Some interesting bits in here - I've picked out a few:
TAG:
- In a pronounced shift, Mr. Bianchi said TAG Heuer would focus its partnerships on motor sports and individual sports, moving away from many connections arranged by his predecessor, Jean-Claude Biver, who was often quoted as saying that he wanted to see the brand “everywhere.”
- TAG Heuer would introduce a new website in line with its “strong ambitions around retail and digital.” Those include opening new TAG Heuer boutiques even as the company stops working with some of its third-party retail network (it ended 20 percent of those relationships last year).
- TAG Heuer will make new timepieces available immediately, following the see-now/buy-now concept that fashion brands have embraced in recent years, some with mixed results. For TAG Heuer, Mr. Bianchi said, “It doesn’t make sense to show a watch and then not sell it for six months.”
Hublot:
- Hublot intends to introduce the Big Bang Integral, an evolution of the brand’s most recognizable model, offering a collection of bracelets in titanium, gold and ceramic.
- Mr. Guadalupe said he believed that Hublot could produce as many as 80,000 watches a year during the next decade, but that that would be its limit.
Zenith:
- Zenith had increased its annual production to 23,000 pieces from 21,000
- "A few years ago, no brand wanted to hear about e-commerce, but now look at where we are. The same with customization."
- “Secondhand was ‘the gray market’ and it was dirty and no one wanted to hear about it,” he continued. “Now, we’re all thinking about how we do it and how we get our part of the pie, because it’s big business.”
- a focus on sales to consumers rather than to retailers, who might or might not actually sell the timepieces, had helped stimulate performance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/f...er-zenith.html
