A product service system to increase brand awareness : new touchpoints for Vibram products and brand in China

The world is changing and continues to accelerate, even if we don’t want it to. No company operating in the free market can be successful in perpetuity by delivering the same products or services with the same marketing and the same approach. The changing nature of our environment requires us to change, to adapt, and to take any opportunity in order to innovate. Advances in technology are pushing everyone to a new life-model and mental perspective. The Internet with its social networks and mobile technology is turning the world into one big neighborhood. People connect with each other in an instantly and constantly way. Connectivity has enabled and engaged world where companies, users, and stakeholders connect, interact and cooperate. While technology provides a lot of new tools and opportunities, people are still the same. They are looking for a personal connection; they need to feel engaged, emotionally and physically. Users don't want to buy just products or services; they want companies to provide them experiences. Few markets are as fast in changing as the new consumer-driven China. The “new” market of 1.3 plus billion people holds enormous potential for western companies that want to expand their horizons. But, clearly, the dynamic of China are unlike anything those companies have ever seen before, and it presents challenges as serious as its market is large. Vibram, the 79-year-old Italian company, is a worldwide leader in manufacturing and licensing the Vibram-branded rubber soles. The company, well know among the outdoor community, in 1998 began operating in China, matching the highest quality standards reached in Italy. In 2007 Vibram Technological Center has been established in Guangzhou with the dual mission of expanding the range of Vibram technologies and increase market opportunities. After years, Vibram China is still pushing into the market without reaching the success had in Europe and USA; this is where Design Thinking and human-centered design approach come into play. The paper analyzes how to raise brand awareness building a holistic strategy that goes through multiple touchpoints, physical and digital. The scope is to approach new customers and build a multi-way relationship, creating a new community of users around the brand that will communicate with each other providing and taking trustful and useful information. #iamvibram# is a multi-touchpoints campaign to put people at the centre of Vibram business and communication. The campaign aims to reach people in their everyday life end encourage them to share and communicate their passion to the big community of Vibram users. Is the first ever Vibram campaign build on multiple touchpoints with a dedicated website, store-in-store and on-field product exhibitors with a secondary function of social engagement, and the first ever Vibram Hub, a multifunctional space where Vibram will show the brand values and where stakeholders, community and potential users can interact and cooperate. #iamvibram# has the aim to grow awareness of the brand to a much larger audience which can create brand loyalty and advocates and not least a long-term increasing revenues.