AP美洲区CEO访谈录

nerazzurri

Francois-Henry Bennahmias, President and CEO of the Americas for Audemars Piguet, sat down at the AP Boutique in New York City. What a charismatic gentleman, charming and passionate. His October schedule was jam-packed, but he kindly changed the date of our interview to accommodate my travel schedule. Thank you, Sir!

Here is the interview:

I understand you have just returned from a big event you sponsored in Los Angeles.
Yes. We were the sponsor for the 25th Anniversary for Cirque de Soleil, which performed beneath a tent on the Santa Monica Pier, which itself was celebrating its 100th Anniversary. We invited some of our clients, and it was the most amazing show I’ve ever seen. Imagine, they are set up to do this in the theater, but under a tent?! You see them flying 60 feet in the air, and suddenly, we all forgot who we are. We were all like this (mouth agape), 8 or 10 years old, like kids. Amazing!

Actually, we were there celebrating with Cirque de Soleil because we are about to sign a worldwide deal to do some things together. I can’t go into details yet, but we are not talking about a special watch. It’s much more, a global relationship.


So, how does the process work for determining how you market?
It starts with the Audemars Piguet client. They come from all over the world. They are 20, and they are 70. They are every nationality, every age, every background. But they all have one thing in common. It is a person who works hard, and who plays hard. It is a person who sees in the brand ambassadors a commonality with the way they live. They don’t need to be Jay-Z, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, because that would be irrelevant. Our clients like to be part of that world because they too are achievers. They buy their watches to wear them, not to put them in a safe, waiting for them to pay off in the years to come. They have worked hard, and so they play hard.

So, returning to your question, we always try to select ambassadors who are leaders in what they do, and they have that strong character. The brand is alive, and they reflect this in everything they do.

So, you’re not advertising to a client that they get to wear an Audemars Piguet when they are good enough, but rather for the person they already are.
Yes, that's it. But frankly, I don’t think we have had the best advertising campaign these past 15 years. Our advertising is not great. On the other hand, this is not what has brought us to where we are today.

It starts with making amazing watches, from the complications through the Royal Oak. And then, it's about relationship. Our clients feel a bond with our ambassadors, and that direct relationship is who we are. They wear the watches and live for today, right now. This is how we connect with the customer. (Pointing to the staff in the Boutique) We are confident in our ability to make this work tomorrow, and we value having a good life today.

Clearly, because everyone is always smiling here. You have been with the company for…
15 years. 10 in the US.

And what is distinct about the nature of marketing in the US?
At first, you think you can apply what works in the European market to the US. Wrong. The US market is as different from Europe as Asia is. Sure, you communicate on a grand scale in the same way, but in the US you have to do bigger things. It’s a big country, and events you might do in Italy or Germany, for example, don’t work the same way here. We have to reach a big country with a big presence.

Consider that in 1999 we did $6 million in revenue in the US. Last year, we did $80 million. And it’s not by selling a lot of watches, only around 3200.

We first brought in Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then, other ambassadors. Now, I must say we are fortunate that we have come to the point where the people we would normally pursue are actually contacting us, asking if they could be an ambassador for AP.

That’s the dream of every company.
Yes.

To shift topics, some Timezone members have asked if there will be a sport watch outside of the Royal Oak line? Did I read correctly, the Royal Oak is 70% of AP’s sales?
About 75% of the sales, yes. But the question is this. Why would we change something that has worked so well for 37 years? Of course, the Survivor, the Barrichello, the Montoya, these are expansions of the Offshore line. And the Offshore will change in the next year so that it looks a bit more “of tomorrow”. The Royal Oak doesn’t change, but we will continue to stretch it with the Offshore. People will be very pleased with what’s coming.

And how about the Limited Edition Offshores. Some complain that there are too many of them.
Yes, to be honest, there are too many versions. But people have to understand that for the past five years, because of the success of the first limited edition, every single retailer has been asking for their own limited edition. Every one! They wanted them, because they know they will sell. We made them freely, and the market responded by buying them. Now, we are pulling back a bit, with some changes.

For example, we had watches dedicated only to the US market, but the next three Limited Editions to come out in this market will have worldwide distribution. There won’t be any more watches only for the US market. And my discussion with Switzerland is that we need to have the same coming from the other markets. Worldwide distribution.

We have to be careful how many versions there are, and how many of each, because the goal is that a limited watch at the very least will hold its value, if not go up.


As many have.
Exactly. Let’s not forget, this has helped us to get to where we are today.

So how do you move forward?
We have used the retailer network well, and will continue to do so. However, we have to make sure these retailers respect the value of the watches, especially those that are hard to get. And most important, they have to respect the end of the line, the customer. They always come first.

This is about production? Service? Both?
Production and service, both are key on the radar. Just like the Limited Edition Offshores, we have to make sure we don’t make too many of the high complications, and to pay close attention to the secondary market. It is with the help of the retailers that we focus on this. We don’t want a $50,000 watch to be worth half a year later. Our goals in this area are very precise. Thankfully, most of the news is good for us. The luxury market in America is down. A lot. Some watch companies are down 30-35%. We will be down maybe 15-18% this year.

So, how do we move forward? The key is to first make sure our customers are happy with the product we make. Then we have to make sure the value of the brand on the re-sale market remains strong. Our goals will not occur overnight, but they are precise, and this focus is currently a worldwide corporate policy for Audemars Piguet.

It pays to act quickly, rather than waiting to respond.
If I had worked for another one of the high end watch companies, I would have been fired. Some companies don’t necessarily like their CEO to be so much on the front line, but on the other hand, we would never have been able to achieve what we have. Fortunately, the management has allowed me a lot of freedom to move, and to move quickly. If we were bound by the structure of some other watch companies, or groups, we would not have seen this growth. I’ve been very lucky to work with Audemars Piguet, and simply put, I will not work for another watch company. If I leave Audemars Piguet, I will leave the watch world.

Really?
Oh, yes.

That seems to be the case with everyone here, that they are not attached to the watch industry, but to Audemars Piguet.
We have 60 people working in US. 17 different nationalities. Not half of the team comes from the watch world. I insisted on this. When I came 10 years ago, we were 8 people in the US, and I did not want to fill up the staff with people who were only going to do things they way they always had. We are very, very lucky to have such a great team.

Tell us about this new boutique. It’s quite an improvement from the previous space.
It was a difficult 14 months of negotiations, but in the end, we have 3 times the space.

It’s beautiful.
The design concept was this: Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet are 25 years old, living in today’s New York. The boutique reflects what their apartment would look like. We wanted it to be more comfortable, especially for women, too, who have an entire section of their own.

What we’re very excited about is a window display that will be released in the next few months. This product has 73 patents on it, and it will...(pauses...blow people’s minds. I mean, compared with a standard showcase for a watch display window, we are talking 22nd century. It will be installed by February or March, 2010, and we have a 2-year exclusive on this display. It’s crazy, it’s sick, it’s game over for a retail display, like nothing you’ve ever seen.

Sounds amazing.
We’re not on 5th Avenue. We’re not on Madison in the 60s. We’re on 57th Street, a destination spot. But I tell you when this display is installed, if they come to New York, they will come to see this. It will turn you into a child, it’s that…WOW!

Any hints?
Think Minority Report, or Disclosure. You know, the film with Michael Douglas? It’s everything we have ever dreamed about. Holographic…futuristic…it’s so exciting!

What else is in the works?
We will soon announce another ambassador. An American, with a worldwide presence. That’s all I can say for now. We are very excited about this person. Also, I hope we will sign a deal with the people who have approached us for another relationship in sailing. It will be beyond anything we’ve done, with the possibility of doing some very fun--and funny--things for the America’s Cup, without actually participating in the America’s Cup. (Motions with his index finger) Dot, dot, dot…(laughs).

Well, that makes for the perfect place to end. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us on Timezone.
My pleasure.

nerazzurri

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nerazzurri

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就不翻译了

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燕幽刀客

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燕幽刀客

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小龙女

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fkltsaelt

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