Post 6: Competition
Apparel has been a competitive market for some time now and these markets are ruled by powerhouse names such as Ralph Laurent, Nike, Adidas, Reebok and now Under Armor not to mention other smaller companies. Yet Stance didn’t want to just go into clothing or shoes or any of the big stuff. Instead they wanted to focus on socks only and now they brought in underwear which is also a success, but lets talk about the socks. Stance’s revenue was estimated at $180 million in 2015. This in a BRAND that has innovated the Sock market and they are doing something right!
Stance President John Wilson said, What’s long-lasting is the category, our obligation and challenge is to make sure to present it in a fresh way that’s relevant to the consumer. They wanted to segment the little guys away from the equation and categorize it into something better. Take the neglected category and give it its own category aside from its competitors. People don’t say tissue anymore, they say Kleenex. When you hear the word Stance, you know their socks is in a category of its own. Their market share competes with the highest holding about even, but if you go head to head socks for sock. Stance will win.
Brittany Levine. (2010). Edgy local brand pairs socks with expression. Retrieved from
http://www.ocregister.com/2010/09/13/edgy-local-brand-pairs-socks-with-expression/
Mediha Dimartino. (2016). Sock maker raises $30 million. Retrieved from
http://www.ocbj.com/news/2016/may/02/sock-maker-raises-30m/