Swatch waits on smart watches but goes social

Since its founding in 1983, Swatch has been a pop fashion accessory brand. Lately, however, it's been looking toward high fashion for more cachet.

Through its connection with the British Fashion Council, Swatch has participated in London Fashion Week and is using London's creative scene as inspiration for new products. Its pop-up shop inside Harrod's not only features upmarket Swatch watches, it also provides fashion advice (how to tie a bowtie) and a pinball machine for some retro fun.

Interestingly, in this era of smart watches that track fitness and read text messages, financial analysts still see strong demand for timepieces that simply tell time and look smart. Swatch constantly invests in research and development to stay ahead of trends and identify the next new thing. For now, Swatch is going to wait to see how smart watches do in the consumer market before introducing its own. The Group CEO says: 'If a market for smart objects on the wrist really develops, then we'll be there'.

Knowing that social media are popular with male and female fashionistas, Swatch is very social on:

• Pinterest (more than 4,000 pins to date). 
• Facebook (3.4 million UK likes--includes a store locator function for convenience in shopping!). 
• YouTube.
• Tumblr.
• Twitter (22,200 followers).

Celebrating 30 years of Swatch watches

Wristwatches were sometimes a status symbol and always functional but rarely a pop-culture fashion statement until a Swiss company launched the Swatch brand of affordable, fun plastic watches in 1983--changing the industry forever. This shift in strategy was so critical to the company's success that it changed its name to Swatch in 1998.

Today the Swatch Group is the world's largest maker of wristwatches--and it's celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original Swatch this year. The company's brands actually cover every price point from the low end (Swatch and Flik Flak) to the very high end (Omega, Breguet, Tiffany etc). You may remember that Omega was one of the official Olympics sponsors in 2012, a brand-building move that reinforced its reputation for precision.

Swatch's luxury brands sell well all over the planet, including in China and other markets where rising disposable incomes enable status-conscious consumers to display their affluence on their wrists. Its Swatch fashion watches are also increasing in popularity in China and elsewhere, thanks to ongoing style cycles.

Despite competition from low-price, Chinese-made wristwatches, Swatch continues to grow and prosper by emphasising brand value and by controlling much of its supply chain. The company is a global supplier of the movements that make wristwatches tick and the balance springs that regulate wristwatches. Because Swatch wants to reduce the quantities of components it sells to non-Swatch companies, competitors such as LVMH are looking to acquire component manufacturers so they, too, can control their supply chains.

In this 30th anniversary year, watch for advertising and in-store materials promoting Swatch's celebrations and the roots of its fashion heritage.