On January 9, Swiss watchmaker Longines opened their Domingos Flagship Boutique on Rua De S. Domingos in the city centre of Macau, attended by one of their most famous brand ambassadors in Asia, Taiwanese-Canadian actor Eddie Peng. Having famous celebrities as the face of the brand, including Hong Kong singer and actor Aaron Kwok, Taiwanese actress Lin Chi-ling, and mainland Chinese actress Carina Lau, has been a part of Longines’ promotional strategy in the region for a long time, and is certainly a contributor to the success of the brand.
“We have worldwide testimonials, and a global advertising and promotion concept based on ‘Elegance is an Attitude’. We like to use local testimonies,” explains Walter von Känel, CEO of Longines, when we spoke with him just before Christmas at another of the brand’s stores at The Parisian.
The company has been running with their ‘Elegance is an Attitude’ slogan for 20 years now, and celebrity endorsements are just part of a strategy that has led to the brand having over 400 retailers in China, selling around 700,000 watches in the market every year.
“By far, China is the No. 1 market for us,” Mr von Känel notes. “We are very strong in this country, and that makes us strong in surrounding countries, and countries that Chinese tourists travel to.”
The CEO also recognizes that that the brands strength lies in knowing exactly which segment of the market it needs to be competitive in.
“We have to understand that there is segmentation by price. In our price segment, we dominate. We are in a volume business within a certain price segment. This is our territory and we dominate this price segment,” he explains. “We need to distinguish between the barons at the top who sell 20 – 50 thousand pieces a year, and a brand like us that sells two million pieces a year.”
In 2018, the company achieved sales of around US$1.8 billion globally, one of only five Swiss watch businesses to exceed the one billion dollar mark. It accounts for about a third of total Swiss watch exports in its price segment.
“And here in Macau, thanks to our great local team and strong position in China, as well as our consistency in our price and collection, we also dominate in our price segment,” he says.
Longines’ headquarters is based in St. Imier, the small town in the Jura region of Switzerland where it was founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832. Walter von Känel joined the company in 1969 and, at 77 years of age, has been at the helm for over three decades. He first travelled to China in 1971.
“Sometimes my critics have accused me of being too focused on the Chinese market, but that’s why we are number one in this region,” he boasts. “We listen to our Chinese partners, and our customers appreciate the quality of the local staff and our pricing. We rely on our local teams, we listen to them carefully because they understand local preferences.”
In terms of what is popular in the Chinese market, von Känel notes that mechanical watches account for 90 percent of sales, and watches sold as male/female pairs represent around 60 percent.
“Many people like to buy as a couple,” he observes. “We sell around 50/50 to men and women customers. For every model, we have two ladies’ sizes and three men’s sizes.”
In line with its ‘Elegance is an Attitude’ image, the brand has been the title sponsor for the Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters competition for the past decade. Last year it was staged at the National Stadium (“Bird’s Nest”) in October, featuring 303 national and international riders, competing for a total prize of over two million RMB.
And in late 2017, the brand launched its first e-commerce platform with Chinese giant T-Mall, offering detailed product information and selling a complete range of available collections.
“I’ve been in this business for 50 years. It’s a fantastic job,” reflects von Känel. “But the most important thing is that you cannot be a leader alone, you need a team!”
