The Duck Head brand has existed since 1865, when O'Brian Brothers
brought out a line of work clothes under the Duck Head label.
Headquartered in Winder, Georgia, the Duck Head Apparel Company was
formed in 1988 as a subsidiary of Delta Woodside to carry on this
southern tradition of kaki pants and other casual apparel. In 1992,
with sales concentrated mainly in the southeast, management made a
strategic decision to widen its market. IMS Quantum was engaged to
support management in the areas of market planning and budget development.
First a market model of each state was developed to show the
relationships between demographics and sales, allowing management
to infer several critical relationships for which data was
unavailable. The model gave management the tool to assess market
potential by state.
IMS Quantum then initiated a geographic information system to
evaluate the regional distribution of sales. Metropolitan
Statistical Areas were used to evaluate certain critical variables
used in the market model. This approach was also used to evaluate
the advantages to the company of proposals submitted by potential
new retail outlets.
IMS Quantum then developed an Integrated Revenue Model used
for establishing the annual revenue budget. The model showed the
relationship between sales levels in a given retail chain of stores
and the factors that influence those levels. The advantage of the
methodology was that subjective as well as quantified objective
information could be included. While the model was not exhaustive
in showing the ways these factors interact to yield a given result,
it was effective in pointing out areas of potential improvement in
merchandising and operations. The revenue projections were consistent
with the information available. Direct benefits to the budgeting
process included the revision of earlier targets that were not in
line with the potential of a given retail chain to increase sales.
The models could be seen as a place to reflect a picture that was
based on the collaborative knowledge of sales, operations, and
administrative personnel. Each result could be justified as the
synthesis of a wide range of reasoning and data. The state-by-state
analysis, the geographic information system, and the Integrated
Revenue Model are examples of how a set of models can inform the
strategic decision-making process in a national retail manufacturing
company.
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