Coach Case
Coach Case According to the company’s mission statement provided on the website, “Coach seeks to be the leading brand of quality lifestyle accessories offering classic, modern American styling.” Coach, Inc. matches competitors such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton on quality and styling of products, while beating them on price by over 50 percent. It created the “accessible” luxury category in ladies’ handbags and leather accessories appealing to middle-income as well as affluent consumers. With monthly introductions of new handbag designs, Coach is able to sustain its impressive brand growth. Competitors, however, are recognizing the buying patterns of middle-income customers and altering their selling approaches. They’re becoming a threat to the Coach brand, launching “diffusion lines” that offer more affordable products with the same quality as the most expensive products in their lines. Coach strives to deliver a consistent message to everyone that comes in contact with the brand as part of its marketing strategy. The company conducts detailed surveys and holds focus group discussions to ask about their comfort, styling, and functionality preferences. Through this marketing research, Coach is able to assess consumer attitudes and fashion trends within the market. It uses this information to predict the likelihood of a product’s success before its launch. Coach’s extensive customer knowledge and consumer database enables it to target certain individuals for its products. The problem Coach is facing is the infrequency of purchases made by consumers at the retail stores or online. As stated in the case, most customers make a purchase from Coach every seven months. With its competitors in the luxury goods category adding more affordable items to their inventory, Coach is becoming less of a stand-out brand. Although the company introduces new designs every month, there is a need for new, innovative selling approaches for its
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