Watchmaking and celebrities: a good marketing strategy?
Associating a timepiece with a famous face is a trend some brands gave up to let their products do the job. Yet, current events in football have reopened the debate.
By Joel Grandjean
Editor-in-Chief
Nothing ever remains static in the world of celebrity marketing. Parameters evolve and brands often ponder which celebrity to choose in order to reach out to most people. As it is, the status of stars has been democratized nowadays; they are now more accessible and less inspiring and when we read their posts on Twitter or see their daily routine on Instagram, we feel their inaccessibility is fading away. We realize that they are just like everybody else, only when they make a mistake everybody gets to know about it: bursts of anger here, rehabs or even extra-marital scandals there. Dr François H. Courvoisier from HEG Arc in Neuchâtel, co-initiator of the Journée Internationale du Marketing Horloger (JIMH), points out that partnerships with those who are no longer in the spotlight do have some advantages. In short, choosing a star is a real headache and it means dealing with very long contracts.
Markets’ questions
When asked about why TAG Heuer did not end its contract with Tiger Woods, the golfer who had been publicly tagged a bad boy, the brand’s ex-CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin remains pragmatic. He admits that the scandal meant their advertising campaign became more discreet in rather puritan countries such as the US. Yet, in Asia – particularly in China – these misdemeanors served the brand’s cause. The man with several mistresses won the favor of many Chinese, who saw him as an incarnation of exceptional virility. Sensitivities diverge… Brands such as TAG Heuer, Longines, Omega, Tissot and even Rolex are big enough to be present in all communication territories and they will continue to choose famous people according to markets and how they respond to them.
However, the formula is running out of steam here in Switzerland. Consumers are less interested in identifying themselves with anyone, even if they are famous. The solution is thus veering towards letting the product itself do the job. It is what Ebel chose to do, as its then President and Creative Director, Marc Michel-Amadry explained. The brand chose an advertising campaign that highlighted the aspects of the product through the photos of talented Mitchell Feinberg and turned its back on Claudia Schiffer’s pregnancy curves or to Gisèle Bündchen‘s captivating charm to market its products.
It even ended a much cheaper contract with the famous blogger Louise Ebel. However, celebrity marketing remains profitable in other markets in Asia, particularly in India. David Sadigh, associate director of IC-Agency and specialist in interactive marketing, states that the partnership between Audemars Piguet and Sachin Tendulkar – a famous Indian cricket player – created a buzz on the Web.
While still CEO of Omega, Jean-Claude Biver started the Testimonials trend. He accepted to spend CHF 90,000 without any global contract for Cindy Crawford and George Clooney to star in the “My Choice” campaign. It was quite a bargain compared to the CHF 600,000 Omega paid for Nicole Kidman to be at the inauguration of its shop in Geneva in 2007. She was perfect, cheerful and docile and knew Nicolas Hayek Senior quite well. For that kind of money, they were sure to bond.
Trend: no cash, only exchange
Apart from this overstatement, some watchmaking aces hit the jackpot without even spending a single penny. Take Pierre Koukjian, for example. The celebrity-looking co-founder and designer of deLaCour accepted a special and remunerated order for Samuel Eto’o some years ago.
Since then, the greatest football stars wear the brand’s Bichrono timepieces. Cristiano Ronaldo wears them ostensibly, praises them each time a journalist asks him about them and sometimes even buys some for his loved ones. And that even without a contract! It would be difficult for the experts in the field to sell an expensive star contract to this lucky CEO!
Celebrity marketing is also about exchanging friendly services. Vincent Perriard – ex-CEO of Concord and TechnoMarine and currently CEO of HYT – remembers Hamilton’s technique, as he was part of it. A paid insider reading Hollywood scenarios notifies the brand whenever a paragraph refers to a watch. The production manufacture is then contacted even before the film is shot. The deal is simple: sometimes use specially made watches for a movie, as was the case in “Men in Black”, and in return, the brand will display 3,000 posters in the Hamilton retail shops all over the world! The result is that without much money mega Hollywood stars wear Hamiltons right under the nose of their agents. The only drawback of this formula is that they have a distant relation with the brand.
Charity business: the celebrity catch
In this new era of responsible communication, there is a way to make a star accept to collaborate without needing to spend lavishly. This is particularly possible when said star manages a humanitarian foundation. All you need to do is dangle a substantial cheque in front of them, often with an added discount for their favorite model to make them and their notoriety capital travel. Chopard initiated this phenomenon by releasing timepieces for the José Carreras, Sir Elton John and even Prince Charles Foundations. Longines is not far behind; it used to sponsor the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund and is now sponsoring the current charity organizations of the Agassi-Graf couple.
Demanding stars and bosses turned stars
Add to the expanding passion for watchmaking, even amongst the happy few, the decrease of celebrities’ revenue because today almost everything can be downloaded freely and the stars become demanding when they do not even have their own brand! Co-branding or partnerships? At the same time, some watch manufacture directors capitalize on their own image rather than on their products and thus dictate who is or isn’t a celebrity.
On the opposite side of the coin, Hayek senior, master of exhibition, knew what to do. He only had to snap his fingers and journalists came running. The man – a pure pitchman – did not have vested interests in what he did because after all, he was always at the service of his products that were ostensibly worn on his forearms. He was also very appreciated by his staff because, after his media-covered events, he would go in person to visit his firms’ manufactures. Some of today’s directors are far from showing such decency…
At the time when the World Cup is about to start in Brazil and set ablaze TV spectators across the world, the craze for celebrity marketing has found a second wind. If it were possible, all Swiss watchmaking brands would associate themselves with a football player even if he was just a local star. Nothing new in that, the industry has always had a tendency to follow the herd…
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