Clique Pens: the Writing Implements Division of Us Home

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Case: Clique Pens: The Writing Implements Division of US Home

SITUATION ANALYSIS

EXTERNAL ANALYSIS

PEST ANALYSIS

Political: Political environment in the US is stable. Government regulation in the writing implements industry is very low. Domestic producers are given no special treatment; international producers are free to bring in their products.

Economy: Economy in the US is recovering after the recent recession. Households and business expenditures are high and the writing implements industry expects annual compound growth of 2%. The writing instruments market is very competitive, fragmented and highly segmented. The market has some seasonality at back-to school period when sales are 18% of total annual sales. General distribution trends in the industry are direct distribution, distribution through wholesale distributors, big stores chains, office supply stores, and small corner shops. Businesses buy higher volumes of writing implements and more frequently than individuals. The trend is to commoditization of writing implements.

Social: Consumers tend to buy on impulse, brand and company name have low consumer loyalty. Writing supplies’ style and color are driven by other products’ design trends within the consumer marketplace. Advertising through social media is not effective. Customization trend become popular with business customers and retailers. In addition, trend to buy low-cost plastic pens which look like high-end writing implements and female think trend can be noticed in the market.

Technological: The writing implements industry has not demonstrated significant technological innovations for the last 10 years. The most technologies are mature but have innovative potential. The new technological trends focus on smooth writing pens and multi-functional pens.

Opportunities:

• Scale efficiency. The US writing implements market is mature and has low annual growth rate. Operational excellence, culture,...