\"Fitbit: Riding the Fitness Wave to Glory\" Case study PDF

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Summary

This is a case study done for the Principles of Marketing course Regarding the Company " Fitbit". The case was taken from the Main book "Principles of Marketing by kotler and Armstrong"...

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3-17: What microenvironmental factors have affected Fitbit since it opened for business?

In the marketing environment, we know that there are factors which can affect the marketing functions directly or indirectly. The microenvironment consists of forces very close to the company which affects it’s performance and decision making processes such as a firm’s suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers etc. In this particular case of Fitbit, we can see that they started their business in 2009 and flourished within 7 years. We can see some factors from the microenvironment that have affected Fitbit: 1. Customers: Fitbit had hit the right product at the right time at the right price. Because of this, they had a big portion of customers. People in general were waiting for such a product to satisfy their needs. And while they were working for the interest of an individuals, they found out that companies are also interested in their product because they wanted to ensure a healthy lifestyle of their employees in order to keep their health factors in check. So, Corporate Companies also became their customers who ordered their products in bulk. 2. Competitors: Almost at the same time, there were other similar products in the market that was offering the same service to the customers. This is why Research and Development became a constant process for Fitbit. What they found out was Apple and Google soon became their greatest competitors within a short period of time with their smartwatches. Fitbit then spent money on research for innovative technology and promotion to let their customers know what’s new their bringing to them. 3. Company: As they considered other parts of the organization such as Research and Development, Finance, Operations – we can say that Company factors also affected Fitbit.

3-18 What macroenvironmental factors have affected Fitbit? The forces that make up the macroenvironment are the factors or larger societal forces that usually affect the business indirectly are, economic factors, demographic forces, technological factors, natural and physical forces, political forces etc. When we are talking about Fitbit, the macroenvironmental forces that have affected Fitbit are: 1. Demographic forces: Though Fitbit was working for a larger customers base, they started to get orders from companies more than individuals. They found out that Companies are more interested to buy them in bulk because they wanted to monitor their employee’s health and encourage them to a healthy lifestyle. So, corporate workers became their target customers and that was a big demographic factor for them to rule the market. 2. Economic force: They monitored the consumer’s spending pattern and found out that people are becoming more and more conscious about their health and fitness. So, they decided their strategy according to that and created such a product so people would buy them to satisfy their needs.

3. Technological factors: If we look at the case closely, we can see that technology played a big role in their immediate success. While other competitors were emerging in the market, the use of latest technology was increased. Fitbit discovered that people are becoming technologically advanced and to keep up that their needs they also invented such a product, that was technologically advanced and met their needs such as keeping record of all their health activities, vitals, the fact that, this device can be connected with personal laptops and computers and smart phones etc. They also developed new models frequently thus we can attribute this factor to their success. 4. Cultural factor: As “Fitness” became the new trend in the society, Fitbit took it’s advantages. They made their product available for people who wants to stay fir as well as keep up with the trend. Also, as stated in the case, companies noticed improvements in their office cultures as a result of coworkers’ unified effort to achieve fitness goal together....