Too many events?
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Franco Cologni
President of the FHH Cultural Council
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Watches are born in Switzerland. They are designed, assembled and produced in these valleys, which are home to the manufactures that take pride – and rightly so – in their workshops, museums and buildings, which often have historic significance or are the work of eminent contemporary architects.
These are the brass tacks which many specialist journalists know and portray in colourful, appreciative or simply factual articles. But there are numerous others writing about watches who, more and more often, accept brands’ invitations to view their new models in some corner of the world. Near or far, these trips are now being organised with astonishing frequency. One wonders when the said journalists find time to research and write their articles… in a word, to do the job we imagine their editors expect of them.
While we can but admire the energy that goes into organising these events, because it helps drive the economy and gives an important and contemporary image of watchmaking, perhaps the time has come to reconsider. I’m confident specialist journalists won’t hold it against me were I to wish for slightly fewer of these hyper-galactic trips.
No one would deny that hosting these events in emerging markets helps win customers to the brand, satisfies the urge for new products, and feeds brand strategy. But consider this: might potential new customers and local journalists be even happier to travel to Switzerland once in a while to admire a watch at home, as it were, rather than see hundreds of people descend on their country for one single event?
Could it be that virtue, as always, lies in striking the right balance.
