British-based SuperGroup, owner of Superdry and its carefully banded product lines, is taking actions to deal with recent performance problems. These problems manifested themselves in various ways, including the need for the firm to issue three profit warnings in one six-month period and a 34 percent decline in the price of its stock in 2014 compared to 2013. Founded in 1985, the firm is recognized as a distinctive, branded fashion retailer selling quality clothing and accessories. In fact, the firm says that “the Superdry brand is at the heart of the business.” The brand is targeted to discerning customers who seek to purchase “stylish clothing that is uniquely designed and well made.” In this sense, the company believes that its men’s and women’s products have “wide appeal, capturing elements of ‘urban’ and ‘streetwear’ designs with subtle combinations of vintage Americana, Japanese imagery, and British tailoring, all with strong attention to detail.” Thus, the firm’s brand is critical to the image it conveys with its historical target customer—teens and those in their early twenties. Those leading Super Group believe that customers love the Superdry products as well as the “theatre and personality” of the stores in which they are sold. These outcomes are important given the company’s intention of providing customers with “personalized shopping experiences that enhance the brand rather than just selling clothes.”

Questions

1. What influences from the external environment over the next several years do you think might affect SuperDry’s ability to compete?
2. Does Superdry have one or more capabilities that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and nonsubstitutable? If so, what are they? If not, on which criteria do they fall short?
3. Will the actions that Superdry is taking solve its problems? Why or why not?
4. What value does Superdry create for its customers?
5. What actions would you recommend the management of Superdry take to resolve its problems and turn around the performance of the firm?