Title: Case Study: ”Sport Zone – Running the Extra Mile. Marketing strategies to improve Fitness Business Unit sales performance.” Field of study: Marketing Purpose: Dissertation for obtaining the Degree of Master in Business Administration (The Lisbon MBA International) Author: Ana Fernandes The Lisbon MBA International 2014 Graduate
[email protected] +351 966 046 889 Thesis Professor Jorge Velosa Supervisor: Date: 15 th May 2015 Sport Zone – Running the Extra Mile. Marketing strategies to improve Fitness Business Unit sales performance 2/29 Sport Zone – Running the Extra Mile. Marketing strategies to improve Fitness Business Unit sales performance Sport Zone: the growth challenge 1 It was December 2014 and Ana Sá Pinto, head of Sport Zone Fitness BU 2, was examining the year’s closing figures. Fitness sales continued to decrease and management was pushing for demanding targets in the years to come: a 20% sales increase in 2015 and a 10% yoy growth until 2019. Responding to the changing market trends and company sales stagnation, in the second half of 2012, Sport Zone had changed its strategic positioning focusing on 3 key sports: football, running and fitness. Its aim was to be an international reference in the sports retail market, through successfully achieving first place in all markets where it operated. This repositioning encompassed several actions: the remodelling of the stores, upgrading the brand image to a premium look, the introduction of specific marketing strategies for each of the key areas and the redesign of own brands to provide customers’ more fashionable and trendy products. Part of the new strategy was the review of customer segmentation focusing on the millennial generation, individuals born between the early 1980’s and early 2000’s.