I had the opportunity to attend the Time to Move event in Zurich this March. No, I'm not part of an AD. Just a very lucky watch enthusiast that spends his free time supporting local watch businesses and was lucky to be asked to attend.

During the event I had the opportunity to meet with a group from Omega Watches including the Brand President and Sales team.

I took the opportunity to ask not about leaving Basel (although lets just say I don't think Swatch Group is coming back), but instead about how only ADs are invited to the event...no press. Simply put, Swatch Group wants the ADs to see the new watches before the press and public.

I applaud them for this strategy.

Today's multi-channel selling strategies have ADs competing directly with boutiques, online sales, or even being cut out of the picture all together (AP, Richard Mille). Each of these are needed, but we can’t forget the ADs that provide most of the watch sales.

Next...I want Omega to take this strategy a bit further. Between the Time to Move/AD event and the press release, leave print information with your ADs. Interested buyers would have the opportunity to set-up appointments with their ADs to see the watches and even secure the first available inventory. This would further solidify the watch enthusiast/AD relationship in an authentic way. If Omega needs people to sign non-disclosures, fine. They could still enforce the "no photos" rule, but enthusiasts leave with the knowledge they want and ADs a future sale.

Love to hear your thoughts!

 

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I don't see the point of giving more power to some (often) clueless ADs. The move makes little sense from a customer perspective and in our modern time. At the end the end user has very little from it.
We come to a Rolex and PP scenario, where the relationship between the enthusiast and the AD is only of numerical nature, a pay to win so to speak.