Inline Skating Marketing Plan

Pegasus Sports

Situation Analysis

Pegasus is entering their first year of operation.  The products have been well received and marketing will be key to develop brand and product awareness as well as grow the customer base.  Pegasus International offers several different aftermarket skating accessories, serving the growing inline skating industry.

Market Summary

Pegasus posesses good information about the market and knows a great deal about the common attributes of the most prized customer.  This information will be leveraged to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how Pegasus can better communicate with them.

Market Needs

Pegasus is providing the skating community with a wide range of accessories for all variations of skating.  Pegasus seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers:

• Quality craftsmanship: The customers work hard for the money and do not enjoy spending it on disposable products that only work for a year or two. 
• Well thought out designs: The skating market has not been addressed by well thought out products that serve skaters needs.  Pegasus' industry experience and personal dedication to the sport will provide Pegasus with the needed information to produce insightfully designed products.
• Customer Service: Exemplary service is required to build a sustainable business that has a loyal customer base.

Market Trends

Pegasus will distinguish themselves by marketing products not previously available to skaters. The emphasis in the past has been to sell skates and very few replacement parts.

The number of skaters is not restricted to any one single country, continent, or age group, so there is a world market. Pegasus has products for virtually every group of skaters.

The fastest growing segment of this sport is the fitness skater. Therefore, the marketing is being directed to service this group. BladeBoots will enable them to enter establishments without having to remove their skates. BladeBoots will be aimed at the recreational skater, the largest segment; however SkateAids are great for everyone.

There is one more way the sport of skating will grow, and that is through SkateSailing. This sport is primarily for the medium to advanced skater. The growth potential for this sport is tremendous. The sails Pegasus' has manufactured so far have ended up in Europe. The same thing happened with windsurfing. It started out here in Santa Monica but did not take off until it had already grown big in Europe. More and more groups are getting together on skate excursions in cities all over the world. For example, San Francisco has night group skating that numbers in the hundreds of people. The market trends are showing continued growth in all directions of skating.

Market Growth

With the price of skates going down due to competition by so many skate companies, the market has had steady growth throughout the world, with 22.5 million in 1999 to over 31 million in 2002.

The growth statistics for 2003 are estimated to be over 35 million. More and more people are discovering, and in many cases rediscovering, the health benefits and fun of skating.

SWOT Analysis

The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Pegasus.

Strengths

• In-depth industry experience and insight.
• Creative, functional product designers.
• The use of a highly efficient, flexible business model utilizing direct customer sales and distribution.

Weaknesses

• The reliance of outside capital necessary to grow the business.
• A lack of retailers who can work directly face to face with the customer to generate brand and product awareness.
• The difficulty to developing brand awareness as a start-up company.

Opportunities

• Participation within a growing industry.
• Decreased product costs through scales of economy.
• The ability to leverage other industry participants marketing efforts to help grow the general market.

Threats

• Future/ potential competition from an already established market participants.
• A slump in the economy that could have a negative effect on people's spending discretionary income on fitness/ recreational products.
• The release of a study that calls into question the safety of skating or the inability to prevent major skating induced traumas.

Competition

Pegasus Sports International is forming its own market. While there are a few companies that do make sails and foils that a few skaters are using, Pegasus is the only one that is truly designed for and by skaters. The few competitors' sails are not designed for skating, but for windsurfing or for skateboards. In the case of foils, storage and carrying are not practical.

There are different indirect competitors who are manufactures of the actual skates.  After many years in the market, these companies have yet to become direct competitors by manufacturing accessories for the skates that they manufacture.

Product Offering

Pegasus Sports International now offers several products:

• The first product that has been developed is BladeBoots, a cover for the wheels and frame of in-line skates, which allow skaters to enter places that normally would not allow them in. BladeBoots come with a small pouch and belt which converts to a well-designed skate carrier. 
• The second product is SkateSails. These sails are specifically designed for use while skating. Feedback that Pegasus has received from skaters indicates this could become a very popular sport. Trade marking this product is currently in progress. 
• The third product will be referred to as SkateAid and be in production by December.

Other ideas for products are under development, but Pegasus must hold back until they can protect themselves through pending patent applications.

Keys to Success

The keys to success are simply designing and producing products that meet market demand.  Additionally, Pegasus must ensure total customer satisfaction.  If these keys to success are achieved, Pegasus will become a profitable, sustainable company.

Critical Issues

Pegasus is still in the speculative stages as a start-up business.  The critical issues are: 

• Establish themselves as the premier skating accessory company.
• Pursue controlled growth that dictates that payroll expenses will never exceed the revenue base.  This will help protect against recessions.
• Constantly monitor customer satisfaction, ensuring that the growth strategy will never compromise service and satisfaction levels.