Before you begin this activity, let’s cover a general introduction to the footwear industry. Take a look at the shoes you own. Go on! What do you notice? You may have a closetful or you may only have a few. But the selection of shoes available to you is very diverse. As markets become mature, they get further subdivided with products tailored to smaller and smaller segments. The footwear market is no exception. Athletic shoes are a great example of the range of product choices available to customers. Early on, the athletic footwear industry was limited to specific fields such as track or basketball shoes, but over time the market has transformed to cater to specific niches. Now let's look at an example using RunnerZ An up and coming company, RunnerZ, has identified some underserved market niches for which it would like to develop new running shoes: Runners recovering from an injury Runners wanting to experiment with "barefoot" running Runners competing in the "mudder" type races that involve obstacles and messy conditions How would you think about the marketing mix for each of these segments? Select a configuration, distribution, and price point for each segment.a. More structured shoes with endorsement and sales b. Minimal structure c. More aggressive ankle protection and tread pattern, waterproof
