Kung Fu Shoes: An Opportunity Down Under

Kung Fu Shoes: An Opportunity Down Under

There is a strong and growing Australian connection with China, as travel and trade between the two countries continues to grow at a rapid pace and both domestic economies are expanding. Along with the increase in commerce and communication between Australia and China, there has necessarily been an increase in the amount of cultural transfer, from philosophies and ideas to activities and hobbies. One of the hobbies that Australians are picking up from the Chinese at an increasing pace, though one that has been at least on the peripheries of Australian culture as it has with larger "Western" culture for some time. As the kung fu craze in Australia grows, it offers new opportunities to distributors and retailers in bringing a variety of products to market that could hardly have been profitable before. The following paragraphs provide a brief marketing description and analysis of bringing one specific product, kung fu-oriented footwear -- to the Australian market.

Clearly, the overall market segment is Australian kung fu enthusiasts. There are several segments within this larger segment that can be specifically identified, however. The largest segment of the Australian population by age is the 20-30 category, so this will be the most desirable age group to focus on in this endeavor (ABS, 2012). This group can be further subdivided into avid enthusiasts (first priority), beginners (second-highest priority), and casual enthusiasts (third priority). After this, older individuals practicing kung fu primarily for health reasons will form the fourth-priority market segment as they are also significant represented in the Australian population, and adolescents will represent a fifth market segment (ABS, 2012).

The average adult working full time in Australia earns a little over $1,300AUD per week, leaving a substantial amount of expendable income (ABS, 2012a). Though it can be assumed that the key demographic focused on in this endeavor will be at the lower end of average given that they are younger members of the workforce, there is still likely to be a fair amount of leisure time and expendable income for individuals in this demographics. The target age segment is also fairly split in terms of gender, though there are slightly more males; given the nature of the activity and trends in other countries regarding kung fu this will be an advantage to the proposed endeavor (ABS, 2012; SGFI, 2008). Experienced or avid enthusiasts of kung fu, as the primary demographic, will be expected to demand high-quality shoes and yet be savvy purchasers, and so a balance between quality and price must be struck to target this particular market segment and ensure the most advantageous entrance possible.

The total age demographic identified is approximately three million, though of course not all or even a majority of these will be kung fu enthusiasts (ABS, 2012). A significant number of these individuals also have children, a trend that appears to be increasing for females of the age group, and these could form a specific marketing tactic in terms of keeping active and even engaging in family activity, which would serve the beginner demographic (the second priority segment) quite well (ABS, 2012b). Assuming ten percent of the total population plus a certain percentage of their children will be potential customers in one of the three top segments, total market size is approximately 450,000 (ABS, 2012; ABS, 2012b).