swatch: Situation Analysis

1.1 Introduction

Swatch is a wrist watch manufacturer, originated from Switzerland. Swatch is well known on the uniqueness and the varieties of their designs, as well as becoming a brand which follows current trends and styles. Since the brand was introduced in 1983, by placing itself under the parent company Swatch Group, Swatch has been one of the largest and well known watch manufacturers in the world. Swatch is known for their simple and stylish designs, which attract a lot of consumer especially young people who are passionate and concern about their appearance and style.

Swatch products are classified in different groups, which are Swatch Originals, Swatch Irony, Swatch Skin, Swatch Beat, and Swatch Bijoux. All these groups are the main ranges of the Swatch products, each of the group have their sub-families which include different designs and different choice of colors.

The Swatch Originals are the first and the main design of Swatch. The watches are made with plastic materials and it comes with a lot of different colors, sizes, and designs. The Swatch Originals are the most familiar group of Swatch and it represents the main image of the brand. The Swatch Irony is the watches that are metal cased, the watches designs are professional and can be used in formal occasions. The Swatch Skin is the thinner version of the Swatch Originals, the Skin family currently holding a world record of thinnest watch which measured at 3.9 millimeters. The Swatch Beat is a decimal time concepts, the watch has digital display and the time is set to international time zone. The Swatch Bijoux however is not a watch product line, it is the jewelry products made by Swatch and their partner, Swarovski.

In this Situation Analysis, the focus will be on the Swatch Originals product line. This is relevant as the Swatch Originals gives direct brand image of Swatch and it is the most familiar Swatch product line among the audience.

1.2 Problem Statement

Swatch is already an established brand in the market. They have been in the industries for over 20 years and have been known from all around the world. However in Malaysia, people may have different and negative perspective toward the brand.

Swatch is known for their simplicity and stylishness, and their watches are known for using plastic element as the main material. For that, people tend to believe that the price of Swatch watches are unreasonable and expensive, most people would compare the high price of Swatch with those cheap watches in night market that look almost the same, regardless of the high quality of Swatch watches. The other problem is that Swatch is less known for the quality of their products, this is because they emphasize mainly on the design of their watches. So, people would question about the price of their product.

1.3 Objectives and Aims

Objectives

· Emphasize on the quality of the products through advertisement

· Bring the brand closer to the people by organizing exhibitions and contests

· Change the way of approaching people using the brand image

Aims

· To have people realize the quality wise of Swatch products

· To balance the product image between the design and quality wise

· To change people's perspective toward the price of the products

2.1 Product Name

The Swatch Originals families

2.2 Product Classification

Swatch Originals is the main design of Swatch watches which uses plastic as the main material.

2.3 Product Characteristics

Packaging : Core Collection (Rebel)

Pricing : RM280

Unit : 1 watch, Swatch Club Registration form, warranty card, manual

Packaging : Bicoloured Collection

Pricing : RM165

Unit : 1 watch, Swatch Club Registration form, warranty card, manual

Packaging : New Gent Lacquered Collection

Pricing : RM280

Unit : 1 watch, Swatch Club Registration form, warranty card, manual

2.4 Product Range

Product : Core Collection (Rebel)

Colors : black, brown, warm, blue, white,

Product : Bicoloured Collection

Colors : pink n grey, green n violet, orange n petrol, cobalt n pink, yellow n brown

Product : New Gent Lacquered Collection

Colors : red, orangish, yellow, green, blue, black, pink, white, indigo, purple

2.5 Distribution

Swatch products are distributed directly in Malaysia. Although the products are not manufactured locally, but the products are distributed directly through the parent company called The Swatch Group. There are currently 10 official Swatch outlets in Malaysia, with 5 of them alone located in Selangor, and each in Pulau Pinang, Melaka, Sabah, Johor, and Perak. The Swatch Group Subsidiaries Office is located in Wisma Goldhill, Kuala Lumpur.

The products are mostly available at the official outlets. However, Swatch still uses certain retailers and wholesalers to distribute their product, but the number of retailers and wholesalers are restricted and only up to some extent due to the requirement of specialized services for the products. This has classified the products to be distributed in a selective distribution.

2.6 Product Life Cycle

2.7 The Brand

Swatch was introduced in 1983 by a small team of watch engineers from Switzerland. The name 'Swatch' derived from the term 'second watch' which indirectly means the new concept and style of watch. Swatch is under the parent company called Swatch Group, which is one of the largest watch companies in the world, with brands such as Tissot, Omega, and Calvin Klein placed under the Swatch Group. The first collection of Swatch was produced in March 1983, the brand instantly gain popularity among consumers as their watches are 80% more cost effective and use less assembly parts for their productions. Since then Swatch has become famous especially for the young people, this is mainly because Swatch's main idea is to create a brand that emphasizes on style, simplicity and trendy.

Swatch is famous for their trendy and up-to-date designs, the manufacturer always keeps up with the latest fashion style and tries to be as creative as possible to stand out from their competitors. Swatch can be classified as a trend setter rather than just an ordinary watch manufacturer.

2.8 Brand Image and Implication

The brand is currently on the growth state in the product life cycle graph as it still gaining customer loyalty in Malaysia, this is because Swatch is a fairly new product in the Malaysian market, with penetration focused on the design and trend. Swatch is currently not in the top part of the market share, with the market share dominated by the likes of Rolex, Omega, and Tag Heuer. So, Swatch is still in the phase of gaining their local strategic target audience in order to fully specify their mission and vision.

2.9 Strength and Weakness

Strengths

· Comes in a variety of colors

· Attractive designs

· Lightweight materials

· Durable and reliable quality

· Accurate time consistency

· Glow in the dark numbers

· Water resistant

· Easy to clean materials

Weaknesses

· Plastic materials may scratch easily

· The back of the watch trap dirt easily

· Exposed battery design may cause internal problems

· The pins that connect the watch to the strap get loose easily

· The rubber strap may be uncomfortable for some people

2.10 Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

· Customers will be able to choose color to match their clothing appearance

· The watch is able to be one of the fashion style in user's appearance

· Easy and comfortable to wear due to lightweight materials

· The users can wear the watch in any daily activities

· Users will not have to worry about time inconsistency of their watch

· The watch can be seen in the dark easily because of the glow in the dark material

· Users will not have to worry about the watch being exposed to water

· Users will not have to worry about the watch getting dirty

Disadvantages

· Users will have to be careful not to have the watch scratching with other things

· Users will have to clean the trapped dirt regularly

· Users will have to avoid dirt getting through the exposed battery

· Users have to be careful not to lose the connecting pins between the watch and the strap

· Users may eventually stop wearing the watch because they are not comfortable with the rubber strap

2.11 Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Swatch is a brand that follows people's current trends and fashions.

2.12 Promotional History and Advertising Schedule

· 11-13th November 2011 - Swatch Touch Contest

· 14th December 2011 - The Art of Gifting with Swatch

· 30th December 2011 - Swatcher Wish Contest

·8-25th June 2012 - Daddy's Favourite Colour Campaign

2.13 Positioning Statement

Swatch is an established watch brand that emphasize on design wise and it is targeted to young people.

3.1 Company Overview

Swatch is under its parent company, The Swatch Group. Swatch Group was formed 1983 through the merging of two Swiss watch manufacturers, ASUAG and SSIH. The Company is currently led by G. Nicolas Hayek, Jr., son of the late co-founder and chairman Nicolas Hayek. There are a lot of brands under the Swatch Group, for example Omega, Calvin Klein, and Tissot. Since its creation, The Swatch Group has been one of the biggest watch manufacturers and has spread their legacy from around the world.

Currently, there are 10 official stores in Malaysia and one Swatch Group Head Office, located in Wisma Goldhill, Kuala Lumpur.

3.2 Business Description

The Swatch Group aims to put itself across on a leading watch manufacturing company, Swatch Group has involved in a lot of technologies developments during the years, and currently still continuing their legacy as an established company. Examples of their technologies are the Hamilton Electric watch and Bulova Accutron tuning fork watch.

The launched of the brand "Swatch" marked Swatch Group's revolutionary move into a new era of watch design. Introduced by engineer Ernst Thomke and his young team of designers, Swatch has made a bold move toward new styling and design. The watch was redesigned to make the production easier, for example Swatch watches use less parts compared to previous watches during the era. Swatch offers unique and fashionable appearance, which mainly attracted young generations into experiencing the new work of art.

3.3 Company History

Swatch is a watch manufacturing company based from Switzerland, founded by an engineer Ernst Thomke with his young designers in 1983. Swatch is managed under its parent company, The Swatch Group, which was also established in the same year, 1983, by the merging of two watch manufacturers, ASUAG and SSIH. The Company is currently led by G. Nicolas Hayek, Jr., son of the late co-founder and chairman Nicolas Hayek.

3.4 Key People

CEO, Swatch Group - Nick Hayek

Chair of the Board of Directors - Dr. h.c. Nayla Hayek

Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors - Ernst Tanner

Company Secretary - Roland Bloch

3.5 Location and Subsidiaries

The Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

Level 22 Wisma Goldhill

67, Jalan Raja Chulan

MY-50200 Kuala Lumpur

Store Locations:

KLCC

C23, Concourse Floor,

Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur City Centre,

50088 Kuala Lumpur.

Pavilion KL

4.35, Level 4,

Pavilion KL, 168,

Jalan Bukit Bintang,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Jalan Bukit Bintang,

G-037A, Ground Floor Mid Valley Megamall,

Mid Valley City, 58000 Kuala Lumpur.

1 Utama

LG 341, Lower Ground Floor,

1 Utama Shopping Centre,

No.1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,

47800 Petaling Jaya.

Alamanda Putrajaya

LG53B, Lower Ground Floor,

Alamanda Putrajaya Shopping Centre,

Jalan Alamanda, Precint 1,

62000 Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan.

Queensbay Mall

GF33A, Queensbay Mall,

100, Persiaran Bayan Indah,

11900 Bayan Lepas,

Pulau Pinang.

City Square

M1-05, Level 1,

Johor Bahru City Square,

106-108, Jalan Wong Ah Fook,

80000 Johor Bahru.

Suria Sabah

G-47, Ground Floor,

Suria Sabah Shopping Mall,

Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens,

Kota Kinabalu 88000.

AEON Ipoh

Lot G 16A,

AEON Ipoh Station 18 Shopping Centre,

No.2, Susuran Stesen 18,

tesen 18, 31650 Ipoh Perak.

3.6 Brands, Major Products and Services

The Swatch Group is a watch manufacturer and has been in the industry for a long time, Swatch Group has created and established a lot of successful brands in the market, the brands under the Swatch Group are :

· Breguet

· Blancpain

· Glashutte Original

· Jaquet Droz

· Leon Hatot

· Omega

· Longines

· Rado

· Union Glashutte

· Tissot

· Calvin Klein

· Certina

· Mido

· Hamilton

· Swatch

· Flik Flak

· Endura

· Tourbillon

3.7 Corporate Vision

· To become the biggest watch manufacturer in the world

· To become an icon in fashion appearance

· To strive to lead the global intimates market to achieve profitable growth

3.8 Corporate Mission

· To have strong brand image & identity

· To become the fashion trend among consumers

· To gain local customer loyalty

3.9 Company's Current Promotional Strategy

· Swatch Skiers Cup, 1-9 September 2012 in Chile

· Germany Red Bull X-Fighter, 11th August 2012

· Australia Red Bull X-Fighter, 6th October 2012

· FIVB Beach Volleyball Tour, 13-19 August 2012 in Poland

There is currently no promotional strategy in Malaysia as of August 2012.

3.10 Product Sales History

According to Swatch Group 2011 financial review, overall sale of 2011 has increased in value compared to 2010. Operating profit increased by 12.4% in 2011 compared to previous years. This shows that Swatch is still a growing company and has yet to reach its peak status. The growth of consumers in selecting Swatch products will proportionally increase the sales of Swatch in the future.

3.11 Current Marketing Objective

Short term marketing objectives

· To gain local customer loyalty

· To be recognized as unique and trendy brand

Long term marketing objectives

· To become trendsetter in fashion appearance among the people

· To become the biggest watch manufacturer in the industry

3.12 Media Expenditure

Swatch has been reliant on a lot of media to promote their products. Internationally, they have used TV commercial, billboards, print ads, and social media. Here in Malaysia, the company has been reliant mostly on social media, social media is the easiest and the more effective way to get to the customer nowadays. Swatch often organized and promotes their activities on facebook and twitter, for example the Daddy's Favourite Colour Campaign, the audience are asked to simply upload their pictures into facebook and Swatch will choose the best as the winner, the prize were given by post to the winner. This is how well and efficient Swatch's strategy is in using social media.

Swatch also has its own youtube channel for the viewers, they often upload the review of their activities as well as promotional video on the channel. Locally, Swatch has been reliant so much on the use of social media.

4.1 Current Consumer's Characteristics

4.1.1 Demographics

· Age : 10 - 50 years old

· Gender : Male and Female

· Education : School to higher education

· Occupation : Students to young working adults

· Income Range : RM500 - RM20 000

· Race & Ethnicity : All races

· Geographic Location : Urban and Sub-urban

4.1.2 Psychographics

· Perception : Varieties of design to choose from but expensive price

· Learning : Friends & Families, Newspaper & Magazines, Internet,

Advertisements.

Motivation & Needs : The need of watch for time access, attracted by the appearance

of the watch, buying the product as gift, buying watch as

collection and fashion accessories

· Attitude & Personality : Consumers who have good taste in design and have interest

toward fashion and trends.

· Lifestyle : Trendy and fashionable

4.2 Stakeholders Characteristics

4.2.1 Primary

· Managing Director

Directing and guiding the employees in order for the company to run smoothly.

· Employees

Contribute to the company in exchange for wages.

· Consumers

Spending money for the products distributed by the company which contributes to the company's revenue

· Investor

Investing money during the start up of the company with interest of sharing profit.

4.2.2 Secondary

· Bank

Provide loan and funding backup money in case of financial crisis.

· Courier

Helps distribute the products to the necessary locations in exchange for the wages.

· Media

Helps advertise the brand and products and create awareness among the consumers.

5.1 The Industry

5.1.1 Definition of the industry

Clothing & Apparel industry constitutes of units involved in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of clothing, footwear, makeup, and accessories. These are the everyday things that involve both needs and desire of the consumers. Clothing and footwear are the most significant in the fashion & apparel industry, these are the factors that involve people's appearance as well as personality. Accessories category in the other hand includes several things such as jewelry, caps, glasses, and watches.

5.1.2 Shape of the Industry

The growing needs of the consumers are driving the latest innovations and creations in the consumer clothing & apparel industry. Looking at today's market, there are rapid growth of the fashion needs and trend development from consumers, which resulted manufacturers to compete against each other in order to fulfill consumer's needs, these high level of competition gives great advantage to the consumers as they now have more choice of products.

An important part in clothing & apparel industry is the fashion journalism. Fashion journalism plays a big part in the development of the industry as they are providing critique, guidelines and commentary in media such as magazines, television, social networks, and in fashion websites. Through these media outlets, readers and viewers all over the world can learn about fashion, making it very accessible. One of the examples is Vogue magazine, who has been the longest-lasting and most successful of the hundreds of fashion magazines. So, Media does play a very big part in the clothing & apparel industry.

The problem faced with the industry is the lack in technical experts, and tied to availability of funds. These factors have deterred the small and medium size local players from engaging in design and development activities in the industry. Unlike the major fashion centers such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, Malaysia has limited number of design houses and designers.

5.1.3 Development of the Industry

Clothing & Apparel are basic consumption items for the consumers, in both developed and developing countries. The industry, especially clothing, is labor-intensive and requires relatively modest capital to start up and operate. Therefore, developing economies such as China, India, Malaysia, Cambodia, and others, that have pool of low wage rates labors, appeal to the companies seeking off-shore production with cost advantage than the developed countries.

The growth of Malaysia's clothing & apparel industry accelerated in the early 1970s, when the country was on the course of export-oriented industrialization. Malaysian exports of clothing & apparel have increased significantly over the years driven by a few factors increased market access after the phasing out of the export quota system.

Although the industry is presently increasing but it still considered young compared to high fashion countries like Paris and United Kingdom. This is because of the culture and thinking way of Malaysian, clothing & apparel are linked to luxury, which is unnecessary. Therefore, warehouse sakes and annual mega sales helps to solve this problem.

5.2 The Marketplace

5.2.1 Current Condition of the Marketplace

The market of Watches is currently in an intensive competition whereby each brand strives to come up with better products in order to being different and better than their competitors, especially when there are a lot of competing brands in the market.

Currently, watches market has been dominated by three giants, which are Omega, Rolex, and Tag Heuer. With the rapid growth of fashion & apparel industry, there are currently many brands that are competing to be on top of the market, such as Tissot, Longines, and Rado.

In order to survive in this fierce competition, the watches brand keep coming out with latest innovative improvement in term of design and the functionality. Strong Unit Selling Proposition is important for the company to stand out against other competitors.

5.2.2 Changes in Marketplace

Positive

· More market competition resulted in companies to produce better products for the consumers.

· The industry will grow rapidly as the consumer demand increases

Negative

· Too much competition will leave behind some companies, thus may lead to unbalanced competition in the market.

· More competition could lead in profit loss and market share reduction if failed to meet the par

6.1 Direct Competitors

Casio G-shock

Casio is an established electronic manufacturer and has been in the industry for a very long time. Casio was introduced in 1946 in Japan by an engineer specializing in fabrication technology. Since then, Casio has been a successful company and a giant name in the industry. The G-shock is a watch line up produced by Casio, the watches are known for the extreme design and the durability. Although G-shock is made for adventurous and extreme use, it has set a fashion trend among the consumers, most people especially youngsters buy the watch because of the style and variety of designs, which is why G-shock is a main competitor for Swatch.

Nixon

Nixon is an American accessories company founded by Andy Laats & Chad DiNenna. Introduced in 1997, Nixon began with a small line of custom built watches with focused distribution in specialty surf, skate, snow, and fashion. Since then, Nixon has grown rapidly and has marketed into over 80 countries. Nixon has large range of products, from simple and casual designs to watches for extreme and adventurous conditions. Similar to Swatch, Nixon has simple and trendy watches with various designs and colors to choose from.

Timex

Timex is an established and well known watch manufacturer in the market. Timex is the current day successor of the Waterbury Clock Company, founded in 1854. The initial purpose of Timex was to produce watches that simply work, especially when they produced watches for the military during the world war. As time passes, Timex has been one of the largest and most famous watch manufacturer in the world, their watches emphasize on design as well as quality. Timex now produces wide range of watches, which has set them to become a trend, especially among the young adults.

6.2 Indirect Competitors

Seiko

Seiko is a watch manufacturer founded in 1881, originated from Japan. Seiko is famous for the luxurious and classiness of their products, which is why their watches can be considered as high end products. Unlike Swatch, Seiko's main target audiences are working professionals who care about luxury and formality, which made Seiko as one of Swatch indirect competitors.

Adidas

Adidas is a sports clothing manufacturer, based in German. Since its foundation in 1948, Adidas has been one of the biggest sports clothing manufacturer in the world, often being compared with its fierce competitor, Nike. Apart from sports clothing, Adidas has also produce watches as one of their minor products, their watches are known for sporty and extreme design, targeted to young adults especially athletes. Adidas can be considered as Swatch's indirect competitor as their minor products could somehow compete with Swatch products.

Pandora

Pandora is a Jewelry manufacturer from Denmark, started in 1982. Their accessories include bracelets, earrings, rings, and watches. Famous for the silver materials used, they also produced accessories made of gold and gems. As Swatch products are often seen as fashion accessories, Pandora can be considered as its indirect competitor as they are producing the same kind of needs, but with different approach.

7.1 Strengths

· Strong company base

· Unique brand image

· Good experience in the market

· Attractive product design

· Good quality of products

· Official stores availability

· Strong customer loyalty

· Variety of product design

· Availability on outside retailers

· Based in Switzerland, well known for watch manufacturing

7.2 Weaknesses

· Limited products availability outside Selangor

· Plastic based products can be damaged easily (scratch, snap, etc)

· Brand lack emphasis on quality wise

· Pressure on being one of the biggest manufacturer

· Lack of mainstream activities involvement in Malaysia

· No manufacturing process in Malaysia, in case of warranty void or product problems.

7.3 Opportunities

· High interest of people toward fashion-based products

· People consider watches as part of fashion accessories

· People behavior of switching brands

· Watches and accessories are often used as gifts

· Modern people behavior of keeping themselves up to date with trends

7.4 Threats

· Public perception toward quality of plastic based products

· Youngsters may not be able to afford the products

· People may reasonability of the price

· Uncertain tax charge for imported products

· High competition in fashion-based products

· People refuse to wear watch because of the availability to access time from other devices (phones, tablets)

8.1 Proposed Primary Target Audience

Demographics

· Age : 18 - 24 years old

· Gender : Male and Female

· Education : School and higher education

· Occupation : Students

· Allowance Range : RM 500 - RM1500

· Race & Ethnicity : All races

· Geographic Location : Urban and Sub-urban

Psychographics

· Perception : Stylish and trendy designs of products

· Learning : Friends & Families, Newspaper & Magazines, Internet

· Motivation & Needs : Consumers are attracted by the appearance of the watch,

which is the attractive designs and the ability to choose

colors from different varieties.

· Attitude & Personality : Consumers who have good taste in design and have interest

toward fashion and trends.

· Lifestyle : Trendy and fashionable

8.2 Proposed Secondary Target Audience

Demographics

· Age : 25 - 30 years old

· Gender : Male and Female

· Education : School and higher education

· Occupation : Working professionals

· Income Range : RM1500 - RM4000

· Race & Ethnicity : All races

· Geographic Location : Urban

Psychographics

· Perception : Stylish and trendy designs of products

· Learning : Friends & Families, Newspaper & Magazines, Internet

· Motivation & Needs : The need of watch for casual occasions, buying watch as gift

to others, buying watch as collection

· Attitude & Personality : Have good taste in design and fashion, care about self

appearance.

· Lifestyle : Outgoing, active, and trendy

9.1 Marketplace Research

I have visited few Swatch stores in Kuala Lumpur to observe the products as well as to study about the target audience. There are 10 official Swatch stores in Malaysia, i have managed to visit two of them which are in One Utama Damansara and Alamanda Putrajaya.

Swatch displays their products in different and unique ways compared to other typical watch stores.

They display each and every color of watches so the customers will not need much assistance while browsing the products.

9.2 Market Observation

I have made an observation about the market during my visit to the Swatch stores. I did find some spot near the store and sit for one and a half hour and observe the people who visit the shop. Here is the result of my observation.

Most of the people who visit the store are young couples, followed by teenagers, and parents who bring their families. Swatch are good in displaying their products, they will usually have the new products line at the most front of the shop, so people who pass by will eventually stop by to have a look. A lot of the people who visited the store do not intend to buy the product, most of them are attracted by the colorful watches displayed in the shop. Out of one and a half hour, i can only identified one person out bought Swatch product.

There are also parents who brought their kids to the Swatch shop to have a look at the products, but most of them just walked away empty handed. In my observation, most people who visited are just people who were window shopping and never intended to buy anything, the price of the products might as well be the reason they refuse to buy Swatch products.

Photos show type of people who visited the store, there were parents with their kids and young couples. At times, the shop would be filled with a lot of visitors.

9.3 Online Survey

The online survey was conducted to study about the target audience, the survey has been answered by 50 participants. The aim of this survey is to determine the behavior and the awareness of people about the brand. These are the results of the survey:

Question 1 - What is your gender?

This question was made to identify the gender of the participants. The chart shows 52% of participants are male followed by female at 48%.

Question 2 - What is your age?

This question was made to determine the age of the participants. The result shows the dominant of the age group 18-21 by 68%, followed by age group 22-25 by 28%, age group 26-29 by 4% and 0% for '17 and below' and '30 and above'. This result is helpful as the majority age of participants belong to the age group of the target audience.

Question 3 - What is your monthly income/allowance range?

This question was made to determine the monthly income or allowance of the participants. The result shows 56% of the participants gain below RM500, 30% gain RM500-RM1000, 8% gain RM1000-RM1500, 4% gain RM2000-RM2500, 2% gain above RM3000, and 0% for others.

Question 4 - Do you normally wear wrist watch?

This question was made to determine whether the participants are familiar with wrist watch. The result is equal, 50% answered Yes and 50% answered No. This is important to get the information on whether the target audience finds wrist watch important to them or otherwise.

Question 5 - What brand of watch do you prefer the most?

This question was made to determine participants' preferred watch brand. As it turned out, 34% of participants preferred Swatch, followed by Fossil, Casio, Seiko, Guess, Timex, and other brand. This shows that most people within the target age group prefer Swatch over any other brands, this can be due to the young and stylish look of the Swatch products.

Question 6 - How much are you willing to spend on a watch?

This question was made to determine how much people are willing to spend for their watch. The result shows that 36% people are willing to spend RM200, followed by below RM100 at 32%, RM300 at 14%, above RM500 at 10%, and RM400 at 8%. This shows participants at the given age group are not willing to spend too much for their watch, due to them being student and do not have their own salary.

Question 7 - Which of the following factors do you consider the most when purchasing your

watch?

This question was made to determine the factor people consider the most when choosing their watch. Result shows that most of them prefer the design of the watch, followed by quality, price, brand, trend, and other. This shows that young people are more aware and care about the look of the products they choose.

Question 8 - Have you heard of the brand Swatch?

This question was made to determine the brand awareness among the participants. As it shows, 985 of the participants have heard of the brand and only 2% of participants never heard of Swatch. This shows how Swatch has been an established brand in the market.

Question 9 - If yes, where did you heard of the brand from?

This question was made to determine where did people heard of the brand. Most people are being informed through friends & families, followed by newspapers & magazines, internet, tv & radio, and others.

Question 10 - Have you ever own Swatch product?

This question was made to determine whether the participants ever own Swatch product. The result shows almost equal of percentage, with 46% have owned Swatch product, and 54% never owned Swatch product. This shows that most people are already familiar with Swatch brand.

Question 11 - Have you ever been to any Swatch stores in Malaysia?

This question was made to determine how many participants have been to local Swatch store. The result shows 88% of participants have visited Swatch store before and only 12% otherwise.

Question 11 - What do you think of the price of Swatch watches?

This question was made to determine people perception toward the price of Swatch watches. As is turned out, 48% think that the price is expensive, followed by 36% who think it is reasonable, and 16% have no idea about the pricing. This is in fact due to the different amount of income received by each person.

Question 12 - Have you ever come across any activities or campaigns organized by Swatch?

This question was made to determine whether people are familiar or have encountered any activities organized by Swatch. The result shows that only 10% of participants had came across activities by Swatch while the rest are not.

Question 13 - What are you expecting from Swatch in the future?

This question was made to determine people's expectation from Swatch in the near future. Most people wanted a lower price range for the products, followed by variety of product designs, quality of products, more local stores, and more contests and campaigns.

9.4 - Interview

In the process of completing the research, i was having some difficulties at finding some information about the company, so i had decided to email the local Swatch management to get the information needed as well as having an appointment session for an interview.

Unfortunately, there was no response from them. From there on, i have doubled my research effort on the internet as well as in field observation in order to get the information needed for this Situation Analysis.

10.1 Advertising Strategy