Reference no: EM133393245
Case Scenario - Adaptive Sports Global (ASG) Corporation* (A brand new ASG startup.) Several years into the planning, the ASG startup is now becoming operational. The founders are engineers and managers who are sports enthusiasts that wanted better clothing and gear to pursue their sports passions. Besides hiring based on specific qualifications for the particular job, they only hire athletes and weekend sports enthusiasts who use various types of sporting gear and clothing in their personal lives and can relate to the user. They have 46 employees to date. They allow the first two weeks at the company for intensive training and have the new hires using their company's gear to become thoroughly familiar with the product. Whatever feedback they get from users, they funnel into the production and design to make improvements. All production is done within the United States (U.S.) The founders want to keep the company relatively small in staff, but with a global market. The headquarters is located outside of Pittsburg, PA. The headquarters building and production facilities (which predominantly use robots for actual production work), and large warehouses are Green Seal® and LEED certified®*(Green Seal; BuidingGreen, 2019). The company is committed to planting many trees yearly to offset the production's carbon emissions.
Most products are currently sold directly to customers through the company website. The company's current mission is, "We make quality clothes and equipment that we sell to active people anywhere that adapt to the terrain and climate sustainably." According to the executives of ASG, the objectives are: Create sustainable clothes that adapt to temperature variations and weather conditions in a sustainable manner; Design and produce sports equipment that will adapt to (1) differing terrains and climates, as well as (2) adapt to different sports and (3) provide excellent performance.
Product line 1. Sports Equipment: Winter sports (skiing, snowboarding, winter climbing, skating, ice hockey, etc.) and shoes or boots that apply.
Product line 2. Sports Equipment: All other sports: Sailing (and parasailing), surfing, tennis, golf, rock climbing (and indoor gym/parcourse, etc.), and footwear that fit those sports.
All equipment comes with a free return label when the person has finished with the equipment so that it may be recycled. For instance, cracked wooden surfboards from the impact on rocks can be sent back to ASG. The company then recycles the components to make new surfboards or repairs them, and donates them to third-world areas or poorer countries where sports equipment might be considered unattainable economically. Most sales have been through the company website; however, ASG is open to new distribution opportunities.
ASG has hired you as a marketing consultant/acting manager for a new, proposed product line.
Proposed Line: Apparel: All sports clothing lines, including hats, helmets, vests, and jackets (male and female lines). All equipment and apparel are either compostable or can be recycled and, in some cases, have a multi-use function. For example, a jacket that turns into a tent.
You have just been hired to develop the key components of a marketing plan.