Brompton Bicycles under achieving
The new management must move quickly to increase sales and boost profits. New managing director, Will Butler-Adams is concerned that the slow production time is failing to keep up with demand and is damaging brand name. The company is currently going through a management and production change and is hoping to triple output and market growth.
Although Trademark patents have expired the fundamental design has copyright protection. The prominent threat from low-wage Taiwanese competitors, and low priced bikes could prevent future growth. Prices are determined by the cost of raw materials, brand image and the need to retain profit margins.
Retaining the highly trained staff and controlling the quality of the product sold is essential for maintaining the brand image. The company’s founder, inventor Andrew Ritchie is concerned that quality may be compromised. Brompton Bicycles are not interested the mass production of their bike. Their products are manufactured in their London factory by well established and highly trained staff.
They have a handful of retail shops in the USA. However, they have no intention of increasing the number of outlets to maintain the strong brand image. The company must adopt a new overseas sales strategy that will allow the company to meet exacting demands.
A new media driven publicity drive should be implemented to bring the product to a new customer base. A cost analysis for new sponsorships for bike racing events should be evaluated that would raise the product profile.
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