Situation Analysis

Background:
● Paez is a summer casual footwear company founded in Argentina and headquartered in Barcelona.
● The company manufactures a variety of Alpargata shoes
● Distribution through wholesalers and distributors around the world.
● The company is seeking to reposition itself to compete against competition
● TOMS is the well established first-mover in the market 

Key Issues:
● Paez can only focus on optimizing its distribution channels, product lines or brand positioning one at a time with
limited resources
● Paez doesn’t have a coherent positioning strategy in place
● Paez needs to build its brand culture to asymmetrically compete with industry Goliath–TOMS in the long run.
STRATEGY EVALUATION

1. Authentic Argentina Alpargata

1 Focus
• Authenticity

Evaluation
2 • Paez could position itself as the authentic, legitimate and
true Argentine alpargata leveraging its deep roots in
Argentina culture, tradition, craftsmanship and history

Conclusion
3 • This strategy is the optimal strategy.
• Leveraging authenticity and coolness as form of
distinction, this positioning strategy will create an
advantageous market white space for Paez
2. Fashion at a Bargain Price

Focus
1 • Fashion
• Design
• price

Evaluation
2 • This is a fast-follower strategy.
• It focuses on providing customers shoes with similar
designs as TOMS but lower prices in order to capture the
lower end of the market.

3 Conclusion
• This strategy is not optimal
• It is not defensible for Paez to compete on low prices
and low margins with TOMS in the long run.
 3. The Underdog

Focus
1 • desired marginality
• brand community

Evaluation
• This strategy leverages Paez’s lack of resources as opposed
2 to TOMS’ affluence in capital and corporate greed to speak
to the Millennial and Baby Boomer consumers who stand in
opposition to big corporations.
• This strategy provides desired marginality to form brand
loyalty through opposition of TOMS

3 Conclusion
• This strategy is not optimal
• it works more effectively in the U.S. market