At the end of the Second World War, a young self-taught watchmaker named Michel Herbelin opened a workshop in Charquemont in the Jura Mountains just across the border from Switzerland. He chose Charquemont principally because his main suppliers were close at hand. Only 15 km away as the crow flies was La Chaux-de-Fonds, centre of Swiss watchmaking for a couple of hundred years and home to some of its most prestigious brands. To start with he assembled ‘private-label' watches for other companies, concentrating particularly on the precision of his manufacture.

Very soon, Michel Herbelin gained a reputation for not only the reliability and quality of his products but also for their aesthetic appeal. He longed to have his own brand, however, and in 1968 he launched his first collection under the name Michel Herbelin. These watches were extremely well received and during the course of the 1970s under the direction of his elder son Jean-Claude the brand began to acquire an international reputation. Today it has a presence in 80 countries throughout the five continents and more than 60% of the factory output goes abroad. The majority of sales are to the Middle East and Far East although the brand is well known in Europe. But it is in France that its main success lies.

In France it is the leading independent watchmaker and has a 12% share of the under £1000 retail price bracket. Moreover, in each of the past two years it has achieved a 25% increase in sales turnover. Michel Herbelin retired from active participation in the business in 1993 and the firm is now in the hands of his two sons, Jean-Claude and Pierre-Michel. It employs 80 workers who produce around 120,000 pieces annually of which 90% use quartz movements. The accent has always been on reliability and to this end the firm utilises ETA movements for 80% of its production. The majority are the popular Flatline movements with the Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph movements in the more complicated models. Quartz movements from France Ebauches, France's largest supplier, are used in certain ladies' models such as the fashionable Chic collection.

The aesthetic appeal of the whole range is the responsibility of a design team under the personal direction of the managing director, Jean-Claude. With a careful eye on fashion trends the team creates two collections a year - rather like their couturier contemporaries in Paris - and works to a distinctive house style notable for its emphasis on softness of line and harmony of dimension enhanced by subtle refinement of detail. The 350 exclusive models of the collection fall into three main ranges. The classic range features traditional styles with simple uncluttered lines. The jewellery range consists of original and elegant designs. The sports range has a strong nautical flavour of ships' wheels and ropes and sea-blue dials and straps. Jean-Claude's concern for quality ensures that every watch is individually finished by craftsmen and has to undergo 50 quality control procedures during its journey through the factory.

Considerable attention is given to protection against moisture penetration, seals being fitted to the crystal, case back and even bezel. Water resistance to 30 metres is standard and verified individually by the routine compression tank immersion and droplet test. Gold plating is another operation where the accent on quality is paramount. Nineteen microns of anti-corrosion alloy are laid over the base metal, followed by five microns of 18ct gold plating which in turn is covered by a one micron layer of 23.7 gold for finish and resistance. The rhodium plating process is equally meticulous. Michel Herbelin originally entered the UK market in the 1970s but failure to meet the targeted growth led the parent company to withdraw around 1990.

It was relaunched under its present sales director, Peter Gauntlett, in 1993, since when it has achieved considerable acceptance by the trade, with some 80 stockists covering the country. Peter Gauntlett indicated that the company had found that a number of go-ahead independent jewellers look on Michel Herbelin as a splendid platform to help them launch their business onwards and upwards. The brand received an encouraging reception at a recent International Jewellery Fair at Earl's Court. Quite a few new accounts were opened and a number of repeat orders were taken. Source: Edwards10

Question

1. What kind of marketing research do you think would be beneficial to a company such as Michel Herbelin in its attempt to get a strong foothold in the UK market?