Central European Business Review 2013, 2(3):15-21 | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.50

Could there be a luxury brand originating from the Czech Republic? The case of Czech watchmaker manufacture Prim 1949

Petr Král
Ing. Petr Král, Ph.D., Deputy Head of the Department, Department of International Trade, Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Nám. W. Churchilla 4, 130 67 Praha 3, Czech Republic, kralp@vse.cz

Central Europe, due to its history, is not perceived as a region from which a luxury brand could originate, rather luxury is traditionally connected to Western European countries (such as France, Italy or Switzerland). Country of origin (COO) plays an important role in the perception of any brand but for luxury brands the COO is usually even more important than for mainstream brands because it is an important part of the brand's heritage. But despite their unfavorable origin, in the last few years, we can observe that brands which originate from the CEE region have positioned themselves in the luxury market. The goal of this article is to investigate the COO effect for a luxury brand originating in the Czech Republic - namely the watchmaker Prim - and its impact on the marketing strategy of this brand. The main research method used in this article is the case study method which combines the findings of in-depth interviewing and observations together with findings of secondary research. The managerial implications mainly target brand managers of luxury or premium market brands originating from the Czech Republic and other CEE countries. The investigated brand case of Czech watchmaker Manufacture Prim 1949 proved that it is possible to build a luxury brand originating in the Czech Republic and also successfully enter foreign markets with this brand. However, for foreign markets, the marketing strategy (mainly the communication) strategy needs to be adapted as the COO does not bring any additional value for customers in those markets and it needs to be replaced by other values (such as the long tradition of the brand, interesting story of the brand, etc.). Overseas, the COO could be used as a positive value by stressing the European origin instead of the Czech one. Targeting also needs to be adapted as local patriotism would not work for the brand.

Keywords: Country of origin; marketing; luxury; branding
JEL classification: M31

Received: May 29, 2013; Revised: August 25, 2013; Published: September 30, 2013  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Král, P. (2013). Could there be a luxury brand originating from the Czech Republic? The case of Czech watchmaker manufacture Prim 1949. Central European Business Review, 2(3), 15-21. doi: 10.18267/j.cebr.50
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Aaker, D. A., Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand Leadership. New York: The Free Press.
    2. A. Lange und Söhne (2013): official company website, (accessed September 2013), [available at: http://www.alange-soehne.com].
    3. Comité Colbert (2013). European Members, (accessed June 2013), [available at http://www.comitecolbert.com/les_membres_europeens.html].
    4. Chevalier, M., Mazzalovo, G. (2008). Luxury Brand Management: The World of Privilege. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.
    5. Dinnie, K. (2003). Country of Origin 1965-2004: A Literature Review. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 3(2): 165-213. Go to original source...
    6. Han, M., Terpstra, V. (1988). Country-of-Origin Effects for Uni-National and Bi-National Products, Journal of International Business Studies, 19(2). Go to original source...
    7. Kapferer, J. N. (1994). Strategic Brand Management. New York: Free Press.
    8. Kapferer, J. N., Bastien, V. (2009). Luxury Strategy - Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands. London: Kogan Page.
    9. Keller, K. L. (2003). Strategic Brand Management. 2nd edition. New York: Prentice Hall/ Pearson Education.
    10. Koschate-Fischer, N., Diamantopoulos, A., Oldenkotte, K. (2012). Are Consumers Really Willing to Pay More for a Favorable Country Image? A Study of Country-of-Origin Effects on Willingness to Pay. Journal of International Marketing, 20(1). Go to original source...
    11. Král, P. (2012). Nostalgic Branding in Central Europe, in Diversity in European Marketing - Text and Cases, ed. Rudolph, T., Schlegelmilch, B. B., Franch, J., Bauer, A., Meise, J.N., Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler.
    12. Lidovky (2012). Třída Na Příkopě patří mezi nejdražší ulice světa, (accessed February 2013), [available at: http://byznys.lidovky.cz/praha-ma-sve-zastoupeni-ve-tricitce-nejdrazsich-nakupnich-trid-sveta-12g-/moje-penize.aspx?c=A121114_120122_moje-penize_khu].
    13. Mather (2010). Studie: Češi a luxusní značky. Prague: Mather Communications.
    14. Nueno, J. L., Quelch, J. A. (1998). The Mass Marketing of Luxury. Business Horizons, 41(6): 61-68. Go to original source...
    15. Remenyi, D. (2012). Case study research. Reading: Academic Publishing International.
    16. Škoda (2013). SuperbAwards, (accessed February 2013), [available at http://www.skoda.co.uk/why-skoda/awards/superb].
    17. Verlegh, P. W. J., Steenkamp, J-B. E. M., Meulenberg, M.T.G. (2005). Countryoforigin effects in consumer processing of advertising claims. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 22. Go to original source...
    18. Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research. Design and methods. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
    19. Yin, R. K. (2003). Applications of Case Study Research. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content