So far away, so good!

In the market

Timm Delfs - With the Basel and Geneva watch fairs just around the corner, more and more watch brands are inviting journalists, and often retailers, to exotic destinations in order to familiarize them with their latest product lines before they go officially on display.

With the Basel and Geneva watch fairs just around the corner, more and more watch brands are inviting journalists, and often retailers, to exotic destinations in order to familiarize them with their latest product lines before they go officially on display.

Timm Delfs

Every year, just a few weeks after Christmas, watch journalists all over the world receive invitations from almost all the major watch brands. More often than not, they are invited to exotic destinations such as India, the Arab Emirates, Egypt, Lapland, even Iceland. Here, they are treated to the best hotels and entertained with elaborate programmes. Most importantly though, this international mix of writers is then introduced to the new products that will only be unveiled to the public at the watch fairs.

The brands that do this have realised that magazines have long production times: if they want to feature in the issues that coincide with the opening of the fairs then they need to plan ahead and present their products well in advance. First of all, the watches they want to show must be ready and functioning. If this isn’t possible, as happens often enough, they have to be able to show plausible-looking mock-ups, realistic renderings and 3D-animations.

A way to treat friends

For the journalists, while these invitations are a nice diversion from everyday office life, they mean sacrificing valuable working-time to be informed about just one brand at a time. Accepting an invitation also creates expectations on the host’s part, something of which most journalists are aware. "I only accept an invitation if I’m sure I can publish something about it, especially if the host has spared no expense in making it happen," said Michel Jeannot, who runs his own independent press agency BIPH near Neuchâtel, during a trip to Dubai organised by Zenith. Peter Braun, editor-in-chief of German magazine Armbanduhren, adds, "Usually you can forecast the importance of a trip by the brand organizing it and the programme they’re offering. Sometimes though they’re just taking up your precious time, luring you with fabulous promises." What kind of promises? "Recently, a well-known jewellery firm invited me to Paris on the pretext of seeing its Manufacture calibre, but when I got there it turned out to be nothing more than a modified movement by another brand. I was so furious at having been cheated out of an entire day, I decided not to write about it."

For the brand, organising a press trip means putting money, time and energy into something that is not productive in the common sense of the word. This is especially true just before the fairs, when a brand has to be sure it can afford to divert human resources from production and organisational tasks. It’s quite a luxury to invest time and money to plan and carry through an event that lasts several days and involves several hundred people flown in from the four corners of the world. All at the host’s expense of course. However, Thierry Nataf, CEO of Zenith, emphasises that, "this is an excellent way to treat my friends, because that’s how I see most of the journalists I invite. And I can increase the usefulness of the event by inviting my best retailers too. You have to remember that Baselworld leaves too little time to explain each individual product."

Not an obligation for all brands

Only a handful of brands wait until Baselworld or the SIHH to unveil their new models. Some because their budget doesn’t allow them to do otherwise, others simply because their position is so strong that giving in to curiosity prematurely would be a betrayal of their own values. Rolex and Patek Philippe steadfastly keep up their legendary discretion. "Let me turn your question round: how come the others can’t wait for Baselworld any more? What use are the fairs if everyone reveals their secrets beforehand?" answers Dominique Tadion, head of press relations at Rolex, in answer to our question, why doesn’t the giant follow the other brands’ example?

So, is inviting the press to these events a form of bribery? Any journalist who accepts an invitation to, say, Phuket will feel a certain responsibility towards their host. However, any expectations on the host’s part are never openly stated. The only thing that can happen to a journalist who is repeatedly invited but never bothers to talk about their "benefactor" is that sooner or later they won’t be invited any more. ■

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