A Swiss-based marketing firm recently surveyed about 1,000 Gen Y and Gen Z about their attitudes toward luxury watches and found that they like them – but is the feeling mutual?
The survey revealed that Gen Y and Gen Z highly covet traditional Swiss watches. In a summary report, it states: “While the Apple Watch, launched in 2014, is now the world’s largest watch brand, the desirability of Swiss luxury replica watches remains sky-high for Millennials/Generation Z.”
The report also concludes that brands have some work to do in reaching them.” The majority of respondents (60%) said they think it is very important/important to own a luxury watch; only one in seven said it is not important,” the report concludes.
One of the more interesting results of the survey, entitled “The Future of Time: Luxury Watches and Generation Y/Z,” saw respondents focusing on the top brands that previous generations had long dreamed of: Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe.
When asked which brands they like on social media, copy Rolex was again mentioned most often (61%), followed by Cartier (25%) and Omega (24%). Other brands lagged far behind them. The survey summary concludes that “brand communication is not [but should be] tailored to Gen Y/Z.”
But does this tell the story? Or does it prove that luxury is an aspiration – a rite of passage into adulthood or a new level of adulthood that reflects not who they are but who they want to be?
TAG Heuer and Hublot have long been courting the youth market, tapping young ambassadors in the arts, sports and culture. Still, they are on this list by Rolex (whose referrals include Sir Jack Stewart, Jack Nicklaus and Placido Domingo) and Cartier (which with Catherine Deneuve), among others.
Together with imitation Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, these two brands beat Hublot and Panerai, whose brand ambassadors are tennis player Borna Coric, 26, and actress Dilraba Dilmurat, 30, respectively.
In fact, in the survey, “only one in seven said brand ambassadors were a reason to buy a watch,” Baumann said. His conclusion? His conclusion: “Almost every other brand [except Rolex and Cartier] would benefit from a better understanding of how to appeal to the new generation.
“The trick, in our opinion, is to be very consistent in brand building and defending your core, but very flexible and fresh in communicating your brand message to the younger generation.”
