Seiko Watch Corporation: Moving Upmarket Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Opportunities

The company has an opportunity to move in the international markets by offering its different product lines and change its strategy to consumer oriented instead of market oriented. The company has an advantage of innovation and technology, therefore it could successfully launch its high-end luxurious product in the market to cater the high-end customers. The increase in the industry trend for consumers’ behavior for buying high-end luxurious products can be targeted well by the company if it successfully competes with the Swiss companies.

Threats

Increased number of competitors in both low and high end markets from all parts of the world including China, Swiss, Japan, and other countries. The company relies mostly on technology and new technological product. The company has always suffered in times of recession when consumers would spend little on the new technological product.

Segmentation for Watches

The segmentation of watches is based on the high-end, middle-end, and the low-end customers in all parts of the world. The areas of segmentation has been described below:

For the Gold Lovers

Companies target customers who like to wear gold and are considered as high-end customers with luxurious life styles and interests. The particular customer segments needs perfection in their life and wants to acquire top brands having high profile ratings. These customers also want custom watches which are designed according to their specifications.

For Fashion Segments

These customers are mostly considered as teenagers that have desires to wear trendy watches which changes according to the course of time. These customers do not generally spend high amount of money on their watches, therefore they are segmented as middle-end customers. This segment has varieties of products to offer because it changes from one dress code to the other.

For Designers

This particular segment of customers’ desire watches which are made by the top designers of the world. The company make contracts with designers to associate its brand with their names to promote their products. Fan following of customers for a designer allow companies to attain good revenues.

For Tech Savvy Customers

These are the customers that wants latest designs and innovation in their watches with a state of the art technology. These watches perform multi-task functions, while not just focus on telling time but it also focus on performing other activities.

For Children

A market segment for children allow companies to target the age group between 6 to 14 years of age. This market segment is considered both as providing the cheapest form of watches and expensive. The higher trend of the market shows that customers prefer cheapest version as watches mechanism becomes vulnerable at the hands of children.

Seiko’s positioning

Seiko has been focusing on a relatively different brand positioning in the domestic market while comparing it with the international market. In the domestic market, the company has been catering high-end market where it has been offering luxurious watches with relatively high prices. However, the international market focus for Seiko is more emphasized upon providing a middle-end and affordable watch brands. Therefore, the consumer perception for Seiko has been developed as a middle-level brand. Due to the complexity of catering different market altogether, the company finds it confusing and faces problem in meeting the demands of all types of customers range from middle-end to the high-end market.

Previously, the company had developed a positioning in the market related to reliability and quality brand provider. However, competing it with the high-end luxurious market for Seiko has always been very difficult for the company as it did not meet the require criteria in its product as provided by the Swiss watchmaker. Most apparently, Seiko’s market strategy had been based on capturing the market share and exploiting the opportunities for the purpose of achieving mass sales throughout the world. Therefore, achieving the required brand positioning, the company required to set a price which could be affordable for its customers across the globe. This strategy allowed Seiko to market a middle-end to high-end products.

The particular strategy applied by the company lacked to cater the luxurious market and a certain focus on its brand image. The company’s vision is based on bringing innovation and perfection in a society, whereas, the core values of Seiko is rested upon reliability and quality. If company had identified a particular price point for a certain market, then the company would target the same market with a desired product referring to the similar price point. The company had been facing problems because it could not meet the perfect demand of consumers as the strategy was focused on market oriented and not consumer oriented. Therefore, Seiko found a need of change in strategy and its brand positioning through the world..................................

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