Management Development Institute Od Singapore

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Market Position

For the past decades, The North Face has been creating innovative, high performance, technically-advanced apparel, footwear, equipment, and accessories for the serious outdoor adventurers, global trekkers, and extreme athletes who have one thing in common. They seek for the best. They use the best product. The North Face’s product has been the one of the top products in the industries. The company’s positioning strategy has been to create in the mind of the customers a brand that is synonymous with quality, high performance and innovation. This market positioning allows The North Face’s products to occupy a clear, distinctive and desirable place in the minds of their target markets. The North Face is positioning by the following slogan” Never Stop Exploring”.

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The Marketing Mix of The North Face

The North Face is a company that sells extreme sport equipment. Their products are special for their warmth, strength to hold up outdoor activities, comfort and designs. The only disadvantage they have is the price points seem to high compare to other brands. However, they still set themselves apart from their competitors and people still see the unique selling position of their products rather than their competitors’.

Product and Customer Solutions

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The Ultra Gore-Tex® Surround Mid is one of their latest products. Most of the hiking shoes are heavy and not waterproof. Because of the materials, there are some obstacles to have both features at the same time. However, The North Face used the Gore-Tex. It is a material that is lightweight, waterproof and is it the most breathable material in the world. They provide customers a solution to have lightweight and waterproof shoe. This hiking shoe used a material called FlashDry™ collar lining that can keep you cool and dry while you are wearing it. The light mesh and rugged mesh are strategically used around the shoe for better breathability and durability. The high-wear areas of the shoe are rubberized screen to increased durability and they used Ultra Protect™ CRADLE™ for proper heel positioning. It is covered by leather coating for better looking. This is the shoe that can give customers the best solution to their problems. To deliver the best product, The North Face does make sure that their products are quality before selling to their target market customers. They make sure they cover all types of expeditions as well as make sure that all of their products are able to be used for a long time.

Pricing Strategies and Consumer Cost

Price is the only weakness The North Face has. It seem a little bit higher compared with its competitors. The Ultra Gore-Tex® Surround Mid is priced at 190 USD. It is a fairly affordable price range for the extreme athletes and the professional explorers, mountaineers. These people will find it worth buying because it will hold up throughout the activities the customers are performing. The difference in their price range seems to be in the material that is used. Others shoes of them are in the price range of 140USD to 160 USD. The cheapest shoe is cost about 120USD. This is by far their most expensive hiking shoe because it used the best material and has the best design and features. They are currently having an end of season sales in the men’s department which they are selling their products up to 30 percent off. This is a good deal for many people. Some people buy their products only when they are in sales, because normally their price ranges are set up too high. This is a strong strategy for The North Face to do. To many customers it would be more important to have the garment when they need it than to wait for it to go on sale with the potential to save some money. Especially for the target customer who is upper-middle class adults that love outdoor activities.

Promotion Strategies and Customer Communication

One of The North Face’s promotion strategies is that they do a Clothes The Loop campaign. They run this campaign with a slogan of “Recycle. Reward. Renew.” This campaign encourages people to bring in their used clothes or shoes of any brand to a The North Face retail store donation canter. In return, they will receive a cash voucher that can be used in any The North Face retail store. Those old clothes which are collected then sent to a recycling canter. They are then repurposed for reuse to extend their life or recycled into raw materials for use in products like insulation, carpet padding, stuffing for toys, and fibers for new clothing. Since The North Face started Clothes the Loop, people have brought in over 30,000 pounds of clothing and footwear to The North Face US stores to be recycled and kept out of the landfill.

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Now The North Face is launching their first-ever global campaign, and is moving its lens from the land to focus on the people adventuring out in the world. "The whole point of this spot was really to tap an emotional chord with people -- to connect with people emotionally about the idea of exploration," said Aaron Carpenter, VP-global marketing at The North Face. "We've always been a brand that's always been associated with Everest and pushing your personal boundaries, and we wanted to make that a little more personal with people." This campaign called “Your Land”, to inspire more and more people to explore the world. They are also setting a film for their sponsored athlete Xavier de LeRue called Degrees North. The North Face president Todd Spaletto says the new campaign aims to go beyond showcasing people pushing their physical limits to include their intellectual and creative capabilities. The North Face's first-ever global campaign is set to run in 12 markets, including the U.S., Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea, Australia, Nepal, and Singapore.

Place Strategies and Consumer Convenience

The North Face distributes their products in an extended way. They sell in their own retail stores as well as other places. Cabela’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Zappos are just a few of the many companies that sell their merchandise. They have their own retail stores and outlet stores that they sell their product at a discounted price. The North Face also runs their website very well. Most of their products they sell in their store also being sell in their official website. This is a great way to distribute