The case outlines the difficulties experienced by Shiv Naresh-( An Indian Sportswear Firm ) with regards to its competition with world hits such as Nike, Adidas and Puma.

1. ​SHIV NARESH​- ​The David of Sports Apparel
INTRODUCTION:
The case outlines the difficulties experienced by Shiv Naresh-( An Indian Sportswear Firm )
with regards to its competition with world hits such as Nike, Adidas and Puma.It is very clear
that the core of the problem lies in the marketing segment of Shiv-Naresh since the company is
known mostly by professional clubs and players.Now, the marketing segment here comprises
of 2 arms:
a).Outdoor Marketing
b).Digital Marketing.
Both would be dealt with here in this case.
How Shiv-Naresh would be able to create buzz and compete with its
competitors?(Marketing Strategy):
To create buzz, we have 2 pools:
● Digital Marketing .
● Outdoor Marketing.
Now, the target audience for Shiv-Naresh here is:
● Young Sports Enthusiasts
● Adult males (also consisting of old people)who are health conscious.
● Adult females who are health conscious.
● Outdoor Marketing​:
❖ Most of the urban areas in India have dozens of sports complexes and retail stores of
sportswear.These stores need to be fashioned with extensive Shiv-Naresh products.
❖ Now, why would these stores choose Shiv-Naresh over others ?
❖ There are broadly three answers:
1).More demand of Shiv-Naresh Products.
2).More Profit Margin
3).Ease of availability of Shiv-Naresh products.
❖ Well, profit margin is not an important factor since retailers depend more on sales and
demand ; and not only on profits.Further, profit margins in sportswear are more on local
companies such as Shiv-Naresh.
❖ Since Shiv-Naresh has to only focus on Indian urban markets, it s very reasonable to
assume that ease of availability is on par with Shiv-Naresh.
❖ So, the major factor for the slow pace of Shiv-Naresh is limited demand by common man
in Indian markets.Now, let us get our hands on as to why the demand of this Indian
company is not on par with its foreign competitors and what potential steps it needs to
take to compete with its competitors:

2. ➢ There are no stores/ showrooms of Shiv-Naresh in even big cities. They should at least
collaborate with local malls ,shopping complexes, clothing complexes and other retail
stores if budget is the problem.
➢ Shiv-Naresh should organize events targeting the people of the upper middle class
especially people belong to the service class society because these people demand
quality at the best cost. To do this , they can organize intra and inter marathons between
different colonies, sectors and cities.
➢ One of the most important crux of product-related business is the availability of variety in
markets. This is where Shiv-Naresh lacks among its competitors. Customers must have
enough choices to make.
➢ We all know the biggest portion of target audience for sports-wear are the youngsters
playing either for school sports teams, college sports or for regional and city sports
clubs.
Shiv-Naresh needs to target them . Shiv-Naresh needs to promote their products in all
such teams in all the major cities of India.
➢ They should partner with IPL teams and associations for sports apparel and sports
needs.
➢ Shiv-Naresh should approach AIFF (All India Football Federation) for being the sports
sponsor (title or associate) for the upcoming Under 17 Football World Cup .
● Digital Marketing:
❖ Today , people are more used to online surfing than ever and even much of the sales of
companies get through online purchase. So, Shiv-Naresh needs to lift its share in online
marketing sector. Let us see what it can do:
➢ No one has heard of an ad by Shiv-Naresh except those used in Azhar and Mary-Kom..
Creating popular , creative and bold ads speculating renowned sports celebrities can
totally change the game.Creating a sense of nationalism through these ads can serve
the purpose in a much beautiful way-as done by Patanjali and others.
➢ Using sentiment analysis by following the people who show their interest in sports and
sports related activities on various online platforms like Facebook ,Twitter and many
more
can help Shiv-Naresh trace its target audience and retarget them for better CRO
(Conversion Rate Optimization).
➢ They even don’t have any digital app like fitness apps.-which add a flavour to the
marketing segment.So , they must work on it and even organize online events and
competitions for better interest.
➢ Individual customer queries should be added .
➢ For added digital marketing , it should post its stories and features in top blogs of the
country such as YourStory, NextBigWhat, Trak so that people read about it..
How Shiv-Naresh should launch its new vertical-Shoes ?

3. ● For the shoe market - keeping in mind that the expansion should be done in the urban
areas ,the main focus of Shiv-Naresh should be on the Tier- 1 cities like Mumbai, Delhi,
Kolkata and Chandigarh ;and the target audience should be adults and the old persons
who are habitual to go for the morning walk.
● They can launch a new market segment specially for adults and old people who buy
track suits and running shoes either for jogging, walking or exercising.Since these
people love comfortability and low price , Shiv-Naresh can dominate this market if they
make extremely comfortable, long-lasting and cheap products.
● They can also create a market segment especially for women , since women are
extremely conscious about their health and looks.
● The above mentioned marketing strategies are equally valid in shoes sector.
New Products to Ponder:
● Fitness digital Apps .
● Fitness monitoring watches.
The Ultimate Choice-Increase in Market or Innovating New Products:
● Our main advice to Shiv-Naresh is working on increasing its Market.There are solid
reasons for that:
➢ First of all, marketing segment of Shiv-Naresh is extremely weak. If it does not nourish it,
the company would lag far behind its competitors.
➢ Nike is the highest earning company in sportswear sector . Shiv -Naresh does not even
fit into its standard. Now why Nike is the king, is known by all, is because it is the king of
branding more than its reign in innovation.
➢ Even if we spend on innovation and new products development, nothing considerable
would happen because when a person does not know about something, how can he/
she buy it even if the products are at par.