Full Name Classic Knitwear and Guardian

Problems
The following are some of the issues we perceive with the intended Guardian marketing
programme:
The company plans to offer the item under the label "Guardian," that could cause
complications for Classic because any disagreement involving the two businesses could
negatively impact the product's marketing.
They are completely reliant on whatever market analysis they conducted to develop crucial
strategies and make major decisions, despite the fact that the market analysis they conducted
was not as thorough as that should have been since they just conducted quantitative approach
for a customer assessment.
The launching period, that will occur during January, will not even be ideal because that will
feature outdoor activity-related garments that will be dependent on specific seasons. As a
result, it is preferable to start after the cold season, whenever outdoor pursuits are at their
optimum.
Because these Guardian shirts will just include physical activity-related graphics, introducing
16 Stock Keeping Units or SKUs (four styles, all with four colours) (Quelch and Girardi,
2013) is not really a suitable marketing plan, because it will absolutely pointless to do
otherwise. Alternatively, they can concentrate on two key colours of each design, as
determined by market analysis. It will allow the business to save revenue that can be spent on
other things like promotion.
They determined the retail pricing of Guardian shirts based on a study of customers who said
they would possibly or absolutely acquire, that remained at the higher end as well as in line
with those of the recognized company. Such pricing strategy may fail, as revenues may not
achieve the levels they anticipate, as shoppers may opt for established name apparel within
the similar price category.

Potential Solutions
1. Comparative price activities: Aiming for the objective of increasing shareholder value is
based on pricing performance evaluation. The price fluctuation is most often stated in the
percentages as well as absolute dollar amounts indicated. Whereas the usual investor is more
concerned with the actual shift throughout stock value, information regarding stock
performance relative to the proper average as well as the marketplace for specific industries
are considered to be useful in assessing the industry's specific pattern (Rappaport, 2006).
2. Value motivators: During recent years, the method that has gained a lot of traction is
recognizing the main factors that shine apart as critical in the generation of value for the
company's shareholders. Entrepreneurs' major value determinants may include the company's
primary operations and items' potential growth, important technology competencies that
provide a competitive advantage, better process cost efficiency, including strategic distinctive
positioning. When all of aforementioned factors are combined, the industry's expectations for
liquidity position as well as potential profitability of the business are bound to be impacted.
3. Business equity: The most prevalent concept includes firm equity, which recognises that
the elements of an establishment 's financial framework, assets and liabilities, are valued
independently throughout the marketplace. The technique for estimating the equity of a
corporation shows that the worth of the business 's shareholdings is indeed a consequence of
the overall worth less the cost of debt (Harms, 2015).

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Full Name Classic Knitwear and Guardian

4. Monitor and evaluate business improvement over time: Making this a habit to monitor and
analyse the critical performance indicators from the start of any new product release. Utilize
this data to personalise the offerings to the demands of both the prospects as well as clients.
To acquire a general idea of traffic situations on the website, companies can utilise a digital
tracking service like Google Analytics. Rate of bounce, traffic channels, sessions, average
session duration, as well as rate of conversion are all indicators to constantly check for.
5. Setting up timeline: Product launches require precise timetables for every stage of the
operation to maintain everybody on track. Although business must have a schedule and
organisational capabilities elsewhere, this is critical to set aside time-bound activities
(associated with product information) on the product information management or PIM
platforms for any product release (Carbonell-Foulquié, Munuera-Alemán and Rodrıguez-
Escudero, 2004). Whenever the job and the procedure are in the similar area, it is indeed
better to accomplish tasks completed.
6. Responsibility: Not everyone is motivated by timetables. This is not to suggest that any
product release delay is the fault of a single person. Instead, a company's collective
production must be managed. As a result, PIM becomes beneficial for maintaining control of
tasks during product launches. Responsibility is increased whenever everybody can plainly
identify the activities that require to be completed along with who is allocated to them.
Additional duties are depending on the activity at hand, which keeps everyone on track and
encouraged.
7. Understanding client demands: Before promoting or releasing an item within the
marketplace, it is critical to identify the shifting requirements of customers or market
dynamics. Entrepreneurs can use market analysis to determine the volume of their
marketplace, target clients, their preferences and dislikes, as well as how to communicate to
them (Bayus and Shane, 2008). Assessments or surveys, as well as interviews with sample
consumers and participant observation, can be used to research the industry. The data
gathered through all these different ways can aid in the development of brand orientation as
well as the identification of the appropriate segment of the market.

Decision
The marketing department of Classic started examining a variety of attractive concepts for
growing their portfolio of items in order to continuously boost total operating profits from
over 20percent and avoid the business 's shares from declining. Introducing knitwear that was
chemically synthesized to repel insects became a lucrative opportunity. The business
recognized the increased public consciousness about insect-borne sickness, and also the
simplicity of not reapplying or transport conventional liquid insect repellent, like a
marketable opportunity.
The product provided protection that lasted roughly three times longer than the competition
in this category. Introducing such product resulted in a profit margin that was much higher
beyond Classic's objectives. With the combination of Classic's cheap manufacturing costs as
well as Guardian's cutting-edge technology, a long-term competitive advantage might be
established.
Taking advantage of Guardian's reputation provided not only fewer marketing costs for
raising product recognition, but also easier accessibility to additional wholesalers including
LL Bean.
As a result, creating an innovative line of products appears to be a reasonable option, given
the reasons outlined above.

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References
Bayus, B.L. and Shane, S., 2008. Understanding customer needs. Handbook of Technology
and Innovation Management, pp.115-142.
Bruijl, G.H.T., 2018. The relevance of Porter's five forces in today's innovative and changing
business environment. Available at SSRN 3192207.
Carbonell-Foulquié, P., Munuera-Alemán, J.L. and Rodrıguez-Escudero, A.I., 2004. Criteria
employed for go/no-go decisions when developing successful highly innovative
products. Industrial Marketing Management, 33(4), pp.307-316.
Harms, R., 2015. Self-regulated learning, team learning and project performance in
entrepreneurship education: Learning in a lean startup environment. Technological
forecasting and social change, 100, pp.21-28.
Quelch, J. A., and Girardi, P., 2013. Classic Knitwear and Guardian: A Perfect Fit? Harvard
Business School Brief Case.
Rappaport, A., 2006. Ten ways to create shareholder value. Harvard Business Review, 84(9),
pp.66-77.
Vlados, C., 2019. On a correlative and evolutionary SWOT analysis. Journal of Strategy and
Management.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: SWOT analysis

Strength Opportunity
 Because of minimal SKU with  Insect-borne diseases are becoming
economies of scale, the Dominican more well-known.
Republic's state-of-the-art facilities  There is not much competition.
provides a financial benefit.
 In the wholesale category, the
company has a 16.5 percent market
share.
 Guardian's business reputation and
position as a leader within insect
repellent technologies can aid to
draw in the target audience.
 The EPA IV business enhances the
brand's trustworthiness.
 Product that is three times longer
resilient.

Weakness Threat
 There is not any brand awareness.  Rivalry from larger players is a
 Operating margin is low. possibility.
 In the private sector, there is a 1  Unsubstantiated technology with an
percent stake. experimental product.
 Products demand characteristics that
are inconsistent.
 Marketing and promotional
operations have a limited investment
expenditure.
Source: (Vlados, 2019)

Appendix 2: Porter’s five forces

Forces Factors

Threat of new entrants  Copyright as well as patents are

examples of entrance obstacles.
 Capital is in limited supply.
 Government policies are limited.
 The expense of switching.
 Suppliers and distributors are
available to business.
 Customers are loyal to well-known
brands.

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Supplier bargaining power  Differentiation of input.

 The effect of price on differentiation.
 Distribution centre capacity.
 The availability of input alternatives.
Consumer bargaining power  Using leverage in negotiations.
 A purchaser's switching costs.
 Pricing sensitivity of buyers.
 The business's offering has a
competitive edge.

Threat from substitutes  Substitute's pricing effectiveness.

 Purchaser cost of switching.
 Products that can be used as a
substitute are available on the
marketplace.
 Decrease in quality.
 There are close substitutes available.

Competitive rivalry  Opportunity in the marketplace.

 Innovation that never stops.
 Positioning offers a competitiveness
that lasts.
 Promotional intensity.
 Strategy for succeeding.
Source: (Bruijl, 2018)

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