Notes

The Troubles Of Being A Swiss Watch Product Manager


Do you wear a watch? I would certainly believe that the answer for most of us is a "yes" (we'll neglect for simply visit us a minute the children who no more use a watch because they utilize their mobile phone for every little thing!) Currently, what sort of watch do you use? Is it a Patek Philippe? I think not. Nevertheless, there is a market for the really expensive Swiss watches. That market is currently struggling and it is not the fault of the Swiss watch product managers. Whatever shall they do?



What Happened To The Marketplace For Swiss Watches

As product managers we are furnished to deal with poly watch modifications in our markets. Yes, there will constantly be brand-new competitors, new functions that customers simply must have, and so on. However, when it comes to the Swiss watch item managers, occasions have happened in their market that they had no control over. As a matter of fact, there actually was no possible means for them to forecast what was mosting likely to occur and so now they find themselves in an one-of-a-kind as well as awkward setting.

The event that occurred which transformed poly watch the market for Swiss watches upside down took place when the Swiss federal government chose to transform the exchange rate constraints that had actually been in place. Without getting also financially complicated on you, what the Swiss federal government did was to stop ensuring that the currency exchange rate was 1.20 Swiss francs to a euro. This indicates that the currency exchange rate is now free to go up and down. Completion outcome of this is that Swiss watches simply got a great deal a lot more expensive overnight.

As though that wasn't negative enough, it turns out that the current political chaos in Hong Kong didn't do the Swiss watch item managers any type of favors either. For three months protesters shut down parts of Hong Kong's downtown area. Regrettably for Swiss watch manufacturers this is a vital path that their watches take in order to obtain bought by wealthy Chinese visitors. Plainly there were no watch sales happening while the demonstrators were camped outside of the stores.

Exactly How Swiss Watch Product Managers Can Endure

Take a look at your item advancement definition and I think that you'll uncover that it does not state just how to handle either of these market altering problems. It can be all too easy to kick back and say "there is nothing that I can do about this" - sorta an "disaster" kind of attitude. Nevertheless, we constantly need to be considering our product manager resume therefore that indicates that also when the unforeseen happens, we require to be prepared to take action.

The modification in the exchange rate of the Swiss franc is mosting likely to have an immediate influence on the bottom line of the Swiss watch manufacturers. One preliminary thought may be to move some or all of the production of the watches to a nation where labor prices would be less expensive than Switzerland. However, it ends up that if a watch maker intends to place the very desirable "Swiss Made" tag on their watch, then they need to contend the very least 60% of the watch really made in Switzerland.

Rather, what the Swiss watch item managers are most likely mosting likely to need to wind up doing is raising their costs. The more desirable a watch is, the more feasible this strategy is. However, for several of the smaller sized brands or for brand names that have actually fallen out of favor with consumers, they are mosting likely to have to try to find other options. These alternatives may consist of considering merging with an additional watch maker in order to produce a solitary, stronger brand that can much better defend its market.

What Every one of This Means For You

Although I have actually heard that Switzerland is a very gorgeous place to live, I'm not quite certain if I 'd truly such as to be an item supervisor there today. The Swiss government's choice to allow their currency to "drift" in relation to various other currencies has actually created a great deal of chaos in the costly globe of Swiss watches.

The Swiss product supervisors have been hit with 2 significant adjustments to their markets: the firm's bottom line has actually been negatively impacted by the newly drifting Swiss franc and protesters in Hong Kong shut down an essential sales channel for 3 months. In order to take care of these difficulties, the Swiss watch item supervisors need to think about elevating the cost of their product. If they can not do this, after that they might need to begin searching for various other companies with which to combine.

As product supervisors we like to believe that we are in control of both our item as well as our market. Nevertheless, as the Swiss watch item managers have actually revealed us, this is not always the instance. However, what we do require to be able to do is to swiftly adjust to adjustments in our markets. The capacity to do this ought to be a part of every product manager task description. The Swiss watch item managers have a possibility to do this today. Let's enjoy (so to speak) as well as see how all of this turns out.
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