Founded in 1902 and headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Russell Corporation is a producer of sportswear. It manufactures everything from T-shirts and sweatshirts to socks and career wear. Its brands include JERZEES and Cross Creek. The company had 2005 revenue of about $1.4 billion and employs about 15,500 people.
Challenges
- Russell was competing against an established player, Nike, in the broad market and a well positioned upstart, UnderArmor in the performance segment
- The Russell portfolio, including the newly acquired businesses were competing against each other rather than specific markets/competitors
- 40 t-shirt styles, some with 80 colors
- No entries in fast-growing categories like sport bras
Approach
- Working with Management, developed category strategies for sport bras and other critical categories
- Adding Brands and products in some categories
- Rationalizing brand and product offerings in others
- Developed life cycle strategies that provided guidance on keeping the offering fresh while avoiding product proliferation
- Integrated approach to product development and selling
Results
Integrated approach to product development & selling:
- Product development based on consumer needs
- Selling one product to one customer to selling coordinated lines
- Sales understood when to say no
- Product line reduced by 20%
- Sales increased by 60% in key categories
