The company, Brooks Sports, Inc. came into being by, Morris Goldenberg, in 1914. SWOT analysis is the acronym of Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and Threats (David, 1995). SWOT analysis is used to analyse the external and internal environment of the organization (Daft, and Marcic, 2006).
STRENGTHS
The company has been providing high quality sports stuff for both, men and women, including, shoes, soccer and running wear, balls and other related items. So, offering a range of products is one of the strengths that have helped Brooks Sports to be successful over the years. The company has been operating in more than 40 countries worldwide and this is one of the major strengths of the company. Moreover, the company offers quality products which are considered as one of the best amongst other competitors. The other success factor of the company is that it offers products for every age group (Brooks Sports, 2012).
Brooks Sports is the main sponsor of the Hanson Brooks Distance Project. It was also the only uniforms provider to the Chile National Football team. Sponsorship has helped the company in marketing its name and promoting it. Brooks has numerous collections of its sponsors in Football teams, National Team, Hockey team, Rugby team and clubs like; Queens Park Rangers Football Club, Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, Deportes Magallanes and more (Brooks Sports, 2012).
Brooks Sports has been improving its technology with the passage of time. The company has started online store as well and consumers can purchase their products online. Free home delivery of products is another important strength to motivate the customers to order online.
WEAKNESSES
One of the limitations of the company is that all the products offered are related to sports. In addition to this, the industry is highly competitive and comparing the competition level, the prices offered by the company are slightly expensive which has been one of the weaknesses of the company. Although the company has been operating since 1914, but still it has not been able to capitalize on the available opportunities like some of its competitors; Nike and Adidas. Adidas has reported revenue of €14.48 billion with net profits of €1185 million in the year 2012. On the other hand, Nike has reported a net profit of US$ 2.223. Thus it shows that Brooks Sports has not been able to capitalize on the prevailing opportunities in the market.
Opportunities
There are numerous opportunities available in the market for Brooks to expand and capitalize. First of all, one opportunity for the company is to expand their business and to capture the market of the countries where there is high vision and scope for the growth of sports like; China, India and other such countries. This would allow the company to not only capitalize on the opportunities prevailing in such markets, but it would also allow the company to increase its sales and profitability. The sportswear retail market of India is expected to be INR365.8 billion and the industry is expected to grow at a rate of 33% during 2010 to 2014 (Ernst & Young, 2012). Therefore, the Indian market is an important one to be capitalized. Similarly, the growth rate of the Chinese sports retail market is high (Newbery, 2009) and it is estimated to increase by 24% as well . The following graph shows the growth rate in Chinese market
(Frost & Sullivan Report, n.d.)
The other idea is to further penetrate in the United States market as it is another important market as the graph below shows.
(Frost & Sullivan Report, n.d.)
The company can also expand its product range to further capitalize on the market and increase its sales.
THREATS
Competent sports manufacturing companies are providing products at relatively low price than Brooks which surely can decrease the sales of the company. Moreover, the industry is highly competitive with big giants like Nike, and Adidas dominating the market. Therefore it is important for Brooks Sports to formulate strategies to minimize threats. Economic crisis around the world is one of the threats to this industry. The industry is actually a niche market in the clothing industry, and therefore people would first prefer to buy general and casual clothing rather than sportswear and therefore the economic condition would influence the performance of the firm.
References
Brooks Sports. (2012). Brooks Sports: Who We Are. Available from http://www.brooksrunning.com/About-Us/about-us,default,pg.html#sthash.RFT9Ql6p.E8ygBefz.dpbs [Accessed 14 May 2013]
Daft, R., and Marcic, D. (2006). Understanding Management. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education
David, F. (1995). Strategic Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ernst & Young. (2012). Sportswear retail. Available from http://www.ey.com/IN/en/Industries/India-sectors/Retail---Wholesale/Sportswear-retail [Accessed 14 May 2013]
Frost & Sullivan Report. (n.d.). Industry Overview. Available from http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2011/1206/02200_1220333/E113.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2013]
Newbery, M. (2009). Global market review of active sportswear and athletic footwear – forecasts to 2016. Available from http://www.just-style.com/store/samples/2009_aroq_sportswear_sample.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2013]
