Apply Porter’s five forces to assess rivalry, new entrants, buyer power, supplier power and substitutes in a market and evaluate strategic usefulness.
Extract A Bramwell Brown: weather clocks Bramwell Brown's weather clocks have been putting wonder and fascination on walls all over the world. These hand-assembled weather clocks are unique. They tell the time and they forecast the weather from a barometric sensor inside the clock. The little mechanical clouds in the clock face move to show one of five forecasts, clouding over when it is going to rain and a sun appearing when the weather is improving. Brother and sister Rob and Sarah Bramwell started Bramwell Brown. They trace their love of curious mechanical objects back to childhood. On Sunday afternoons their father would wind the grandfather clock and check the barometer to see what the weather would be that day. "We looked everywhere for a mechanical barometer in an appealing design - but could not find one anywhere. So, we decided to design one at our kitchen table, building what was a very basic initial model," said Rob. More technical versions followed and after several years of development, the first weather clock was launched in 2015. The clocks are available in two sizes with the option of four different coloured frames. Limited edition weather clocks are available but the number is restricted to just 250 clocks per design.
Extract B Data for purchasing new production machinery for the limited edition weather clocks Cost of initial investment: £150 000
Extract C Selected financial data for Bramwell Brown April 2020
Extract D The Bramwell Brown Workshop A Bramwell Brown weather clock has 150 parts that come from all over the world. These include the quartz clock mechanism from Germany and the frames from Yorkshire, UK. Every clock is produced using job production after a customer order is received. The clock is individually assembled with care and pride by extremely skilled employees in a workshop in Hampshire, UK. They personally sign and stamp a certificate that goes into its box. The weather clocks are so popular that there is a waiting list.
Extract E Bramwell Brown's design and intellectual property (IP) Ever since the initial design and product development we have protected our designs and intellectual property. We use a range of IP protection including patents, design rights, copyright and trademarks. We have actively pursued registrations of our IP across many countries worldwide and will continue to do so in all future research and development work. Bramwell Brown, along with its investors, take very seriously the protection of the company's designs and inventions. We will work hard to ensure that any violations are effectively dealt with.
Assess the usefulness to Bramwell Brown of Porter's five forces model when
analysing the market for weather clocks.