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Tag: Roger Dubuis

  • Richemont Group sales soars after YNAP acquisitions

    Richemont Group sales soars after YNAP acquisitions

    Richemont Group sales soared 24 per cent in December quarter, to €3.915 billion. It was largely down to the inclusion of online acquisitions Yoox-Net-A-Porter (YNAP) and Watchfinder, which were consolidated into the group’s accounts on May 1 and June 1, respectively. But even excluding that, the sales growth was still strong at 5 per cent by constant exchange rates.

    By region, European sales accelerated at twice the rate of Asia, up 35 per cent at constant exchange rates, with Asia Pacific – still the company’s largest single geographic market – up by 17 per cent.

    Sales in Europe reached €1.147 billion in the quarter, and in Asia €1.389 billion. Sales in the Americas surged 41 per cent to €801 million and in Japan by 14 per cent to €344 million.

    The only market where Richemont failed to perform was the Middle East and Africa, where sales slipped 3 per cent to €234 million.

    The company’s largest category, jewellery maisons, recorded 8 per cent growth to €1.985 billion, while Richemont said YNAP posted double-digit growth across all regions and solid performances across all its categories. Watchfinder’s sales expanded “more moderately”.

    Excluding the new online business unit, Richemont Group sales grew in all regions, with the exception of the Middle East and Europe. During the latter part of the quarter, sales in Europe were affected by social unrest in France which impacted tourism and led to store closures for six consecutive Saturdays. The disposal of Lancel in June also impacted the year-on-year comparison.

    A 10 per cent increase in sales in Asia Pacific reflected double-digit sales growth in Mainland China and good increases in other main markets. Sales growth in Hong Kong slowed, primarily due to the strength of the Hong Kong dollar versus the renminbi that resulted in lower tourist spending.

    In Japan, a 7 per cent expansion in sales was fuelled by continued domestic and tourist spending as well as the impact of newly opened directly operated boutiques.

    Sales in the Americas rose by 9 per cent, primarily driven by the jewellery maisons.

    Of Richemont’s many brands, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels led the way, increasing sales by 8 per cent, driven by jewellery and watches.

    Richemont operates in four business areas: jewellery maisons, being Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels; specialist watchmakers, being A. Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin; online distributors, being YNAP and Watchfinder; and other businesses, including Alfred Dunhill, Azzedine Alaïa, Chloe, Montblanc and Peter Millar.

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  • Roger Dubuis appointed new CEO

    Roger Dubuis appointed new CEO

    Effective December 1, Nicola Andreatta will be the new Chief Executive Officer of Manufacture Roger Dubuis. Nicola comes with 20 years of experience in the management of luxury and watch industries. In 2013, Nicola was appointed Vice President and General Manager of the Swiss entities of Tiffany & Co.

    Prior to that, Nicola founded N.O.A. Watch Company in Ticino, Switzerland, which he developed during more than 10 years. And before founding his own company as an entrepreneur, Nicola held various roles in Asia in the watch and luxury industries, as Managing Director, COO and CFO, with the companies, AC Services Ltd, Harwood Investments Ltd and Art Concord Ltd, where he has started his career in 1998.

  • Yoox Net-A-Porter acquisition boosts Richemont sales

    Yoox Net-A-Porter acquisition boosts Richemont sales

    Richemont sales in Asia Pacific surged 20 per cent in the first half of this year with the region the group’s single-largest market, accounting for 37 per cent of total sales.

    The increase was fuelled by the inclusion of the Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) business into the Swiss-headquartered multibrand luxury retailers figures for the first time. Excluding YNAP and Uk online retailer Watchfinder, sales rose 14 per cent, driven by a net 20 new store openings and “high single-digit growth” in Mainland China and double-digit growth in Hong Kong, Macau and Korea.

    “Both the retail and wholesale channels saw double-digit growth, with strong performances in jewellery and watch sales,” the company said in a statement.

    In Japan, a 14 per cent growth in sales was driven by higher domestic and tourist spending, which benefited from a comparatively weaker yen. Excluding online distributors, sales in the region increased by 8 per cent, led by a double-digit growth in watch sales and the net opening of five directly operated boutiques. Japan represents 8 per cent of overall sales.

    Group-wide global sales rose by 21 per cent at actual exchange rates to €6.808 billion and by 24 per cent at constant exchange rates. Online retail sales, now reported separately following the e-commerce acquisitions, amounted to 14 per cent of group sales.

    Excluding YNAP and Watchfinder, sales rose by 6 per cent at actual exchange rates and by 8 per cent at constant exchange rates.

    Operating profit of €1.130 billion was down €36 million due to acquisition and disposal-related charges of €159 million, the company said. Excluding the impact of first-time consolidation of YNAP and Watchfinder, operating margin improved to 21.1 per cent. Profit for the period rose to €2.253 million primarily due to a post-tax non-cash gain of €1.378 billion on the revaluation of YNAP shares held prior to buy-out.

    Chairman Johann Rupert said offline Richemont sales growth was primarily driven by strong performance of the jewellery maisons and double-digit increases in the maisons’ directly operated boutiques and online stores.

    “Robust retail sales in jewellery and watches more than offset a 2 per cent decline in wholesale sales, which was mainly due to the specialist watchmakers’ ongoing prudent inventory management and upgrade of the wholesale distribution network,” said Rupert.

    “In our jewellery maisons, watch sales grew strongly in Cartier’s stores, benefiting from the successful Panthere and relaunched Santos collections. Jewellery pieces continued to outperform, notably with the iconic Cartier Love and Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra collections.”

    He said while growth was muted for specialist watchmakers, retail was strong and there was good momentum at Vacheron Constantin, Roger Dubuis and JaegerLeCoultre.

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  • Richemont Asia stores set for cull

    Richemont Asia stores set for cull

    Feeling the pinch from a tough trading environment, luxury goods retailer Richemont has announced restructuring measures, including the closure of stores.

    Richemont Asia sales have declined despite a 26 per cent increase in sales in Mainland China.

    Global sales fell 18 per cent in April, and the company reported a 23 per cent drop in full-year profit.

    Richemont says it is cutting costs in its watch sector and plans to consolidate its global retail presence, particularly in Mainland China, while investing further in jewellery.

    Richemont owns brands including Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Chloe, Dunhill, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lancel, Montblanc, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Shanghai Tang, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels.

    “In the near term, we are doubtful that any meaningful improvement in the trading environment is to be expected,” said chairman Johann Rupert, revealing plans for Richemont store closures across its brands.

    Richemont’s operating profit in the year ended March was $2.06 billion, down from $2.67 billion because of the cost of restructuring measures initiated to counter the Asia Pacific downturn. Full-year revenue edged up 6 per cent to $11.08 billion, helped by favourable exchange rates.

    “Our concerns over geopolitical risks and the impact on the behaviour of our clients proved justified,” said the company.

    “Trading conditions in Hong Kong and Macau remained difficult. Only mainland China showed good growth.”

    Richemont’s final quarter was hit by slower tourist spending in Europe after terrorist attacks, while its Hong Kong business continued to bear the brunt of a strong currency which, combined with a slowdown in Chinese growth, deterred mainland tourists.

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  • TimeVallee Watch Boutique goes duty free

    TimeVallee Watch Boutique goes duty free

    In a first for the market, a TimeVallee Watch Boutique has opened inside Japan Duty Free Ginza on the eighth floor of Mitsukoshi Ginza Store in Tokyo.

    It is based on the concept of offering multiple international luxury-watch brands, and is the first such boutique within a Japanese duty-free shop.
    With its gold-toned interior, the store features a hands-on area where the latest technology enables shoppers to learn more about the history, traditions and technologies of the brands on display.

    TimeVallee1

    Japan Duty Free Ginza opened in January as Japan’s first airport-style duty-free shop in a city center outside Okinawa. It offers all products exempt from consumption tax, customs duties, and alcohol and tobacco duties.

    TimeVallee Watch Boutique features seven brands – Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-Lecoultre, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin and Zenith.
    Japan Duty Free Ginza is run by Japan Duty Free Fa-So-La Isetan Mitsukoshi, established in 2014 and financed by Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Japan Airport Terminal and NAA Retailing Corporation.

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  • Roger Dubuis Hong Kong plans more Macau stores

    Roger Dubuis Hong Kong plans more Macau stores

    Luxury watch brand Roger Dubuis says it will open more stores in Macau and Hong Kong despite the recent contraction of the market.

    Roger Dubuis Hong Kong has four stores and there are a further three in Macau. The Swiss brand debuted here in 2000 and is aiming to be one of the world’s top five luxury watch retailers by 2020.

    Despite price tags ranging from HK$150,000 to HK$10 million, Roger Dubuis is unconcerned by the broader trend and is eyeing the longer term growth opportunity in the SARs and the mainland as the number of Chinese with high disposable income grows.

    Two new stores will open in Macau next year and potentially another in Hong Kong.

    CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué told the Hong Kong Economic Journal a new store will open in Nanjing in the mainland next year as well. That follows the opening of its first mainland store in Beijing last July.

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  • How Roger Dubuis’ video campaign achieved low cost per view, per action

    How Roger Dubuis’ video campaign achieved low cost per view, per action

    This was the tagline of one of the videos published by Swiss luxury watchmaker Roger Dubuis under its innovative #GoodbyeCuckoo; #HelloExtraordinary marketing campaign.

    At around this time last year, the watch brand unveiled 30 films, each 50 seconds long showing various ways how o destroy 30 cuckoo clocks. The videos were posted on YouTube for over 30 days as a teaser to mark the countdown for Roger Dubuis’ main event for the year.

    The videos, according to Alvaro Maggini, Creative Director, Roger Dubuis, in a YouTube video testimonial, is very important for the brand because it is a means of conveying emotion. “There is a lot of humour, there is a lot of mystery, there are a lot of references that call to mind Fritz Lang, which gives a bit of a surrealist side,” he said in a video testimonial.

    So how do you destroy a cuckoo clock? In the video series, it was axed, set on fire, batted by a golf ball, submerged in water, blasted to smithereens, tied to a tree branch and chainsawed, bulldozed, microwaved.

    Highlighting the concept “undoing the past to create the future,” the taglines for each video were more powerful and aligned to the concept. Take this one: “Crushed to pieces, rebuilt into a masterpiece.”

    Alessandro Marcolin, Head of Media & Event, Roger Dubuis, said in an email interview, that the concept is about ripping apart established codes to better reinterpret them.

    “Ring out the old, ring in the new.” This is the essence of what Roger Dubuis does in Haute-Horlogerie, a contemporary reinterpretation of this secular art, with a total respect of the traditions. It was also to celebrate the rebirth our Hommage collection, and announce our incredible booth at the Salon International de la Haute-Horlogerie (SIHH) fair: a giant cuckoo clock. Everything is linked and makes sense when you see it under this angle,” he explained.

    Video, according to Marcolin, encapsulates a lot of messages and it is an impactful immersive visual medium. “People tend to read less and watch more videos, hence the trend towards video as marketing vehicle,” he said.

    Roger Dubuis has an in-house creative center and the filmography and communication visuals – including the “GoodbyeCuckoo; #HelloExtraordinary” campaign – are created internally.

    “We love to communicate with video, and we strive to be always innovators in this marketing channel,” Marconi said.

    The videos became a YouTube case study because of the record low cost per view and has appeared in the “Limitless Creativity” film showcased at the YouTube Brandcast Paris last September. It was received an award in the “Brand Content” category at the Grand Prix Stratégies /Amaury Médias du Luxe 2014 in France.

    Sequel: The Asian thrillers

    In September last year, the #GoodbyeCuckoo campaign was back. Seven new videos were uploaded on Facebook as part of the countdown to the second edition of Asia’s finest Haute Horlogerie Watches & Wonders Exhibition held in Hong Kong.

    The first video, entitled “Don’t mess with the Ming,” showed two swinging Ming vases crushing the Cuckoo clock. The second video, “Don’t tickle the dragon,” showed a dragon breathing fire to the Cuckoo. The other videos include a chef preparing a dimsum chopping the Cuckoo, while another was set on fire; the ashes used as an ink for calligraphy.

    Marcolin said Facebook was already used during the first campaign. The company used twice the same set-up: Youtube, Facebook and video seeding in blogs (through Ebuzzing and Unruly).

    “The first campaign had a record low cost per view, hence the Youtube case study, and the second campaign had a record low cost per action on Facebook,” he said. “But both campaigns performed extremely well on all three platforms.

    Marcolin disclosed that the two campaigns reached around 1.2 million views among all the platforms and 200,000 actions (clicks, shares) if the the Watches and Wonders and SIHH campaigns were integrated.

    In both campaigns, the target audience was a mix of opinion leaders in the world of fashion, design, creation and luxury/watch lovers. “The main objective was to create buzz around the presence of Roger Dubuis at the SIHH in Geneva and Watches and Wonders in Hong Kong, highlighting the differentiation of Roger Dubuis,” Marconi said. “We are an unconventional fine watchmaking brand and we communicate also in an unconventional manner.

    Following these successes, the company is now broadcasting a new thrilling digital countdown for the SIHH 2015, dubbed “The Astral Gateway”.

    Roger Dubuis has a strong presence in Asia and Marcolin said the company will continue to establish the brand through retail and communication, while it also develops other markets such as Middle-East or the Americas.

    Video marketing on Facebook

    According to Facebook, the number of video posts per person has increased 75 percent globally and 94 percent in the US over the past year. Globally, the amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6 times year-over-year.

    In Hong Kong, more than 50 percent of people who come back to Facebook in Hong Kong watch a video every day. Meanwhile, a TNS survey of Facebook users in Hong Kong revealed that 42 percent have posted videos or links to videos.

    “Facebook today is not just a social media platform. It is a mass media with over 4.5 million Hong Kongers accessing it monthly, and about 89 percent accessing via their mobile devices. Brands today can use Facebook to reach people they want to target anytime, any day,” said Anita Lam, Head of FMCG & Retail, Greater China at Facebook.

    Business used to be personal, Lam added, but then the coming of media made brands less personal though it was wonderful for scaling brands.

    “We are at the beginning of a big marketing shift. We now have the opportunity to do both – Facebook as a platform can help make marketing personal again,” she explained.

    Improved video metrics will help you understand the success of each video, to help guide your content strategy on Facebook.

    Metrics include: video views, unique video views, the average duration of the video view and audience retention. People will be able to see how many views your video on Facebook has received. Views will be shown on all public videos from people and Pages, to help people discover new, popular videos.

    “The Cuckoo is Dead. Long Live the Cuckoo.”