A Good Beginning and a Willingness to ChangeWere the Keys to Longevity

Leggs is one of the few ˜˜new products that has lasted over thirty years, and there are several reasons for this longevity. One of the main reasons is that Leggs did such an excellent job of marketing when it was launched. The brand equity that was created through excellent positioning and promotion has carried over all these years . Many women still associate Leggs with the original egg-shaped packaging, which they identify with the time in their lives when they started wearing the product. For these women, there is an emotional connection with the time when they were coming of age, were flooding into the workforce, and had high hopes for the future.

The other reason for Leggss longevity is a determination on the part of Leggs management to provide a constant solution to womens problems and to change as conditions change. Over the years, Leggs has been willing to do what it had to do to continue to bring customers to the Leggs display and to be a good business partner with its retailers. This vision has resulted in many changes in packaging, distribution, and, importantly, the development of new products.

Maintaining a good partnership with retailers has been a very important part of Leggss continuing success. The sales and distribution portion of the original Leggs marketing plan, which included consignment and direct store delivery, was continued for twenty years. About ten years ago, however, the needs of retailers began to change. Retailers physical distribution systems became highly sophisticated, and they no longer needed direct store delivery. Rather than insisting on continuing to do things the same way, Leggs had the flexibility to modify the Leggs distribution plan to conform to the needs of its retailers.

To meet consumers needs, Leggs eventually discontinued the plastic egg-shaped packaging. This was a change that required a lot of thought and emotion, but Leggs management knew that it would be better for the environment. The symbol of the egg shape was maintained on most of the Leggs packaging, but the package itself was changed to a more environmentfriendly material. The consumer understood . There is still a lot of affection for the original egg-shaped packaging, however, and to many Leggs will always be connected to the egg.

Category management and in-line displays have replaced the original freestanding Leggs towers to meet the changing needs of retailers and the growth of the Leggs brand. Over the past thirty years, the Leggs brand has grown to include many different subbrands. The number of products has also increased substantially, and large in-line displays had to be developed to hold them. In addition, supermarkets, drugstores, and mass merchants required help in managing the large variety of hosiery business that Leggs brought to their stores. Leggs responded by developing a sophisticated category management system for these retailers.