Introduction:

Apex Footwear Limited (AFL) is one of the leading manufacturer and exporter of leather footwear
from Bangladesh to major shoe retailers in Western Europe, North America and Japan. The company
earned revenues of USD 145 million in 2015. AFL pioneered the export of value added finished
products export in the leather sector of Bangladesh and is also involved in the local footwear retail
business with the second largest shoe retail network in the country.

Apex is the local manufacturing and retail wing of Apex Footwear Limited. While AFL has
predominantly earned both critical and commercial fame through export of high quality leather
footwear in the international arena, Apex has sought to adeptly make use of that expertise to provide
high quality, fashionable footwear to the Bangladeshi consumers. With over 191 own retail outlets
and 380 authorized resellers, Apex ensures nationwide coverage of its diverse range of footwear for
its consumers. Through its nine in-house brands, namely Venturini, Apex, Sprint, Maverick, Moochie,
Nino Rossi, Sandra Rosa, Twinkler and School-Smart and one international brand i.e. Dr. Mauch -
Apex carries a huge selection of shoes, sandals and non-footwear items, ensuring that each of our
valued customer finds the product that is just right for them.

VISION

AFL is committed to productivity and quality growth to attain its objective of being a leading
footwear manufacturer of Asia through its vision of “Honest Growth”.

MISSION

To achieve the vision of honest growth, AAFL has set their missions:

✓ To ensure sustainable growth

✓ To be a vendor of choice for our customers

✓ To create value for our shareholders

✓ To be proactively compliant with global best practices & standards

✓ To be a responsible corporate citizen

VALUES

With the appliance of vision and mission goal, AAFL is very much committed to their core values
which are the USP for their product success in the local market. AAFL’s values are---

1. Respect for People: Demonstrate respect by developing our people and helping them to
achieve high performance standards by treat all people with dignity.

2. Integrity: Honesty - Walk the talk.

3. Sense of Urgency: Strive for speed and simplicity in everything we do.
Empowerment: Encourage and reward of self-confidence and initiative required accountability.

MARKETING ACTIVITIES
Marketing strategy of Apex is based on providing their customers with reliable and quality product.
Their primary consumer target is upper middle-upper income people who are less price sensitive and
are willing to pay higher for better quality product.

In 2015, Apex spent BDT 16 crore for their marketing purposes, 75% of which incurred during Eid-
ul- Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Durga Puja and other festive occasions. The reason behind this is that more
than 50% of their yearly revenue comes from these occasions.

Apex follows different marketing activities for the promotion of their brand and products.

DIRECT RESPONSE MARKETING

Every satisfied customer brings thousands of new customers therefore; direct response advertising is
producing a clear response.

TVC

Apex is less involved in TVC to promote their brand.

PRINT MEDIA

They publish ads in newspapers and magazines to inform the customers with all their products and
latest offers. They also use different fashion magazines for promotion.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook, blog, other digital media. More active in Facebook and Blogging.

PUBLIC RELATION

Event coverage with sponsorship and footwear partnership of different public events.
SALES PROMOTION

On many occasions they offer up to 60% sale including clearance sale and occasional and seasonal
sales rebates.

FOOTMART

It is a display of large collection of all the varieties of shoes. It’s more of an ‘all under one roof’
demonstration.

ART COMPETITION

AFL often arranges art competition to promote and develop brand content through which it gathers
insights and perception of existing and potential customers.
BRAND MANTRA

A brand mantra is a 3-5 word shorthand encapsulation of a company’s brand position. It is not an
advertising slogan and in most cases, it won’t be something that is used publicly.

Apex Footwear Limited does not have any Brand Mantra. They feel that they have established
themselves as a reliable brand through their pursuit of quality and innovation. Apex is the largest
exporter of leather footwear from Bangladesh. Currently holding the second position, the company is
also one of the fastest growing footwear companies in the local market. AFL also has the second
largest retail network following Bata Shoe Bangladesh Limited.

Through its nine in-house brands, namely Venturini, Apex, Sprint, Maverick, Moochie, Nino Rossi,
Sandra Rosa, Twinkler and School-Smart and one international brand i.e. Dr. Mauch - Apex carries a
huge selection of shoes, sandals and non-footwear items, ensuring that each of our valued customer
finds the product that is just right for them. Apex Footwear Limited is planning to turn itself into a
retail hub of footwear products. They are planning to bring more international footwear brand into
their product line. That’s why they have no plan to build a brand mantra for their brand.

BRAND PERCEPTION

Apex Footwear Limited perceives themselves as a successful brand. They don’t wish to be the
dominant brand in the footwear market. They are happy in terms of their values, volume and brand
image.

Apex is planning to enter into niche market.

CONSUMER PERCEPTION
To have better understanding about the perception of the consumers of footwear products, we
conducted a survey. We got 110 responses. Among these 110 persons, 77.3% are male and 22.7% are
female. 66.4% from these 110 people are from the age group of 24-29 years and 26.4% are from the
age group of 18-23 years.

Around 52% of the surveyed people don’t care much about latest fashion; they buy just what they find
it easy and comfortable. It’s justified by the fact that 38.2% people are price conscious though 42.7%
of them believe that shoes play a vital role in good gesturing and smart outlook .
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Consumers mostly (66.4%) buy shoes when they need it. The interesting thing is, people like Apex
(79.2%) over Bata (72.2%) but they purchase the opposite; Bata- 41%, Apex-40%.