In an unpredictable retail climate, the challenge is not only to navigate, but to carve a distinct path. We have risen to this challenge, solidifying our position as a leader in the footwear industry. How? By implementing a strategic differentiation for its three retail banners: Williams, Midas, and Mathers.
MFG’s Chief Experience Officer, Kelly Price, says this is the best way to create brand and store saliency within a multi-branded group – unique in that it operates through retail stores, e-commerce sites, and wholesale channels.
“Part of our success will depend on how we create a presence for the brands we sell, but also how we lift the profile of our banner stores, and our direct-to-consumer business, Styletread.”
To understand our standing and lay a clear differentiation roadmap, we collaborated with an external agency to conduct a brand health check. This extensive market and customer research project was completed over two years and sought to create clear brand saliency; ultimately setting our brands Midas, Mathers, and Williams apart.
“Our research was trying to understand consumer awareness and consideration of each of our brands. It specifically asked if our stores were people’ ‘s first choice, how people know us, how they measure us, and what their perception of our value offering is – is it our depth of range, online capabilities and loyalty programs that they’ ‘re interested in.” Kelly explains.
The results were enlightening. Williams, established in 1862 and acquired by MFG in 2017, resonates with families, often seen as the first stop for some of those fresh starts in life – like the first day of school or a new job.
The findings also exposed vulnerabilities in the footwear market: a fragmented consumer awareness of shoe and retail store brands, making it easy for new brands to gain entry.
Kelly observes, “We identified a divide. When people go shopping for shoes, half will have a retailer in mind. The other half have a specific brand in mind, and then find a store that is a stockist.”
“There are few product brands that hold saliency in people’s minds – and these tend to be international sports brands or leather footwear” says Kelly.
Addressing this, our strategy extends to leveraging market intelligence, yielded from an extensive sales inventory, supported by our internally designed, brand-centric product.
Chief Product Officer, Bill Munro, who along with his team, translates global trends into localised offerings, says brand is key to their approach: “We know that to be successful we have to understand our brands, audience, and the customers’ expectations of these brands.”
As we continue our journey, our strategy will push the boundaries of customer omni-channel experiences, product design, and product management, making a significant strategic pivot.
“Historically, we have a strong B2B history with a focus on wholesale. Now, we are looking closely at how we speak from our retail brands to the customer and it’ ‘s a relatively recent and exciting shift,” says Kelly.
In an ever-shifting market landscape, our approach demonstrates a commitment to brand saliency and evolution.
Author: Munro Footwear Group