Tik-tok: don’t be behind the times!
This week, I’ve tried to get out of my comfort zone (which consisted, so far, of fashion and wine & spirits brands), and researched about the luxury watches universe. In this sector where the timeless and international brands reign, new connected objects are trying to seduce a clientele used to high-end products.
Apple has tried to introduce its iWatch as a luxury object. Its design and the choice of bracelets could convince customers in search of rarity, aestheticism and modernity. Last year, the brand took advantage of the Parisian Fashion Week to present its collaboration with Hermès, a famous and timeless brand of French-style craftsmanship, inviting guests like Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld.
But a luxury watch is more than an accessory, it is an exceptional jewel. Wearing a luxury watch is like adhering to a brand and its history and values. The brand should convey this message through the social media.
Facing this threat, should luxury watches brands revise their digital strategy?
Rolex is the King of luxury watches. In France, a famous publicist said this sentence one day, that everyone now knows: « If you don’t have a Rolex at 50, you failed your life ».
And it is translated into the numbers that I have analyzed: 93 millions of results appears when you look for « Rolex » on Google, representing 71% of share of voice compared to the two other brands I’ve picked.
Rolex has a total audience of more than 7 million, Facebook being the most followed social network. Instagram is the social platform collecting the most engagement from its followers.
The brand doesn’t have an official Twitter account, but has a Pinterest board, which is not incomprehensible.
Concerning the content, Facebook features products’ focuses and sport events’ sponsoring when Instagram is only focusing on the products. But the posts featuring an égérie are more popular (Roger Federer’s picture was liked by 42K followers on Facebook). The YouTube channel does a poor job: the videos collect few thousands likes and are displaying sport events or interviews. Rolex should make efforts of YouTube content and create a Twitter account.
Jaeger LeCoultre was not easy to analyze. In fact, the brand is not popular when people are searching for luxury watches brands on Google (only 6% of share of voice). But the total number of followers is pretty good (almost 1 million), with Facebook being the leading social network. The content is quite the same on all the social platforms: focus on products, partnerships with events and famous people wearing the brand.
But surprisingly, there is one video on YouTube, a documentary about the brand and its savoir-faire, that collected 2.5 millions of views (paid viewers… ?).
That is why the total engagement of Jaeger LeCoultre is exploding and is twice as much as Rolex.
Breitling is doing well in Google results (23% of share of voice) and has a good followers base, with Facebook leading the way, as usual. But Instagram and even YouTube get more engagement. Their Instagram page is not certified and is named « BreitlingNews », which can lead to confusion when searching for the brand. Improvements could be made regarding this situation.
As the independent brand participated to the development of the aerial conquest through precise instruments, Breitling features a lot of aerial sponsorship, and few products’ focuses on its social media.
The same content is shared on all the social platforms: it could explain the poor engagement that the brand is gathering. If the brand’s followers see the same posts over the different platforms, they will be bored and stop engage with the brand’s universe.
The advice, that could be the same for Jaeger LeCoultre, would be to diversified the content according to the social platforms and conduct surveys to know which type of followers the brand is gathering on each platform.
Now I’m going to try not to mess up my life and acquire a Rolex in the next 27 following years…
This post was created as part of the Global Luxury Management Program at the NC State Poole School of Management. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
