Greed is Good
Back in the 1980’s when I was a spotty teenager, the world was ours. Yuppie culture, bright red Porsches and Rolex watches. Gordon Gekko summed it up nicely, ‘greed is good’. As teenagers we thought he knew everything, and all that mattered was girls and cars. Sadly not much doing on the girl front, and I maybe should have put a bit more effort into my A Levels. But hey, I had my Sekonda that looked a bit like a bi-metal Datejust, so who cares.
Me and my mates would take to cruising the promenades of Torquay and Paignton, making a nuisance of ourselves in my friends trusty old Vauxhall Viva. This car, no stranger to rust, had a whipy radio aerial, fur lined door trims and Jenson Interceptor alloy wheels. Best of all it had a banging stereo blasting out the best ZTT had to offer in the form of Propaganda and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Loyalty back then was all about the Griffin badged rust buckets of Luton and Ellesmere Port. We loved Vauxhall’s. Don’t know why, we just did, so bought into the brand with my very own bright orange Opel Ascona and later black Opel Manta. Would never go near a Ford at the time, in fact it took nearly 20 years despite Ford being the better car and more successful in motor sport. I was hard wired against them.
Roll on 30 years, we’re now on our 5th Ford Fiesta, and loyalty to the Vauxhall/Opel brand long since rusted away like my old Manta.
So what’s all this got to do with watches? Well, just like we all have preferences for particular car brands dish soap or mobile phone manufacturers, these biases that we develop inhibit our choice by clouding our judgement with irrational feelings towards particular things or the competition. So maybe we’re missing out.
Watch Snobs
When it came to buying my first watch, that Sekonda was cheap and looked like a Rolex. I didn’t have to worry about which other cheapo brand would provide this fix as I wasn’t buying into the brand, just the look.
Roll forward 10 years and I’m buying my first luxury watch. But which brand to go for? I’ve got just under £1,000 to spend, which in 2001 was a reasonable sum. Not wishing to admit to being brainwashed by product placement and marketing, but it’s no coincidence that my first port of call was Omega. We were coming to the end of the Brosnan era James Bond, and although I can’t pinpoint the seed being sown, years of watching Bond swagger about with a Seamaster hanging off the wrist clearly left an impression.
Omega it was then, and 18 glorious years of service followed before my next purchase. It was no surprise when watch number 2 and 3 both came from the Omega stable, not a blink or hesitation. No Rolex? These were available at the time, just. I’d read and admired Rolex from afar, but had no connection with the brand, and didn’t see l myself as a Rolex wearer. These were for the Yuppies and scrap metal merchants of the world. A bit showy in my view. Bonds Submariner a distant memory.
This was Vauxhall vs Ford all over again. No real reason for being loyal to the brand you have, and no compelling (reasoned) reason not to try something else. It was all in my head.
Limiting Choice
But hang on. We’re talking here as though there are only 2 watch brands worthy of consideration. What about other brands like IWC, Zenith or Panerai? Well, I’ll put that down to basic brand awareness.
I watched Formula 1 for donkey’s years, so was aware of the brands associated, or at least the company names, especially TAG Heuer and Rolex. But the other brands were just logos stuck to the drivers overalls and weren’t visible to me, a non watch guy, as watch brands. Fast froward to the last few years where I have developed my knowledge of all things wrist watches and I can spot a logo or a flash of steel on someone’s wrist and instinctively know what it is.
So what’s the message? Well, I guess what I’m deducing here is that most casual consumers are susceptible to marketing and peer pressure. This is no bad thing and it shows the marketing men and women are doing their jobs right. We like to align ourselves to success and being cool, and those brands associated are always top of the list. Brands that we see every day in shop windows will also stick in our minds.
Consumer Logic
Brands that don’t try quite as hard or are less visible on the high street will struggle to find customers. Lovers of those brands don’t mind so much as it means they can slip under the radar and enjoy their purchase. They have usually researched or are an active enthusiast so are aware of more brands and how good they are, sometimes more so than the obvious.
This is evident with brands that don’t retain value. Could be phones, cars or watches. They don’t retain value because because demand falls in the popular camp. We want what everyone else does.
Rise of Social Media
I think people are generally more savvy these days, where the internet and social media enables consumers and brands to connect giving more visibility than the average high street has to offer.
None more so than IWC. A brand that enthusiasts have loved for years has spend millions on marketing with their F1 sponsorship and their recent push of the 2021 models. Their pop up container roadshow is inspired and enables customers and those new to the brand to see and try on all the new models. Not something that can be done with the popular brands. Rolex aside, you try finding a boutique that has all the latest Omega’s.
Buy What you Like
There’s never been a better time to quickly look up a product or service. Check it’s value for money and the best way to buy it. With watches, these are still items of jewellery and therefore need to look good on you and you need to feel good about wearing it. So do the research, but more importantly try them on. But also try on other watches from other brands. You never know, you may find you love Fords after all.
