SECTION A [40 MARKS] QUESTION 1 Read the article below and answer the questions that follow Duraflexis is a German footwear company with annual men's footwear sales of approximately 1.0 billion Euro (). They have always relied on the boot market for most of their volume and in this market, they compete with three other major competitors. Together, these four brands represent approximately 72% of the 5.0 billion German men's boot market. The boots category includes four main sub-categories: work boots, casual boots, field hunting boots and winter boots. Work boots is the largest sub-category and is geared to blue collar workers who purchase these boots primarily for on-the-job purposes. Casual boots are the fastest growing sub-category and is geared more towards white collar workers and students who purchase these boots for weekend or casual wear and light work purposes. The four key competitors in the market are Badger, Duraflex, Steeler, and Trekker. Badger and Steeler are both well established as work boot companies, having a long history and strong brand recognition and credibility among blue collar workers. At the other extreme is Trekker, a strong player in the casual boot market but a very weak player in work boots. Duraflex, however, is a cross between the other competitors, having a significant share in both work boots and casual boots. Historically Duraflex had an even stronger position in the work boot sector. However, since 1996 when the company began selling casual shoes and focusing on the growth opportunity in casual boots, sales of the Duraflex work boot line have steadily declined. Also, around the same time Duraflex shifted its emphasis, Badger became a much more assertive competitor in the work boot market, increasing its market share to 43% in just three years. In the fall of 2013. Badger launched a new line of aggressively priced work boots. The strong success of this line has caused Duraflex's management to re-evaluate their position in work boots. With limited additional resources, management must now decide if they should focus their efforts on competing with Badger in the work boot sector or focus their resources on further strengthening their position with casual boots In January of 2014 Duraflex hired a leading consulting firm to conduct research to help management in its decision making. To make an informed recommendation, the consultants realized they needed to collect information that would enable them to size the market and better understand Duraflex's competitive position. To begin with the consultants developed a 20-minute quantitative telephone survey that was conducted among 500 randomly dialled consumers across the country's 6 primary regions. In addition, the consultants completed some internal cost and pricing analysis for Duraflex's work and casual boot lines. The market pricing analysis showed Duraflex competing at the premium end of the market for both its casual and work boot lines. Required (a) Over the years, management approaches to the marketing function changed with 5 different aspects being emphasised. Identify the management approach to marketing function used by Duraflex. Substantiate your answer. (b) Marketing management constantly modifies decisions about the four marketing mix elements as circumstances change and consumer's acceptance of the product 35 gradually increases. Critically analyse the effectiveness of Duraflex's marketing concept