Primary Research 1 : QUESTIONNAIRES & RESULTS

I worked in a group with other people who were also working on the rebrand of Umbro. We started to  develop questionnaires and interview questions that over Christmas we went into stores which sold Umbro, trying to gain an inside opinion on the brand, sales and whether they like or dislike the company. With the questionnaires, they were posted on social media using the website 'Survey Monkey' to gain an overall opinion from the general public, what they thing the brand is good at and what they think they could do to improve. These results are excellent and will be useful in helping me  develop a brand strategy as to what the brand could do to rejuvenate it, and any new ideas to increase sales and audience engagement. 

The questions asked in the questionnaire were as followed:

- What is your age?

The majority of people who answered the questionnaire were ages 18-24, this could be down to posting the questionnaire only on social media, and as the age group is the same as my own, most people who would see the post from me, would be my age.

- What is your gender?

It was almost an equal split between men and women for who answered the survey.

- What is the main social media that you use?

Instagram was the top voted for social media platform that people use which was interesting to take into account, as Instagram usually feature many advertisements, particularly from sportswear brands.

- Rank these brands in the order that you would most likely buy from

The brands to choose from were Adidas, Nike, Fila, Kappa, Umbro and Puma. The most popular two were Adidas and Nike, and in questions where respondents were able to give their own opinion, they said that they would just prefer to buy from Adidas and Nike, as it has a better reputation and their items are generally 'cooler'. 

- Which of these collaborations have you heard of?

The collaborations in question were Off White x Umbro, Missguided x Umbro, House of Holland x Umbro, Vetements x Umbro, Urban Outfitters x Umbro, Asos x Umbro. The majority of people who we asked hadn't heard of any of these collaborations. Some had heard of the Missguided one, this could be due to the amount of irrelevance that the majority of the general public think Umbro has and due to the lack of advertising they use. The lack of advertising could be due to Umbro sales falling, therefore they are not able to afford marketing campaigns that can reach a large population. 

- Have you ever bought products from Umbro?

On one of the questionnaires I conducted, 71% of respondents said that they didn't own anything by Umbro.

- If so, what did you purchase?

The people who did own items went on to specify that this was t-shirts, and football gear, the area Umbro have always specialised in and originated from, but today with more competition, Umbro are struggling to branch out to a wider audience other than footballers and football fans, as seen through the results.

- Do you link Umbro with fashion or Sports?

From 100 respondents, 92% said that they considered Umbro to be a sports brand. This huge percentage suggests that if the consumer does not have a mass interest in sports; football to be precise then, they will ignore the brand completely. Umbro definitely need to develop another side to the brand if they want to keep competing with Nike and Adidas, otherwise they are always going to be on top, due to the huge range of products which they sell which appeal to different audiences.

- If you could pick one of these words to describe Umbro, which would you choose?

Some people did respond with 'cool' which was a surprise since most people don't own any items by the brand, as if when they think about it, they would like it, but it just isn't concentrated on enough in stores, online or in ads to make them want to buy. Other common answers were that the brand is very outdated, and I agree with this, many of there clothes haven't changed with the times, they have very clearly tried to stick with the same style to pay respects to the origin of the brand, but hasn't worked to keep the audience engaged. An example of brands adapting to the consumer needs are again, Nike and Adidas. For example; in the football field, they have developed football boots and changed them to adhere to the audience, coming up with fresh ideas and looks so the audience doesn't get bored. E.G the sock boot. Whereas, Umbro have very much continued to make the same boot from the 80s, although it is and has been successful, consumers do get bored and want a refreshed look.

- Where have you seen Umbro being sold?

84% of people said they had seen Umbro being sold in Sports Direct, they are known for suppling sports gear for a cheaper price and usually not a lot of fashion/casual wear is sold. Which backs up the point of the majority of the public saying that they associate Umbro with sports only. 65% said that they have seen Umbro being sold in JD, however, when we went into a few JD stores, we could not find any Umbro apparel. I think the consumer responded with Umbro just because the store is sports related, not necessarily because they have seen any stock inside and JD certainly do not promote it when they have more premium brands that they can rely on advertising with. JD definitely has much more of a premium feel to it.

- What change, if any, would you make to the brand?

People's main issue was advertising. They rarely ever see ads for Umbro, and not just by the brand itself but also from third party campaigns. Websites such as JD, ASOS when advertising, certainly aren't promoting Umbro, due to it having a less premium feel, and the brand not having a lot of brand engagement. Someone suggested that the brand need to filter out 'fashion' items from the sportswear collection, as this would help gain an alternative audience.

- Who do you think is Umbro's main competition and why?

Most people as expected suggested that Adidas and Nike were the main competition. Other names mentioned were Puma and Reebok, other sportswear companies which have an advantage over Umbro as they sell different collections which appeal to different people, increasing the sales. These brands have a more premium feel, who have big influencers repping the collections, ultimately appealing to many more consumers. They advertise crazy amounts, and have the audience engagement which Umbro need. One person made a good point and said that all these brands are considered within the realm of fashion, as mentioned earlier, Umbro is not considered within this, which is where the rebrand comes into play.