XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context
The liberalization of markets, the rising disposable income, the exposure to western lifestyles, and the need for the new generation to establish an identity for itself are some of the reasons for the growth of the luxury watch category in India. The market for luxury watches was estimated to be 3% of watch retail, and was growing at almost 20% annually, which was more than twice the growth rate of the entire market. Heritage, glamour and technology were a combination of factors that were associated with luxury watch brands universally.While there were several global watch brands being marketed in India at various price points, the challenge for a leading Indian company Titan Industries that had made rapid strides in the watch market over the last two decades was to successfully introduce a luxury watch brand. Manoj Chakravarti, Senior Advisor, Titan Industries reflected about his 28 years in the watch industry both in India and abroad, and contemplated about Xylys, Titan's premium watch brand, and its foray into the Indian market. He had formulated several aspects of marketing mix strategies in the past to face diverse kinds of challenges. Xylys was a premium watch brand launched by Titan a few years ago; the brand was aimed at creating a unique perception among consumers. There were several interesting possibilities for Chakravarti to consider. Would a conventional positioning approach be sufficient? Was it necessary to obtain some insights regarding the application of the uniqueness aspect to the self-perception of consumers? How were such aspects of uniqueness related to other established brands? How important was the "Swiss-made" label? Did the buyers and prospective buyers of premium watches hold any specific stereotypical images of such watches? How does the self-concept of consumers matter to luxury watch brands? The case delves into behavioral concepts that are important from the viewpoint of brand perception of luxury brands.
Swot Analysis of "XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context" written by S. Ramesh Kumar, Kasturi Baral includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Watch Luxury facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Emerging markets, Growth strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Watch Luxury, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Watch Luxury operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Watch Luxury
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Watch Luxury
Strengths XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Watch Luxury in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Watch Luxury are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Watch Luxury has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Watch Luxury is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by S. Ramesh Kumar, Kasturi Baral can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Learning organization
- Watch Luxury is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Watch Luxury is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Watch Luxury has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Watch Luxury digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Watch Luxury has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Watch Luxury has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Organizational Resilience of Watch Luxury
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Watch Luxury does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Watch Luxury in the sector have low bargaining power. XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Watch Luxury to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Watch Luxury has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Watch Luxury to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Watch Luxury has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Watch Luxury is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context HBR case study mentions - Watch Luxury takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Watch Luxury supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Watch Luxury vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Watch Luxury products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Watch Luxury needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Watch Luxury has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Watch Luxury is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Watch Luxury needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Watch Luxury to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, S. Ramesh Kumar, Kasturi Baral suggests that, Watch Luxury is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context, is just above the industry average. Watch Luxury needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Watch Luxury has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Watch Luxury has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Watch Luxury is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Watch Luxury can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Watch Luxury can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Watch Luxury to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Watch Luxury to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Watch Luxury to increase its market reach. Watch Luxury will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Watch Luxury to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Watch Luxury can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Watch Luxury operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Watch Luxury can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Watch Luxury can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Watch Luxury in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Watch Luxury to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Watch Luxury can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Watch Luxury is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Watch Luxury can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Watch Luxury demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Watch Luxury needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Watch Luxury can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Watch Luxury can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Watch Luxury business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Watch Luxury with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Watch Luxury needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Watch Luxury in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Watch Luxury needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Watch Luxury high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Watch Luxury will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Watch Luxury is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Watch Luxury needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.