Hublot continues to innovate and collaborate in 2016
Driven by the brand philosophy “More horology, more expertise, more innovation, more fusion,” the Hublot Manufacture enters the year 2016 with timepieces that cut the Swiss brand above the rest. In an exclusive interview with its regional marketing head, “Day & Night” gets the exciting details about its new novelties and its continued growth in the Middle East
Hublot captivated the interest of the horology enthusiasts at its ‘After Work’ gathering at Hublot Geneva Days, the brand’s private presentation that took place at the same time as the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2016. During this exclusive watch affair, the renowned Swiss brand unveiled six new models that were crafted through precise engineering, excellent innovation and ceaseless passion to fine watchmaking.
“Day and Night” Magazine was on hand at the Hublot presentation, where Regional Director – Middle East & Africa, Marco Tedeschi, shared interesting insight into the brand’s performance in the Middle East and its latest products.
How has been the performance of the Hublot boutique after a year of its opening at The Dubai Mall?
We had an incredible year at The Dubai Mall since we opened in April 2015. We had record-breaking sales during the first month of launch and it continued until the end of the year where we became the first worldwide in terms of quantities and turnover. In the beginning, we thought that the boutique would drive more tourists than locals and residents, but our sales at The Dubai Mall proved us wrong. I believe that the strength of this particular boutique stems from the huge product range we offer in it. I would always quip that The Dubai Mall boutique displays more Hublot watches than our factory.
Did you expect the winning of the Big Bang Broderie at the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève 2015?
Yes, we had high hopes for the timepiece, and we were glad we won. This watch embodies our motto which is the art of fusion. In itself it is traditional at heart since we worked with very traditional Swiss company that does the art with the world’s most prestigious fashion brands. Yet at the same time, we also employ modern technology to be able to come up with its fine dial, bezel and other materials.
How do you see the growth of the Broderie range after you launched the Big Bang Broderie Sugar Skull this year?
I believe that this will stand as one of our iconic models. It has attracted great interest as a ladies’ watch in spite of being a men’s brand in the beginning. Our sale of the ladies’ watches come up to 35% which is huge especially for a model that does not present jewellery. I can see that the Broderie is the new Tutti Frutti because of the endless possibilities to play with its design and colours.
Do you think time will come when your sale of men’s watches would equal the sale of ladies’ watches?
It will be good to witness the 50-50 mark to happen but I personally don’t think so. For one good reason, I know a lot of women that are wearing and buying men’s watches whether it is Hublot, Rolex or any brand. The trend now shows that women buy the models that are meant for men. At Hublot, we almost say that some models are somehow unisex because there of the large number of women that buy the men’s timepieces.
Why did you choose Daniella Rahme as the face of your first exclusive Middle East campaign?
We started working with the Arab superstar Ragheb Alama who was an amazing addition to our Friends of Hublot because of his huge popularity and his ability to reach different generations. The brand’s friendship with Daniella Rahme began when she was introduced to me during my visit to Ragheb in his ‘The X-Factor’ show, and surprisingly she was wearing a Hublot watch. She was then chosen to front an all-Middle Eastern team for our first regional advertising campaign that paid tribute to all things Middle East. Her celebrity status is perfect for our goal which is to bring Middle Eastern customers to our range of stylish and luxurious feminine watches.
How challenging is it to manage your partnerships and collaborations?
It is true that Hublot, aside from working with our brand ambassadors, has a number of partnerships with various entities. Our association with Ferrari, for instance, gives us the great privilege because the transfer of prestige from such an established luxury brand to a young brand such as ours was quite amazing. Our other main partnership is with football – a revolutionary move that was conceptualised by Jean-Claude Biver, Chairman of Hublot and President of the LVMH Watch Division. He believed that the sports that is loved by the wide population of the masses can also be associated with a luxury brand, and true enough, it had provided us good rewards. Hublot is also collaborating with the arts, music, lifestyle and other sports such as basketball where we worked with the likes of Kobe Bryant. Our latest partnership with another American football team will be announced this 2016.
How does Hublot continue to come up with unique ideas and pursue to innovate?
We invest greatly on our research and development. We have to make our innovations through creating from our own manufacture. Also, I believe that Hublot gets its strength from our leaders who listen to the team. At Hublot, we don’t have a Creative Director that runs the ideas for the brand. Instead, we have a team we call the Product Committee that is comprised of employees from different departments like sales, research, marketing, and this is the team that brings the ideas on the table.
Can you tell us the story behind the newly launched LeFerrari Sapphire?
The story would bring us back to 2008 when Hublot became fascinated in creating a sapphire case. I was then a Product Director, so I was also involved in the research. We gained the knowledge in crafting the sapphire case but we didn’t want to launch a Big Bang in sapphire. We wanted to create something extra exceptional. We set aside the thought of the sapphire case but when we began the project on LeFerrari, we brought back the idea to life. We thought that it would be a shame to hide the movement crafted for LeFerrari, and so the sapphire case was the perfect fit for it. It took us years to finalise the design, but the beauty of the timepiece makes it all worth the wait.
