2. Rolex
• Rolex is a brand of designer watches headquartered in Switzerland that
designs, manufactures, and distributes luxury watches.
• The watches are sold under two labels namely Rolex and Tudor. The
company was established in the year 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred
Davis in London, England.
• The company was originally called Wilsdorf and Davis and in the year 1919,
the company shifted its headquarters as well as operations to Geneva,
Switzerland.
• The brand is associated with a lot of sports personalities like Federer and
often sponsors events in tennis, golf, yachting, and racing.
3. Strengths-SWOT Analysis
Strengths are defined as what each business does best in its gamut of operations
which can give it an upper hand over its competitors.
• Value-added products: The products of Rolex are popular for
their differentiation and people invest in these watches for the superior
quality and exclusive designs. The feature-rich watches from Rolex are
expensive and as seen as a symbol of social status and sophistication.
• History: Rolex is a company with the history of over 100 years. Over the
years Rolex has been responsible for many firsts and has always been a
highly innovative brand. The company in all its years in the business has
never been willing to compromise on the four values which are what
epitomizes the brand – quality, performance, innovation, and stability.
4. Strengths
• Global Presence: Rolex is sold in most countries around the world and their
prime markets are spread across Europe, United States of America, Asia
Pacific, and the Middle East. The watch is sold through most premium retail
outlets and the company also has their own independent stores.
• Product quality: Rolex is never willing to compromise on the quality of its
products and takes care of even the minute details in its design. Rolex
watches are designed to exceed expectations. A Rolex watch is assembled in
around 220-minute pieces by hand and each smallest detail is taken care of.
Each assembly goes through a series of stringent quality checks and is tested
and retested. Even if a single defect is detected the product is remade and the
entire process is repeated.
5. Strengths
• Specific Products: Rolex has a lot of specific products that they have
designed for each customer segment. For example, Rolex Yacht-master has
been designed to replicates the actions that usually happen on a boat
specifically during a race making it ideal for customers who own a yacht and
go sailing on a regular basis. Yet another is the Rolex Submariner a
waterproof watch designed exclusively for divers and is capable of
overcoming depths from 100 to 300 meters.
• Product Development: Rolex has a sound product development strategy and
the motto is to keep innovating on existing products and also introduces new
products on a regular basis in accordance with the trends in the market.
6. Weaknesses-SWOT Analysis
Weaknesses are used to refer to areas where the business or the
brand needs improvement.
• Pricing: The pricing of Rolex is in accordance with the concept of each
watch. The company does not compare the price to their competitor nor do
they have a fixed pricing strategy. This makes their pricing higher than the
industry average limiting their customers to the premium segment only.
• Image management: Just like most products which compete in the luxury
segment, Rolex also has to maintain its image consistently. This means that
the company has to be careful about each aspect of the marketing mix and
ensure that it is consistent with epitomizing luxury.
• Niche segment: Rolex watches are expensive and thus unaffordable for the
majority of the customer base which means that the business has to rely more
on the value that volume for their revenues.
7. Opportunities-SWOT Analysis
Opportunities refer to those avenues in the environment that surrounds the
business on which it can capitalize to increase its returns.
Changing customer preferences: Customers are having more and more power
to spend since most families have become dual income. In addition to this many
customers, today prefer to invest in premium brands to portray themselves in a
higher social stratum.
8. Threats-SWOT Analysis
Threats are those factors in the environment which can be detrimental to the
growth of the business.
Competition: The main competitors of Rolex are Tissot, Patek Philippe, Omega,
and Panerai.