March 9, 2005
BANGKOK (Manager Daily) – Swatch sees a marketing opportunity for the fashion watches despite a fierce competition. It plans to sell franchises in four cities to extend the provincial base, expecting 30% sales growth at year-end.
According to Swatch Group Trading (Thailand)’s sales and marketing manager, Siriwan Pongkijvorasin, the new marketing drive is expected to help increase the provincial clients by 20% to 30%.
Swatch currently has one franchised shop in Pattaya City, which was opened at the end of 2004. Its shop in Phuket will be opened in September this year.
Swatch’s Flik Flak collection has been launched to tap into children niche of 8 to12 years of age, with sales expected to account for 5-10% in the children and adult groups.
Moreover, more Swatch ornaments will be introduced to the market, hopefully to help increase sales in this segment by 10-15%, Ms Siriwan said.
The watches, with price tags of about THB1,800-4,950, have been popular ornaments among clients aged 15-30 years. A THB10-million budget is set aside to fund marketing campaigns, as five different trendy collections for spring-summer 2005 are already introduced.
The watches are distributed through 14 shops in major department stores and Swatch stand-alone outlets.
The price of the watch averagely increases 6-8% each year due to appreciating Swiss franc. Still, Swatch prices are more competitive compared to those of Rado and Rolex watches, she said.
The Swatch Group also owns several other leading Swiss brands including Brequet, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Mido and Endura.
The group has more than 440 shops in 50 countries.
BANGKOK (Manager Daily) – Swatch sees a marketing opportunity for the fashion watches despite a fierce competition. It plans to sell franchises in four cities to extend the provincial base, expecting 30% sales growth at year-end.
According to Swatch Group Trading (Thailand)’s sales and marketing manager, Siriwan Pongkijvorasin, the new marketing drive is expected to help increase the provincial clients by 20% to 30%.
Swatch currently has one franchised shop in Pattaya City, which was opened at the end of 2004. Its shop in Phuket will be opened in September this year.
Swatch’s Flik Flak collection has been launched to tap into children niche of 8 to12 years of age, with sales expected to account for 5-10% in the children and adult groups.
Moreover, more Swatch ornaments will be introduced to the market, hopefully to help increase sales in this segment by 10-15%, Ms Siriwan said.
The watches, with price tags of about THB1,800-4,950, have been popular ornaments among clients aged 15-30 years. A THB10-million budget is set aside to fund marketing campaigns, as five different trendy collections for spring-summer 2005 are already introduced.
The watches are distributed through 14 shops in major department stores and Swatch stand-alone outlets.
The price of the watch averagely increases 6-8% each year due to appreciating Swiss franc. Still, Swatch prices are more competitive compared to those of Rado and Rolex watches, she said.
The Swatch Group also owns several other leading Swiss brands including Brequet, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Mido and Endura.
The group has more than 440 shops in 50 countries.