Li Ning Marcom Plan "goals and Obejectives Report"

Organizational Goals

Li Ning is a large multinational corporation that focuses on producing sporting goods. Their primary operations take place in China but they have outlet stores in Singapore and North America. Li Ning is currently involved in the market for the production of sportswear, footwear, apparel and equipment for sport and leisure activities. They are also in a joint venture with French brand Aigle and Italian brand Lotto which are two brands involved in similar markets to Li Ning.

The overall goals of Li Ning are to become an industry leader in the production of sportswear, and to become a world renowned brand. However before they are able to achieve their grander goals they need to achieve some of the smaller goals they have set for their firm. The first of these is to reinvigorate their brand and grow it in stature, essentially what they are hoping to do is to change consumer perception of their brand and to increase consumer awareness of their brand in their target market. In this case Li Ning's target market is the Australia sportswear market both for men and women, in targeting these consumers Li Ning is attempting to gain a 6% market share by increasing their market penetration.

Despite all these objectives and goals Li Ning has some very clear limitations in the form of budgetary constraints. To achieve its goals in the Australian market Li Ning has decided on a budget of $2.5 million.

2.0 Brand Positioning (Target Audience)

Li Ning is an international brand originating from China, but due to its success, the client is aiming to position itself in the Australian market with the aim of achieving 6% market share in 2012. Li Ning's slogan is "professional sports gear" and hence their target audience is towards consumers who would purchase sporting equipment. The client is using socio-demographic segmentation, as Li Ning's products are much cheaper than international brands such as Adidas and also consumers with Asian heritage and background would be more likely to be familiarise themselves with Li Ning. Li Ning's brand vision is to create a world-leading brand in the sporting goods industry and it is attempting to do this by creating values within the brand such as Li Ning attempting to be consumer orientated and instill a "WE" culture brand association. Li Ning's main stakeholder would be PK sports which is a wholesaler purchasing Li Ning equipment from China and then distributing this equipment in to the Australian marketplace. Li Ning's action objective would be to penetrate or withdraw from the Australian market depending on sales and quota demanded from PK sports. For consumers, PK sports is the main way they gain access to Li Ning products. The other alternative would be online shopping and having these products shipped to Australia. Li Ning's primary target audience in Australia would be badminton players as they have established already a market share in Badminton Australia with Li Ning having a competitive advantage over rival Badminton raquet suppliers. This is reinforced through their advertising where owners of Li Ning raquets won 5 gold medals at the 2011 World Championships. The secondary target audience for Li Ning would include its sub-category branding such as Lotto which are quite popular sports footwear in indoor soccer. Lotto has been relatively successful in the Australian market with a variety of sporting shoes sold within Australian stores such as In-sport and hence the client would be looking to generate revenue from these sub-brands as well.

3.0 Category Need

Developing a brand positioning strategy is essential to every brand, since it contribute the competitive benefit of the brand in consumer's