Development of a foreign market assessment methodology for the Belgian watch brand Ice-Watch

Details

Supervisors

Meurisse, Vincent

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

The objective of this project Master’s thesis is to support Ice-Watch, a Belgian watch brand headquartered in Bastogne, in its willingness to have a more thoughtful and methodological approach to foreign market assessment. In addition, it was realized that, to date, there is no international market selection (IMS) model adapted to companies active in the watch industry seeking to distribute their products in new countries. Therefore, this situation called for the development of a simple and cost-effective IMS model, adapted to the watch industry and suitable for any country to be screened. This thesis proposes a multidimensional IMS model composed of four stages: preselection, preliminary screening, in-depth analysis and final selection. Throughout the process, both qualitative and quantitative indicators are used. The proposed framework includes the key stakeholders of the business environment of watch companies (consumers, competitors, distributors and points of sales), as well as key barriers to market penetration (global embargoes and tax regulations). By applying our IMS model to a few markets of interest for Ice-Watch, we show how it can be used to draw conclusions on country attractiveness. As such, we believe that this thesis can provide valuable insights and guidelines for companies active in the watch industry seeking to increase their geographical footprint in a thoughtful manner.