Case Study Read the case Tudor Fashions" and answer the questions given in the end. Tudor Fashions is a four-decade old company. Its two major product lines are footwear and ready-to-wear garments. It was nearly 10 am and the company CEO, Prashant Gupta, decided to take a walk in the Connaught Place area to observe people in general and office goers in particular, before going to his office on Barakhamba Road. His idea was to have a first-hand feeling of consumer response to the Tudor shoes and observe in general the footwear habit of urban Indians. He parked his car and walked purposefully. Tudor shoes were positioned as simple, no fuss yet elegant shoes particularly targeted at office goers. The shoe had a reputation of being comfortable and reasonably priced and had a good market share despite competition from Bata, Windsor, Lee Cooper, Woodland and liberty etc. Prashant looked keenly at the moving feet of hurrying office goers. His trained eyes could notice the changing scenario. A significantly large number of office goers no longer seemed to have any preference for "no fuss" shoes. There was a very distinct shift in preference for heavy looking bold shoes. Consumers' perceptions about the type of shoes appropriate for wearing to office were changing from regular six-hole laced shoes to these heavy looking bold shoes. As per result of this shift in consumer perceptions and preferences, the market share of Tudor shoes had declined by 10 percent within the last two years. Page 1 of 2 The trend was disturbing and Prashant called a meeting of departmental heads. The outcome of the meeting was an agreement by all that perceptions attitudes and preferences of Indian urban consumers had undergone a significant change about the workplace and products No longer did they perceive the workplace as dull and boring where a "no nonsense and stiff upper lip" attitude has to be maintained. The office was viewed more as a part of everyday life where one can be reasonably relaxed and within limits, "you can be yourself" attitude was OK. A major decision was taken that Tudor shoes should shed off its image of being traditional," and keeping-pace with times should become "contemporary", as more and more consumers were going for branded shoes. Departmental heads agreed that consumers carry a definite "price-quality" perception about most branded products, including shoes. High price is generally perceived as denoting high quality. To take advantage of such consumer perceptions, it was decided to move away from "high quality-affordable price and targeting the growing middle class consumers to a "high price-high quality" image. The decision-makers saw better prospects for the company by making such a move. In larger cities especially shoes were no longer viewed a necessity, but had become a part of fashion accessory and life style expression, For the past nearly four decades, Tudor Fashions was known for making popular and affordable shoes. After the decision the company took a one hundred and eighty degree turn. It developed dedicated showrooms with premium priced shoes and other accessories such as leather bags, belts, purses and T-shirts etc. The results were quite contrary to expectations and the decrease in market share continued despite the new efforts. Apparently the reasons for such results seem to be quite simple for decades consumers earned the image of Tudor shoes as good quality in the affordable range. This created considerable confusion among consumers and they felt betrayed. They turned to other brands, national as well as local. The main appeal for the consumer was missing. The premium brands were perceived to be in a category that catered to upper middle and upper class consumers. When consumers considered premium shoes, other brands came to recall, not Tudor. QUESTIONS 1. Suggest an approach which in your view might have been successful in changing consumer perceptions and attitudes about Tudor shoes. 2. You are marketing communications consultant. Suggest an ad campaign to help Tudor establish a premium image for its shoes. (10 Marks) Case Study Read the case Tudor Fashions" and answer the questions given in the end. Tudor Fashions is a four-decade old company. Its two major product lines are footwear and ready-to-wear garments. It was nearly 10 am and the company CEO, Prashant Gupta, decided to take a walk in the Connaught Place area to observe people in general and office goers in particular, before going to his office on Barakhamba Road. His idea was to have a first-hand feeling of consumer response to the Tudor shoes and observe in general the footwear habit of urban Indians. He parked his car and walked purposefully. Tudor shoes were positioned as simple, no fuss yet elegant shoes particularly targeted at office goers. The shoe had a reputation of being comfortable and reasonably priced and had a good market share despite competition from Bata, Windsor, Lee Cooper, Woodland and liberty etc. Prashant looked keenly at the moving feet of hurrying office goers. His trained eyes could notice the changing scenario. A significantly large number of office goers no longer seemed to have any preference for "no fuss" shoes. There was a very distinct shift in preference for heavy looking bold shoes. Consumers' perceptions about the type of shoes appropriate for wearing to office were changing from regular six-hole laced shoes to these heavy looking bold shoes. As per result of this shift in consumer perceptions and preferences, the market share of Tudor shoes had declined by 10 percent within the last two years. Page 1 of 2 The trend was disturbing and Prashant called a meeting of departmental heads. The outcome of the meeting was an agreement by all that perceptions attitudes and preferences of Indian urban consumers had undergone a significant change about the workplace and products No longer did they perceive the workplace as dull and boring where a "no nonsense and stiff upper lip" attitude has to be maintained. The office was viewed more as a part of everyday life where one can be reasonably relaxed and within limits, "you can be yourself" attitude was OK. A major decision was taken that Tudor shoes should shed off its image of being traditional," and keeping-pace with times should become "contemporary", as more and more consumers were going for branded shoes. Departmental heads agreed that consumers carry a definite "price-quality" perception about most branded products, including shoes. High price is generally perceived as denoting high quality. To take advantage of such consumer perceptions, it was decided to move away from "high quality-affordable price and targeting the growing middle class consumers to a "high price-high quality" image. The decision-makers saw better prospects for the company by making such a move. In larger cities especially shoes were no longer viewed a necessity, but had become a part of fashion accessory and life style expression, For the past nearly four decades, Tudor Fashions was known for making popular and affordable shoes. After the decision the company took a one hundred and eighty degree turn. It developed dedicated showrooms with premium priced shoes and other accessories such as leather bags, belts, purses and T-shirts etc. The results were quite contrary to expectations and the decrease in market share continued despite the new efforts. Apparently the reasons for such results seem to be quite simple for decades consumers earned the image of Tudor shoes as good quality in the affordable range. This created considerable confusion among consumers and they felt betrayed. They turned to other brands, national as well as local. The main appeal for the consumer was missing. The premium brands were perceived to be in a category that catered to upper middle and upper class consumers. When consumers considered premium shoes, other brands came to recall, not Tudor. QUESTIONS 1. Suggest an approach which in your view might have been successful in changing consumer perceptions and attitudes about Tudor shoes. 2. You are marketing communications consultant. Suggest an ad campaign to help Tudor establish a premium image for its shoes. (10 Marks)