A traditional approach to the strategic development depends on analyzing the potential areas for entering and developing, while depending on the economic analysis and identification of future outcomes. However, this approach is also usually followed by competitors within the industry, and it limits the company’s potential for the progress. According to Gavetti, the alternative approach to contributing to the competitive advantage is the focus on searching a cognitively distant opportunity that can “embrace the reconceptualization of the business” (Gavetti, 2011, p. 120). This paper aims to provide the identification and explanation of a cognitively distant opportunity for Bodega in Boston, Massachusetts, and the legitimization of the discussed opportunity.
Background Information
Bodega is the developed shoe store business. The retailing business was established by Jay Gordon, Oliver Mak, and Dan Natola in 2006. Previously, Gordon and Mak cooperated to develop the online clothing store, and then they focused on promoting Bodega stores. Bodega stores were opened in response to the “sneaker collection hysteria” observed in 2006 (Alexander, 2010). Gordon, Mak, and Natola revised their strategic opportunities in 2010, and opened the unique Bodega shoe store in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Cognitively Distant Opportunity for Bodega in Boston
In 2010, Gordon, Mak, and Natola changed their strategic approach to the shoe store business and focused on a cognitively distant opportunity as the previously overlooked strategic opportunity. Gordon, Mak, and Natola decided to make the revolution in the retailing business and opened a shoe store that cannot be easily found and accessed because of difficulties associated with finding the entrance door (Alexander, 2010). Bodega shoe store in Boston is located under a convenience store. The design of a convenience store is typical for such a place, and customers have the opportunity to buy some soda and other foods in this convenience store. The secret entrance to the shoe store is hidden in the corner, and it is designed as the old-fashioned Snapple vending machine. As a result, those customers who have not previously visited Bodega shoe store experience certain difficulties while searching the entrance door to the store (Alexander, 2010). Bodega shoe store located under the convenience store is the shoe boutique that is fashionably designed with the hardwood.
The variety of shoes in Bodega shoe store is like in any other shoe boutique where several brands are represented. The scope of prices presented in the shoe boutique is also large, including sneakers from $60 to $300 (Alexander, 2010). The rate of visitors is high, and the annual profits are comparably higher than the revenues of retailing competitors in Boston. Today, Bodega shoe store is discussed as a phenomenon in the retailing industry that is replicated in the other large cities of the United States and in the European capital cities.
Arguments to Discuss the Opportunity as Legitimate
The cognitively distant opportunity identified and used by Gordon, Mak, and Natola in order to organize the retailing business in Boston provokes many debates because it is based on the principle that is opposite to the traditional retailing practice. Traditionally, to attract customers, it is necessary to demonstrate the availability of goods to buy. In Bodega shoe store, the strategists utilized an opposite principle, according to which to attract a customer means to limit the availability of goods because of the limited accessibility. In this case, the principle of analogy with the forbidden or exclusive offer that is available only for the selected group works. In Bodega shoe store, customers identify themselves as holders of the secret knowledge regarding the location of the store, and this fact adds to the overall exclusiveness of products and services provided in Bodega shoe store.
The first argument to support the cognitively distant opportunity referred to in Bodega is the focus on the effectiveness of associations with secrecy, a mystery, and a game. Those customers who come to Bodega shoe store are expected to solve a mystery while searching an entrance door and then to share the secret knowledge. This experience is important for customers because of provoking the associations with being selected, being peculiar, and belonging to the elite in the world of sneakers in Boston. There are also analogies and associations with games and fairytales. Shoppers become involved in a game of finding the secret door, and then, they enter the underground world where only exclusive goods in the fashionable environment are presented. Thus, shoppers receive the opportunity to enter the secret underground world of sneakers in Boston (Alexander, 2010). The effect of intrigue is important to attract more customers. The design of Bodega shoe store is more chic than the design of the upper convenience store, and this opposition adds to creating the association with the world of the elite. These associations are effective to make customers visit the store in the future because of its unique offer and atmosphere and tell their friends about the unusual shoe store.
Thus, Gordon, Mak, and Natola focused on the analogy with the secret and mysterious underground world of shoes for the elite while developing the idea of Bodega shoe store. This store also provokes associations with surreptitious clubs and bars opened only for the selected public (Alexander, 2010). As a result, the cognitively distant opportunity was used to attract many customers and make Bodega shoe store a city destination associated with the underground clubs in the sphere of retailing. The benefits of such a strategic opportunity are low or no costs associated with advertising and marketing because the main focus is on exchanging the information between shoppers and their friends with the help of face-to-face conversations, social media, and blogs. The strong feature of this campaign is the ability to add to the overall intrigue and attract more customers focusing on their inner desires to solve puzzles and mysteries.
The critics of the used cognitively distant opportunity state that the limited ability to access Bodega shoe store can frustrate shoppers and decrease the rate of potential visitors. However, it is impossible to agree with this statement because the strategists focus on Bodega shoe store as the source of entertainment and specific destination for customers in Boston (Alexander, 2010). As a result, the discussed detail works to increase the rates of potential customers in contrast to the traditional view.
Conclusion
While opening Bodega shoe store in Boston in 2010, Gordon, Mak, and Natola focused on a cognitively distant opportunity, according to which they hid Bodega shoe store under the traditional convenience store. In order to state that the proposed cognitively distant opportunity is legitimate, it is appropriate to focus on the analogies in customers’ minds associated with the Bodega offer; to discuss metaphors and images; to analyze the effectiveness of the advertising strategy; and to argue the points discussed by the critics of the cognitively distant opportunity.
References
Alexander, K. (2010). The secret to selling cool: How three young guys with almost no retail experience created an uberhip sneaker boutique to rival those in New York, LA, and Tokyo. Web.
Gavetti, G. (2011). The new psychology of strategic leadership. Harvard Business Review, 89(7/8), 118-125.