HMTWatches

OBJECTIVES To study of a yester year market leader HMT. Discuss 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place Promotion)

SWOT PLC (Product Life Cycle) To find out the reasons behind failure of HMT Watch ltd. Reposition the product in the best possible way.

HMT : A SnapshotIncorporated in 1953 by the Government of India as a Machine Tool manufacturing company.Over the years diversified into Watches, Tractors, Printing Machinery, Metal Forming Presses, Die Casting & Plastic Processing Machinery & Bearings. Successful technology absorption in all product groups through collaborations with world renowned manufacturers & further strengthened by continuous in house R&D. Today, HMT comprises six subsidiaries under the ambit of a Holding Company, which also manages the Tractors Business directly .

In 1953 Incorporated in Bangalore. In 1961 started its wrist watch plant. H.W. L. (Hindustan Watches Ltd.) was the first to enter in the market. In 1979 sales touch to 4 lakh watches. In 1980 it was 5 lakh watches. In 1990 got ISO 9001 certified. On 9th August 1999 fully owned subsidiary. Plants was located at Bangalore, Tumkur Ranibagh. and

THE MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT AND PRICEPRODUCTBraille Janata Pilot Kohinoor. Dilip Sona Chinar Sweekar Kailash Rajat Kedar ADSL-03 ADSL 02

PRICE495.00 515.00 515.00 665.00 750.00 780.00 1175.00 1050.00 1050.00 995.00 1500.00 2295.00 2095.00

PLACE Showrooms Dealers Retailers Whole sellers

PROMOTION Radio Newspaper Television Magzine

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH Strong govt. support Brand image Market leadership Good liquidity Availability of tangible assets Established marketing network Prior experience

WEAKNESS No emphasis on R&D

Rigidness Red tapismconcept of marketing concept. Over reliance on the production and hence ignoring the marketing

Production was not market driven. No emphasis on design and packaging

Opportunity Growing domestic and international market. Exports Market segmentation Enlarge network of sale outlets Product improvement

Threats

Competitors Misuse of its brand name by spurious operators. Unorganized manufacturing

Causes Of Failure A large number of staff, including persons of general manager's rank, had left the organization to join the rivals. Our biggest threat was to come from watch manufacturers in the unorganized sector and fake parts and components. We have even detected our dealers' connivance in selling other brandsSK Chaturvedi HMT Executive Director

What Went Wrong?

Product Few Designs as compared to competitors. HMT has only 40 odd variants of four basic designs compared to competitor line, Titan which has 70 watches in its ranges with better looks & designs There is less emphasis on product research and development HMT has not been able to be a leader in Quartz watches segment & underestimation of this segment Another flaw in its product strategy was scant attention to aesthetics and packaging of its watches.

What Went Wrong?

Price HMT positioned the quartz watches as the space age generation watches & charged high prices for this category which means that only the affluent middle aged consumer could afford it. In less than a year the company had to reduce the price and followed lifestyle advertising to justify the still higher price of the quartz, however even this backfired as consumers were not convinced of the differentiation between the quartz and other HMT watches.

What Went Wrong?Place Didn t strategize its established marketing network according to growing competition and new market trend like downtrend of mechanical watches & the growing market for the quartz watches. Since retailers have enough foreign brands they were simply not interested in HMT s home grown products as a result it had to sell through its 13 branch offices for Machine tool equipment. In addition, the retailer margins provided by HMT were 2% less than what its most prominent competitor, Titan, was offering to the retailers.

What Went Wrong?Promotion Though HMT s advertising was distinctive and did cater to the lifestyle segment, it failed to communicate the uniqueness of HMT s quartz design vis--vis other HMT watches. Because of centralized decision making even the decisions on the campaigns for specific products were delayed leading to the time lag and responding to market changes.

PLC of HMT WatchesProduct Life Cycle

REASONS FOR REPOSITIONINGCompleted all the stages of PLC1-Introduction

4-Decline

PLC2-Growth

3-Maturity

New Marketing MixSegment (Demography)Low end

ProductRugged, basic time function, mechanical or quartz, water resistance steel and gold make. Rs. 300-1000

Price

Mid upper

Automatic, steel or gold make, quartz/analog, water resistance and rich looks USB,MP3,trendy, attractive, stylish, water resistance and colorful. Automatic, multifunctional, quartz, digital, water resistance, gold and jeweled Jeweled, automatic, gold, platinum, water resistance ,classy and customize

Rs. 1,000-3,000

Urban Youth

Rs.1,000-5,000

Executive/Achievers

Rs.5,000-30,000

Affluent

Rs. =>30,000

Place Company owned outlets Retailers Authorized dealers Jewellary shops Other retail outlets and stores Online shopping

Promotion Electronic Media: TV Commercials Sponsorship Prime time TV programs Sponsoring major events like IPL, Major Fashion shows, associate sponsorship On line marketing Print Media: Billboards, Cut outs at all major traffic locations Magazines News paper Danglers

Cont Radio: Sponsoring morning / evening slots Public relation: Organizing press conference Events: Promotional activities at Malls, road shows, participating in live shows and trade fair. Special offers during wedding and festive time. Organize village fairs and conduct various publics welfare programs. Go for innovative and stylish ad campaign that reflects the aspirant, independent and modern dimensions of the consumer.

REPOSITIONING STRATEGY Attractive Company logo and tag line Undertake the marketing concept instead of product concept. Focus on all the segment instead of one (low end) Capitalize on the brand equity of HMT Use promotional and advertising strategy zeroing on the emotional attachment and bond with the customers. Make customize watches. Open customer help desk.

Cont Make celebrity as a Brand Ambassador. Improve the website by providing features like Online Shopping Store Locations Exhibiting new products Showcasing the existing designs Suggestion box Open an exclusive outlet only for ladies.

The Repositioning Campaign (30 Days)Campaign No. of days Activities decided

Top level exercise

7

Discussion & decision making on all ends likeBudget, Ads, etc. Training on New product features, competitors weakness & new targets.

Training of sales teams

9

3 Selection of activity and places

Media engagement Radio Web and social media PR Events

The Repositioning CampaignCampaign Pre launch activity No. of days Activities decided Full dress rehearsal and review of it.

4 1

The launch

The full fledged launch by the chairman and the brand ambassador in the presence of media and the dignitaries. Special counters whole week in shopping centers, frequent commercial on T.V. and radio, road shows and village fairs. Cover entire market with HMT cut outs.

Post launch activity

7

SuggestionsFaster production of new models of watches for catering to the changing needs of the customer. Adoption of innovative and aggressive marketing policies. Strengthening infrastructure for R&D. Reduce man power by adopting new technologies and processes. Institutional sales and sales through canteen stores department (CSD) and e commerce. Enhancing customer services. To seek collaboration with reputed international watch manufacturer.

HMT should focus first on tier 1 and tier 2 cities and then gradually penetrate towards tier 3 towns and cities. Company has to position itself very carefully because other product variants like mobi-watch (watch with a cell phone) and handheld devices may try to snatch the market share. The whole idea of buying and wearing a watch must be an experience. If HMT can deliver above mentioned offerings with a strong distribution chain, a controlled retailer policy, with a wide market research, future is no longer beyond their control. HMT will emerge as a winner.

Although it is very uphill task but HMT can once again emerge as the Market Leader