I was enthralled. I love when Georges tells "stories." I know I quibble about the celebrity thing (but trust me, I enjoy it whenever I have the opportunity to be present, albeit, I'm a gawker!), however, the man knows how to sell luxury. He may not be the creative genius pulling the strings behind the curtain, but in front of an audience, he is compelling. Shoot, I'm ready to pull the strings on a new 8-day Portofino (on mesh) and maybe pop for a few nights at the Splendido!
Thank you for pointing out that presentation. Besides the "Portofino story" (which has partially worked on me as well when buying mine :o) you can get from those minutes quite a few very interesting numbers and facts which are not commonly known or being realized by the people. Mr. Kern might not be o good presenter himself but the more is the end effect valued.
Wow...I am speechless from all the positive feedback.
To be honest I was concerned that I might have offended the moderators in this forum because 1) The video was from another source and 2) Being accused of trolling.
I am touched by the warm comments from this presentation and I am glad that I had a chance to share this with you. If I happen to find other videos on IWC I'll be more than happy to post it.
It's an interesting presentation and it provocative because it relays marketing concepts not always universally shared nor adopted by the fine watch industry.
There's no problem sharing videos assuming they're not commercial nor are copyrights violated, which generally doesn't happen with you-tube posted material. However, many have been shown here before and you might want to check the archives here first to avoid duplication.
Well, what can I say? IWC has changed and continues to change. Change is inevitable and desirable, for the most part. Call me a dinosaur, but I do not much like this particular change. I liked it better when IWC sold watches Probus Scafusia, not illusions or dreams. I can make my own illusions and dreams, without having to overpay for them.
My dear friend Antonio, I know how you feel it is like hearing your favorite team's players saying they don't care about you, the fan, but they are winning the championship, you don't like their gameplay on the pitch and what they say but they win. I am a stand coach myself too you know. I have my opinions about certain matters involving IWC's gameplay although I am still keeping the faith I would love to turn things differently if only I could. But you know what they say for a top winning (selling) team, you simply don't change it.
PS My best wishes for Portugal on the Euro starting tmr.
Drear Argy, I will follow on your sports metaphor. IMHO creating a quality brand and maintaining its image is not the 100 meter dash - it is a marathon, all 42.195 kms of it. It is not good strategy to be ahead at kilometer 10, and out of breath by kilometer 20. Looking forward to the game tomorrow - probably the only chance Portugal will have to beat Germany at anything, :)
Greg you brought up an important question, however the best way to get an answer is to google "Richemont Group.com" for a complete analysis under the Press Centre listing.
"When I look at company IWC, we have 1,000 employees, there are probably two to three really creative people...." OMG, did he really say this ? What about all the engineers and people working in R&D ? Very informative but very poorly delivered presentation.
About the percentage really creative people: this may be in line with every organisation, and it depends where you lay the border line too. There are not many Kurt Klaus like people, like there are not many Mozart like composers.
As for the presentation, I beg to differ, there were far worse presentations by CEO's, certainly in a not native tongue. The enthousiasm of Mr. Kern is there, and he certainly knows what he is talking about. I heard him several times and enjoyed all what he said because of the mentioned reasons. I prefer that when compared to some humbug talk by a professional, slick presenter.
It is interesting to read all the comments concerning Kern's approach. So, maybe he is a little over the top in terms of celebrity involvement. But it's hard to argue with the results. Considering the luxury market in today's environment what would you do differently to produce better results? And by better I mean more profit.
and Market Share growth in a tough environment with very strong high end luxury watch competitors. You can achieve profit increases by draconian cost cutting, but gaining market share indicates a lot of things are going right...product design, quality products, smart pricing strategy, meaningful marketing execution, and a targeted retail sales strategies.
I have no pretense of telling Herr Kern how to run IWC. My concern is the long term sustainability of this change of image/strategy, from Probus Scafusia, to illusions and dreams. I believe IWC's image, or at least the image I had of IWC, is being eroded. Quality craftsmanship and discreet elegance will always sell. The problem with being in-fashion and in the limelight, is that sooner or later one will be out-of-fashion and forgotten.
From Probus Scafusia to illusions and dreams: there is still Probus Scafusia, and I would not know why these two should exclude each other. As far as I am concerned, these two complement each other. Your image of IWC may be eroding, I don't quite know why, the image of IWC in the world may not, as long as IWC makes quality watches: I think they do, do you think they don't?
Quality craftmanship and discreet elegance don't always sell, at least not enough. Take a look at Universal Geneve: these watches look like 30 or more years ago, are or were good, are elegant and descreet, and the brand is about dead. So, maybe IWC is only losing a few customers, maybe IWC is losing you, when new watches come into play?
A brand becoming out of fashion and forgotten: that is what happened to Universal Geneve. Their products became out of fashion and forgotten. That is why IWC renews its products every few years. Again, they may lose you, but as long as the new Pilot's watches, and their successors in the coming years, fly out of the shops, because the products are good, and apparently are part of a dream, I put my bet on the statement that your assumptions are quite wrong.
You are obviously in the universe of potential customers IWC is targeting. Lucky you. My participation in this thread ends here, lest it is viewed as a crusade.
