A small manifesto for pulling watchmaking out of the crisis
This opinion piece is co-written by Xavier Dietlin (www.dietlin.ch) and Antoine Lorotte (www.fiveco.ch).
There are periods in history that resemble crossroads: each event makes us feel that our future is about to tip into another dimension. This is precisely where the Swiss watchmaking sector finds itself today. On one hand, we learn that Bucherer of Lucerne plans to cut more than 370 jobs, including 220 in Switzerland — a tragic event illustrating the crisis we are going through; on the other, Tissot is about to launch the first 100% Swiss-made connected watch, a sign that the sector is holding its own and positioning itself in the global race for innovation.
Alas, despite this last piece of good news, the crisis seems to be winning out, and as Olivier Müller reminded us on RTS, "2020 will be the worst year for Swiss watchmaking since 1947."
As is well known, over recent months Covid has played a significant role. While the pandemic is not the sole cause of the situation, it has acted more as an accelerator, exposing the weaknesses of a watchmaking world that has not always been willing to question itself. Faced with the "historic alternative" now presenting itself, every choice will be decisive, and the right strategy must be found to allow Swiss watchmaking to reconnect with the values that made its reputation. Here, then, is a short manifesto gathering a few avenues for reflection.
Getting in step with the young
In a survey conducted in Switzerland on a sample of 400 people, only 61% of young people wear a watch every day. Some readers will see the glass as half full and consider this majority comfortable. In fact, it might astonish older generations and make them nostalgic for a not-so-distant time when every child making their first communion received their precious first watch as a gift. Much has changed since then, and a host of electronic gadgets has dethroned the array of mechanical timepieces. More than just a market share to be won, this is about giving back the missing cultural codes to an entire generation — for today and especially for tomorrow — because when you get into the habit of wearing a watch, it is for life. There is therefore considerable educational work to be done, particularly with digital natives, who are accustomed to downloading updates every three months and replacing a device rather than repairing it. To win over this elusive clientele, brands will need to communicate their values — but above all adapt to their ways of communicating.
Reinventing points of sale
As the preceding paragraph illustrates, contact between the brand and its public is essential to consolidate the sharing of common values. From this perspective, we know the immense importance watchmakers place on their hallowed boutiques. The time has surely come to undertake a deep reflection on this "point of sale" in order to evolve the concept — and more generally, to think in terms of welcome rather than location. For many people, pushing open the door of a watchmaker can feel intimidating, as one fears committing too quickly. And one would like the shop assistant — who is not always a watchmaker — to place importance on one's satisfaction rather than on one's money. Sadly, watchmakers have failed to evolve their sales outlets, which have remained unchanged for 70 years. Today, caught up in the urgency of the situation, they are flooding their shops with digital technology, but they have forgotten that a client wants to justify the physical effort of visiting a sales outlet with something they cannot do on a screen.
It is quite another thing to chance upon one of one's favourite brands at a stand during a sporting event or a music festival. In short, brands must play the creativity and surprise card, weaving a web of contact points — shop, website, social media, and event stands — each offering an opportunity to connect with their communities.
Innovating for real
Very often, through lack of imagination or ambition, some brands pass off old models as novelties. Alas, while it may be a convenient way to refresh a range and create the illusion of a new collection, vintage is also the worst enemy of brands. By resorting to these "pseudo-novelties", watchmakers take the easy path. Yet, as everyone knows, genuine innovation is the only true driver of brand development. By reviving old successful watch models, the risk may be lower, but the hope of conquering new markets is equally reduced — for as the proverb says: "to win without risk is to triumph without glory." At some point, one must face the facts: vintage has had its day. Make way for real innovation.
Giving power back to passion
Innovation, as we have noted in many past columns, is far from being the product of a snap of the fingers or a flash of genius — it is the result of a process comprising many layers. Among these, one is fundamental, and our Swiss watchmakers have unfortunately somewhat forgotten it: it was passionate, obsessive, watch-mad individuals who revolutionised the world of movements in the depths of their workshops. All these challengers of the impossible moved mountains to embody their dream in a mechanical object. The brand that truly wants to innovate must give power back to these passionate individuals. It must restore the right hierarchy within its management and return to engineers the place that belongs to them: the power to innovate above all marketing considerations. This may seem unreasonable to some, but it is at this price that Switzerland's great watchmaking brands will be able to reinvent themselves.
Finding the right price and defending the Swiss Made label even more strongly
These two elements raise the same fundamental issue: as is well known, Swiss watchmaking essentially makes its mark in the high-end segment. Some brands sought to increase their margins without justification and are now experiencing the market's verdict. Others sought to optimise their production costs by offshoring to low-cost countries. The rest of the story is well known — the dithering and the many compromises made so that the Swiss Made label could be applied to a product. It is time to question the logic behind these strategies. The Covid crisis has made us aware of the limits of import-export, and there is no doubt that some major players will be asking themselves which industries should be relocated to Swiss territory. Perhaps this is the opportunity to produce even more in our own cantons? This cannot happen without a reflection on the pricing of movements produced here and their "fair price".
Daring
All of this leads us to a harsh observation: watchmaking has lost its taste for adventure. To innovate, one must dare to take risks. Alas, large groups prefer to play it safe and guarantee their return on investment. Volumes have been increased, sales are made in China, quantity has taken precedence over exclusivity. Abundance kills the feeling of exclusivity and leads to a total loss of desirability. It is easy to understand why the great independent brands occupy the top spots in "Dream brand" rankings. They have the luxury of allowing themselves exclusivity.
But one must also have understood the complex mechanisms behind the purchase of a luxury product. No brand, however powerful, can precisely explain the ingredients that go into the purchase of a timepiece worth thousands of francs. This is what is so wonderful about emotion: it is perfectly irrational and inexplicable. As a result, no brand has the courage to question this abstract formula resting on a fragile equilibrium. The watchmaking world is surrounded by diploma-laden specialists who saw nothing coming. They were incapable of anticipating the connected watch and the rise of the younger generation. Watchmaking tradition has aged badly and forgotten to evolve with its time. Who can afford that in 2020? The music box, porcelain, silverware — so many vanished traditions.
It is clear that the watchmaking sector is permanently grappling with the world of values. To pull itself out of the rut it finds itself in, it will need to find the solution for embodying the trends that are shaping our new world, and innovate within that framework.
Today, one can no longer afford to change things only when they stop working. The market's cycle of evolution is so rapid that it is often already too late. Great companies have broken their teeth on this. One must constantly question oneself and evolve one's product — even when success is there. Watchmaking has forgotten this basic rule.
How to reconnect with the world of values?
If we consider the challenge of winning over young people, for example, new avenues already emerge: as everyone knows, the younger generations — whom we described as elusive — are, quite paradoxically, at the forefront of defending sustainable development. Is this not a first step into the world of watchmaking? Is there a more beautiful way to fight planned obsolescence than to buy a watch that can be passed on? Here is a message to embody in a movement — and then all that remains is to restart the dreaming machine to finally emerge from the crisis.
