For the watch industry, Jean-Claude Biver sees huge potential in watches that are eternal. Read about his insights and wisdom here. AudemarsPiguet Blancpain luxurywatches
. Joining the Bienne manufacture in 1979, it was thought that he and the other “Young Turks” led by vice president Fritz Ammann would hold the brand steady through the tempest of the Quartz Crisis.
“We didn’t even have watches to show, but the retailers were sold on the dream. That’s when I realised the power of that dream,” recounts Biver. It was disruptive, to say the least, and fearing that other brands would pull this marketing stunt, BaselWorld management made Biver undertake a promise never to repeat this exercise. In true Biver style, he did something else.
“I didn’t have a special watch prepared for James Bond! But I had the quartz Seamaster with a unique helium escape valve. I told the director that he could pretend that this second “crown” had special functions.” It was also revolutionary for an ambassador to give her input into the design process for specific models. In that sense, the authenticity of “her choice” resonated in China. The brand was no longer “Bond’s choice” or “her choice” but “my choice”, so much so that Omega started to take the lion’s share of the luxury watch segment in that market. It is a time that Biver credits for his stratospheric career path.
Second element is respect. I respect brands; I don’t build a new brand. I build the brand upon its DNA, philosophy, and message. You must respect it because the brand will outlive you. You are just a servant of the brand; you cannot put your signature on the brand. This is a big difference with many other CEOs because they are always driven to leave their mark. I even try to disappear.
Same. Not only the referees, the whole concept. When you are the timekeeper of the World Cup, and the referees, players, coaches, and managers are wearing Casios, Seikos, and others, there is a lack of marketing coherence. So, for the World Cup, as long as you were on the field, you had a Hublot because we were the timekeepers. Because we had total coherence, we were strong. If we had only had the sponsorship, then it would have been weak.
Taking the reigns at TAG Heuer, Biver too analysed the brand’s authentic associations with disruptors like Steve McQueen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tiger Woods, and Maria Sharapova. By 2015, he had found the brand’s contemporary celebrity rebel – a brashful, youthful “it girl” named Cara Delevinge. On the product side, Biver re-positioned TAG Heuer away from the heyday of ultra-luxury and re-focused the brand to more affordable price points.
“You cannot also sponsor losers, which is why we rarely sponsor current players. We stick to legends like Pelé and Maradona,” advises Biver. This has led Hublot from a position of an unheard-of niche brand to global top 10 in terms of revenue. However, not everything Biver does is universally celebrated , to wit, @ShameOnWrist.
In all your decades, how much of your career would you say is personal control, and how much of it is fate or destiny?
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