Jean Marc Pontroue: Shaping the Panerai ethos
Jean Marc Pontroue Panerai
Jean Marc Pontroué, CEO of Panerai since April 2018, sits down with “Day & Night” magazine to discuss his thoughts on the ethos of Panerai and how he plans to shape the brand to be a survivor…
There were a lot of changes when you took over Roger Dubuis; can we expect something similar now that you have taken over as CEO of Panerai?
There is a lot of difference between the state of the two brands at the time that I took them over. The beauty of Panerai is that it already has a team, a distribution network, a retail department that is strong, and it has iconic products. I had very few of these assets when I started at Roger Dubuis. The major asset at Panerai is the iconic products, so we will not change anything dramatically. We will focus on two ideas: how we can strengthen the principle of Panerai “Laboratorio di Idee”, which stands for brand positioning, brand belief, and brand statement for the past many years. We are focusing our R&D – we have the biggest budget for R&D in the industry – to create new materials, and we will continue that so that we can come up regularly with breakthroughs in the industry of the same magnitude as the Bronzo, Carbotech, and BMG.
Our second area of focus will be the Italian origin and flavour of the brand; we are the only pure watchmakers who are Italian, and we want to make sure that this is well-known. Though this is not as much as a value-add as Swiss watchmaking, which is the origin of high-end watches, yet in terms of creativity, style, and daring approach, we can add a touch of Italian warmth to the brand. The changes will be concentrated in these areas; how we can modify, not change, but just modify a few things.
What do you see as strengths of the brand?
Its iconic products are the real strengths of the brand; you don’t need to put a logo on our products. We are one of the few brands that brought out a watch that does not have our logo – the Radiomir, which is a replica of what the Italian navy was wearing a few decades ago. You know it is a Panerai by the indexes, the shape of the case, and even the strap; sometimes our straps are as iconic as the case itself. Very few brands enjoy that instant recognition.
We are one of the very few brands that can afford to bring innovation – without the logo, even if it is a replica of former models because the strength of the brand stands in its products, and its claim “Laboratorio di Idee”. Many brands would like to have this kind of statement; though it is in Italian, it conveys the story.
What do you see as the weaknesses of the brand?
The weaknesses of the brand are actually associated more with the strengths of other brands. If you are a boxer, when you are alone you believe that you are very good and a superstar in the field. It is only when another boxer is in front of you that your misery starts; you are not alone anymore and it starts to hurt. The story with Panerai is similar; there are very few weaknesses in the brand. Yes, there are questions like should we increase our presence in some countries? Should we target ladies? Should we bring out more affordable models? All of us have questions like this. For instance, we are a very masculine brand and are neglecting a huge section of the luxury market, but it is a question of brand identity, of what the brand stands for – a masculine, bold, daring brand.
The question is how others have evolved; how quicker your direct competitors are, in comparison. You may be very good in your field, but you know how good or not you are, only if you compare yourself with other boxers. You may then say “I am good,” or “I have a lot to improve”.
Panerai, in the past, has been slower than other brands in adapting; will this change in the future?
Agility is part of the Italian mentality; Italians have proved that we have an ability to adapt. Through the centuries, we have found solutions for problems that others have not been able to solve. That is also the spirit we want to have in our brand, how we can honour the principal of entrepreneurship. When you have a brand like Panerai where we have 740 people, it is very important to be an entrepreneur.
We are a big brand and a big group, and we have constraints in many countries, but we also need to be an entrepreneur. You cannot be just the biggest, you have to be the most agile to survive. In a jungle, the biggest animal is not the winner, the most agile – the animal most able to adapt – is the survivor. And this is what I want to be; I don’t want to be the biggest. I want to be the one that surprises customers who feel that they are treated with warmth and empathy, success will follow. I am not obsessed by sales; I want to continue to build the brand with warmth, creativity, agility, and innovation.
What are the changes you are planning for the pillars of the brand?
We will be having four distinct product lines: the first will be Radiomir, dedicated to our historical models, which will only be in steel and gold. Then we have the Luminor, which will be positioned as the heart of the brand – what Panerai stands for. This will be Italian style translated into a watch, with a specific case, easily recognisable. The Duo is the Luminor that will allow us to acquire new customers – the younger generation, more women, and a more diverse population, who like the shape of our case, our style, but do not want to wear a big watch. The last is the Submersible, which will become a dedicated line and will carry all the characteristics of the brand – very masculine, bulky but simple-to-read watch for sports, especially diving as the watches will be water-resistant up to 300 metres. All of our innovations – BMG, Carbotech, and Bronzo have been launched in submersibles and we will continue that. Our Laboratorio di Idee, in particular, will feed the creativity of the Submersible; most of our innovations for SIHH 2019 will be on how to highlight the beauty of the sailing world in which we live.
Why is it that the Lab ID announced at SIHH two years ago is still not delivered?
It was the first project that I started to work on when I joined Panerai; the movement itself is non-lubricated, and we had to overcome the last few hurdles. We now have found the solution and in the next two months, we will supply the first ten pieces to our top customers. We are hoping to deliver the Lab ID before Christmas to first 15 customers who have paid their deposits for the watch two years ago.
