Vans Skating on Air Case Analysis

Case Analysis: Vans-Skating on Air

Case Facts:

• Vans was launched in 1966 by Paul Van Doren.
• It sold variety of products from women’s sandals to outdoor hiking shoes. Best known for selling footwear and apparel to skateboarders and surfers.
• Sold its sneakers directly to its customers from their retail stores.
• Manufacturing was done in-house.
• Provided customized products- customers could choose from more than 50 fabrics and colors to customize their shoes.

Objectives of the organization:

• Integrate themselves into places where its customers are likely to be.
• To be recognized as a leader both in terms of how they build their brand and the products they bring to the market.

Initial problems:

After tasting success for few years in the skateboarding segment, Vans had difficulty in maintaining its market share. At the end 1980, people’s infatuation with skateboarding had been replaced with other alternative sports like BMX riding. As a result of this, the market for Van’s product in the skateboarding segment began to decline.

In 1982, the slip-ons product from Vans featured in a youth-oriented movie called “Fast Time at Ridgemont High.” This helped Vans catapult onto the national scene again and the demand for its shoes increased. As a result of this the organization decided to broaden its product mix in an effort to grab market share from Nike and Reebok. However, this move backfired the organization as its production cost went up and it faced strong competition from mainstream brands. Eventually the organization was driven to bankruptcy in 1984.

Challenges:

• How to drive the next stage of growth?
• Which product category should they participate in?
• Which distribution channels should they opt for?
• How to maintain relationship with unpredictable and fashion conscious people?

Analysis:

We shall now analyze the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats for Vans with the help of a SWOT analysis.

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Recommendations:

The next stage for growth of the firm should be to focus on the growing market of women sports community part from the existing market. The core advantage of Vans is their in-house manufacturing and there are few competitors who manufacture in-house shoes for women. The company should also focus on the requirements to deal with the shoes industry for the people and to find the new and important ways of serving the market place. It can also reduce its product variety and focus more on certain profitable segments. This would not only bring down the production cost but also would help them focus on expanding their customer base in those profitable segments.