When Doc Martens were made they were originally meant for working men. Specifically police officers, mail men and construction workers and factory workers. But in the 60s the younger generation who were punk/skin heads took the shoe into their subculture. Today Dr. Martens has become a true icon of youth culture throughout the world. Since then Doc Martens have focused on their target market of teenagers and young adults. The age ranges from 13-25 both male and female. In order to keep their target market interested and loyal, doc martens a company with a strong orientation to the youth and fashion market have been trying to keep a relationship with their customers. Dr. Martens has chosen different projects like theatre productions and music festivals and social media to connect with their customers.
The Doc Martens company main focus is to be known as a unique shoe brand. They have a very popular boot called the 1460 boot. The 1460 boot in black is the most popular boot but this boot has been modified hundreds of times. This shoe has come out in every color you can think of and multiple designs like floral, velvet, and cartoons. Whenever Doc Martens come out with a new shoe they always puts out a ad on social media and on their own youtube channel, the minute long video is usually something a teenage can relate to. If its a big collection for a season there is always a video thats a couple minutes long and they try to represent the brand the way it has always been known. Expressive, Rebellious and free thinking.
Doc Martens known as a shoe company expanded into clothing, bags/wallets,and socks. All these products are going to attract new customers and keep loyal customers interested. There is a small selection of the clothing and purses in store which gives customers a little taste of what style the doc marten company is trying to give off.
A service is different from goods because it is the result of applying human or mechanical efforts to people or objects. Service quality is a very important part of the Doc Martens company. Out of the five components customers look at i have to say that Tangibility is the strongest for Doc Martens. The tangible parts of a service include the physical facilities, tools and equipment used to provide the service. Dr. Martens Made in England range is created at the unique Cobb’s Lane factory, which has been producing footwear for the Griggs family since 1901. It is the home of the original Dr. Martens boot. On their website they specifically say they would exchange any defective boot/shoe for anew one. I think this can create a sort of reliability between the customer and the company.
Moving on to Nonprofit organization marketing i was not able to find information about Doc Martens involvement with it.
Here i included a video of how doc marten boots are made in the Uk based factory by hand and machine.
Doc Martens would be considered as a consumer product instead of a business product because it is usually bought to satisfy an individuals personal wants. Back when doc martens first came out in England the boots were worn by the working class and were always considered to be working shoes. Until they were wrenched from the factory floor into youth culture and nothing was the same for the Doc Martens brand. Doc Marten boots started of as plain black boots and now they have a large selection of shoes and they have made them about every color you can think of. Doc Martens are known as a statement shoe and their very unique designs. The boots all have the signature logo on the back where it says "air wair" and the boots have a yellow stitching that goes around the whole boot.
Doc Martens shoe packaging is very simple. They use a plain box usually brown or black, their logo in a big font and then they also have "made in england" sign on it because people were very upset when they moved their production to china. Since then Doc Martens opened a factory in England and have started producing shoes. They also include a little paragraph explaining the durability of the shoe.
Doc Martens rely more on presenting their image on the internet rather than personal selling. Of course their employees are very informative I remember when I bought a pair of doc martens and the employee explained to me how to take care of the boots correctly and she even helped me decide on what boot was better for me, She also told me her experience with doc martens which was very helpful. Doc Martens have rely on the internet by using twitter, youtube, and a face book page to help promote what shoes are in season. They show pictures of their customers buying shoes and even band members wearing them.
Advertising is a huge part of the Doc Martens company. Doc Martens focus a lot on magazine advertising and recently YouTube. Doc Martens have their own YouTube channel where they post videos of varies bands speaking about their experiences with doc martens and showing performances of the band wearing doc marten boots. The channel also includes short detailed clips of new shoes they have released. The Doc Marten channel has almost 12,000 subscribers. This youtube channel is a great way to capture the attention of the younger generation, which are more attached to electronics than they are with magazines.
Doc Martens keeps its name known by having its boots worn by multiple celebrities or being showed in movies. For example Sasha Obama, who was viewed by millions wearing a pair of Dr. Martens’ classic 1460 boots at the annual pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey and Blue Ivy, daughter of Jay-Z and Beyoncé, was seen wearing Dr. Martens’ floral print boots recently. This kind of publicity helps bring a new generation of customers and the help of celebrity exposure is helping the sales of Dr.Martens. Global sales were up about 20 percent in 2013. They are looking at even higher sales for 2014.
Dr.Martens has stores all around the world 33 stores can be found in Asia, 6 in Europe, 20 in the United Kingdom,and 17 in North America. Doc martens can also be found in other stores like Famous foot wear, Urban Outfitters, Macys, Nordstrom and many other places. Recently I visited the Doc Marten store in New York which can be found in Union Square.
When I first walked in the first thing that caught my eye was the decoration of the store it had vintage looking couches made out of velvet material and other couches with worn out leather material. After I got greeted by one of the workers and they went right back to fixing the shelves, which didn't bother me because I prefer to have a look around the store without having someone following me. As I walked around I noticed that most of the lighting was focused on the shoes. The shelves had their own lighting installed to them which I found to be a really interesting technique because it catches your attention right away. The store had one side with Women shoes and the other with mes shoes. The colorful boots were set on a nice wooden table right in the middle of the store and there were boots set on little night stands and tables all through out the store everything was made out of wood which gave everything a nice cozy feel to the store. As I walked in deeper inside the store I noticed all the way in the back a clothing rack with coats and shirts that were unisex these items are sold only in doc marten stores and online. They had shelves with bags all made out of vegan leather. By the counter I noticed all these different accessories to buy like laces and socks and shoe care items like polish and shiner brushes. The whole store was very organized and it didn't feel like I was looking at a pile of boots when walked in. I also liked how they displayed their other line of products like their clothing and bags at the back keeping the focus on the shoes more.
Walking into a doc marten store you will definitely see something you have never seen before keeping customers always coming back for more.
Doc Martens main consumer are teenagers and young adults. They are attracted to the iconic boot because its been seen in so many youth sub cultures. In the 60s, skinheads adopted the boot as part of their subculture fashion and from there it moved on to represent the punk movement in the 70s. After that, it became a staple of many cultures and peoples from various decades: Mods, ska, Goth, hardcore, nu-metal, straight-edge. Now do these teens and young adults need these boots? No! of course not its a desire these consumers have and seeing these boots worn by celebrities make you want them even more.
After the consumer searches up information about the shoes and reads reviews. Most likely the consumer is going to search how comfortable the shoe is and what type of weather the shoes can be worn in,and how long they last. Once they find all the information needed, they can now decide whether they want the shoe or not.
This video below shows how doc martens are still being represented as a shoe that gives you individuality and that edge people in the punk movement had. It also shows how flexible the shoe is and how it can be worn just about anywhere.
Dr Maertens and his partner, Dr Herbert Funck developed the Dr.Martens air cushion sole and it quickly became the top selling shoe in Germany. The pair then went on a search to find a manufacturer willing to produce the amount of boots needed. After searching they found a factory in UK willing to produce the boot. The boots were then sold around the world and They were instantly accepted by the youth subcultures. Using different bands and music all around the world to spread awareness they quickly became a shoe every skin head wanted. Today the doc martens brand have researched different countries to see what shoe was sold more in each country for example in England where it rains most of the time the "boot" is most likely to sell more than the new sandals they have made which is directed toward hotter countries.
Doc Martens have always been associated with music and fashion. The style of music most of the consumers are associated with is glam rock, grunge and punk. Many artists wear doc marten boots, they help provide a strong interest in the brand. Some bands seen wearing the brand include Aerosmith, Beck, No Doubt, The Fugees, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, The Who, Madonna, Nirvana, Oasis and the list can go on. Now newer and younger bands have been taking the stage and Doc Martens have been trying to get more awareness on their brand name. That is why they have been sponsering outdoor festivals to bring more awareness to their name. They have sponsered a number of festivals around the world like Phoenix and Reading since 1996 and Glastonbury festivals.
Doc martens try to look outwards toward the community and see what the best way to create a relationship with their consumers. They have a strong tie to the youth and fashion market.
Doc Marten's is not neccaserily a brand that most people would consider as ethical. After doing some research on the brand I found out that they do have a strong ethical policy and a supplier code of conduct with which they aim to not only ensure the highest possible standards of business behavior but work with suppliers to exceed these standards. Things such as no child labor and no discrimination is printed in the code of conduct. On the policy section on the Doc Martens website they say "Our attention to ethical issues in our suppliers' factories is on going. We focus on implementing improvements by ensuring that key issues are dealt with by the people who are actually responsible for making the changes." *Doc Martens have also started to stock a vegan collection in two different boot styles. They used vegan friendly materials to make these boots.
Dr Martens boots were introduced to this country almost about 50 years ago. Till this day they are still a staple piece in many peoples closets. For the first couple of years after their introduction to Britain, Dr Martens were very much working men's boots, worn by postmen. Later in the 90s Doc Martens re appeared on multiple celebrities like will smith who was seen wearing them in the fresh prince of bel air.
Other celbrities like kate winslet and uma thurman were seen sporting these boots. Over 100 million pairs of Dr. Martens shoes have been sold from 1960 to 2010, and in 2010, the company offered 250 different models of footwear. One of the companies strategies is to be very diverse. They have made boots in about every color and have been trying out different patterns on boots. They have also brought out different shoes such as sandals and kids shoes. In 2012 it was assessed as being the eighth fastest-growing British company.
While Dr. Martens are known as a distinctly British boot, the original doctor was German. Dr. Klaus Maertens invented the shoe's signature air-cushioned sole with the hope of improving Germany's standard-issue WW II army boot. Maertens sold his patent to a British shoe manufacturer in 1959. One year later, on April 1, 1960, after the addition the classic yellow stitching and trademark AirWair tag to the back of the boot, the first pair of Dr. Martens hit High Street. The cherry-red, eight-eyelet boot became a fast favorite of blue collar Brits, adorning the feet of factory workers, postmen and police officers. By the early 1970s, Dr. Martens had become a trademark of Britain's burgeoning punk-music movement. And now it seems that Doc's are making a fashionable comeback to our generation; so this is your chance to take out those docs from the back of your closet and start wearing those bad boys!
*The inventors of the Dr. Martens air-cushioned sole understood their key to success was knowing teenagers will always have a primal urge to be different.
