ADRIAN, KRISTEN, SAHA, KUNAAL, DAVID
November 8, 2010

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E XECUTIVE S UMMARY .............................................................................. P AGE 2
I SSUE /P ROBLEM S TATEMENT ...................................................................... P AGE 2
B ACKGROUND I NFORMATION ..................................................................... P AGE 2-3
C URRENT I NFORMATION ........................................................................... P AGE 3
D ATA A NALYSIS ...................................................................................... P AGE 3
C URRENT B USINESS S TRATEGY AND R ESULTS ................................................... P AGE 3-4
R ECOMMENDATIONS AND I MPLEMENTATION P LAN ............................................ P AGE 4
C ONCLUSION ......................................................................................... P AGE 4
R EFERENCES .......................................................................................... P AGE 5

Formed in 1998, lululemon has become an extremely successful company over the last 12 years of operation with its mission to improve health and make a difference in all of the communities it is located in and to provide guests with quality products to help them live healthy lives.
Even now lululemon still continues to make a difference in each community through the Community
Legacies Program. Plans for expansion of the company are also still in effect and its economic responsibilities are met by the income the company generates each year.
Social Responsibility is the backbone of lululemon and it presents many strengths and potential weakness for the company such as providing a positive image and a possible loss of profits.
In terms of the strategies lululemon uses they are non-traditional marketing and business strategies. For example, instead of using typical advertising such as ads and commercials lululemon relies on social activities for their products to gain attention.
The next step for lululemon is to encourage people to bring out their families to the in store yoga classes to better find a balance between work, and family. This will also allow families to live healthier lives together.
Lululemon athletica's main goal is to provide their guests with products that will help them live long and healthy lives. They ensure quality in their products, as well as recognize customer needs and adapt to meet those needs. They also have a goal to demonstrate integrity and ethics in their company as well as create a positive relationship between their stores and the communities they are located in. lululemon constantly challenges itself to maintain these social bonds, and ethical and social responsibility practices.
Lululemon is a Vancouver based company with over 100 locations worldwide and is valued over $200 million dollars. The company was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson, who started the company with the idea that his products would help "improve the level of health within a community." Responding to the increased number of women participating in Yoga, lululemon has created products with new fabrics and technology to fit, and feel better which helps women improve their fitness goals. They have provided a culture that provides awareness of the health benefits of doing yoga in daily life.
Lululemon’s mission statement is- to help people live long, healthy, and fun filled lives. They focus on ensuring that their products are of the highest quality and that their store experiences are one of a kind.
Lululemon also spends money on training to educate their staff on effective and creative ways to create a unique experience in each store.
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With deep rooted ties in each community lululemon created the charitable giving program, where guests of each location decide which local charities they would like to support and lululemon then chooses up to eight of these charities to be part of the program.
Lululemon has established a Community Legacies program which is a “5-year vision that is based on the belief that every person we hire, garment we create, store we open, customer we educate and yoga class we attend contributes to building a legacy in our communities."
In 2009, lululemon’s net income generated about 58.3 million dollars. Their earnings have topped the
Street's consensus for seven consecutive quarters. It is also bringing U.S stores to the same level as
Canadian stores. The 44 stores in Canada (35% of the total) generated 60% of revenues last year.
For the year of 2010, lululemon has plans on opening 12 to 15 new stores this year; it aims to open 25 showrooms by June of the following year and 20 by August.
“CFO John Currie projects a possible 300 stores in North America, with Asian expansion likely into
2012.”
Lululemon athletica has become a strong successful company, and its success can be observed in the way it operates by being socially responsible. By being socially responsible and having a strong code of ethics, lululemon has created a prestigious reputation for itself. It has done this by effectively serving the interests of the customer by creating new, quality goods that would help benefit the customers’ health.
Lululemon has also served the interests of the customers by letting them choose which charities in the community they want to support. Lululemon also acts in socially responsible manner by having in store yoga classes for customers to fulfill their mission of helping people live healthier, longer lives.
Although lululemon athletica is a very strong company, it has some weakness. Being socially responsible this might make them forget the main purpose of an organization, which is to make money. They may lose profit in being socially responsible by doing such things as training and hiring yoga instructors and giving out money to charities. If looked at short term wise, many resources are wasted upon educating the public about the yogi lifestyle; some of these resources being the waste of human resource, money and time.
In the end result though, the company is able to be effectively use social responsibility as a competitive advantage and although some money is wasted upon being social responsible, this is covered up by the company’s high prices on their product. The high prices are then covered by the unique in store experience in each location. This results in the company having a strong economic and prestigious reputation, making lululemon athletica a successful company.
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Lululemon executes an innovative non-traditional business strategy which can be seen in the marketing strategies used. Since lululemon does not use traditional advertising it relies on running clubs and other social activities for their products to gain attention. The stores also provide free products to yoga teachers, fitness instructors and others to spread the word to people who have the same personal interests. lululemon is also known to spend money on in-store yoga classes where they can stick to their mission

statement and inspire and build trust and loyalty among guests by concentrating on providing quality products, and providing a positive and memorable experience. Through this innovative marketing strategy lululemon is able to maintain a competitive advantage over other brands that create a similar product for half the price. Just like their marketing style, lululemon’s business strategy is non-traditional. Before opening a store the company opens a “showroom” where educators interact with guests through yoga and fitness classes to understand what customers in the area need the most, therefore management differs from store to store, however the results are similar; the guests have a place to be challenged, relax and achieve personal goals. Each store also creates a positive work environment for the educators creating an extremely high quality of work life because the company cares about all of the educators’ health. An educator at a lululemon in Toronto was shocked at how much the company cared.
“I've never before worked for a company that cares so much about my life. They genuinely want you to be proactive in your own life." At head office, employees are encouraged to display professional and personal goals on posters over their desks”
As a result of the strategies used, lululemon has remained to be a successful business with loyal customers because of the unique experience in every store and by giving customers what they want.
The company’s next step is to focus on providing their customers with a better life style where they can find a balance between work, family and health, since it is part of their core values. This could be accomplished by having in store yoga classes for the entire family. This would allow the company to bring in more customers as more people will be involved with the company. This would also not dilute the purpose of the business because the company’s main focus is to create a healthier community in which it operates in.
Through being socially responsible lululemon has become an extremely successful company. This is seen in how it serves the interests of the customers by providing them with quality products and how it meets its mission to help people live healthier lives by providing in store yoga classes. People also have a say in which charities they want lululemon to support, which encourages people to use their products since they will know that money will go to charities.
It is evident that lululemon meets its economic and discretionary responsibilities as the company is valued at over $220 million and are still opening stores, and how they support charities in every community the company is located in. Its ethics and legal responsibilities are also meant as lululemon does not partake in any unethical practices and obeys the laws set in place. The company also says that it will do what it says it will do.
With lululemon entering the global market it will continue to achieve major success by being socially responsible in any location it operates in.
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http://www.lululemon.com/media/press_kit/lulu_media_kit.pdf