Reviving a Swiss Watch Icon Across Former Yugoslav Markets
How can a brand that disappeared from the market for decades successfully return? Inquiry helped Darwil uncover whether its historical brand equity was still alive among consumers and identify the opportunities for a potential relaunch across former Yugoslav markets. Combining emotional insights with robust market data, the study revealed the lasting power of heritage in driving future growth.
the percentage of customers who perceive prices as ‘moderate’ has risen by that many percentage points
THE CHALLENGE
Does a brand that disappeared decades ago still have a place in consumers’ minds?
Darwil is a Swiss watch brand with a unique heritage dating back to the early 20th century. For decades, it was one of the most recognised watch brands across former Yugoslavia, where owning a Darwil watch represented status, success, and a connection to the Western world.
The brand’s popularity was strongly connected with the famous Darwil Palace in Trieste, Italy — a shopping destination visited by thousands of consumers from across the region every weekend. Over time, Darwil became more than a watch brand: it became part of the collective memory of several generations.
Following the political and economic changes of the 1990s, Darwil gradually disappeared from the market. However, the brand’s legacy remained alive. Many original owners continued to wear their watches, while others passed them on to younger family members.
In 2020, Darwil’s advisors approached Inquiry with a key business question:
Could a brand absent from the market for decades successfully return — and what role could its heritage play in this relaunch?
To answer this, the company needed to understand:
- How should Darwil position itself to connect with both existing fans and younger consumers?
- How strong is Darwil’s current brand awareness among consumers?
- What emotions, memories and associations does the brand still evoke?
- Does its heritage represent a meaningful competitive advantage?
Our Proposal
Discover the real value behind the brand legacy
A successful brand relaunch requires more than measuring awareness. It requires understanding the emotional connection consumers have with the brand, the memories it creates, and the role it can play in today’s market.
We designed a comprehensive research programme combining qualitative exploration with quantitative measurement. This approach allowed us to connect the emotional power of Darwil’s heritage with concrete market opportunities.
OUR SOLUTION
How we worked — and why we did it this way
Inquiry helped to design a comprehensive multi-country research programme combining qualitative and quantitative approaches across four former Yugoslav markets.
The research included:
- In-depth qualitative interviews exploring personal memories, emotional associations, and perceptions of the brand.
- Quantitative consumer surveys measuring brand awareness, image, brand equity, and purchase potential.
- Cross-market comparisons to identify common themes and market-specific differences.
- Segmentation analysis to understand reactions among different age groups and consumer profiles.
This integrated methodology enabled us to connect historical brand perceptions with current consumer attitudes and future market opportunities.
Cross-market analysis across Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina helped identify both shared regional patterns and local differences.
The research went beyond a traditional brand equity study.
Consumers shared stories about family traditions, shopping trips to Trieste, and the emotional meaning attached to owning a Darwil watch. The research showed that the brand had become part of personal and regional history.
By combining emotional insights with robust market data, Inquiry provided a complete picture of Darwil’s current position and identified the opportunities and challenges connected with a potential relaunch.
EFFECTS
A clear roadmap for bringing a heritage brand back to life
The study revealed that Darwil still enjoys remarkably strong emotional resonance across former Yugoslav markets, despite decades of absence from retail shelves.
Key findings included:
- Significant heritage-driven brand awareness, particularly among older generations.
- Strong positive associations related to quality, reliability, prestige, and Swiss craftsmanship.
- Evidence that Darwil remains part of the cultural memory of many consumers.
- A valuable opportunity to leverage the brand’s authentic heritage as a differentiating asset.
- Clear strategic guidance for positioning the brand for a new generation of consumers.
The research provided Darwil with the evidence and strategic direction needed to evaluate and plan its market relaunch, demonstrating how historical brand equity can continue to create commercial value decades later.
The research confirmed that Darwil remains a powerful symbol of quality and heritage, while providing a roadmap for future growth.
Insights from the study directly informed Darwil’s brand positioning, communication strategy and product portfolio decisions.”
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COLLABORATION WITH INQUIRY
What do our customers say?
Our collaboration with Inquiry Sp. z o.o. was very satisfactory, and the services were delivered with due care and professionalism. Inquiry’s staff demonstrated extensive knowledge in conducting research for the FMCG sector, which resulted in the high substantive value of the findings received.
CONTACT US
Ask us about our research
This case study perfectly illustrates that price is not just a number on a label. It is the sum of associations, experiences and a number of cues that customers remember. “When we identify the right cues and manage them effectively, the entire brand image changes — without reducing profit margins.”
Agnieszka Górnicka, Chair of the Management Board of Inquiry sp. z o. o.
FAQ
Questions and Answers
Price perception research requires a precise understanding of how customers actually assess value – not just based on the figures on the price tag, but on the entire shopping context. Below, we have compiled the most common questions that arise when planning price research – along with answers to help you understand when it is worth using PriceVISION™ and how to use the results to build a competitive advantage.
Yes – well-conducted price research, such as PriceVISION™, is one of the most effective tools for supporting the planning of promotions and pricing strategies. The PriceVISION™ methodology enables you to identify the factors influencing price perception, determine Key Value Items (KVI) and understand which products and attributes most strongly shape customers’ views on price attractiveness. This enables brands to pinpoint precisely what is worth promoting, what prices to communicate, and where price adjustments will have the greatest impact, without reducing margins across the entire product range. Price research also enables the creation of effective, tailored promotions that have a real impact on purchasing decisions and build a competitive advantage.
Yes, it is possible to change price perception even when actual prices remain at the same level. The PriceVISION™ presentation shows that price perception is shaped by a dozen or so key ‘signal’ products, rather than the entire basket of prices. Effective KVI management, improved price visibility on the shelf, simpler communication and appropriate promotional signals can significantly change how customers perceive price levels in-store. PriceVISION™ analyses confirm that an improvement in price perception often stems from targeted actions in the areas with the greatest impact, rather than from across-the-board price reductions — enabling a brand to strengthen its price competitiveness without sacrificing margins.
No, PriceVISION™ and other price perception studies are not limited to the retail sector. Although the methodology was developed with the retail sector in mind, it also works extremely well in industries with more complex products and purchasing processes, such as the automotive, finance, FMCG, leasing, insurance and banking sectors. PriceVISION™ can analyse price perception for both individual brands and entire categories — regardless of the sales channel or the complexity of the offering. Crucially, the tool examines the subjective perception of price attractiveness, meaning it can be applied wherever price influences the purchasing decision.