MUMBAI: Marathons are passé! Walkathons seem to be the new sought after activity for every health and fitness enthusiast.
Riding on the walkathon wave, Skechers, an American performance and lifestyle footwear brand has announced its first edition of Skechers Performance Mumbai Walkathon.
The walkathon initiated/organised by Skechers India will take place on 7 October 2018 which also happens to be the World Walking Day. The motive behind initiating the walkathon is to educate people about the benefits of walking.
Skechers chief executive officer for South Asia Rahul Vira says, “Our dedication has always been to the enthusiasts of all levels, ranging from beginners in the sport to the elite athletes. Walking one mile a day can burn up to 100 calories. Something as simple as a daily brisk walk can help you live a healthier life. By bringing in a wide range of walking shoes we want to inspire people and invoke the need to be on the move and stay fit, through which people would experience walking from a different perspective altogether.”
Interestingly, Skechers also has a dedicated category for walking shoes and Vira thinks it’s a perfect synergy with Walkathon. “I wonder why nobody thought of doing it earlier where people would come together to just walk! Skechers has been the brand that created walking as a category and it just made perfect sense to align it with walkathon,” he said.
The sports company does not want to partner with any other brand or association for its walkathon and wants to rather do it all by itself.
Every brand needs a face in today’s day and age but the sports company does not believe in going through the same route. Although international singer Camila Cabello is Skechers’ global brand ambassador, the company is not looking at having an India brand ambassador anytime soon.
“We don’t have a set target audience and want to target everyone from the age of 5 to 65. Anyone who wants to buy a comfortable shoe or apparel is our consumer,” said Vira. “Initially when we entered the market, we were heavily present in the west but now have a presence across north, south and even mini metros and rural.”
Online is the go-to medium for every marketer out there as it helps a brand in reaching a mass audience and increases its distribution and sale. People love to shop online as it allows them to go through a large portfolio of products, saves them time and they get deals and discounts on the products.
However, it’s rare that you will find Skechers products on discount online. A pair of shoes that you buy online and offline will always cost you the same. Why is that you ask? Simply because the company does not believe in the online model and wants to keep out of the discounting game. Vira says, “Our presence online was limited but since we’ve made our terms clear about not wanting to discount, we have increased our presence online. That is because we don’t want price to be a deciding factor for consumers. We haven’t gone all out on e-commerce because it’s driven more towards discounting and we don’t want to do that.”
Skechers in India faces stiff competition from international giants Nike and Adidas that are amongst the top two brands in India followed by Puma and Reebok which are lower priced. Priced at a mid-premium range, Skechers may find it difficult to carve a niche for itself. Recently D:fy was launched in India with its mid-premium range of products. But with the increasing competition and entry of newer players in the market, it sure is an interesting space to watch out for.
