I’ve been aware that I am approaching something of a milestone with 10,000 posts and now it’s here. I’m not sure whether that says more about me, or about the tolerance of you lot to put up with me. If you’ve read the previous 9,999 posts, my sympathies; if this is the first post of mine that you have read then it’s not too late – stop now. To all of you – thank you for the ride so far, it’s been incredible and I know that there is much more to come. I don’t want this to be soppy or sappy, but I have been touched by some of the comments received from people at various times, especially some of the PMs, they are all very much appreciated.
One thing I am aware of though is that the majority of my posts don’t do much to advance thinking around Breitling – there are inevitably many posts about how to post photos, the need for a price with a sales thread, why a date isn’t changing, etc and that’s the bread and butter that hopefully helps people out one at a time. Every now and then though, I feel that I want to do more. Maybe it’s egotistical vanity, maybe it’s the need for validation, or maybe just plain arrogance, but it’s not conscious if it is any of those things.
I am very clear about what I want to achieve with this post though. I definitely want to advance thinking this time, but I also have one additional very clear goal that I am not ashamed of – I want Breitling to sit up and take notice. Would I like a response from them – yes of course, in fact I would like nothing more than to have an opportunity to discuss things with them (you can get my e-mail via the website on my profile
), but I don’t expect to hear anything. At the very least though I hope that there are discussions at Breitling S.A. about some of the points made by the weird Canadian WIS with a username that no one is sure how to pronounce. So here it is, my 10,000th post. I hope it’s memorable; I’ve spent a long time thinking about it, and a long time writing it. This is the best I’ve got……….
I love Breitling. They have the largest representation of any brand in my collection, and will likely stay that way. I think that they offer tremendous variety in their offerings – from the classic ‘tool’ Navitimer to the contemporary dive watches, the ground breaking Emergency, the elegance of the Windrider range, and the exclusivity (in image at least) of the Bentleys. Even the Galactics are offering something a little different – I’m not quite sure what, but then I’m not the target market for those.
Like many, I have questioned the direction that Breitling have been taking in the last 2- 3 years, but I understand the importance of bringing new people to the brand, particularly if you are a relatively small, independent watch company – you sometimes have to compromise ideals for money in order to survive, especially in the economic times that we have been experiencing.
I don’t want to turn this into another ‘I hate the B01 bezel’ thread – when I tried to spark debate about the reaction to the B01 it worked – the replies went crazy, but I feel that the point that I was trying to make got lost (posts defending or knocking the B01 abounded, and my post was a comment on the reaction to people’s opinions – nothing to do with the watch), so here I want to be very clear. This isn’t about current design cues, and it sure as heck isn’t about the Chronomat B01.
When I look back over the last 10 years or so of Breitling I see a company that has created a very different identity for itself, very successfully. The expansion of the Aeromarine range has increased their customer base hugely, and at the other end of the range the Bentleys have created a following among a new breed of fans (and created an image with young and wealthy celebrities from a number of arenas). I suspect that many people reading this can identify a watch from the last 10 years that started their obsession with Breitling.
Looking back further, the ‘modern’ Breitling from 1984 onwards has always shown a willingness to be controversial – the first watch that they issued they called the Chronomat – that’s a heck of a name to choose to re-launch a brand with – one of the two most iconic watches that the original Breitling ever produced. And the original is nothing like the 1984 version – maybe we should have seen signs of what has happened in the last couple of years.
But here is where I feel uncomfortable right now. Breitling has spent a lot of time fostering relationships with new buyers, and they haven’t been afraid to push the envelope to do that. Some have been huge successes (Chronomat, Motors, Super Avenger), some have been failures, although often that opinion has been revisited years down the road (Spatiographe, Flying B, the original World), and of course only the future knows how the Chronomat B01 and Galactics will ultimately be judged.
Now they seem unwilling to take the next step – to focus on retaining and growing the relationship with the people that they have brought to the brand. The focus seems to be exclusively on advancing the brand in a direction designed to appeal to new buyers, accepting that they will have those buyers for a while and then lose them. I know that there are the staples of the range – Navitimer, Chronomat, etc, but there is no innovation designed to offer a second, third, etc watch to the people that they have brought to the brand – there’s nothing for the buyer that bought their first Breitling when they got married, got their first ‘real’ job, had their first child, etc and now wants something that is more of a step up to commemorate reaching VP level, paying down their mortgage, etc. In some ways that’s a step backwards – the Bentleys of the early 2000s were a perfect step up for the group that found Breitling in the 80s and early 90s.
You could argue that the Chronomat B01 is not a ‘first’ quality watch and that they are offering that to try and pull people who have previously been loyal to other brands (accepting that many people, not all, that found earlier designs appealing may find the B01 less so). I would have an easier time accepting that premise if the B01 was part of a larger overall brand strategy to convert people from other brands and retain their current customer base, but it doesn’t seem to be – visually 2010 was all about the Galactic range. The other changes seemed more tactical ‘refreshing’ rather than strategic advancing of the brand – even the more significant pieces like the SuperOcean II don’t appear to be a strategic move.
Maybe Breitling doesn’t feel that the buyers that they have attracted to the brand are ready for that next level watch – someone who came to Breitling because of the SA can be ‘ignored’ for a few more years because they aren’t looking to step up yet; but maybe it’s a more significant issue that Breitling intends to make itself a ‘quality Tag Heuer’ brand because that’s where it sees it’s future financial success. That’s bad news for those of us who are looking to grow with the brand – whether you want to grow from a Chronomat, a Super Avenger, or a Chronomat B01 – where is that evolution going to come from?
Maybe it’s foolish of me to expect a company that exists to make money should see things from the perspective of a WIS, but I don’t see the two as mutually exclusive (and neither do many other brands that Breitling would like us to think that it is in competition with). I think that Breitling needs to fundamentally reinvent itself immediately, and here’s my take on how they should do it.
Breitling needs high end watches. From a reputation stand point they need to truly establish themselves as a manufacture and that means haute horlogerie. They need to produce a tourbillon, they need to produce a minute repeater, an equation of time piece, an accurate moonphase – something that steps them up to the ranks of the elite. They also need to do something innovative in those pieces – I can get a tourbillon from a lot of different companies now – it’s where the boutiques start, and yet Breitling can’t offer me anything. Additionally, these can’t be one off pieces, the brand needs to stand behind them as production pieces – we need a limited edition in house piece in the spirit of the Mulliner Tourbillon, but representative of what Breitling aspires to in the 21st century. They need to show the watch world that they are proud enough of their in house team to produce production quality high end pieces. I don’t expect to have seen it yet, but it needs to be in the pipeline.
We need a range of ‘mid range luxury’ watches – pieces in the $15 - $50,000 range (and not just priced there because they have gold cases). Create a range for them (they aren’t Bentleys – that’s just marketing and it’s getting old) and offer pieces that are going to get the watch world excited with Breitling – do something (anything) to get on the covers of the watch magazines – heck Ralph Lauren can do it so it shouldn’t be too hard.
Put watches in that range that push the envelope and make them limited production pieces – give us retrogrades, give us alarms, give us something that we just haven’t seen before from anyone. Don’t be afraid to do something daring – that’s why they are limited, and don’t be afraid to make them different from anything that would be recognised as a Breitling (and that doesn’t mean a strange font). Oh yeah, and fire anyone who suggests putting a solid back on them – a well decorated automatic movement is a thing of beauty – show off your in house movements (what else would go in these) and be proud of them. Some of them will never go anywhere, some of them will get such an amazing reaction that they can form the future of your mass market watches.
Use innovative materials – use tantalum, use ceramic, use grade five titanium, make the watch world sit up and take notice. Introduce variety into your watches – they don’t need to appeal to everyone (you clearly understand that), and not every watch needs the same material (please learn that lesson immediately with DLC). I’m not even sure that we can claim that these materials are innovative any longer – zirconium oxide (ceramic) has been around for almost 25 years in watches. Breitling hasn’t stepped up to these materials and yet their competitors are going far beyond – orthorhombic titanium alumides, carbon nanofibre and of course silicon and its derivatives.
Evolve your mass market ranges – give them distinct modern identities and introduce new models that push the ranges forward. Navitimers can be largely immune as they are the heritage pieces, but they need in house movements, new complications, new technology, something to keep them fresh. Professional is your innovative range – no wonder it’s light on watches right now – innovation equals a rubber bezel. Show us what you can do with SuperQuartz, show us what fancy tricks your watchmakers have up their sleeves.
Windrider, well it needs new life – you’ve gutted it to form the Galactics, let us believe that it isn’t headed for a death – Blackbird and Chronomat are the foundation of a fantastic range of watches – give us your ‘sporty elegance’ here with useful complications – a regulator, a power reserve indicator, a longer power reserve – an in house double barrel movement would be perfect. Aeromarine – well, it needs to be rationalised, there are too many watches and they are losing identity – the Avengers, the Heritages and the ‘others’ – it’s getting confusing. Bentleys, no idea what’s happening here – are we going high end or are we staying ‘sport luxury’ – no idea, and not sure that it matters now – it has lost it’s identity (or at least is suffering from a dual personality). I would rationalise it down to the Motors family and accept that it’s a niche branding exercise.
Talk and listen to your customers. There doesn’t need to be a wall of silence around corporate head office – heck you barely even talk to your major distributors. Customers can offer incredible insight into the future direction and they can give you meaningful feedback. If Girardin is representative of the way that you feel about your brand then wake up and drag yourselves into the 21st Century. If he isn’t, then shut him up or fire him – his comments at Basel were misplaced, arrogant and (most worryingly of all) out of touch with the consumer. You have tremendous leadership within the company, let Marie Bodman have a bigger say before one of your competitors does. Philippe Bonay may have been a mistake, but look at what he has achieved since – maybe the fault wasn’t all his.
If you must insist on rejecting market research, then at least do some sanity checks on the decisions made by your in house marketing teams. How many times was ‘Pure Breitling’ reviewed prior to being launched as the equivalent of the 2010 Chronolog? It must have been through numerous variations and reviews and yet despite that it was considered to be a good idea to release your annual catalogue without including your flagship model in it – please, for the sake of all things Breitling, give your heads a shake.
In terms of distributors and dealers, bring consistency. BUSA and BUK are great examples of what a national distributor should be. Grigoros is an embarrassment (and yes that’s a selfish statement by me). I realise that it’s a different corporate model, but you control the supply – don’t put up with it. At the same time, rationalise your approach to pricing and discounting. I recognise that you can’t control salary costs in local markets, but you can control pricing very easily. The change to AD pricing in the US is a step in the right direction for the brand, stick with it and bring value to your brand. Even something as trivial as free gifts can be standardised – look at the reaction that a ball cap creates, look at the way that pens sell on eBay. These are cheap ways to create loyalty and you should be consistent across the globe (recognising that the physical object may need to vary from market to market).
If you are going to insist on making ludicrous statements on your website about 99% of online watches being fakes then at least try to control the supply of grey market pieces. We all know who the major players are, and controlling the supply is easy – buy the watches yourself and then act on the ADs who were supplied those pieces originally. If the dirty little secret is that you are turning a blind eye to it because it increases sales volumes (and doesn’t have any immediate negative financial impact on Breitling) then admit that – your customers aren’t stupid. At the very least recognize that the grey market is artificially inflating your sales figures.
Improve the quality of customer service in stores. Service centres have to maintain certain standards of training and equipment to be allowed to work on the watches, introduce similar standards for sales. Require retailers to maintain a certain level of ‘certified’ sales staff if they want to retain preferential pricing, and audit through mystery shops. Have consistent processes – a watch doesn’t need to go to a national distributor to be regulated. Not every store can have a watchmaker, a pressure tester and a timing machine, but a proportion certainly can.
If you can’t achieve all of this as an independent either because of a lack of internal means or because of the requirements of investors, then a new strategic direction and / or funding model is needed. If that means new ownership then so be it. The family has made enough money in the last 30 years – cash out and don’t kill a brand with 125 years of history for your own selfish greed. I know that it’s a bad time to sell – that’s your own fault for not selling earlier. I don’t particularly want to see Breitling as part of Swatch or Richemont, but if that is what it takes to get the investment needed to retain Breitling as a forward looking quality brand then I can live with it.
Keep doing what you are doing to bring in new buyers, but don’t ignore the buyers that you already have. Invest in those people and give them a reason to stay. The in house movement is a perfect platform for that, so leverage it. Show the watch community that you do belong alongside IWC, JLC, etc. Maybe you can build a watch that makes the Zenith Academy range look ordinary – why not? If you combine that with a range that makes people forget Tag then you have people from start to finish – and that sounds like a pretty good financial model.
Breitling are doing many things right, but they aren’t doing enough. The Galactics and Chronomat B01 aren’t wrong, but on their own they are insufficient. The B01 movement is a significant step forwards, having it in only one model after two rounds of Basel is unacceptable. Breitling has invested too much money in stepping up the horological quality ladder to allow themselves to be seen as a competitor to Tag. They need to be competing with IWC, JLC, Panerai, etc or risk being left behind.
So there it is, my 10,000th post. It’s the best glimpse into me that I have ever given this forum, and if you got this far then a sincere thank you. Maybe this is just the mindless ramblings of a WIS, but they’re heartfelt – it’s stupid to feel passionate about a faceless company that doesn’t care about me, but watch companies produce emotional products, and in my mind that brings responsibility. If I can be presumptuous enough to think that my presence here on BreitlingSource gives me some kind of platform, then I am choosing to use that platform to try and hold Breitling accountable to deliver on that responsibility.
I don’t pretend to speak for others, and I sure as heck don’t mean to speak for the forum, if you agree with me then that’s great, if you disagree, that’s great too. In many ways this is a selfish post that is just my personal opinion, although I suspect that elements will resonate with many. I hope it sparks a meaningful debate on here, but more importantly, at Breitling S.A.
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