Coach: introduction of an American leather goods producer to the French market

Résumé du document

Let us briefly recall the features of the French leather goods market. This market is composed of 123 enterprises generating a turnover of 1703.2 billions euros. In France, approximately 14.000 employees are working for leather goods companies. The low and middle price companies have entered a real price war and provide themselves in Asian countries. The top of the range companies are the only ones that are able to prosper. They are in an expansion strategy and seek constantly to expand their distribution network. Producers export increasingly their products and the demand keeps growing. To answer to this demand, top of the range producers extend their range of product and develop new points of sales concept. The main actors of this market are Christian Dior, Gucci Group, Hermes International, LVMH, Prada and Richemont. Coach sells fashionable quality leather goods, whose prices are high. The brand still benefits from a strong reputation in the USA and Japan.

Extraits

[...] Coach has become recently the leader of the American market with a market share of 25%. In Japan, it has quintupled its market share and is now directly competing with the current leader, Louis Vuitton. In France, Coach would position itself as a luxury brand and would be competing with the major actors in presence. The goal of the brand is to reach a market share of on the French market for the first year for the second one and 10% for the third one. [...]

[...] Wristlets: that kind of product becomes more and more popular. Easily transportable and very practical, the wristlets will finish to define our brand as a fashionable and trendy brand. We will launch only 10 products in France and the aim is to have 20 of them in 3 years if it is an obvious success. Planners: the little of our range, the planners will target active and fashionable women. At the beginning, we will only launch a range of 4 planners. [...]

[...] However, they remain the best way to reach the target. Indeed, it is fashionable, and fancy. It does not need flashy colours which could be perceived as vulgar - on the advertising to be hit. However, to improve the impact of these paper advertisings, a muse could be chosen. The advertising will all the more catch the readers' attention as the model on the picture is known. The right balance between the idol (maximum impact) and the growing star/declining star (less expensive) has to be found. [...]

[...] One Coach Store in the Champs-Elysées is required. It would also place Coach next to the greatest such as Louis Vuitton. Moreover it would provide an actual visibility for the brand, in the way that a window shop allows exposing its own image, here a luxury image. Furthermore a Coach store allows presenting all the products of the brand. Only two other Coach Stores will be opened in Marseille and Lyon, the two biggest towns after Paris, in the streets where luxury shops are already located. [...]

[...] Briefcase: The target of this product is clearly the working women. The difference between totes and briefcase is that totes are more modern and briefcase still shows seriousness and strictness. We will only sell 3 briefcases on the French market and the aim will be to have at least 4 briefcases within 3 years. For men: Messenger: as well as for the totes for women, we will launch messenger because they are trendy and give a modern image of the consumers and also of the brand. [...]