Brand Positioning and Repositioning Strategy: "Repositioning Geox in the Chinese Market"

Abstract

Following research aims to explore two fundamental issues within the brand management field: The Brand Positioning and Repositioning strategy. Through a careful analysis of contemporary literature, the study is making it a priority to identify the main steps a brand must face when it decides to design an effective positioning strategy, and the case where it is necessary for a brand to reposition itself in order to become competitive again. Crucial objectives on which the research is based are to understand how a company can reach a competitive advantage within the market through a successful brand positioning strategy, in which way a brand can differentiate it in the market, what are the causes that lead a brand to reposition itself, what is the process of brand repositioning and which strategies are the most effective one. Finally, the study focuses on an empirical case, analyzing the recent repositioning strategy Geox has decided to apply in the Chinese market. BRAND POSITIONING: The first part of the study deepens the Brand Positioning topic, underlining what are the main features that characterize it, highlighting the importance that it assumes enhancing the brand within the market and how the positioning has changed hand in hand with the evolution of the society, in terms of economy, communication and marketing, shifting the focus of positioning from the product to the brand experience. The analysis then continues through the fundamental steps of brand positioning, where the features of a brand targeting are explored, with the identification of what is the brand identity and the final proposition value brought to the market. To move then on focusing on the importance of market segmentation, through a careful analysis of the main competitors, the definition of target customers and the design of an ideal strategic price, in order to establish an effective Unique Selling Proposition. The study then focuses on what are the most effective strategies to position the brand in the market, giving particular importance to the communication strategy and highlighting the positive and negative impacts of these strategies on final positioning. BRAND REPOSITIONING: The second part of the thesis explores the theme of the Brand Repositioning. After introducing the topic, the research looks at what are the causes that lead a brand to the decision of repositioning in the market, identifying which are the different types of crises that can affect an organization. Deepening then the main stages that compose the repositioning process, which provides an analysis of the current state of the brand so as to understand what are the aspects to maintain and what to improve, a careful analysis of the competitors not to remain unprepared in front of possible innovations in the market, and the decision of which repositioning strategy is more suitable for not being point and head. In the end, the research pays its attention on what are the key elements to take into consideration in order to maintain steady the new positioning for a long time. BUSINESS CASE: The third and final part is dedicated to the development of the business case, analyzing how a real company is trying to reposition itself in the market. Specifically, it is examined how Geox, a well-known Italian footwear company, decided to reposition itself in the Chinese market in order to become competitive again in the country after years of limited growth, trying to expand effectively its business. The research deepens the path the shoe company made in China so far, trying to understand what are the causes that pushed the brand to reposition and exploring in detail the relaunch strategy started in 2019, finally verifying any positive or negative feedback.