1) Taking back 5 points of lost market-share

A sports softgoods client had been slowly losing market share in a very lucrative accessory category, and had slipped from #1 to #2 in their most valuable channel of distribution. We agreed to interview their wholesale partners, and to dig through POS (point-of-sale) market data, identifying styles that had slipped in share. The next step was to discuss findings with the client and lead them through multiple working discussions focused on causes and solutions.

The sessions consisted of actual product comparisons, plus open discussions about marketing impact, pricing and inventory; about retailers and consumers. Within a few months, the client was planning to launch aggressive measures across product design & development, and trade and consumer marketing. Approximately twelve months later, the brand had regained the top market-share position.

2) Avoiding a multi-million dollar mistake

A leading sports apparel brand posed questions about extending one of their mid-sized product categories, with the goal of capturing new segments of young consumers. We studied the existing market data — the competition, consumer attitudes & behavior, average selling prices within the category, and the overall economics of the proposed scenario. While top-line growth is often what brands hunt for, in this instance we advised against what they had been considering. It simply presented a sub-optimal investment opportunity. Instead, why not increase investment (and market share) in a more promising category?

This client avoided what would have been a very time-consuming and costly attempt at expanding into a crowded market that, at best, would have generated much lower operating margins than their core business. In addition, it would have diluted their brand equity with existing core customers.

3) Actionable insights from deep in the data

A well-known apparel brand had been struggling to regain market-share it had forfeited to a competing brand in recent quarters. We spent several weeks digging into POS data that the client was already accessing, searching for micro-trends or abnormalities that their analysts might have overlooked.

What we found were two phenomena that, when overlaid against broader-based consumer data, provided strong clues to a path forward:

1. The brand was struggling most of the year in one particular women’s apparel category. Despite their strongest styles being almost identical to their competitor’s products in aesthetic, fabric, construction, price point, and even retail partners, our client had been dramatically under-indexing in sell-through velocity and market-share. This client normally attacked such problems by focusing on the product itself. But after analyzing the data together, they understood that the solution was to instead focus on messaging more simply and more clearly to the target consumer. The data suggested that this brand had not been speaking in a manner the consumer was identifying closely with. More recently, the brand has announced that a renewed focus on this consumer segment is among its top growth initiatives for the coming year.
2. This same brand was also losing total market-share during the holiday season, over several consecutive years. Oddly, they were oblivious to it because they stayed focused on their own holiday sales growth, rather than growth relative to market (every apparel brand enjoys sales growth during the holidays). In actuality, they were taking a market-share beating every holiday season from two specific competitors, and it was worth many millions of dollars every year. We dug into existing data and contextualized the findings into a broader view of consumer attitudes and behavior. We then presented insights about what their target consumer looks for when shopping for others, versus shopping for themselves. It sounds obvious, but until the data is examined and considered in this manner, the value of the analysis is difficult to imagine. That client subsequently initiated a program to intentionally bundle and promote certain products for greater holiday shopper appeal, with specific categories in mind.

4) Capitalizing on a hidden strength

A different brand, also in athletic apparel, was showing significant strength in one men’s apparel category at a very specific price point, and the data indicated it was driven by a small number of lesser appreciated, but good selling, styles. Curiously, those styles sold far beyond the brand’s typical market share, and they had something in common that diverged from the client’s core strategy. What we had identified was quite subtle in the opinions of the product managers — one practically denied it was intended in the design — but we interpreted it to be important to consumers. Their top U.S. executive called the conclusions “eye-opening,” and within an hour tasked his head of strategy to follow up on it with the product team… and please do more of it.

5) Helping those who help others

A nonprofit organization that mentors an at-risk segment of college students had been observing a moderate decline in participation and retention of their students. We promptly conducted a series of focus groups involving both existing participants and carefully selected groups of likely prospects. We then presented the client with our findings and insights, and we collaborated with them on next steps. Within weeks the leadership of the organization planned out several initiatives to:

1. Incorporate new life-skills mentoring that better suited what the students felt they needed in order to stay in school and make progress.
2. Significantly modify one of the essential tools utilized by the organization to guide students through the program.
3. Sharpen the language of the organization’s outbound messaging to more clearly convey what the overall program was about, and who it was intended to serve.