Final Project-

Read the article about Converse on Boston Magazine "Sneaker Wars: Converse vs. New Balance" Do further related research and answer the following:

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2015/11/24/converse-sneaker-wars/

1. Will changing "The Chuck" and introducing the Chuck II be considered a smart marketing move over time?  Why or why not?  Use examples of other companies who have changed iconic products to support your position.

2. Is the Converse lawsuit vs. key competitors a good marketing tactic whether or not they win or lose in court or do they need to win?  Why?

3. The article quotes a famous line of Coco Chanel's "Only those with no memory insist on their originality".  How is this quote relevant to the marketing tactics of both Converse and its key competitors?

4. Clearly the fact that "Children take their first steps in them, teens wear them to prom and to graduate, adults get married in them" is a strength, but does this also create challenges in marketing that many other products do not face? How can Converse stay relevant to all these very different target customers and should they even try to do so?  Your answer here should address both risks and benefits.

5. Is the fact that they are so imitated necessarily a bad thing? How do companies that have popular products like Converse use the 4 P's to successfully compete with imitators in the marketplace? Find specific examples.

6. How does Converse differ from most all competing companies and products who constantly need to create new and unique styles to grow their business?

7. Name another company that has a product or style that has survived for decades like the Chuck Taylor All Star.  This does not have to be footwear.  Are there similarities in marketing tactics employed by the two companies that you can identify?  Have they survived just by random luck (right place, right time kind of thing) or have they done specific things that have created their ongoing success?

Oral Component - In addition to the above, each student, referring back to their answer in #4 above should decide whether Chucks are better marketed to all those differing and diverse target groups where they do business, or if they should focus on just one or two that offer the most opportunity.  Having done that, students should create a marketing "big idea" for Chucks that would resonate with the relevant target group (s) and would be innovative, fresh, fun and exciting (as virtually all good marketing should be).   The idea should somehow project understanding of the brand and its competition and its customers as articulated in the written assignment.  This can be anything:

An ad

A tag line

A tweet "gone viral"

A "give a way"

A promotion

A contest

A "guerrilla marketing tactic".  Look up what this is if you do not know what this is.

A Social Media campaign

A Traditional Media campaign

A new product

Anything that works

This should not require more than 2 minutes to present to the class and can be much less, just clearly state or show what you're doing and why.  No one will be allowed to go beyond 3 minutes.  Media, graphics, internet,  Prezi, even PowerPoint, handouts, music, food, guest celebrities and any other great idea can be used, or not.  The 3 best presentations (I will be the judge) will receive 10 additional points on their grade (though no one will exceed 100 points, it may help some to reach 100) and the next 4 best will receive 5 additional points.  The 7 written questions total 100 possible points.  Students who are not in the top ten will just not receive any of the bonus points.  Students may opt not to do this at all and if so they will have 5 points taken from their written work total.  Essentially if you do this you have NOTHING TO LOSE! So have some fun with this and really try to let loose creatively ...it will make you a significantly better marketer and business person if you can learn to do so. At the end of the 7 written questions students should print a one sentence summary of what their big idea is or if they are choosing not to do this, to avoid the possibility of someone copying someone else's great idea.  That one sentence is all that should to be turned in related to this portion of the Project.