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 - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Watch Luxury in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Watch Luxury is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Watch Luxury is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Watch Luxury in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Watch Luxury is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Watch Luxury to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Watch Luxury to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Watch Luxury has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Watch Luxury has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
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 -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Watch Luxury has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context, it seems that the employees of Watch Luxury don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Watch Luxury 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Watch Luxury has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context, in the dynamic environment Watch Luxury has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Watch Luxury has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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.
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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Watch Luxury has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
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 -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Watch Luxury can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
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.
Manufacturing automation
– Watch Luxury can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Loyalty marketing
– Watch Luxury has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Watch Luxury has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Watch Luxury to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context case study. Watch Luxury can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Watch Luxury in the consumer business. Now Watch Luxury can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Watch Luxury can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Watch Luxury can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Watch Luxury can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Buying journey improvements
– Watch Luxury can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
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.
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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Watch Luxury has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Watch Luxury to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Watch Luxury can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study XYLYS: Exploring Consumer Perception about Premium Watches in the Indian Context .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Watch Luxury can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Watch Luxury
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Watch Luxury.
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.
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.
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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Watch Luxury.
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.