Marketing - Hera Ltd - a Singapore-Based Company

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

HERA Ltd is a Singapore-based company that will be carrying a new line of baby and toddler shoes, PreschooliansTM, in the Singapore market. The company has obtained exclusive distribution rights from the US owners of PreschooliansTM to sell the product in Singapore. With that, HERA Ltd has decided to be both a distributor and a retailer in the local market. At present, PreschooliansTM shoes are only available via the PreschooliansTM website as no physical stores have been set up.

PreschooliansTM offers shoes that cater to every stage of development in a pre-schooling child's feet. These shoes have been specially designed to ensure the right fit of shoes for a child to prevent future feet problems that stems from wearing tight shoes. As young children are unable to tell parents when shoes are too tight, PreschooliansTM invented Visu Fit (a see-through bottom made of durable polyvinyl acetate) and Accu Fit (a unique measuring device that allows easy and accurate measures) to overcome these problems. These distinguishable features of Preschoolians won it the TIME Magazine: Coolest Invention 2003 award.

As PreschooliansTM is the first line of preschooler products carried by HERA Ltd., intensive marketing research was done to assess the Singapore pre-schooler shoe market. Competition was defined for effective positioning of PreschooliansTM in the Singapore market. Local and international competitors, including the PreschooliansTM website were considered. From comparisons made to secondary data found on the web and primary data from store visits, we established that PreschooliansTM offers quality shoes that are designed based on scientific research and will be promoted as a high value-added good. As such, brand equity has to be built and maintained for PreschooliansTM.

Following which, it is important to come up with the marketing mix to make our product a success. To do that, we have to understand the psychology of parents, especially mothers, who are the decision makers in purchasing the shoes. Survey results indicated that the features desired by the target market in their choice of shoes were similar to that found in the PreschooliansTM range of products. Based on survey results, costs and competitors' prices, the market skimming pricing strategy was also determined to be the optimum pricing strategy. With regards to location, target consumers have reflected the need to look at the physical product before buying the shoes, hence we have ruled out strong competition from online stores. To attract maximum traffic flow, children apparel stores in town will be chosen. To attract customers, promotions focuses on the ‘pull strategy', with a combination of advertising, direct marketing and public relations being used.

2. SITUATION ANALYSIS

PreschooliansTM is a new brand