Marketing Management – American Tourister re-positioning itself as a hip travel brand leveragingSports Partnership
Q.1 Case study
Marketing Management – American Tourister re-positioning itself as a hip travel brand leveraging Sports Partnership
American Tourister, Samsonite’s mass market label, is re-positioning itself as a hip international travel brand; targeting the cool, young traveller in their marketing management strategy.
In December 2016, as part of their India campaign, Virat Kohli was brought onboard as a brand ambassador. Kohli is – for India – the ideal face for the brand as he is the personification of American Tourister’s re-positioning. Following the success in India, American Tourister took things to the next level and in February 2018 appointed football star Cristiano Ronaldo, the most followed male on social media, as their brand ambassador.
Anushree Tainwala, Executive Director, Marketing at Samsonite, said, “There couldn’t be a better time to bring Cristiano on-board. His lively and vivacious personality, on and off the field, resonates perfectly with our funloving, vibrant brand personality. His presence will help bring American Tourister to a whole new audience, allowing us to stand out from the competition, and enabling us to take the Brand to the next level.” In Kohli and Ronaldo, it has found two iconic sports personalities who have strong personal brands & massive following in emerging markets. This helps American Tourister win asymmetrically and leave competition in the dust. In addition to transferring the sports stars’ attributes to the brand, the partnerships:
Elevate the brand from Samsonite’s low end product to a contemporary, practical international travel brand; targeting the aspiring, young international traveller. Explode the reach: Getting the reach in India via Kohli (81m social media followers) and globally through Ronaldo (315m followers) -especially with the FIFA World Cup around the corner during their American Tourister re-positioning campaign.
Engage audiences: Kohli with “I’m ready” & “Swagbag”, Ronaldo with “Bring back more” are examples of sharply positioning the brand leveraging the ambassadors to provide differentiated, exciting engagement. Top of Mind: Standing out in a commoditised travel accessary category, American Tourister is positioning itself as closer to the hearts of young travellers and in their purchase consideration. In February & March this year it has activated both players – Ronaldo (here) & Kohli (here & here),
Let’s see where the brand takes such partnerships as we get closer to the Russia World Cup. It has achieved a strong cut-through even before the world gets gripped by the World Cup fever.
Question:
(10 × 2 = 20)
What other, more effective ways can brands use to reposition themselves?
How can your brand differentiate & asymmetrically win in a commoditised category through sports, similar to the marketing management of American Tourister’s re-positioning?
To get complete solutions or answer sheets for your IIBMS Case study papers, contact Dr. Aravind Banakar. With over 24 years of experience, he specializes in crafting customized, unique, and plagiarism-free case study answers with Project reports and Thesis.
Dr. Banakar is a trusted resource for reputable and reliable academic support in India. He has a team of over 100 PhD professionals.
You can contact Dr. Banakar through the following channels:
- Email: aravind.banakar@gmail.com
- Phone: +91 9901366442 & +91 9902787224
IIBMS MBA Solved Answer Sheets
EMBA IIBMS Answer Sheets & Case Studies