Baume & Mercier Reaches Out to Future CEOs
For the makers of luxury timepieces the coming of the smartwatch has its pros and cons. On one hand, the perceived hipness of the Apple Watch may convince younger consumers to start wearing a watch for the first time in their lives. On the negative side, the wearable devices are likely to siphon sales away from comparably priced traditional watches.
One Swiss luxury brand that is taking steps to attract a younger audience is Baume & Mercier, which announced in April that it would be the “celebratory partner” of the London Business School’s graduating class of 2015. This is an obvious effort to introduce the Baume & Mercier brand to a new generation of movers and shakers in the business world.
The brand’s CEO Alain Zimmerman explained this attempt to lure the millionaires of the future. Baume & Mercier is an initiation brand,” he said. “And we’ve got to reach young clients. Over the past 10 years, we’ve missed being connected to these upcoming clients and needed a place to meet them. The answer is schools.”
Other institutions of learning previously targeted by Baume & Mercier are the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Bologna and the American University in Dubai.
Zimmerman feels that Baume & Mercier is reaching out to the cream of the crop at a crucial point in their lives. “One of the first successes you celebrate in life is graduation. It’s very important for us to communicate with potential customers at the right moment. Graduation is perfect.”
Baume & Mercier is the entry-level brand for the Richemont Group, which also has high-end luxury brands like Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin. Since today’s rising young exec could be tomorrow’s mogul, this move by Baume & Mercier could pay off big in the future.
