New Balance Company is a multinational corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts in America. The company was founded in 1906 and has remained as one of the leading manufacturers of sports footwear globally. With over 100 years of existence, the company has stayed at the top of the industry while maintaining a competitive advantage. It has over the years of its existence used various strategies including differentiation to maintain competitive advantage and increase its market dominance.
One of the porter’s generic strategies that have been used by New Balance is the differentiation strategy. The company has over the years stood out by making its products different and more attractive compared to the competitors. The differentiation of its products has been based on the functionality, durability and a strong brand image that offers an excellent experience to the customers ( Semuel, Siagian & Octavia, 2017 ). The company focuses on research and innovation to ensure that the products it provides to the customers are of good quality compared to what the competitors provide. One way that the company can use to be more competitive in the global market is to target new international markets so that it can increase its market coverage.
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One of the opportunities for New Balance is the changing preferences. The preference of the customers is changing globally as more customers are willing to spend more in the custom-designed shoes ( Yang, 2015 ). The company can utilize this opportunity by investing in custom-designed shoes to increase its competitive advantage. The threat that New Balance could face in the coming years is the ever-rising competition from other brands such as Nike and Adidas. To overturn this threat, the company has to remain innovative and understand what the customer wants in the ever-changing market.
In conclusion, New Balance has stood out as a brand in the footwear industry for many years now due to its ability to offer a unique, differentiated product. The focus on quality and ability to understand the ever-changing customer demand has led to its success within the industry. Despite its success, the company faces a serious competitive threat from rival firms, and unless it continues to remain innovative and produce custom-designed products, its dominance could be reduced.
References
Semuel, H., Siagian, H., & Octavia, S. (2017). The effect of leadership and innovation on differentiation strategy and company performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 237 , 1152-1159.
Yang, T. (2015). Localization of New Balance brand marketing strategy for Chinese markets. Routledge.
