Vans: Skating on Air
Essay by Vishal Narsinghani • June 26, 2016 • Case Study • 785 Words (4 Pages) • 2,621 Views
Vans: Skating on Air
Vans, a shoe company launched in 1966, introduced durable and affordable casual deck shoes. They expanded into varieties based on sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, bike-riding. Initially Vans gained momentum due to customization that they provided the customers at low rates. They became the Skate-Shoe choice in 1970s by quickly adopting apt gripping shoes. In 1982, Vans used non-traditional marketing like promotions in movies and they also went to sign skateboarding professionals as brand ambassadors.
Product Mix
Vans’ Core Sports | Product |
Surfing | Checkboard Vans slip-ons |
Skateboarding | Deck Shoes, T-shirts |
Apart from these two core sports Vans also catered to snowboarding, BMX, Wakebording, Motocross, Supercross sports. To grab market share from Nike and Reebok, Vans rapidly expanded athletic showe market and also started producing shoes for baseball, football, soccer, basketball, wrestling, bboxing and umpring.
Skate-Shoe Product Lines
Product Line | Whom it caters to | Channel for Sales | Price Range |
Pro Series | High-end technical shoes for Pro-Skaters | Independent Skate Shops | $70-$90 |
Signature | Shoes matching the signature skating style of Pro Skaters | VANS Stores, Independent Skate Stores | $55-$85 |
Skate Performance | Geared towards general youth, expecting functionality and durability | VANS Stores, Independent Skate Stores, Mall-Based Specialty | $45-$75 |
Skate Casuals | Shoes for customers looking for shoes that had the "skate-look" | VANS Stores, Independent Skate Stores, Sporting Goods/Dept. Store | $35-$65 |
Classics | The original deck shoe in variety of styles | VANS Stores, Independent Skate Stores, Sporting Goods/Dept. Store, Mall-Based Specialty | $30-$50 |
Sandals | Mainly for outdoor hiking and casual walking | VANS Stores, Independent Skate Stores, Sporting Goods/Dept. Store, Mall-Based Specialty | $20-$40 |
Promotional Mix
Gary Schoenfeld, CEO laid emphasis on surveys from enthusiasts and experts in sports leading to development of a marketing approach which sponsored a number of sporting events and associated avenues of entertainment, primarily the Triple Crown Series and the Vans Warped Tour. With their documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys; record album named Van Records and a videogame on Vans Triple crown series they created opportunities to reach their target audience, improve brand equity and improve synergy of their brand while raking in additional profits. They also invested in Skate Parks after a legislation in 1997 which was in favor of the Skate Parks.
Distribution System (Sravya please consolidate Channel Info and add notes to Market Analysis)
Vans distributed products through both Retail and Wholesale division. The Retail section, i.e. the Vans outlets generated lower gross margins than full priced stores, but were well positioned to handle excess inventory and slow-moving merchandise. Some of the outlets were strategically placed at Vans Skate-parks, which augmented sales. The wholesale section saw different tiers of stores serving different customer segments. Vans slowly and steadily accomplished their early goal of market penetration by carefully adjusting the supply across these tiers. Its products included a range of variety, from professional sport shoes to casual sporty looking ones, from classic collection to signature collection.
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