Ambassadors
One of the time-tested ways for brands to as-sociate with glamour is to work with an am-bassador. Look at Omega with Cindy Crawford, TAG Heuer with Tiger Woods, Rolex and Roger Federer and Breil Milano with Charlize Theron.
The brands gain a spokesperson - whether it's an actress, an athlete or a celebrity – and, they hope, the attention of the millions of fans who admire that person.
“TAG Heuer developed during the past decades a real point of view about human achievement and inner strength,” explains Jean-Christophe Babin, President and CEO of TAG Heuer SA. “We love the idea that there is no finish line, and we love people who think the same way, and products proving that limits can always be pushed further. We like people who learn from success as well as from failure, people who always try to improve and think forward. It is this philosophy Maria Sharapova, Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt, Lewis Hamilton and Uma Thurman share together.
“Altogether, our ambassadors are the epitome of mental strength and energetic passion, like TAG Heuer,” he continues. “Knowing that, TAG Heuer has assembled the most charismatic dream team ever put together by a luxury brand. By bringing together Hollywood stars and charismatic sports champions, we are reinforcing our glamorous values year after year.”




Uma Thurman, Tiger Woods and Maria Sharapova for TAG Heuer


Citizen has been using ambassadors for some time and the current roster includes NFL player Eli Manning, golfer Paula Creamer, tennis player Nicole Vaidisova, NASCAR’s Matt Kenseth, NHL star Dion Phaneuf, cricket star Kevin Pietersen and Chemmy Alcott, a British star in downhill skiing. “We are in our third round of ambassadors, and the premise is that the people we pick are really unbeatable,” Laurence R. Grunstein, President, Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc. says. “Our brand ambassadors represent youth and energy with invincible character. The future is to capture the younger audience between 18 and 25, because once they are familiar with the brand, they will become loyal to it. Our ambassadors are also successful, and they have the attribute of unstoppability that connects to our product and the Eco-Drive technology.”




Charlize Theron for Chopard and Breil Milano, Stéphane Peterhansel for Wyler Genève and the King Juan Carlos for Hublot


Breil Milano has two worldwide ambassadors: Charlize Theron for women’s watches, jewels, leather and glasses and Edward Norton for men’s watches and jewellery. “Ambassadors essentially represent a brand’s values and offer notoriety to a brand,” details Marcello Binda, CEO of the Binda Group. “In our case, we chose international celebrities in order to build a stronger global image. We think that inter-national brand ambassadors will give major glamour to our Breil Milano brand, will help us build a stronger luxury image and will support our entrance into new markets.”
Celebrity associations and ambassadors have worked for a long time and continue to work today, despite the number of celebrities who run into trouble along the way. “Celebrity can get you instant credibility,” acknowledges Tom Sloan, VP/Creative Director, Henderson Advertising. “The use of a celebrity can create an aspirational quality or mindset and it can attach you to an attitude or a personality or even other products. You do run the public relations risk should that celebrity do something detrimental and fall from public grace. You also run the risk of that celebrity's fifteen minutes being up. If that happens, from an advertising standpoint you can come across as 'been there done that' if you aren't fresh with your approach.”

Sporting events
Sporting events are an area where brands can associate themselves and access a ‘captive’ audience. Some brands go for worldwide exposure, like Omega and the Olympics or Hublot and the Euro 2008, while other brands are much more targeted, like Jaeger-LeCoultre (and Hublot, again) with Polo, Panerai with classic yacht racing, Wyler Genève and the Dakar Rally and more.
“Being associated with a sporting event offers us dreams, emotions, beauty, success, courage and endurance,” says Jean-Claude Biver, President, Hublot. “All these values can be transferred to our brand and product provided we have a product with a high quality, strong innovation and creativity and deep emotion. We hope to make the understanding of our message and product easier through the transfer we get from the event.




Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Wie, Michael Schumacher and Michael Phelps for Omega


Omega, in addition to the Olympics, also sponsors golfers and golf events. "We are the official sponsor for the Omega European Masters,” says Stephen Urquhart, President, Omega Worldwide. “It's so difficult to put a figure down regarding what an event like this is worth to Omega. One of the first rules of advertising is that half of what you spend is wasted, you just don't know which half. The Omega European Masters is the most important sporting event in Switzerland, so it's a high profile event for our brand. Golf is the fastest growing sport in Europe and it's moving away from its image of only for the wealthy and the privileged and it's becoming more mainstream, like in the US, which is perfect for Omega. We have a long history of being involved with golf. We have Ernie Els, Michelle Wie and Sergio Garcia as amb-assadors. We use this event as an opportunity not just to build our image but also to entertain our worldwide friends of the brand - customers, retailers, friends, press and more.”
Panerai is involved in classic yacht racing because its legacy comes from the sea, according to Angelo Bonati, CEO, Panerai. “In my opinion, being involved with the classic yachts is better than other ocean sports because the regatta is not extreme, it's classic and it's about art as much as it is about speed,” he says. “Like watches, these boats are appreciated for their lines and you need passion to own and operate them.
”There is a positive image for Panerai through our relationship with the classic regatta,“Bonati continues.”The regatta is about respect for tradition, respect for style and performance and it's a gentleman's sport, which makes it perfect for Panerai."
Parmigiani Fleurier isn't the biggest brand and the company can't compete with bigger companies' marketing budgets, so traditional sponsorship of events like Formula One racing, golf or even tennis was out. Michel Parmigiani, the brand’s president, got hooked on ballooning from his very first ride and decided that ballooning would help his brand be seen in a very crowded marketplace.
“Ballooning lets us stand out - it's not like other kinds of sports sponsorship, it's very different,” he says. “The concept for us is nature - nature is my life. I live in nature and nature is important for my creativity, for my life, for my family. As a result of the exposure from the balloon, many people are talking about Parmigiani and are discovering the Parmigiani brand. It's good for marketing, advertising, for articles, because it makes people talk.”
It's tough to ignore a huge orange balloon with a Parmigiani watch on the side, and that's what the brand is counting on. When a balloon is up in the sky, people stop and wave, follow it in their cars, talk about it to friends, and that word of mouth is invaluable for any product and especially for watches.
“People look at the balloon and it makes them smile.” Parmigiani, who is learning to pilot his own balloon, explains. “It’s a sport that is open to everyone.”
Citizen is the timekeeper of the US Open tennis tournament and uses the venue to gain ex-posure and to entertain clients. Citizen is the Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of the US Open. “Our involvement with the US Open gives us a unique association with a world class event that no other brand in our category can claim,” explains Stuart Zuckerman, SVP Merchandising, Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc. “It also gives us a way to entertain our customers in one of the most popular venues in the country. Citizen is an active sponsor, actually responsible for something within the rules of the game: keeping time. Clearly, the visibility as an active sponsor lends a certain credibility and prestige to the company and the brand, since if we’re going to be involved in a sponsorship; it has to be something where we can take an active role.”




Citizen and the US Open, Nicky Hayden (Tissot), Danica Patrick (Tissot) and Valentino Rossi (Jaeger-LeCoultre)


Case in point: Tissot and MotoGP
Tissot has been the official timekeeper of MotoGP for ten years and this association has given the company incredible exposure. Tissot benefits from the MotoGP’s emphasis on pre-cision and high technology with its signage on the track, branding on television whenever the timing is displayed, on billboards around the track and as well as point of purchase materials in the local watch stores selling Tissot. “MotoGP gives us recognition,” says François Thiébaud, President, Tissot worldwide. “The emphasis on technology and precision helps get the message across that our watches are precise, reliable and cutting edge. We are in many sports, supporting the younger generation.”
Tissot makes MotoGP themed watches as well as a limited edition watch that comes in a helmet-shaped package, with interchangeable casebacks with the different MotoGP circuits engraved on the backs. Tissot also makes a Nicky Hayden limited edition MotoGP watch.
At the same time, Tissot mixes its timekeeping with ambassadors, using Nicky Hayden, a pre-vious MotoGP champion, as an ambassador. Tissot also works with Danica Patrick, the first woman to ever win an IRL race, to promote Tissot in the US."
Tissot is the official watch of MotoGP and also presents special watches at the Tissot Pole Position Awards at every race. Riders covet the pole position, because it gives them the best chance to take an early lead, and the fact that they get a watch for pole position is an added benefit. Tissot also sells on-site at MotoGP events, an effort that has been extremely successful for the brand.

Other brands
Brands who work with other well-known brands, accessing the glamour of an existing company and their customer base, is another association worth mentioning. By working with a brand with an already loyal customer base, watch companies can leverage that customer base, while also adding immediate legitimacy to their own product.
Breitling has a very successful partnership with Bentley, Panerai works with Ferrari, Jaeger-LeCoultre with Aston Martin, Audemars Piguet has a partnership with Maserati, JeanRichard and MV Agusta, the Binda Group and Ducati, Hamilton and Riva boats, Krieger and Bertram yachts and many more.
These associations work for both companies, introducing each brand to the customers of the other one, and if the association makes sense – same values, same pricing structure, similar production or attention to detail and so on – it can raise the awareness and the profile of both brands.




Giacomo Agostini and JeanRichard, Nick Faldo and Audemars Piguet, Pershing Yachts and Parmigiani


Case in point: Parmigiani Fleurier, Pershing Yachts and Bugatti
Parmigiani Fleurier recently announced a partnership with Italian yacht-maker Pershing to produce several limited edition Pershing-themed and styled watches.
"To us, it was important to have a partnership with someone who like Parmigiani, is very exclusive,” says Tilli Antonelli, the President and Founder of the Pershing Company. “Their need was to promote a sport line of watches, not just a classic. Parmigiani is a very exclusive, niche, which is really in line with Pershing. We are very exclusive for a special target, so we match very well.”
Parmigiani also works with Bugatti on a limited edition timepiece associated with the Supercar. The brand really turned heads with the stunning, unique timepiece it introduced and it has recently introduced another version for the latest Bugatti, which also involves long-time Parmigiani partner Hermès.
“Bugatti asked us to develop a watch six years ago. We did a special movement,” says Jean-Marc Jacot, CEO, Parmigiani Fleurier. “We developed the watch with Hermès and Bugatti. We are producing very limited watches connected with the car, we decided to produce the same number of watches as the number of cars.”

Music
Music is one of the joys of life and often has glamour associated with it. Some brands choose musical events to spread their brand message, bringing customers, retailers and press to these high profile music events. Parmigiani Fleurier and the Montreux Jazz festival is one example, while many brands fund and support orchestras all around the world.

Case in point: Carl F. Bucherer and the Moon and Stars Festival
The Moon & Stars Festival in Locarno, Switzerland, one of the most unique music festivals anywhere in the world, attracting fantastic rock and roll acts to this beautiful part of Switzerland, is now being sponsored by watch brand Carl F. Bucherer. A deal has been signed that guarantees Carl F. Bucherer as the exclusive timepiece VIP sponsor for the next two years.
“We got involved with the Moon and Stars because we were looking for a platform that fits the brand philosophy,” Thomas Morf, President, Carl F. Bucherer. “Our generation all grew up with rock and pop music, so it fits our brand very well. This is a fantastic festival – it’s a great location, it’s a wonderful organization. Locarno has the Mediterranean climate and not many people have been to the Italian part of Switzerland before. The plan next year is to invite people from around the world.
“I am very pleased that Carl F. Bucherer is involved,” says André Béchir, Executive Director, Good News Productions, AG. “It’s a great watch and it’s perfect for us. We are looking for partners that fit our festival perfectly, from the products to the clientele and the people behind the company. Carl F. Bucherer is just such a company.”
This year, more than 86,000 people attended the festival over its ten days. Next year, the festival runs from July 9th to the 19th.

Art and cultural events
Art and cultural events have a glamour and sophistication surrounding them, so it's a natural place for brands to be involved. Piaget is involved with restoring clocks in Venice, keeping this art form alive within some of the most famous buildings in the world, while other brands support artists, museums and film festivals.




The Cannes Film Festival and the Vienna Design Week


Jaeger-LeCoultre is involved with the Venice Film Festival, while one of the most famous associations is Chopard and the Cannes Film Festival. "Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele and the family originally decided to support the film festival because it was a way to support the arts and emerging artists, who don't typically have the studio financing,” explains Mark Hrushka, President, Chopard USA. “It was a great way to support the arts and get our name out there in a more public way. You have a tremendous amount of companies looking for that philanthropic connection. This gives me a great sense of pride that we have been doing this for ten years, long before it was chic. It's important to talk about what we have been doing to understand what it has morphed into - the Cannes film Festival, where before it was very European, it is now international, and we have benefited from its growth and the coverage it gets. It's not just a European application anymore, it's now a global effort.”
Rado is involved with many design and art in-itiatives, like Vienna Design Week and events with the Design Academy Eindhoven. “Art and design are so fundamental to what we do that we feel that we belong to the contemporary art and design community,” says Roland Streule, President, CEO Rado Watch Limited. “Watches like the Rado Ceramica are considered to be icons of modern design, and like many creative artists we continue to challenge expectations and the limits of the possible. Our work with world-class designers like Jasper Morrison says a lot about our approach.
“As part of this world, we believe that art and design are important,” Streule continues. “In our experience, people who are open to the role of art and design in life will recognize and appreciate what we are trying to do. They perceive the importance we assign to design and this enhances the value they find in our products. Art and design represent an attempt to bring beauty into people's lives, and that is what we do, too. We try to reach people through their appreciation and need for beauty.”

Case in point: Baume & Mercier and photography
For Baume & Mercier, photography has become the brand’s emphasis.
“It was clear and immediate to me because photography is about time and photography is linked to emotions, so it works for Baume & Mercier,” says Michel Nieto, CEO, Baume & Mercier. “It's about creativity as well, it's open to everyone and everyone can take pictures of special moments. The connection has been very good with everyone - press, retailers, customers. We have been working together with some photographers, to help them create something special. It's a very nice field to develop. Baume & Mercier believes both art forms, watchmaking and photography, share the search for real and unforgettable moments that make the life of each and every one of us unique.”
The brand is working with new photographers, while at the same developing exhibitions with some of the best names in the business, like Magnum. Recently, Baume & Mercier and Magnum held an exhibit event in Houston, Texas to celebrate photography. The exhibition, Moments In Time, consists of thirty images embodying the historical importance of Magnum Photos as a documenter of history.

How retailers can leverage these associations
The associations that the brands work so hard on are fantastic opportunities to reach customers that wouldn’t otherwise know about the brand. At the same time, however, brands and retailers have to work together to leverage this exposure into sales. While some brands have retail presences at events – Tissot at the MotoGP, Omega at the European Masters, for example – it’s important for retailers to help firm up the association with displays, information and education in the store.
In addition, brands very often use these associ-ations to invite retailers and their customers to special events. “The retailer can invite customers to our events and entertain its customers at the events,” says Hublot’s Biver.
Parmigiani uses its balloon at many of its events, including coming over Lake Geneva to the Montreux Jazz Festival. “It's a real benefit to have the balloon, because it's a great ex-perience for clients, partners, employees and journalists to go up in the balloon,” says Michel Parmigiani. “If we were involved with another sport, it might not be possible to have these people so involved. For example, clients can’t go on an America's Cup boat, but the balloon is interactive and experiential. At the end of the ride, I even give first time flyers a certificate of completion.”
Carl F. Bucherer invites its customers, brand ambassadors, retailers and press contacts to the Moon & Stars Festival. “It’s a great chance to mingle with the important people,” says Carl F. Bucherer’s Morf. “It’s a great platform to spread the name of the brand within our country, because we have never done this kind of thing before.”




The Moon & Stars Festival


According to TAG Heuer’s Babin, the brand’s ambassadors offer a big advantage to retailers. “A watch is a highly emotional and intimate object, like a sports car for a man or a piece of jewellery for a woman,” he says. “Associating it with a person personifying a strong character and providing a dream potential, like Brad Pitt or Maria Sharapova, merely enhances the emotive content and humanizes the product by contextualizing it in a real but aspirational world. TAG Heuer sells the dream!”
These associations can raise the awareness and perception of a brand and it’s up to the brand to keep its end of the bargain by developing product that is on par with the level of its associ-ations. “Breil Milano is a luxury brand,” Marcello Binda says. “Our Breil Milano watches are all Swiss Made, the jewels, in pink gold, silver and precious stones, and the leather bags, made of the higher quality materials, are all made in Italy. It means that our retailers end up with a product of excellence, which is also linked to a major representative of today’s cinema. Our retailers receive point of sale materials of our advertising campaign featuring A list Hollywood stars. This glamour should make things easier also for our retailers, I believe.”
Some retailers don't take advantage of the associations the brands offer, perhaps because they are so busy and the brands are doing so many things. Leveraging an association, however, can help increase exposure for both retailers and brands and build loyalty.
“Incredibly, most retailers do not get actively involved in our associations,” says Citizen's Zuckerman. “However, our retailers are in the position of being able to offer their customers a pair of tickets to the US Open, courtesy of Citizen. A promotion in which a customer buying a Citizen Eco-Drive becomes eligible to enter and win a pair of tickets to the US Open could provide a retailer with a unique opportunity to create some business during the summer, typically a slower time for watch sales.”

Glamour by Association is common in the watch industry and beyond and it can really help raise awareness and increase sales. Most brands do a mixture of associations (e.g. ambassadors, sponsorship and other brands) with straight brand marketing, hoping that this mixture hits all the right segments to get the word out about the brand.


The anti-association - Instruments & Mesures du Temps supports Switzerland’s Xavier Rosset ‘300’ Adventure
Xavier Rosset, a 31-year old Swiss adventurer working with the Instruments & Mesures du Temps watch brand, is voluntarily isolating himself on a deserted island in the South Pacific for 300 days. In fact, his first act upon arriving on the island (a volcanic paradise named Tofua, belonging to the Tonga archipelago) was to bury his Instruments & Mesures du Temps timepiece.
“When I get to the island, I will literally stop time,” he said in an interview just prior to heading off. “I will bury the watch in the earth and at the end of the experience, I will get it out again to represent that I will be coming back into the world.
“The target is to live like people who were living 10,000 years ago,” he continued. “I will have to make my own fire, I want to relearn many things that we knew before, but that we forgot. My target is to adapt myself to nature, not the other way around.”
Rosset is taking three things with him on his adventure – a Swiss army knife, a machete and the Instruments & Mesures du Temps watch.
“Xavier came to us and showed us what he was doing through his adventure – that he is trying to show children how you can go beyond your limits and survive for 300 days with only a knife and a machete,” says Pablo V. Dana, Founder and President of the board, Instruments & Mesures du Temps. “The message behind his adventure, which will be shown in a documentary series, is that there is a different approach to nature. We loved the idea, we loved the approach, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to show children that you can go back to the basics.”
Rosset is taking solar-powered equipment to do a video blog every week from the island, but other than that, he is completely cut off from civilization. It should be an interesting experiment to see how he survives, how he is put to the test and what he learns.
Not many watch companies would sponsor an adventure like this, only to have the watch buried in the sand for the entire 300 days.
Here’s hoping the watch works when he digs it up!

For more information: www.xavierrosset.ch (where you can get updates on how Rosset is doing on the island)
www.imtwatches.com


Source: Europa Star October-November 2008 Magazine Issue