The ultimate balancing act

The quest of making a watch brand successful isn’t an easy one. Especially because of the ecenomic recession, it might seem difficult. There is however another (surprising) reason why it’s so difficult to keep a watch brand successful.

Over at The Watch Lounge, guest author Olivier Muller, wrote three four (edited by Mono) excellent stories about the difficulty of choosing between innovation and tradition. The ultimate balancing act… In part 1 Olivier describes the dillema many watch brands are confronted with. Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot, also gives his vision on how to build a successful brand. Something he has much experience with, after a successful career with Omega, Blancpain and now Hublot.

In the part two of the three part story, the recent developments at Mont Blanc show another solution of dealing with this ultimate balancing act. Alexander Schmiedt, business development manager for Villeret 1858, Mont Blanc’s own development department, is interviewed.

The third part is about an entirely different, yet very successful, way of dealing with these modern quests. Romain Jérôme speaks about his own watch brand. In the last part Arnaud Vidal, General Manager of Audemars Piguet in France, speaks about the relation between limited editions and the normal collection.

It’s a great read, so take a look at Olivier’s story about the ‘unexpected’ difficulties watch brands are faced with.