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GROUP 7: Andromeda (marketing strategy)

Marketing strategy is the major aspect which helps any company to stand out

in the market. It is made to sum up all efforts that focus on achieving the goals

and objectives of marketing. The strategy involves selection of the target

market and then formulation of the marketing mix that fulfill the demand ofthe targeted consumer (Ferrell; 1998, p.7-22). A successful strategy helps a

company to get a grip in the market and a weak strategy may cause the

company to fail in a particular market. It may also need to reposition itself if

the strategy is not working in right way.

Marketing strategy of Andromeda (group 7) in the competing market:

Andromeda is a luxury watch company that has been named after the

beautiful Andromeda Galaxy. The companys strategy is to relate their

watches with stars as they are bright, unique and long lasting

(http://www.galaxydynamics.org). By doing this the company is trying to make

its product exclusive. The watch market has seen very steady growth over

recent years. Even during the recent recession there was growth of about 22%

in the watch market. The major markets where this growth was seen was

Europe and Asia (Mintel; 2011). Andromeda came up with different product

line; they introduced two different watches for men and two for women. They

also gave the consumer the option to customize the watches as per their

requirements. This is the part of the strategy which made the productexclusive and unique from the other competitors. The watches have been

named after the stars they are related to (http://www.galaxydynamics.org).

The primary problem with this new brand is that it has got only two watches

for men and two for women. This may not be enough for a new luxury brand to

enter a market and attract customers due to lack of variety.

The watch market is divided in four groups; Haute Horlogeric, Women jeweler,

Prestige and High Range (http://www.worldwatchreport.com/2011). They are

named in the order of their price range and specifications. There is a strong

growth this sector in the United Kingdom as the market value is currently 1.4billion and is expected to reach 1.6 billion in 2014 (Euromoniter; 2010). The

target area was therefore decided to be the United Kingdom. However, the

luxury brand target market area is very small and competitive. It may have

been better strategy to focus on other markets such as China and other BRIC

nations, which have a lot of potential to grow (Insight; 2006). It may be more

successful to launch a luxury brand into these expanding markets. Andromeda

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is trying to put itself in the prestige segment because brands in the prestige

segment with the same specification currently hold the large market share. In

Europe the market share for prestige watches is around 65%

(http://www.worldwatchreport.com/2010 ). Market research shows that for lots

of people, a high quality watch is symbol of prestige. Andromedas strategy is

therefore to produce a high range, excellent quality prestigious watch that will

last.

This is a highly competitive market with well-known brands such as Omega,

TAGheuer and Rolex existence (http://www.worldwatchreport.com/2011 ). To

be a competitor in the market, the pricing of the product was decided to be

around 800 to 2000 but this may increase depending on the customisation

been done (for example the addition of precious stones). This is a highly

competitive price within the prestige market, which is a strong selling point for

the brand. Marketing segmentation is one of the major aspects of formation of

a marketing strategy of any company, which uses the differences of

consumers to classify the market. There are various ways in which the market

is segmented; these are demography, lifestyle, geography, behavior and many

others (Beane T. P. and D. M. Ennis; 1987). The target segment chosen was

men and women around 30-45 in the AB social grade. This is because a survey

shows that the people aged 25-54 with AB social grades tend to buy more

watches (Mintel; 2010). However, the survey also shows that people aged 45-

54 tend to spend more money, buying in the luxury market (Mintel; 2010) and

this particular market segment was not targeted in the marketing strategy of

Andromeda. The market has a good potential growth. There is also a growingimportance of female luxury watches as a market segment. As the product is

more focused towards fashion this is what the consumers have been looking

for. While segmentation the importance of gifting an expensive luxury watch

has also been taken into consideration, as approximately 43% of people prefer

getting watch as a gift than buying it themselves. (Mintel; 2010). Many people

also prefer giving watch as a gift (Mintel; 2010). Positioning is also one of the

major aspects of the strategy. Its basically creating positive image in the

market where the product is introduced (Ferrell; 1998, p 106). Andromeda is

trying to make its image as a fashion product with emotions attached to it.The product concept of Andromeda is a unique design of watches with

exclusive function, giving the consumer an extraordinary wearing experience.

The product is either gold or platinum plated with different color precious

stones in it which can be customized according to the requirement (as a

survey say people aging 25-44 prefer wearing precious stones rather than

customised jewelry (Mintel; 2010)). However, the flaw here is as per the

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description it is not sufficiently unique to stand out as an exclusive product

and therefore more work needs to be done on the design concept.

The launch of the product will be done just prior to Christmas as lot of people

in the United Kingdom prefers buying gifts during that period and occasions

such as New Year and Valentines Day are very close to it (Mintel, 2011). Asper the plan the launch party will be at Royal Observatory which is in London

and not like other brand where they introduce product in a fashion week or

any sort of high profile event like any luxury watch exhibition (Mintel, 2005),

which seems a bit dull. The idea of launching Andromeda is far too different

and a bit weird when it comes to a launch of a luxury brand that to when you

relate it to fashion and its not so effective. Many guests will be invited from

different background such as goldsmiths, luxury store managers, partners of

large companies, the national press etc. As everything is related to stars so

the promotional strategy is to make consumer feel special by naming the star

on behalf of each consumer (http://www.astrometry.org/starnaming.php). This

will be a very unique way to make the presence in the market and catch the

eye of customer: it is something different which may make a consumer feel

special. Promotional events such as forming a brand community, giving a

membership to consumer and organising events where consumers and their

friends will be invited is a good way to stay connected with consumer and

create a good PR. The other promotional ways of donations to observatories

and offering a scholarship to PhD students make no sense as they have no

relation to a luxury watch brand. Social marketing would be a better option.

People tend to spend so that they can contribute to a cause and also get thedesired product (Kotler; 1971, p8-12).This creates a positive brand image in

the society. The other ways of advertising can be through fashion magazines

or sponsoring high profile events as what the other luxury brand do

(Mintel;2005). Examples of this include TAGhuer sponsoring Golf tournaments

(Jardine, 2003). E- Marketing may be one of the best ways to market the

product as there are lots of people using social media at present. These reach

out to consumers and can help assess consumer need and want by bilateral

conversation. It can also help to increase the popularity of brand in the

consumer (Mintel, 2005). The brand ambassadors are the one who personalityrepresent the product specification. Stars such as Keira Knightley and Jude

Law would be chosen as the brand ambassadors of the product. They are very

popular and well known stars and therefore perfect to represent the brand.

The tag line of any brand makes a huge difference. The tag line of apple

IPhone is If you dont have an iPhone well you dont have a IPhone has a

different impact on consumers mind and it makes them feel as if they are

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missing something. However, for a luxury brand the statement should make

you feel as if you will stand apart from crowd with the product. So the tag line

Andromeda is Be unique, feel exceptional, Shine with Andromeda. The tag

line is perfect as it relates to emotions and fashion which Andromeda was

actually aiming at.

Andromedas (group 7) marketing strategy based on segmentation and

positioning:

In 1956 segmentation was introduced for the first time by Wendell Smith. He

explained it is finding the best possible market as a result of knowing the

difference in requirements of market segment (Wendell Smith; 1956, p7). It is

subdividing the market in different subset of consumers behaving in same way

(Bennett, 1995, p165-166) Segmentation is dividing the consumer in groupswith the same priority (Corstjens, 1995), which are measurable and can be

differentiated from the other segments in the market. It is creating a good

advertising strategy by knowing consumer and also finding new opportunities

in a product line (Beane T. P. and D. M. Ennis; 1987). The useful segmentation

contains characters such as measurability, accessibility and substantiality

(Kotler, 1980). The information used to decide something should come from

customer environmental analysis. This analysis can be done through

conducting well designed research. Segmentation is also divided to two

different approach i.e. multisegment and concentration approach. The market

concentration approach is what is been used in this particular strategy where

it focuses only on the single market segment (Ferrell; 1998, p94). Without

segmentation a brand cannot enter the market. There are many ways in which

the segmentation can be done in the market. Here are few of them which have

been implemented in the strategy formation of Andromeda:

Geographical segmentation: Over here the market is geographically

segmented. The needs and demands of the consumer change from place to

place. They change according to region, country, population density or climate

(Beane T. P. and D. M. Ennis; 1987). So the place where there is a good market

for a particular product should be chosen. As the watch market in United

Kingdom is of 1.4 billion and is expected to be around 1.6 billion till 2014.This

is one of the major reasons of choosing the United Kingdom. This may restrict

a brand as there is a fast growing market in China and the other BRIC nations.

So if those market are targeted it may give stand to a new luxury brand

(Insight; 2006). For doing this it should be named under a proper British brand

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or an American brand which has a physiological effect in BRIC nation when it is

particularly a luxury product and people opt for it.

Demographic segmentation: Here consumers are placed on definite scales of

measurement which are easily understood. The information can easily be

interpreted and gathered. The segmentation totally depends on age, sex, sizeand type of family, race, nationality, region etc. (Beane, T. P. and D. M. Ennis;

1987). The buyers behavior is generally closely related to characteristics of

household (sen; 1976). According to the strategy the target segment is man

and women between the age group 30-45. The range of age in segment is

very small as compared to Mintel 2010 report shows that people aged 45-54

tend to spent more on buying the luxury watch which is not considered wile

segmenting the age in the strategy. So the age group which should be target

is 25-54 years men women who prefer buying luxury watches (Mintel; 2010).

Lifestyle segmentation: It is also known as psychographic segmentation. Thissegmentation is generally used in a luxury brand as it basically focuses on the

social levels i.e. profession, income level and value and interest of a buyer. It

also depends on way of living and social class (Beane, T. P. and D. M. Ennis;

1987). People aged 45-54 tend to spent more on buying a luxury watch

(Mintel, 2010). Wells (1976) said it is a quantitative attempt to place consumer

on a psychological dimensions. So as per the designed strategy the consumer

targeted are those from AB social grade who are interested in fashion.

The main segment attractiveness factors which are analyzed in strategy

designing are growth of market, size and competitive intensity. It helped in

recognizing the growing importance of the females in the luxury watch as they

are much more conscious about the luxury product than men and any luxury

product make them feel special and differ from the crowd. In general this is

what women look for. There is a bit gap in the watch market. So the strategy is

trying to cover the gap i.e. the luxury watches are much sober and not so

fashionable. So to cover up the gap and gain the competitive advantage it is

aiming at that particular segment. The approach which is decided to use to the

target market is focused/ concentrated. It is a single market focus where a

brand sticks to a particular segment with a same product line. They normallydont prefer to come up with a product which doesnt suit there segmentation

been chosen (Ferrell; 1998, p.7-22). Positioning is also one of the major

aspects of strategy designing. Positioning is what a brand do to the minds of

consumer rather than what it does to product. Every company tries to place

the product in first place in consumers mind when it comes to preference wile

purchasing a particular type of product (Mitra & Batman, 1989). It is designing

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and setting up a particular type of image in consumers mind about the brand

(Kotler, 1997). When the positioning is compared with the competitor

positioning it is called comparative positioning. Then it becomes as being on

top in minds of consumer when it comes to preference and capturing the

market. It happens when the message reach consumer in more appropriate

and simplified way. A good positioning strategy helps in strengthening the

brand value and image in the market. If the positioning is done in a correct

way it fills up the gap in the market and gives a comparative advantage to the

brand (Mitra & Batman, 1989). The Andromedas positioning strategy was to

achieve the mind of the target. They wanted to clarify there designs and

offerings in consumers mind. They relate the product to the emotions and

fashion. This is how they tried to target market segment and position.

Improvement which can be made in the strategy of Andromeda (group7):

The strategy of Andromeda was good till certain extent but when it comes to

practicality. There were certain things which were missing when it comes to

the formation of the strategy. As the launch of a new brand there should be no

loop hole in the strategy and the strategy should be firm to make a stand in

the market.

The product line of Andromeda was small as compared to the other brands

where there were only 2 watches. This restricts a costumer and doesnt give

them options. While purchasing any high end product customer generally lookfor option, if there are no option consumer will generally move to some other

brand (Kim, 2002; p229-250). To create the positioning as a luxurious watch

company in the market strategy should be something unique where they

product should be launched with special edition collection or something like

that. As discussed earlier the market area need to be widen up. A luxury brand

cannot be restricted to a particular area if it has to make a global presence as

a Brand. So at a time a product need to be launched at different areas. As the

product is launched throughout the globe the brand ambassador should be

according to the well-known celebrities of that particular region. The best

example for this is Gillette though it is not a luxury brand but it has lot of

celebrities endorsing according to areas. Finally its the launch plan. As it is

said well beguine is half done the launch of a product should be much more

attractive than what they have now. Launching a brand in an observatory is

sad when it comes to launching the fashionable brand. This will be very

unattractive and they may lose the initial market stand.

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Conclusion:

The major factor while developing a marketing strategy for any company

should contain; Capturing marketing insight, Connecting with customers,building strong brand, shaping the market offering, Delivering value,

Communicating Value and Creating long term growth (Kotler, 2008,p28).

There were lot of factors which were taken into consideration, but there were

also few things which Andromeda skipped like creating a long term growth and

the other things. The overall ideas were good but when it comes to practicality

there were many things which were missing in the strategy of Andromeda.

Appendix:

Segmentation :

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United Kingdom watches market as per the figures given above :

Segmentation graph: Age group, social grade .

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This is the graph of positioning strategy of Andromeda :

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