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How Sekonda became One Seksy Business!
Click To See the Seksy Hidden Hearts Watch
Sekonda have been trading for almost 80 years. In that time they have gained control of 6.5% of the British watch market (GFK data 2006). Their market share makes Sekonda the U.K.’s best selling watch brand. It has held it’s position at the top of the market since 1988 and in 2006 they became the premier watch brand by both value and volume. Their firmly established position at the top of the market can be attributed to their aim of providing high fashion for high street prices; their slogan “beware of expensive imitations” sums this up.
Sekonda’s History
Originally Sekonda imported Russian watches for sale in the Western markets. They were involved with the first production of digital and quartz watches. Originally they sourced Soviet mechanical watches but moved their production to Hong Kong when quartz technology became highly desired. Their ability to instantly use new technology has been a large part of their success. In the 1980’s many fashion houses began to make their own watches, these included Police, Gucci, Guess and DKNY. The result of this was that market place competition grew exponentially but the size of the market did not also grow at the same rate.
The Solution
Sekonda’s aims are to provide attractive products at great prices with commendable service. The recommended retail price of products is chosen at the design stage. This places the pressure on the buyers to reduce the cost of materials rather than on retailers to sell at a higher price. Most of Sekonda’s watches can be bought for between £20 and £80 which is significantly less than their fashion house rivals. Sekonda also have extremely strict quality control procedures. Every watch is hand checked for problems, Sekonda have a return rate of less than 1% despite selling 1.6 million watches every year. Every retailer that I have spoken to has expressed satisfaction with the effective sales process and the after sales service.
One Seksy Brand
Sekonda have realised that consistently appealing to new generations of shoppers involves providing not only low prices and reliable products but fashionable designs as well. Their classic lines of Sekonda ladies watches and Sekonda gents watches have always been popular. Sekonda launched the Seksy and the One watch ranges to meet this new demand in 2004 and 2005 respectively. These two new ranges are specifically designed to appeal to their target demographic; young men and women aged between 25-35 years old.
These two ranges now account for approximetely 20% of all of Sekonda’s sales. The ranges emulate their fashion house counterparts in some ways; they have a penchant for naming key lines such as the perpetually popular Seksy Eclipse, they are stylish and trend led yet they remain affordable. The sales of Seksy watches over the last few years have exceeded expectations, they are one of the few watch ranges that consistently capture the public imagination which has led to very high volumes of sales. In essence the business model that Sekonda have created is based on relevant, targeted marketing actually backed up by good products at a reasonable price.
Logistical Management
Any business dedicated to creating fashion trends must be able to have a fast product turn around. Sekonda can create a new watch and have it in production within three months. This means that their cool hunters can capitalise on new styles within a relatively short time. They have product launches at least every six months to get their new products onto the market. Sekonda seem to manage this logistical nightmare efficiently. They have a good stock control system based upon perceptive market research and an excellent understanding of the impact of advertising strategies. As a retailer you can place an order with Sekonda and you will have the products extremely quickly. They have one of the shortest waiting times for product delivery in the watch sector. This is essential in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Sekonda claim to normally have one million watches in stock, but they aim to sell two thirds of these watches relatively quickly. They also have useful systems in place allowing retailers to order watches labelled with their own rather than Sekonda’s product codes, further enabling a quick transition to the customers wrist.
Advertising Strategies
Brand representation is a key element of the Sekonda’s success. Their marketing budget was 1.6 million in 2006 and 1.9 million in 2007 this has increased every year since. It is a significant amount of money but it has yielded impressive results. The budget is spent on traditional magazine advertising including features in magazines such as Closer, Heat, More, Nuts and Zoo. But they have also embraced new forms of advertising. Certain TV shows get a really high volume of viewers, examples include the X Factor and other programs featuring popular celebrities such as ‘A Night In With Cheryl Cole’ due to be broadcast in December 2009. Sekonda have sponsored these shows and others like them by placing distinctive idents in the advertising breaks. The idents feature a large picture of one watch and a telephone number which viewers could text to find their nearest Sekonda stockist. 1500 text enquiries were received in this way during ‘An Audience With Take That’ in 2008. This was the highest number ever recorded for this form of advertising in the U.K.. One of the impressive things about Sekonda’s advertising is that they have not only increased brand recognition but they have turned TV advertising into actual sales. The effect of the campaign has filtered right down through the sales network. Before Sekonda it was almost unprecedented to receive an enquiry for a specific watch that a customer had seen via an advertising campaign, but now every Sekonda retailer receives many enquires about these lines resulting in direct sales.
What’s Next?
Sekonda are always looking to increase their sales. They have recently branched into the travel retail market. This has provided the opportunity for in flight sales as well as a captive audience for any advertising they choose to run in the in-flight magazine. They believe that customers who have enough money to travel may well be interested in the products that they offer. They have made deals with a number of airlines and airports, resulting in their promotional material featuring heavily in in-flight magazines, flagship stores being opened at major airports and a number of stores at popular U.K. destinations and ex-pat communities including Dubai, South Africa, Spain and Egypt. At the moment U.K. customers across the world are responsible for approximately half of all Sekonda’s sales.
10. December 2009 at 5:27 pm :
Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.