Fixing Marketing Mistakes of the Past

Lululemon

The author of this report is to offer a brief report on the company that has come to be known as Lululemon Athletica. The company has had to endure a number of public relations and product issues in recent years. Indeed, nearly a fifth of their product volume had to be recalled due to overly sheer pants and this problem was compounded when women were degraded by being asked to bend over and otherwise prove that the pants were overly sheer. Not long after that, the CEO at the center of this defect demonstration flap bowed out and there were also a number of lawsuits field as a result of the whole kerfuffle. This report will cover the marketing goals and strategies and there will also be a recommendation made about all of the above. While Lululemon has made some major miscues in recent years, they can certainly recover from their misdeeds and missteps.

Analysis

The marketing goals and objectives for Lululemon are fairly clear. They market and sell a rather niche form of yoga gear. Indeed, yoga is about form, fitness and function (Lululemon, 2015). For yoga pants to do their job, they have to be stretchable and functional. However, Lululemon also focuses on making them stylish, attractive and figure-flattering (Dulaney, 2014). Their competition would range from the cheaper yoga pants found at stores like Wal-Mart and Target to the other niche and more fashion-conscious competitors that exist in the market place. A major competitive advantage that Lululemon enjoys is that their styles are very distinctive this thus allows to gain a reputation much like Coach and Dooney & Burke due in the handbag and accessory markets. However, Lululemon has achieved what they have with rather sparse spending as compared to what other yoga gear retailers might engage in (Helliker, 2014).

When it comes to the marketing research that exists out there, it is clear that Lululemon is perhaps not spending as much as they should be. Indeed, the sheerness of some of their pants and other quality issues have been plaguing the company for some time now (King & Kapner, 2013; Mattiloi & Jones, 2013). Given that, a fresh and refined approach is absolutely vital (Soni, 2014). They seem to be heading in the right direction given recent news posts that have come out regarding the yoga products for men (Rupp, 2015). Further, the departure of "foot-in-his-mouth" Chip Davis was certainly helpful to the firm (Ng, 2013). When it comes to measures of marketing efficacy and quality, Lululemon needs to get on the right track both in terms of the quality/sheerness problems and the rather obtuse reactions that were rendered in light of the prior problems.

When looking at what should be done instead, the proverbial baby does not need to be thrown out with the bathwater. Indeed, it is not in dispute that Lululemon is attracting a lot of buyers but the public relations and quality snafus mentioned before have hurt Lululemon a pretty good deal. Marketing goals and objectives should include a building on quality improvements that must happen at the operations level. The pants quality must be improved so that stretching and flexing the garment does not cause sheerness issues. Further, the company should probably expand the sizes that they offer even if they offer the rarer sizes online only or something along those lines. It is true that some people will select the wrong size of yoga pants but it should not create an issue of flashing someone through their clothes if/when it happens. Sizing charts and guides would be wise so as to help avoid people getting the wrong size. Further, every store should have a fitting room so that people can ensure that they are getting the right size for them in terms of fit and appearance. The target audience would obviously remain anyone who busy yoga pants for any reason and this would obviously be people that engage in yoga, more often than not.

The competitive advantage that Lululemon can realize is to have pants that wear well, fit well and work for the practice of yoga. However, there should be no awkward scenes or embarrassment due to the fabric being used being cheap or too sheer in general. As Lululemon expands and improves their garments, they can engage in focus groups and quality ranking comparisons so as to ensure that Lululemon is meeting or exceeding the standards of hteir direct competitors. This will require more spending and investment that Lululemon has done on prior occasions. However, this should not be a hard sell given that going cheap in the past has made for some awkward situations and public relations nightmares. As their new products and marketing movements come along, there should be a comparison between what happened prior and what is happening now. The company needs to seek a pattern of continuous improvement and sustained competitiveness with their direct competitors.