Reply With QuoteYou are on the wrong forum for that question.
not. one. person. here. buys. a. watch. for. the. brand.
we are all rugged individualists who follow our own minds and buy the very best we can because of their inherent merits.
I realise that marketing is now a significant part of selling a watch. Just look at Georges Kern and his selling dreams speech.
So what is your take on different watch brands and their association? Innovative, boring, traditional, military or wow! I know we all have different views and please don't make this thread into a brawl or brand bashing. I just like your views on different manufacturers and what they may stand for.
You are on the wrong forum for that question.
not. one. person. here. buys. a. watch. for. the. brand.
we are all rugged individualists who follow our own minds and buy the very best we can because of their inherent merits.
What they stand for is mostly marketing, I don't care about that, but then again, I'm a WIS.
Buy what you like without falling for the "what they stand for" bit, because most stand for making money.
But, this has been done to death, so not much point in elaborating on it again I guess.
Daddel.
Last edited by Daddelvirks; 23rd June 2015 at 10:39.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
This ^^Originally Posted by Daddelvirks
Watch companies as businesses produce watches and sell them to make as much money as they can for their shareholders (which seems to really upset some people). Some companies are more successful than others, the more successful they are, seemingly the more detractors they have; are they jealous, do they simply hate for hate's sake, are they desperately trying to seem different or edgy, who knows.
When non-owners say negative things about that brand, the owners then jump in, as you'd expect, to justify their choices. And the thread collapses.
One stuck in my mind when a new chap posted this thread a while back: "Omega - I like James Bond and Space."
Always makes me smile for some reason :)
Last edited by DB9yeti; 23rd June 2015 at 10:41.
I'm new to this forum.....what does WIS stand for?
Watch Idiot Savant
Lol really?
My preferred meaning is: "Watch Industry Sucker"
No joke!
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
I do, at least partly.
/shrugs
Lol yes.
Lol are we prefixing remarks with 'Lol' now?
You really feel it necessary to pull me up on any of my posts which you feel don't pass your threshold for minimum chavyness?
Put a sock in it LOL.
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Haha lol´d.
Reminded me of an overheard definition of PADI,( the Scuba course people): Put Another Dollar In:-)
Incidentally, my take can be found here:
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ghlight=Magpie
Even though the importance and effectiveness of high profile branding within the industry is undeniable and I don't claim immunity, my aversion to paying for it has long influenced my taste in watches. I understand how it can help to sell a watch, but its transience seems at odds with the long term pleasures associated with watch wearing.
OK so it can be a bit of fun, but when it becomes a preoccupation (as it does), its a joyless and stifling topic on a forum intended for watch enthusiasts. Even if you choose to embrace it for yourself, why would the opinions of others hold any value?
I worked in the automotive manufacturing industry for 40 years. In my earlier days we referred to 'make' or 'marque' and product development was engineering-led. Latterly, 'brand' came into play and with that concepts like 'brand values' which in reality are pretty meaningless outside the 'world' of the PowerPoint presentation. Product specification became more and more the result of influence from the marketing department, often resulting in the incorporation of features of dubious customer-appeal but which could create engineering compromises and problems. Because build quality/reliability has been improved so much over the years, one could be tempted to think that today's cars are better: however, because of this marketing emphasis many lack the character/charisma of those of the marque era. I do hope the same trend does not afflict the watch industry.
Lol yes
Superb post, but I fear it has already happened. "You never own a watch blah blah.,,", and yeah I do own a PP.
martyn
There was a great summary some time ago. The only one I remember was Tag: "we used to be about cars but now we don't know anymore". If anyone can find that list again....
I love brands and branding. Marketing and public relations too. I spend considerable time and effort researching what I want to buy to ensure I am completely ignoring every penny spent on it.
Gray
I've never seen an advert in the press for - or a PR event about - Sinn nor outside of Switzerland, Glycine. I have for Longines, but they're only really pumped in China and I've not been there
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
I love seeing watch ads in glossy magazines but it doesn't influence my decision to buy or not buy a watch or a brand.
After several years in the hobby, I would like to think that I am at a point where I know what I like and am not much influenced by branding/marketing or even what fellow enthusiasts have to say.
Inspite if what people who claim to be in the know have to say,I do think it works for the brands.
TBH, when someone says I Used to be in the field and know...., I usually take it with a big pinch of salt.
LIS or LI;)
Laughing Inside - same as lol, but probably more true when sniggering over the keyboard
Maybe LOTI laughing on the inside would work
Can we have more chavvy posts please?
Last edited by Omegamanic; 23rd June 2015 at 20:56.
It's just a matter of time...
Archie Luxury's series 'what does your watch say about you' covers the brand positioning brilliantly.
I like to think I'm immune to brand and marketing too, so I can be as individualistic as all the other guys who say the same, but...
A watch brand has switched me off its products through terrible marketing (that's you Christopher Ward...), so I suppose the same could be true in reverse?
My watch collection currently consists of two Omega, two Breitling and two Tudor watches, so maybe I have succumbed?
I enjoyed the post above about car manufacturing once being engineering led, and is now heavily influenced by marketing and brand and compromised because of it. However, for that to hold true, all cars made in the last few years would have to be worse than those built 25 years ago, and we know that ain't so.
Marketing and branding are ok, as long as the product it's pushing is good too. Then I don't really care...
I'm probably influenced by marketing but don't see much of it; don't have a TV, don't follow sport, don't read newspapers or magazines.
I am forced therefore to see something I like in a window, be told about it by an enthusiast or read about it on here. I then start reading everything I can find on the net and at that point, I fall in love and have to have it or I don't.
The only, shall we say, 'marketing lead' pieces in my collection are the Rolex Explorer and the Kobold Polar Surveyour, both of which romanticise the explorer spirit which I perhaps used to have when I worked and travelled abroad. Everything else I think I have just stumbled across.
Steinhart is wow. Whenever I see a Steinhart I think WOW - you actually bought that ?? dimwit, wannabe, moron.
I worked for decades in marketing in the premium consumer goods/audio industries and I always believed that good marketing was good story-telling. If you were lucky, you'd be working for a company that had good product and good stories to tell and your job was simply to present these to customers. The key words here (to me) are 'credibility, 'authenticity' and 'expertise'. If you weren't lucky, you'd find yourself working for a company making average product and you therefore had to invent a load of old bollocks in the hope that customers would swallow it and find the product attractive. Bose springs immediately to mind, here. You can't gold plate a turd but you can roll it in glitter.
SGR
Really? Most people on the forum appear to think them v. good VFM, even if they are very much homages to other brands.
I used to like it when people equated watches to cars like:
Rolex - BMW
Omega - Audi etc etc.
We don't see enough of that nowadays do we?
Cheers,
Neil.
What do we all wear/drive?
I have a c class and have just bought a navitimer
Nowadays it's all about brand image and marketing; the hype has become far greater than the reality. Truth is that most mechanical watches at a given price point are pretty much on par with each other and the same goes for the build quality and finish. The only thing left to really differentiate the watches is the brand image/heritage thing. Much as I decry marketing, and the role it plays in modern life, like insects in summer it cannot be ignored.
The mechanical watch is an anachronism which, by rights should've ceased to exist 30 years ago. Given the technical integrity required to produce even a half-decent one it's ironic that the success or failure of a given model depends purely on the marketing/brand perception thing.
I`ve given up even trying to make the brand/association connection.
Paul
On a watch forum, you've got to realise that most own more than one watch and often more than one car...
Most of my watches are vintage, I buy them because I like them. I might have to sell all my Heuers though if TAG keep trying to devalue the brand with rot like this:
P.S. lol
Very good
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Tag Heuer Monaco
40 years of Legend
Ruined in 2:13 minutes
That advert is awful, not the worst watch ad I've seen, some of the Omega ones are truly cringe worthy, but still awful
And
Just before anyone thinks I'm just brand bashing.................... well I am!!
However I've owned a Monaco, great watch and currently have a POTi also good, but branding with associated marketing these days is just rubbish, has the BS industry run out of ideas? And how come no one in these big global corps just stand up to the AD men and say "that's rubbish"
I used to like it when people equated watches to cars like:
Rolex - BMW
Omega - Audi etc etc.
We don't see enough of that nowadays do we?It was meant to be sarcastic, hence the emoticon.
We had a lot of those sort of gormless threads a while back but thankfully they seem to have disappeared.
Cheers,
Neil.
I wear a 9.99 Casio, I have a Bentley but I'm chauffeured between the hotel and my yacht.
R. Abramovich
I wear my JLC on my left wrist and my Piquet on my right
I started a similar topic a while back not realising what a touchy subject this is for some. I used some jokey analogies that got a few people going.
The reality is a fair chunk of the cash you pay for your luxury watch ends up paying for sponsorship deals, ads and other marketing ...
... and those activities result in people buying the products. That is a fact that many don't like. Even more don't like the thought that those marketing activities have influenced their choices; because they are WISs ...
The reality is very few are impervious to the power of the brand message; those who protest most are probably those who are most influenced at a subconscious level ...
marketing effects everyone, simple as that, whether positively or negatively that depends on the person and the campaign. The root being it makes you aware of the brand, either way it still has an effect.
Anyone in the western/ consumerist world says otherwise, they are either lying or in denial
One can only shake one's head and move on in face of such 'absolute' statements.
Makreting is not just mean to influence. The primary goal of marketing is enhancing visibility of the product and here is works well inspite of all the statements to the otherwise by the marketing types.
Doubt if many would buy or not buy Navitimer because Travolta endorses it or Rolex because of Federer or RM because of Nadal.
But, they do get noticed due to their brand ambassadors.
Err what I said,
Rather than your edit, so no head shaking needed
Lol, ok!
May I be permitted to ask why you think that?
Tag goes with expensive training shoes cheaply made in Taiwan
its the Rolex you can't afford but want
Omega always remind me of Roger Moore when he was getting on in James Bond especially the 80's blingy ones
Gotta say I agree!
At work every day, sitting on a vast floor surrounded by a sea of of Rolex sub wearers and massive screens showing CNBC (which seems to have at least 10 minutes per hour of beautifully shot Rolex BLNR advertisements) I honestly do often find myself thinking 'Why am I wearing a Bell&Ross again?' :-)
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