 2019. Kering: a path towards sustainable luxury (Doctoral dissertation).
Hisrich, R.D. and Ramadani, V., 2018. Entrepreneurial distribution policy. In Entrepreneurial Marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Müller, D., 2017. The role of brand communities within the athletic footwear industry: an assessment of selected brand communities with a focus on the Swiss athletic footwear industry.
Prasad, P.V.V., 2018. Impact of FDI in retailing industry. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 8(5), pp.165-170.
Schmid, F., 2017. THE EFFECT OF SPORT SPONSORSHIP ON BRAND EQUITY: Does the sponsorship of Usain Bold help Puma to increase their brand equity?.