Ccm Hockey: Relaunch of U+ Pro Skate
RSM458H1S
CCM HOCKEY: THE RE-LAUNCH OF THE U+ PRO SKATE
BY
Since the first introduction of its automobile skate in 1905, Canada Cycle and Motor Company Limited (CCM) has been a dominant player in the hockey skate market. By introducing numerous hi-tech features into its products, CCM has been able to establish itself as a major competitor in the world of hockey skates, ranking 3rd in the global market share ranking of the Skates market for Hockey Equipment Companies (Exhibit 7). However, with recent changes in demand and technological advancements in the hockey skate market, CCM has been experiencing drop in market share and sales.
As the hockey skate market matures and becomes more concentrated with a few large competitors (Exhibit 6), the competition to provide high-quality top-notch products increases. With the hopes of satisfying the most critical target segment of consumers aged from 12-18, who are known as “the Boss”, CCM launched its new line of skate known as U+ Pro that incorporated the U-Foam technology which had the ability to take unique shape of each individual foot. The production and launch of the U+ Pro skate was rushed as CCM took aggressive marketing actions to push its product through to its retailers and finally to reach the end users. As a result, the new line of skates started experiencing quality issues soon after, mainly in its durability, and CCM has since attempted to fix this problem through re-launch of its new and improved line of skates known as U+ Pro Reloaded. CCM has decided to change its traditional launch strategy of releasing its products in March/April, and instead decided to release during the fall hoping that consumers, having acquired these skates in the fall, would use them in the coming summer (Refer to Appendix (A) for detailed timeline of events leading up to the decision). CCM now faces a major decision in deciding the marketing and positioning strategy for their new line of U+ Pro Reloaded skates, which has been
CCM HOCKEY: THE RE-LAUNCH OF THE U+ PRO SKATE
BY
Since the first introduction of its automobile skate in 1905, Canada Cycle and Motor Company Limited (CCM) has been a dominant player in the hockey skate market. By introducing numerous hi-tech features into its products, CCM has been able to establish itself as a major competitor in the world of hockey skates, ranking 3rd in the global market share ranking of the Skates market for Hockey Equipment Companies (Exhibit 7). However, with recent changes in demand and technological advancements in the hockey skate market, CCM has been experiencing drop in market share and sales.
As the hockey skate market matures and becomes more concentrated with a few large competitors (Exhibit 6), the competition to provide high-quality top-notch products increases. With the hopes of satisfying the most critical target segment of consumers aged from 12-18, who are known as “the Boss”, CCM launched its new line of skate known as U+ Pro that incorporated the U-Foam technology which had the ability to take unique shape of each individual foot. The production and launch of the U+ Pro skate was rushed as CCM took aggressive marketing actions to push its product through to its retailers and finally to reach the end users. As a result, the new line of skates started experiencing quality issues soon after, mainly in its durability, and CCM has since attempted to fix this problem through re-launch of its new and improved line of skates known as U+ Pro Reloaded. CCM has decided to change its traditional launch strategy of releasing its products in March/April, and instead decided to release during the fall hoping that consumers, having acquired these skates in the fall, would use them in the coming summer (Refer to Appendix (A) for detailed timeline of events leading up to the decision). CCM now faces a major decision in deciding the marketing and positioning strategy for their new line of U+ Pro Reloaded skates, which has been