Josefina Santambrogio (F7143857)

TMA 04
PART 1
QUESTION 1
The product offered by Bremont is traditional British style watches inspired by historic aircrafts and
all things mechanical originally designed and invented for the pilot back in 2002. The Bremont
watches are traditional designs with simple faces and ‘no diamonds’, assembled in the UK but with
parts made in Switzerland.

For this answer I’m going to use the following marketing mix concepts:

 Product – anything that is the result of a process and that can be offered to a market that
might satisfy a want or need. Could be a good (physical product) or a service (non-physical
product). Both of them represent bundles of benefits to consumers.
 Product classification – goods and services can be tangible (perceived by touch) or intangible
(perceived indirectly). Physical goods can have intangible elements and services can have
tangible goods.
 Product benefits – what a customer considers before purchasing the product: the main
benefit the customer gets out of it (core product), the features and characteristics (actual
product) and supporting services of the product (augmented product)

When talking about the nature of this product, we can say it is a tangible good with some intangible
elements such as advice before purchasing and after-sales services such as warranty, servicing and
repairs. The possible main benefits the customer would get if purchases this product is to show off
they can afford luxury watches and add rare pieces to their collection in the case of collectors,
among others. What it is considered next, is the actual product such as quality, brand recognition,
features, styling and packaging. Lastly, the customer considers the after-sales benefits like servicing
and repairs as mentioned above.

QUESTION 2
In my opinion, the type of customer Bremont is trying to attract are people who like traditional and
simple looking watches that are functional and not too ostentatious but at the same time, of high
quality and luxurious. These customers would have a complex buying behaviour which, according to
Assael (1995), this happens when there is high consumer involvement and significant differences
between brands. In this case, Bremont distinguishes itself from other brands by their Made in Britain
stamp, their traditional designs and aversion to bling. The customer is highly involved because this is
an expensive purchase that doesn’t happen very often, so they want to make sure they are making
the right choice.

The two concepts I would like to identify in this question are:

 Social and cultural aspects of consumption

Nowadays, people express their lifestyle and situation in life mostly through what they own
and consume. Whenever thinking of purchasing something, every individual has people
around, be it family or friends, who influence their buying decision in a certain way. People
 tend to pick up products that a friend recommends or that will be beneficial for their
families. Also, cultural factors play a major role on buying decisions as it is the culture of an
individual (religion, social status, geographical location, etc.) what decided the way they
behave.
I want to outline consumption as pleasure, identity and communication; when buying
something, people do it because they will obtain the feeling of pleasure not only by using it
but also, simply by owning it. In addition, people purchase things to communicate their
personal identity and choice of lifestyle to others with the intention of building an image of
who they are.

 Customer relationships and relationship marketing.

Long lasting customer relationships are very important for every business. Companies that
prioritize their relationship with their clients and listen to their feedback develop customer
loyalty and strong customer connections, that could be emotional, to their brand. The
ultimate goal, apart from boosting sales, is to build trust and engage with customers and to
avoid bad publicity.

What I think motivates Bremont’s customers to buy these traditional and classic products is
the way they might feel after the purchase. This is, the pleasure of owning an expensive
watch that allows them to show off their style and taste to others and to fantasise about,
mostly unrealistic, scenarios that involve the watch. In addition, they are trying to portray
and communicate their own identity, social and economic status. They are making a social
statement and building up an image of themselves by the choices and decisions they have
taken.
Another important factor that might motivate Bremont’s customers is the company’s
customer relationship. A great customer service during and after the sale can make the
difference on items like this. Giving the customer the best advice possible and listening to
their needs to find the most suitable watch is key but no as much as offering the best
customer service after the sale is completed, this is by helping with damages and repairs and
making it easy and smooth for the customer rather than putting up obstacles and making
excuses. If the customer trusts the retailer and is happy with the service received, they will
definitely come back in the future or spread the word of what a great experience they had.

QUESTION 3
The supply curve shows how much of a product (good or service) a supplier is willing to produce at a
given price in time. The relationship between supply and price is normally positive; the higher the
price, the more profit the suppliers get which means they will generate more of it and also, new
suppliers will enter the market. Some factors that can affect the size of supply are (Sloman, 2008):

 Technology, taxation and input prices – better and advanced technology helps to develop
and manufacture a product which results in an increase of supply. High tax on excise duties
can decrease the supply of a product. Availability of cheap labour and materials contribute
to an increase in supply.
 Profitability of alternative products – if another product that can be produce using the same
resources has a higher price, suppliers will change to that product reducing the supply of the
first.
  Profitability of goods in joint supply – when the production of a good results in the
production of another.
 External events – for example government policies and laws have a great impact on the
supply of a product. Also, exchange rates.
 Expectations of future price changes – when new businesses enter a market, it makes the
prices go down which can reduce supply.

Relating this back to the case study, some of the factors that could affect the size of the supply of
Bremont are:

 Not having the adequate machinery and trained workforce affects negatively to their supply.
Sourcing new parts and materials requires suppliers to train their employees on how to
handle them which can cause a delay in production. Once the new workshop opens they’ll
be able to increase production.
 Imports and exchange rates for parts can be costly which reduces the amount of production.
Also, import duty in other countries is very high which means there could be less demand
leading then to a reduction in prices. The lower the price, the less suppliers get.
 Low volume in manufacturing can cause delays that can be seriously damaging for supply.
 Entering new markets such as China, India or Middle East is a big factor for supply as the
demand for luxurious products has vastly increased. As there’s not much supply, the prices
are staying high which promotes production.

QUESTION 4
By studying the market structure of companies, we can learn about the characteristics of the market
they operate in. This is, the number of buyers and sellers in that market and the nature of
interactions among them as well as the dimensions and barriers of such market. There are four
different types of market structure:

 Perfect competition
 Monopolistic competition
 Oligopoly
 Monopoly

In my opinion, Bremont is a monopolistic competition market structure. A monopolistic competition

is a type of market structure in which a large number of firms offers a slightly different good or
product. Some of the characteristics of an oligopoly market are:

 Product differentiation: they all sell a similar product but there is something that makes it
unique and can’t be completely substituted. In Bremont’s case is the pilot-style inspired
watches with no diamonds and the watches made from parts of a Spitfire for example.
Product differentiation gives the suppliers some control over the prices they charge without
fearing it will start a war with the competitors.

 Freedom of entry barriers: if there is high demand, other firms can join the market with little
difficulty. Bremont’s demand in Asia Is quite high as customers come to their London shop
 to buy their watches. This gives the company the chance to enter the Chinese market in an
easier way.

 Advertising: successful advertising can make a big difference in a monopolistic competition

market. Bremont uses the Made in Britain stamp to attract customers and make its products
differentiate from the rest.

The main implication for Bremon in this type of market is to know how to differentiate its products
from the rest of firms in order to attract and keep customers. They need to provide something that
can’t be easily found anywhere else and they are doing so by offering simplistic but elegant designs.
Also, offering the best service possible during and after the sale keeps customers coming back and
makes them spread the word about the business.

Another thing to notice is that over time Bremont could be bought by a larger firm in the same
market that has lower costs and better marketing strategies, or it could be the other way around
and they could out-compete smaller ones.

A big disadvantage for the consumer is that due to product differentiation, brands are likely to
charge more for special features in the product.

REFERENCES
Bremont's British pilot-style watches take off case study

https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1219914&section=9.1

Harris, F and Schaefer, A (2017) An introduction to business management Block 4: Marketing, The
Open University.

Sancino, A (2017) An introduction to business management Block 5: The economic and political
context, The Open University.

https://www.investopedia.com/