Bài tập tình huống Case study Mar Căn bản

Tài liệu này thuộc Bộ tài liệu hướng dẫn học tập, sử dụng cho chương trình đào tạo đại học hệ chính quy Case study 1 CHƯƠNG 1 SỰ “NỔI DẬY” CỦA NHÃN HIỆU NHỎ Hãy hỏi bất cứ ngôi sao nào

(Tài liệu này thuộc Bộ tài liệu hướng dẫn học tập, sử dụng cho chương trình đào tạo đại học hệ chính quy)

Case study 1 (CHƯƠNG 1)

SỰ “NỔI DẬY” CỦA NHÃN HIỆU NHỎ

Hãy hỏi bất cứ ngôi sao nào sành sỏi thời trang là cô ta ưa thích thương hiệu nào nhất thì có nhiều khả năng bạn sẽ được nghe đến vài nhãn hiệu bạn chưa nói đến bao giờ Chắc chắn có nhiều người không chỉ không biết mà còn sở hữu đôi giày gót nhọn (Stiletto) Gucci, cái túi da Prada, lọ dầu thơm Ck, nhưng chưa chắc họ biết đến Bella Dahl, hay Ballroom, hay Habitual hay Calypso, hay Paper, hay Three Dots, hay Juicy Couture hay không?

Những nữ nghệ sĩ trẻ đang thi nhau trưng diện Habitual lại thêm một nhãn hiệu mới nghe lần đầu Thưa rằng Habitual là loại kiểu quần jeans được wash rất “tế nhị”, có dây buột thay dây kéo và tuí quần viền da khác màu vải jeans đã được giới thiệu bởi các top model ngày nay, chẳng hạn như Gisèle Bundchen và Carolyn Murphy Đó là nhãn hiệu thời trang jeans của cô Nicole Garrett trước đây hành nghề nhà báo thời trang và vị hôn phu của cô, anh Michael Colovos

Những chiếc quần jeans Habitual bán chạy đến độ nghe nói Levi’s cũng phải thòm thèm dòm ngó dù rằng

nó là một “đại cổ thụ” về áo quần jeans nay đã được 130 năm tuổi Levi’s đã là đại doanh số bạc tỉ đôla Trong khi đó Habitual chỉ là một cơ sở nhỏ nhoi nằm trong một studio ở khu Hell’s Kitchen của đô thị rộng lớn New York

Nhưng “Tài sáng tạo đáng nể thuộc về những thương hiệu nhỏ, chúng tôi phải cạnh tranh với họ Họ tân thời hóa các kiểu cổ điển của chúng tôi và họ thành công rất nhanh” đã là nhận định thốt ra bởi chính ông Robert Hanson, chủ tịch thương hiệu của nhà Levi’s

“Trong những năm 90, quan niệm chung về thời trang nơi dám đông tiêu dùng là sự đồng nhất Anh giống tôi, tôi giống chị Nhưng bước sang những năm đầu thế kỷ 21, quan niệm này đã bị bãi bỏ Ngày nay người ta thích sự đa dạng, không ai giống ai nên các thương hiệu nhỏ phất lên với những mẫu mã hoàn toàn mới lạ”, Jaqui, phó chủ tịch cấp cao thời trang ở cửa hàng Saks Fifth Avenue tại New York nói “Bây giờ, ngôi sao nào, cô gái nào cũng muốn mình là người đầu tiên trưng diện mốt mới sẽ được nhiều người bắt chước”

Sự bùng phát của các thương hiệu nhỏ nhanh chóng lọt vào tầm nhắm của các nghệ sĩ trẻ có thể được giải thích bởi sự “nổi dậy” làm khác người ta, sống khác người ta, ăn khác người ta, tại sao tôi cứ uống cà phê Starbucks như mọi người? Chính vì những câu hỏi đặt ra như thế mà các nghệ sĩ sành điệu đã đến với những thương hiệu còn xa lạ với đám đông tiêu dùng

Khi nói về dầu thơm nhiều nghệ sĩ của ngày hôm nay nhắc đến những cửa hàng nhỏ, chẳng hạn như Colette ở Paris hay Seoop ở New York City, chứ không hề nói đến các cửa hàng Sephora vẫn trưng bày, bán ra hàng ngàn mùi hương khác nhau

Năm 1994, từ quần đảo Đông Ấn Pháp, nơi cô làm chủ cửa hàng Calypso, Christiane Celle, người Pháp “di trú” lên sống trong khu phố Nolita ở New York Những chiếc áo blouse cắt kiểu dân dã từ các khúc vải màu sáng tươi mát của cô đã trở thành những mặt hàng thời trang phải có của nhiều người mẫu thời trang và nữ nghệ sĩ trẻ Mặc với quần jeans lưng xệ, dây lưng to bản, chúng biểu hiện cho sự bá chủ lâu năm của những thương hiệu lừng danh thế giới như Prada, Gucci, Versace

Không lâu sau đó, Tom Ford, nhà thiết kế thời trang người Mỹ làm việc cho nhà Yves Saint Laurent, Pháp

đã sao chép kiểu thời trang Bohemian ấy của Calypso-Christianee Celle Nó đã xuất hiện cả trên trang bià tạp chí Vogue số tháng 9/2001

Theo Kate Bess, nhà báo chuyên về thời trang của tạp chí Time - Mỹ thì còn một lý do khác quan trọng hơn giải thích cho sự nhanh nhạy của các thương hiệu nhỏ Đó là yếu tố giá rẻ hơn giá các sản phẩm thời trang của các thương hiệu lừng danh thế giới

Cũng chính yếu tố giá rẻ này khiến những thương hiệu nhỏ có lực hút lớn nhanh chóng trở thành “con mồi” của các đại gia thời trang Noi theo gương nhà Estéc Lauder đã mua hai thương hiệu mỹ phẩm nhỏ M.A.C và Bobbi Brown hồi giũa thập niên 90, trong khoảng thời gian cực ngắn từ tháng 12/2000 đến tháng 7/2001, tập đoàn Gucci đã thâu tóm ba nhà thiết kế thời trang độc lập đang lên là Stelle MeCartney, Alexander McQueen và Baleneiaga

(Nguồn: Nguyễn Linh, theo Time Style & Design, Sài Gòn Tiếp Thị số 40,9 10/04/2003)

CÂU HỎI THẢO LUẬN

1 Tại sao hiện nay có một bộ phận người tiêu dùng ưa chuộng các nhãn hiệu nhỏ ? Họ tìm thấy gì trong nhãn hiệu này? Tại sao những nhãn hiệu lớn lại không thể cung cấp các giá trị này cho họ?

2 Những giá trị mà khách hàng tìm kiếm ở các nhãn hiệu nhỏ là nhằm đáp ứng nhu cầu nào trên tháp nhu cầu Maslow? Phân tích để làm rõ

3 Bằng quan sát của mình hãy cho biết khuynh hướng này có tồn tại ở người tiêu dùng Việt Nam hay không? Nếu có, cho một vài ví dụ minh chứng nhận định của bạn

4 Hãy liệt kê một vài nhãn hiệu của các sản phẩm và dịch vụ nhỏ của doanh nghiệp Việt Nam mà bạn cho là thành công giống như các ví dụ nêu trong tình huống

Case study 2 (CHƯƠNG 2)

TARGET: FROM “EXPECT MORE” TO “PAY LESS”

When you hear the term discount retail, two names that usually come to mind: Walmart and Target The two have been compared so much that the press rarely covers one without at least mentioning the other The reasons for the comparison are fairly obvious These corporations are two of the largest discount retailers in the United States Category for category, they offer very similar merchandise They tend to build their stores in close proximity to one another, even facing each other across major boulevards But even with such strong similarities, ask consumers if there’s a difference between the two, and they won’t even hesitate Walmart is all about low prices; Target is about style and fashion The “cheap chic” label applied by consumers and the media over the years perfectly captures the long-standing company positioning: “Expect More Pay Less.” With its numerous designer product lines, Target hasbeensosuccessfulwithitsbrandpositioningthatforanumber of years it has slowly chipped away at Walmart’s massive market share Granted, the difference in the scale for the two companies has always been huge Walmart’s most recent annual revenues of $408 billion are more than six times those of Target But for many years, Target’s business grew at a much faster pace than Walmart’s

In fact, as Walmart’s same-store sales began to lag in the mid 2000s, the world’s largest retailer unabashedly attempted to become more like Target It spruced up its store environment, added more fashionable clothing and housewares, and stocked organic and gourmet products in its grocery aisles Walmart even experimented with luxury brands After 19 years of promoting the slogan, “Always Low Prices Always.” Walmart replaced it with the very Target-esque tagline, “Save Money Live Better.” None

of those efforts seemed to speed up Walmart’s revenue growth or slow down Target’s

But oh what a difference a year or two can make As the global recession began to tighten its grip on the world’s retailers in 2008, the dynamics between the two retail giants reversed almost overnight As unemployment rose and consumers began pinching their pennies, Walmart’s familiar price “rollbacks” resonated with consumers, while Target’s image of slightly better stuff for slightly higher prices did not Target’s well-cultivated “upscale discount” image was turning away customers who believed that its fashionable products and trendy advertising meant steeper prices By mid-2008, Target had experienced three straight quarters of flat same-store sales growth and a slight dip in store traffic At the same time, Walmart was defying the economic slowdown, posting quarterly increases in same-store sales of close to

5 percent along with substantial jumps in profits

SAME SLOGAN, DIFFERENT EMPHASIS

In fall 2008, Target acknowledged the slide and announced its intentions to do something about it Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel succinctly summarized the company’s new strategy: “The customer is very cash strapped right now And in some ways, our greatest strength has become somewhat of a challenge So, we’re still trying to define and find the right balance between ‘Expect More Pay Less.’ The current environment means that the focus is squarely on the ‘Pay Less’ side of it.”

In outlining Target’s new strategy, company executives made it clear that Walmart was the new focus Target would make certain that its prices were in line with Walmart’s Future promotions would

communicate the “pay less” message to consumers, while also highlighting the fact that Target is every bit the convenient one-stop shopping destination as its larger rival

The new communications program included massive changes to in-store signage Instead of in-store images and messages highlighting trendy fashion, store visitors were greeted with large signs boasting price points and value messages Similarly, weekly newspaper circulars featured strong value headlines, fewer products, and clearly labeled price points In fact, Target’s ads began looking very much like those

of Walmart or even Kmart Further recognizing the consumer trend toward thriftiness, Target increased the emphasis on its own store brands of food and home goods

While making the shift toward “Pay Less,” Target was careful to reassure customers that it would not compromise the “Expect More” part of its brand Target has always been known for having more designer partnerships than any other retailer From the Michael Graves line of housewares to Isaac Mizrahi’s clothing line, Target boasts more than a dozen product lines created exclusively for Target by famous designers Kathryn Tesija, Target’s executive vice president of merchandising, assured customers that not only would Target continue those relationships but also add several new designer partnerships in the apparel and beauty categories

MOUNTING PRESSURE

Although Steinhafel’s “Pay Less” strategy was aggressive, Target’s financials were slow to respond In fact, things initially got worse with sales at one point dropping by 10 percent from the previous year Target’s profits suffered even more It didn’t help matters that Walmart bucked the recessionary retail trend by posting revenue increases When confronted with this fact, Steinhafel responded that consumers held perceptions that Target’s value proposition was not as strong as that of its biggest rival He urged investors to be patient, that its value message would take time to resonate with consumers Given that Walmart had a decades-long lead in building its cost structure as a formative competitive advantage, Steinhafel couldn’t stress that point enough

While Target continued to struggle with this turn-around challenge, it received a new threat in the form

of one of its largest investors Activist shareholder William Ackman, whose company had invested $2 billion in Target only to lose 85 percent of it, was holding the retailer’s feet to the fire Ackman openly chided Target for failing to deal effectively with the economic downturn He charged that Target’s board

of directors lacked needed experience and sought to take control of five of the board’s seats “Target is not Gucci,” he said in a letter to investors “It should be a business that does well, even in tough economic times.”

Making the changes that Ackman and others were calling for was exactly what Steinhafel was trying to

do Steinhafel refused to give up on his strategy Instead, he intensified Target’s “Pay Less” emphasis In addition to aggressive newspaper advertising, Target unveiled a new set of television spots Each ad played to a catchy tune with a reassuring voice singing, “This is a brand new day And it’s getting better every single day.” Ads showed ordinary people consuming commonly purchased retail products but with

a unique twist

In one ad, a couple was shown drinking coffee in what appeared to be a fancy coffee house with the caption “The new coffee spot” But the camera pulled back to reveal that the couple was sitting in their own kitchen, with a coffee pot on the stove.The caption confirmed: “Espresso maker, $24.99.” In another

segment of the ad headlined “The new salon trip”, a glamorous woman with flowing red hair appeared to

be in an upscale salon The camera angle then shifted to show her in her own modest bathroom, revealing a small bottle sitting on the sink with the caption “Hair color, $8.49” Every ad repeated this same theme multiple times, with takes such as “The new car wash”, “The new movie night”, and “The new gym”

In addition to the new promotional efforts, Target made two significant operational changes First, it began converting a corner of its department stores into mini-grocery stores carrying a narrow selection of

90 percent of the food categories found in full-size grocery stores, including fresh produce One shopper’s reaction was just what Target was hoping for A Wisconsin housewife and mother of two stopped by her local Target to buy deodorant and laundry detergent before heading to the local grocery store But as she worked her way through the fresh-food aisles, she found everything on her list “I’m done,” she said, as she grabbed a 99-cent green pepper “I just saved myself a trip.”

While the mini-grocery test stores showed promising results, groceries also represented a low-margin expansion Walmart was seeing most of its gains in higher margin discretionary goods like bedding, traditionally Target’s stronghold But in a second operational change, Target surprised many analysts by unveiling a new package for its main store brand one without the familiar Target bulls-eye! That is, the packages discard the bull’s-eye, replacing it with big, colorful, upward-pointing arrows on a white background, with the new brand name, “up & up.”

Continuing to address the trend of higher store brand sales, Tesija stated, “We believe that it will stand out on the shelf, and it is so distinctive that we’ll get new guests that will want to try it that maybe didn’t even notice the Target brand before.” Up & up products are priced about 30 percent lower than comparable name brand products Target began promoting the store brand in its circulars and planned to expand the total number of products under the label from 730 to 800 While initial results showed an increase in store brand sales for products with the new design, it is unclear just how many of those sales came at the expense of name brand products

SIGNS OF LIFE

Target’s journey over the past few years demonstrates that changing the direction of alarge corporation

is like trying to reverse a moving freight train Things have to slow down before they can go the other way But after 18 months of aggressive change, it appears that consumers may have finally gotten the message During the first half of 2010, sales rose by as much as 5 percent with profits up a whopping 54 percent Both spending per visit and the number of store visits increased All this could be a ttributed to the fact that the effects of the recession were starting to loosen up and consumer confidence was stabilizing But in a sign that Target’s efforts were truly paying off, Walmart’s sales growth was slowing during this same period and even showing signs of decline Customer perceptions of Target’s value were indeed on the rise

Steinhafel made it very clear that the new signs of life at Target were being met with cautious optimism

“Clearly the economy and consumer sentiment have improved since their weakest point in 2009,” said the Target CEO “But we believe that both are still some what unstable and fragile and will likely continue

to experience occasional setbacks as the year progresses.” Steinhafel’s comments reflected an understanding that even as the economy showed signs of recovery, research indicated that consumers everywhere were adopting a new found sense off rugality and monetary responsibility

Target’s “Pay Less” strategy has continued forward without wavering Pricing seems to have found the sweet spot as Steinhafel announced that few adjustments are needed Ads continue to emphasize low prices on everyday items And the expansion of groceries and store brands has continued In fact, for

2010, Target planned just 10 store openings, the lowest in its history “It will be a long time before we approach the development pace of several years ago,” said Doug Scovanner, Target’s chief financial officer Instead, Target is putting its money into remodeling existing stores to better accommodate the shifts in inventory

Some Wall Street analysts have expressed concern that Target’s recent value strategy may weaken the brand as customers lose sight of the distinctive features that set it apart from Walmart But the words of one shopper are a good indication that Target may still be retaining the “Expect More” part of its image, despite having emphasized “Pay Less.” “Target is a nice place to go Walmart may have good prices, but I would rather tell my friends that I came back from shopping at Target.”

(Source: Philip Kotler & Arm Strong, Principles of Marketing, p.94-95)

CÂU HỎI THẢO LUẬN

1 Các yếu tố môi trường vi mô nào đã ảnh hướng đến hiệu quả của Target trong vài năm qua?

2 Các yếu tố môi trường vĩ mô nào đã ảnh hướng đến hiệu quả của Target trong thời gian đó?

3 Bằng việc tập trung vào “Pay Less” trong slogan của nó, liệu Target đã theo đuổi mục tiêu chiến lược tốt nhất? Tại sao?

4 Với tình hình tiện tại của Target, bạn có kiến nghị gì với Steinhafel cho tương lai công ty của ông

Case study 3 (CHƯƠNG 3)

SAS AIRLINES: THÀNH CÔNG NHỜ SỰ THAY ĐỔI

Năm 1980 Jan Carlton nhận chức chủ tịch SAS (tập đoàn kinh doanh ngành hàng không và các dịch vụ liên quan của 3 nước Đan Mạch, Na Uy, Thụy Điển), khi hãng hàng không này đang rơi vào tình trạng khó khăn

về tài chính Trong những năm trước đó, ban điều hành đã giải quyết vấn đề này bằng cách cắt giảm chi phí Carlton cho rằng đó là một sai lầm Một hãng hàng không phải tìm những giải pháp mới để có thể cạnh tranh và thu lợi nhuận SAS trước đó đã hướng tới tất cả các du khách mà không hề tập trung vào một ưu điểm đặc biệt nào để hấp dẫn một giới du khách cụ thể Trên thực tế, hãng hàng không này còn bị coi là một hãng vận chuyển tệ nhất về mặt giờ giấc ở Châu Âu Mức độ cạnh tranh ngày càng cao làm cho Carlton phải đặt vấn đề: “Khách hàng của chúng ta là ai? Nhu cầu của họ là gì? Chúng ta phải làm gì để thu hút được khách hàng?”

Carlton đã quyết định sẽ tập trung hướng các dịch vụ của SAS vào nhóm khách hàng thường xuyên, các thương gia và nhắm vào các nhu cầu của họ Tuy nhiên, ông lại nhận thấy rằng các hãng hàng không khác cũng đang cố gắng thu hút nhóm khách hàng này Họ cũng đang cố gắng hấp dẫn khách hàng bằng những chỗ ngồi rộng hơn, nước uống miễn phí và những tiện nghi khác SAS phải tìm cách thực hiện những dịchvụ đó tốt hơn nếu muốn trở thành hãng hàng không được ưa thích

Khởi đầu là việc nghiên cứu thị trường để tìm hiểu xem nhóm khách hàng thường xuyên là những thương gia có mong muốn và kỳ vọng gì ở những hãng hàng không Mục đích của ông là tìm mọi cách để có thể thực hiện tốt hơn người khác 1% trong 100 việc hơn là thực hiện tốt 100% trong 1 việc

Cuộc nghiên cứu cho thấy yếu tố quan trọng nhất đối với du khách thuộc giới thương gia là đến đúng giờ,

họ muốn check-in cũng như nhận hành lý một cách nhanh chóng Carlton đã giao nhiệm vụ cho các cộng

sự của ông phải tìm ra những sáng kiến mới nhằm cải thiện những dịch vụ phục vụ nhu cầu này

Cuối cùng, hàng trăm đề nghị cải tiến đã được đưa ra và 150 sáng kiến trong số đó đã được tuyển chọn

và đưa vào thực hiện với kinh phí 40 triệu USD Một trong những chương trình quan trọng là đào tạo phương châm tất cả vì khách hàng cho toàn bộ nhân viên của SAS Carlton đã hình dung rằng trung bình

cứ một khách hàng sẽ tiếp xúc với 5 nhân viên của SAS trong một chuyến Mỗi cuộc tiếp xúc sẽ tạo ra

“một khoảng khắc chân thật” về SAS Với con số 5 triệu khách hàng vận chuyển bằng máy bay của SAS trong một năm sẽ có khoảng 25 triệu khoảng khắc chân thật để SAS có thể thành công hay không trong việc thỏa mãn nhu cầu khách hàng của mình Để tạo ra được cung cách phục vụ tốt đối với khách hàng, SAS đã cử 10.000 nhân viên ở tuyến trước dự những buổi hội thảo và đội ngũ 2500 nhà quản trị tham gia các khóa học ngắn hạn Đối với Carlton, nhân viên tuyến trước là những nhân vật quan trọng trong công

ty Đối với những quản trị viên, vai trò của họ là giúp đỡ các nhân viên tuyến trước hoàn thành tốt nhiệm

vụ Vai trò của chính ông là hỗ trợ các quản trị viên trong công việc giúp đỡ những nhân viên ở tuyến trước

Kết quả là trong vòng 4 tháng, hãng hàng không SAS đã được xếp hạng là hãng hàng không đúng giờ nhất Châu Âu Check-in cũng được tiến hành nhanh hơn, bao gồm luôn cả dịch vụ chuyển hành lý của những

du khách nghỉ tại khách sạn ra phi trường và chuyển thẳng lên máy bay… Danh tiếng về những cải tiến trong cung cách phục vụ của hãng hàng không này đã lan truyền nhanh trong giới du khách thương gia

(Nguồn: wattpad.com)

CÂU HỎI THẢO LUẬN

1 Khách hàng mục tiêu của SAS Airlines là ai và họ muốn gì?

2 SAS đã sử dụng kĩ thuật marketing nào để đạt được thành công?

3 Sự thành công của SAS chứng minh được điều gì?

Case study 4 (CHƯƠNG 3)

PORSCHE: GUARDING THE OLD WHILE BRINGING IN THE NEW

Porsche (pronounced Porsh-uh) is a unique company It has always been a niche brand that makes cars for a small and distinctive segment of automobile buyers In 2009, Porsche sold only 27,717 cars in the five models it sells in the United States Honda sold about 10times that many Accords alone But Porsche owners are as rare as their vehicles For that reason, top managers at Porsche spend a great deal of time thinking about customers They want to know who their customers are, what they think, and how they feel They want to know why they buy a Porsche rather then a Jaguar, a Ferrari, or a big Mercedes coupe These are challenging questions to answer; even Porsche owners themselves don’t know exactly what motivates their buying But given Porsche’s low volume and the increasingly fragmented auto market, it is imperative that management understands its customers and what gets their motors running

THE PROFILE OF A PORSCHE OWNER

Porsche was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the man credited for designing the original Volkswagen Beetle—Adolf Hitler’s “people’s car” and one of the most successful car designs of all time For most of its first two decades, the company built Volkswagen Beetles for German citizens and tanks and Beetles for the military As Porsche AG began to sell cars under its own nameplate in the 1950s and 1960s, a few constants developed The company sold very few models, creating an image of exclusivity Those models had a rounded, bubble shape that had its roots in the original Beetle but evolved into something more Porsche-like with the world famous 356 and 911 models Finally, Porsche’s automobiles featured air-cooled four- and six-cylinder “boxer” motors (cylinders in an opposed configuration) in the rear of the car This gave the cars a unique and often dangerous characteristic—a tendency for the rear end to swing out when cornering hard That’s one of the reasons that Porsche owners were drawn to them They were challenging to drive, which kept most people away

Since its early days, Porsche has appealed to a very narrow segment of financially successful people These are achievers who see themselves as entrepreneurial, even if they work for a corporation They set very high goals for themselves and then work doggedly to meet them And they expect no less from the clothes they wear, the restaurants they go to, or the cars they drive These individuals see themselves not

as a part of the regular world but as exceptions to it They buy Porsches because the car mirrors their self-image; it stands for the things owners like to see in themselves and their lives

Most of us buy what Porsche executives call utility vehicles That is, we buy cars primarily to go to work, transport children, and run errands Because we use our cars to accomplish these daily tasks, we base buying decisions on features such as price, size, fuel economy, and other practical considerations But Porsche is more than a utility car Its owners see it as a car to be enjoyed, not just used Most Porsche buyers are not moved by information but by feelings A Porsche is like a piece of clothing—something the owner “wears” and is seen in They develop a personal relationship with their cars, one that has more to

do with the way the car sounds, vibrates, and feels, rather than the how many cup holders it has or how much cargo it can hold in the trunk They admire their Porsche because it is a competent performance machine without being flashy or phony

People buy Porsches because they enjoy driving If all they needed was something to get them from point

A to point B, they could find something much less expensive And while many Porsche owners are car

enthusiasts, some of them are not One successful business-woman and owner of a high-end Porsche said, “When I drive this car to the high school to pick up my daughter, I end up with five youngsters in the car If I drive any other car, I can’t even find her; she doesn’t want to come home.”

FROM NICHE TO NUMEROUS

For its first few decades, Porsche AG lived by the philosophy of Ferry Porsche, Ferdinand’s son Ferry created the Porsche 356 because no one else made a car like he wanted “We did no market research, we had no sales forecasts, no return-on-investment calculations None of that I very simply built my dream car and figured that there would be other people who share that dream.” So, really, Porsche AG from the beginning was very much like its customers: an achiever that set out to make the very best

But as the years rolled on, Porsche management became concerned with a significant issue: Were there enough Porsche buyers to keep the company afloat? Granted, the company never had illusions of churning out the numbers of a Chevrolet or a Toyota But to fund innovation, even a niche manufacturer has to grow a little And Porsche began to worry that the quirky nature of the people who buy Porsches might just run out on them

This led Porsche to extend its brand outside the box In the early 1970s, Porsche introduced the 914, a square-ish, mid-engine, two-seater that was much cheaper than the 911 This meant that a different class

of people could afford a Porsche It was no surprise that the 914 became Porsche’s top selling model By the late 1970s, Porsche replaced the 914 with a hatchback coupe that had something no other regular Porsche model had ever had: an engine in the front At less than $20,000, more than $10,000 less than the 911, the 924 and later 944 models were once again Porsche’s pitch to affordability At one point, Porsche increased its sales goal by nearly 50 percent to 60,000 cars a year

Although these cars were in many respects sales successes, the Porsche faithful cried foul They considered these entry-level models to be cheap and underperforming Most loyalists never really accepted these models as “real” Porsches In fact, they were not at all happy that they had to share their brand with a customer who didn’t fit the Porsche owner profile They were turned off by what theysawasacorporatestrategythathadfocusedonmassoverclass marketing This tarnished image was compounded by the fact that Nissan, Toyota, BMW, and other car manufacturers had ramped up high-end sports car offerings, creating some fierce competition In fact, both the Datsun 280-ZX and the Toyota Supra were not only cheaper than Porsche’s 944 but also faster A struggling economy threw more sand in Porsche’s tank By 1990, Porsche sales had plummeted, and the company flirted with bankruptcy

RETURN TO ITS ROOTS?

But Porsche wasn’t going down without a fight It quickly recognized the error of its ways and halted production of the entry-level models It rebuilt its damaged image by revamping its higher-end model lines with more race-bred technology In an effort to regain rapport with customers, Porsche once again targeted the high end of the market in both price and performance It set modest sales goals and decided that moderate growth with higher margins would be more profitable in the long term Thus, the company set out to make one less Porsche than the public demanded According to one executive, “We’re not looking for volume; we’re searching for exclusivity.”

Porsche’s efforts had the desired effect By the late 1990s, the brand was once again favored by the same type of achiever who had so deeply loved the car for decades The cars were once again exclusive And the company was once again profitable But by the early 2000s, Porsche management was again asking itself a familiar question: To have a sustainable future, could Porsche rely on only the Porsche faithful? According to then CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, “For Porsche to remain independent, it can’t be dependent

on the most fickle segment in the market We don’t want to become just a marketing department of some giant We have to make sure we’re profitable enough to pay for future development ourselves.”

So in 2002, Porsche did the unthinkable It became one of the last car companies to jump into the insatiable sport utility vehicle (SUV) market At roughly 5,000 pounds, the new Porsche Cayenne was heavier than anything that Porsche had ever made, with the exception of some prototype tanks it made during WWII Once again, the new model featured an engine up front And it was the first Porsche to ever

be equipped with seatbelts for five As news spread about the car’s development, howls could be heard from Porsche’s customer base

But this time, Porsche did not seem too concerned that the loyalists would be put off Could it be that the company had already forgotten what happened the last time it deviated from the mold? After driving one

of the first Cayenne’s off the assembly line, one journalist stated, “A day at the wheel of the 444 horsepower Cayenne Turbo leaves two overwhelming impressions First, the Cayenne doesn’t behave or feel like an SUV, and second, it drives like a Porsche.” This was no entry-level car Porsche had created a two-and-a-half ton beast that could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over five seconds, corner like it was on rails, and hit 165 miles per hour, all while coddling five adults in sumptuous leather seats with almost no wind noise from the outside world On top of that, it could keep up with a Land Rover when the pavement ended Indeed, Porsche had created the Porsche of SUVs

Last year, Porsche upped the ante one more time It unveiled another large vehicle But this time, it was a low-slung, five-door luxury sedan The Porsche faithful and the automotive press again gasped in disbelief But by the time the Panamera hit the pavement, Porsche had proven once again that Porsche customers could have their cake and eat it to The Panamera is almost as big as the Cayenne but can move four adults down the road at speeds of up to 188 miles per hour and accelerate from a standstill to

60 miles per hour in four seconds flat

Although some Porsche traditionalists would never be caught dead driving a front engine Porsche that has more than two doors, Porsche insists that two trends will sustain these new models First, a category

of Porsche buyers has moved into life stages that have them facing inescapable needs; they need to haul more people and stuff This not only applies to certain regular Porsche buyers, but Porsche is again seeing buyers enter its dealerships that otherwise wouldn’t have Only this time, the price points of the new vehicles are drawing only the well heeled, allowing Porsche to maintain its exclusivity These buyers also seem to fit the achiever profile of regular Porsche buyers

The second trend is the growth of emerging economies Where as the United States has long been the world’s biggest consumer of Porsches, the company expects China to become its biggest customer before too long Twenty years ago, the United States accounted for about 50 percent of Porsche’s worldwide sales Now, it accounts for only about 26 percent In China, many people who can afford to buy a car as expensive as a Porsche also hire a chauffeur The Cayenne and the Panamera are perfect for those who want to be driven around in style but who may also want to make a quick getaway if necessary