Central Problem: The goal of ASICS is to achieve a third place in the global sportwear market with a clear

and ambitious 750-billion-yen sales strategy. There are different market aspects that need to be
updated, leveraged and alienated in order to accomplish the objective. A challenge for the organization
is to implement strategy (expand the customer base from serious to wider audience, shift the past
business model & branding the product worldwide) of each plan.

Since the company operates in multiple segments such as the US, Europe and Japan, a cohesive brand
message needs to be established in all three regions. Such a strategy could require the company to risk
the existing brand value on the market, which could push the potential consumers away from the brand.
It also needs to develop a direct consumer strategy for which the retail outlets and flagship stores need
to be established in order to develop direct consumer engagement and develop a positive brand image.
The company has recently acquired the Runkeeper Digital App to improve its scope and grow the brand
on the digital landscape but because the company already has its own application (MY ASICS) in place,
the management faces the problem of either having the two applications on the market separately. The
business also needs to determine how to use the digital apps to boost its market reach and grow an
expanded brand portfolio along with the ASICS’s highly consumers conversation on the ecommerce
platform. The company aims to acquire the gold sponsor role in the Olympic events for Tokyo with the
intentions of producing high revenue and meeting the 2020 deadlines, but the outcome of this
sponsorship is still unclear and ambiguous.

Situation Analysis:

1.Product line extension: ASICS has planned to launch the mid-tier product line for fun runners because
it is facing fierce competition in the US, Europe and home country market. Initially as they were present
in the high-end category, these intervals would be considerably long. Prior to introducing the mid-tier
shoes, ASICS were not present in the mid-tier category at all. Nike was particularly strong in this
segment. From exhibit 3 we can see the positioning map where Nike position is clearly viewed. The
primary concern behind this decision was that since ASICS focused predominantly on high-end footwear,
current pricing would not have required margins. So, in order to get the desired outcome, they will have
to adjust their development technique they called as breakthrough technology. I support entering this
segment because this was uncontested space and this is a possible way of increasing bottom-line of the
company.

2.Channels to market: In order to achieve the ultimate goal, ASICS has decided to build the strategy of
direct customer reach to build the brand value and consumer recognition along with strong brand
equity. To do so, the company should build a two-sided strategy in which it establishes a close alliance
with local distributors to promote its product while opening retail stores in busy markets and heavy
populated areas such as, NYC, Germany, UK, Spain and Europe. This will help the business to draw more
eyeballs from consumers and footfall from consumers. Both will enable the company to generate
additional sales and also develops the customer’s awareness and top- of -mind position. Furthermore, in
order to develop the customer attraction, the shop should use the ASICS Foot Mapping System, which
help to create accurate 3-D foot maps and analyze the movement of the customers feet while running.
The system made measurement about foot length, forefoot width, ball girth, arch height and heel tilt.

https://www.asics.com/za/en-za/frontrunner/articles/asics-3d-foot-id-scanner-know-what-running-
shoe-to-buy
3.Communications: The” Want it More” campaign is a direct call for all athletes to step up their training
efforts and realize ever-greater achievement. It is used to inform customers about the extensive
products offered by ASICS. The key positioning of the organization was success through this initiative.
However, the “Want it More” campaign would not be supportive in reaching all groups of customers. So,
to reach all categories of customers they would need to relate both performance-oriented consumers
and recreational oriented consumers. The “performance theme” does not away customers who
purchase their product for exercise. Among other things, they would be decision to discontinue
sponsorship of the NWC marathon. Any company will look at the ROI angle for any development of
funds. By diverting funds from the sponsorship of the marathon and investing in a flagship store in a
prime location as was the case would give them a recurring income and a higher ROI. That is why, the
decision was justified. This also keeps in mind the decision to have more self-owned stores to help mid-
tier brands in particular.
‘WANT IT MORE’ video: https://youtu.be/ETyxVQWKPzw
https://corp.asics.com/en/press/article/2016-02-18

The company also had to co-manage its two other fashion brands in addition to overseeing the launch of
a new mid-tier footwear line under the ASICS name. One is Onitsuka Tiger and the other is ASICS Tiger.
This was an appropriate decision as Onitsuka Tiger was a lifestyle and luxury product and appealed more
to women specially after the success of Kill Bill which portrayed Uma Thurman wearing these shoes. This
was an effective product placement. From exhibit 6 we can see the breakdown locations by brand.
Exhibit 6 showed ASICS has most outlet in East Asia and lowest outlet in southeast Asia. ASICS Tiger was
targeted at younger consumers. This was in line with the company’s strategy of diversifying by finding
more segments. This is exactly what the company had done where they tried to find new segments. This
was required to prevent ASICS from a niche brand.
ASICS shoes brands catered to the lifestyle segment apart from the athletic segment. When you are
catering to a lifestyle segment, it becomes very important to keep up with lifestyle trends of current
segments of consumers or targeted segments of consumers. The new segment “FUN RUN” or the
health-conscious consumer was the targeted segment. Beside competitors like Nike or Adidas already
had it. Also, this segment was a growing segment and could not be ignored. ASICS and Runnerkeeper
partnership are a strong alignment between its brands and core values. People know that ASICS shoes
are by far the ones that Runnerkeeper users run in the most. From the end-user standpoint, not much
will be changed. The decision primarily before ASICS was to acquire the core competencies by acquiring
Runkeeper or developing it in-house. Developing a technology was not a core competency of ASICS so it
made it more prudent to acquire it. Ultimately this became a “Make or Buy” decision and was decided
primarily looking at the cost involved and ROI.

https://medium.com/runkeeper-everyone-every-run/runkeeper-and-asics-are-joining-forces-
eae4d7a510c5

Alternative strategies:

SWOT Analysis is a proven management framework which enables a brand like ASICS to benchmark its
business & performance as compared to the competitors and industry.

Strengths :

 The geographic presence in different regions help ASICS to reach easily to its target market.
 The wide product portfolio helps to expand its business and cover losses from one category
to another category. The locational advantage can improve the competitive positioning of
the firm in various ways, such as- lower cost, improved accessibility or enhanced brand
image.
 The well-developed and efficiently integrated IT infrastructure can improve the operational
efficiency and increase knowledge of the latest market trends.
 High product quality increases brand loyalty and improves ASICS CHASING A 2020 VISION's
performance in a competitive market.

Weaknesses:

 The company may lose efficiency due to poor inventory management practices.
 Insufficient cash negatively affect the liquidity position and harm the overall business
performance.
 Pricing may not be perceived as justified compared to product characteristics.

Opportunities:

 The emergence of new segment “FUN RUN” will create more potential customers and
expand product line.
 The diminishing boundaries allow the company to get into the international market and
increase profitability .
 The development of new technologies to assist the product/service production and delivery
process can be exploited to embed the innovation in business operations.
 The emergence of e-commerce and social media marketing as a trend can be a great
opportunity for chasing its vision.
Threats :

 Shortage of skilled labor can make it difficult for the organization to attract talent with the
right skills set.
 The increasing number of direct and/or indirect competitors affects the organization’s ability
to sustain and expand the customer base.
 The deteriorating economic conditions affect business performance negatively.

https://www.case48.com/swot-case/34986-ASICS-CHASING-A-2020-VISION

Marketing Strategy and its success:

Quality and variety of the products: Asics have a huge range of quality product for its customers. It
makes incredible running shoes and continues its innovation to achieve ultimate goals and aspirations.
Besides running shoes, it has a wide range of apparel and sports equipment with utmost comfort and
durability. This facility makes the product highly acceptable especially in the sports industry.

Price: ASICS shoes are based on product line pricing strategy because the company sells different
versions of the shoes like running shoes, basketball shoes etc. They price their product based on the
build and material used in the product. The price range is not too high or too low which is an important
marketing strategy to them to survive in the market.

Global presence of the brand: ASICS has its presence in more 65 countries in all over the world. They
are available in all sports shops and supermarkets located in different regions of a country.

https://brandyuva.in/2019/09/asics-marketing-strategies.html

Promotion: ASICS takes part in various form of advertising; such as, sales promotion, personal selling,
direct marketing etc. In Christmas, they offer sales promotion to encourage customers to buy it as a
Christmas present. Even in retail shops promote their products to the consumers and help them to
choose the best shoes according to their needs.

Course of Action:

AGP 2020 has two major objectives, achieving budgeted target of 750 million Yen and cementing the
third position behind Nike and Adidas . Though the position was promising the success depended on a
no of factors. Company had already taken some steps towards it. As per Exhibit 2 ROI for ASICS was
behind compared to Nike and Adidas .
The steps including an integrated marketing plan they would have to follow are as listed below.
1. Expand the consumer base from serious runners to a much wider audience especially lifestyle and
luxury segment , women runners. Fun Run segment
2. Enlarge the product base to cater to multiple segments and different price points. The mid-price
segment should be attacked because it is a much larger pie and untapped by the company so far.
3. Acquisition of Runkeeper to tap the FunRun Segment. Exhibit 12 shows how fitness application shared
by all brand. It clearly showed ASICS was the least user of fitness application.
4. The company would need to rise its operating income to close in on rivals as evident in Exhibit 2
5. Develop a consistent and broad communication strategy. The marketing budget needs to go up from
current levels as in Exhibit 2.
6. The increased marketing budget to be targeted towards specific events like Tokyo Olympics
7. Build a good team to develop an emotional connect with customers to make the company-owned
stores a success