HINDUSTAN MACHINE TOOLS

Watch Division

Presented by:

Nilamani Das
Pranab Pegu
Prashant Jain
Vineet Shankdher
HMT : A Snapshot
Incorporated in
1953 by the
Government of
India as a
Machine Tool
manufacturing
company.
 Over the years  Successful technology  Today, HMT
diversified into absorption in all product comprises six
Watches, Tractors, groups through subsidiaries under
Printing Machinery, collaborations with world the ambit of a
Metal Forming Presses, renowned Holding Company,
Die Casting & Plastic manufacturers & further which also manages
Processing Machinery, strengthened by the Tractors
CNC Systems & continuous in house Business directly
HMT Watches : Profile

 The manufacture of wristwatches started as part of

diversification strategy of HMT in the year 1962, under
Technical collaboration with CITIZEN Watch Company of
Japan.
 HMT Limited, the first company to start watch
manufacturing in India; has incorporated "HMT WATCHES
LIMITED" as its fully owned subsidiary on 9th August 1999.
 It manufactures Mechanical and Quartz Analog watches.
 HMT WATCHES LIMITED comprises of three
manufacturing units at Bangalore, Tumkur and Ranibagh
All its manufacturing units have obtained the ISO 9001
certification
Question 1: Do a SWOT analysis for HMT watch division

S  Strong government support.

T  Vision of Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1960’s.
 Collaboration with CITIZEN, Japan for formal training and
R technological support.
 Entry barriers were imposed on the foreign brands entering
E into India through FERA.
N  Supported its expansion in 1976.

G  Good brand image and market leadership due to

T high quality, low price and reliability.
 HMT enjoyed 71 percent of the market share in the sales of
H mechanical watches and 55.22 percent market share of the
total watch production in organized sector (as of year 1991-92).
S
Contd….
 Has an established marketing network.
S
T
R
E
N
G
T
H
S
Contd….

S
 Company’s liquidity position has been quite
T comfortable. Adequate availability of tangible
R assets such as land and buildings.
E  Record of good industrial relations.
N
 In 1991 HMT set up a product development
G
center for watch design.
T
H
S
Contd…

W
 Its prime product category (mechanical watches)
was in the decline stage of PLC.
E
 Weak Organizational culture: It suffers from bad
A
work habits, lack of discipline, low commitment of
K
manpower, inadequate motivational strategies, lack
N
of team spirit and low utilization of human and
E machine capacities. Inadequate cost control system.
S  Over reliance on the production concept of
S marketing and hence ignoring the marketing concept.
 Insufficient emphasis on R&D and design
engineering.
Contd…
 HMT didn’t embrace new quartz technology to a
great extent & suffered because of their adherence to
W mechanical watches.
E  Bureaucratic and centralized decision making
A inhibited HMT’s ability to respond quickly with respect
K to market changes.
N  Virtually ignored to maintain good trade relations
E with retail outlets vis a vis competition (retail margin
S was lower than what was provided by the competitor)
 It restricted product development to quality
S
development only.
 Aesthetics and packaging of watches have not been
duly attended to.
Contd…

T  Worldwide decline in the production and demand of

H mechanical watches due to growing acceptance of

R Quartz watches.
 Significant competition from Allwyn and Titan.
E
 Competitors wooing HMT’s top managers.
A
 It has to the threat of misuse of its brand name by
T
spurious operators.
S
 Competitors successfully exploited the lifestyle
segmentation which HMT failed to.
Contd…

T
 Titan had started marketing its watches in
H
unconventional outlets like boutiques and jewellery
R shops.
E  The authorized service agents (ASAs) for foreign
A smuggled watches in the country are also offering
T competition to HMT.
S
Contd…

O
 The demand for Watches is growing rapidly both in
P
P domestic and international market.
O  Capitalize on attractive segments.
R  In coming years Fashion brands, luxury watches and
T watches with multiple functions are considered as the
U
product segment with the biggest growth.
N
 Leveraging brand equity of HMT to products such as
T
I sports gear, personal accessories.
E
S
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?

M Product
I  Few Designs as compared to competitors. HMT has

S only 40 odd variants of four basic designs compared to

competitor line, Titan which has 70 watches in its
T
ranges with better looks & designs
A
 There is less emphasis on product research and
K
development
E
 HMT has not been able to be a leader in Quartz
S watches segment & underestimation of this segment
 Another flaw in its product strategy was scant
attention to aesthetics and packaging of its watches.
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?

M Price
I  HMT positioned the quartz watches as the space
age generation watches & charged high prices for
S
this category which means that only the affluent
T
middle aged consumer could afford it. In less than a
A
year the company had to reduce the price and
K
followed lifestyle advertising to justify the still higher
E price of the quartz, however even this backfired as
S consumers were not convinced of the differentiation
between the quartz and other HMT watches.
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?
Place
 Didn’t strategize its established marketing network according
M
to growing competition and new market trend like downtrend
I of mechanical watches & the growing market for the quartz
S watches.
 Since retailers have enough foreign brands they were simply
T
not interested in HMT’s home grown products as a result it had
A to sell through its 13 branch offices for Machine tool
K equipment.
E  Even when FERA was introduced HMT could take the
advantage in a limited way by offering service agencies to
S
about 50 watch key retailers as a way of expanding its selling
reach.
 In mid 80’s HMT’s selective retailer policy began going against
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?
Place

M  Some of the authorized retailers started acting as wholesalers

I without officially being appointed so. Consequently HMT lost

S control of the final consumer price and ultimately the trade.
T
A  In addition, the retailer margins provided by HMT were 2%
K less than what its most prominent competitor, Titan, was
E
offering to the retailers.
S
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?
Promotion
• Though HMT’s advertising was distinctive and did
M
I cater to the lifestyle segment, it failed to
communicate the uniqueness of HMT’s quartz design
S
vis-à-vis other HMT watches.
T
A • Because of centralized decision making even the
K
decisions on the campaigns for specific products
E were delayed leading to the time lag and responding
S to market changes.
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?
C
O Product:

R  Create competitive advantage by differentiation through

R technological leadership.
E  The products should be developed to enhance quality
C and features matching customers tastes and preferences
T
and there by increasing buyers value.
I
 Mid & Premium segment: In this segment HMT should
O
seek differentiation by providing better designs
N
S
Question 2: What is wrong with HMT’s watch division’s
marketing strategy? What kind of corrections do you suggest?
C Conduct market survey:
O  Involve leading market research organization along with your
R sales force.
R  Do it periodic every six month; Involve retail-shops, shopping

E centers, department stores, dealers, sales force.

 Most popular brands, trend of consumers etc.
C
T
Competition:
 Competition among brands has been also getting stronger,
I
and a lot of effort to keep sales has been required.
O
 Watches without an appeal, watches without clear marketing
N
hardly attract consumers in the market glutted with
S
commodities.
 Train agents to set forth clear brand vision and efficient
campaign.
Contd…

C Competition:
O  Shift to quality with new added value..
R  Provide consumers with a lot of information select their watch
R wisely and professionally according to their own taste..

E
C Distribution:
 Prepare retailer to meet the changing consumer’s trend.
T
Watches just displayed in showcases cannot sell. It is
I
absolutely necessary to present them together with the
O
background such as original story of the watch, its functionality
N
and benefits of after sales service.
S
Contd…

C Pricing:
O  In the lower end HMT should seek to achieve cost advantage
R by exploiting the differences in cost behaviour.
R  The pricing strategy can be to undercut main competitor by

E 10%, using market penetration strategy.

C
T
Promotion:
 Special focus on sales during festive time like Diwali,
I
Christmas along with discount offer & finance schemes.
I
 Go for innovative and stylish ad campaign that reflects the
O
aspirational, independent and modern dimensions of the watch
N
collection and its target market along with effective press
S campaign.
Contd…

C Strategy:
O  Under the present difficult situation HMT will have to find out
R ways to activate the market and try to to create new demands.
R
E
C
T
I
I
O
N
S
Question 3: In the present competitive watch market, how do you
visualize the future of HMT watch division five years from now?

The Indian Watch Market

 India is an under penetrated market for watches –

27% of Indian owns a watch.

 Total estimated market as of 2005 : volume – 35
million units & value Rs. 2328 Crs
Market has been split into:
Mass Market ( < Rs400)
Low end (Rs 400 –Rs 1000)
Mid- Upper Market ( Rs 1000 – Rs 5000)
Premium (> Rs 5000)
 The watch market in India (by value 2006-07)
Mass (< Rs. 400)
Valued at Rs. 300 Crores
11%
Grey market, Chinese, etc.
43%
Low-end (Rs. 400-1000)
Valued at 1200 Crores
Sonata, HMT, Maxima
Premium (> Rs. 5k)
Valued at 370 Crores
Swiss brands: Tissot, Omega, Rolex
13% Fashion brands: Fossil, Calvin Klein,
Giordano, Esprit
33%
Mid-upper (Rs. 1k - 5k)
Valued at 938 Crores
Titan, Citizen, Timex,
Swatch, Espirit
 The Competition in India
 Titan sells around 7 million watches annually
 Timex sells under 1.2 million watches
 Other Brands (all put together sell less than 0.5 million
watches)
 The Japanese – Citizen, Casio, have been present, while
Seiko has not made any significant moves in India.
 The Swiss – Rolex, Omega, Rado, Tissot, Tag, Longiness,
Cartier, Ebel ………and a host of others
 The fashion brands – Esprit, Giordano, Tommy Hilfiger,
Calvin Klein, Fossil, Swatch………and many more have
recently entered the Indian market
 SEVERAL FORCES ARE TRANSFORMING THE INDIAN WATCH INDUSTRY

2. More global and local players

– Significant increase in competition in all

segments
 Luxury end : Swiss brands
 Mid to upper end : Global fashion/
Japanese brands
 Low end : Local/regional IMFQs, Chinese
imports

1. Shift in structure of 3. Emergence of distinct

demand consumer segments

– Volume growth
– Sharply defined
driven by the Dramatic transformation of consumer segments
low end the Indian watch market around distinct
buying factors
– Value growth
driven by luxury
– More awareness of
segment brands and global
trends among
affluent urban
consumers
 4. Emergence of new channels
– New retail outlets emerging (Dept.
stores/malls)
– Existing outlets (MBOs) getting smarter
looking
– Unorganized retail at low-end
Contd…

 Poor Watch Penetration In India Is Likely To Drive

Further Growth In Volumes. Increasing penetration will
drive growth of low end and mass market segments.

With removal of Quantitative Restriction a lot of

International brand watches entering into the Indian
market and in five year time they will only grow their
market share. It will be even more difficult for HMT to
match competition unless until HMT changes its strategy
which should match global competition.
Contd…

 To make it visible in the market we think the HMT watches

can be targeted in the villages of India more aggressively
where the brand awareness of HMT is more visible.

 With increasing level of income and purchasing power

people are more concerned about the looks and beautiful
designs with jewel studded watches rather than going for
simple watches as of HMT’s.
Suggestions

 Faster 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 to make
THANK YOU