IWC’s new endeavour with the Galapagos Islands and how the brand is weathering the waves of recession

Much has been said about the health of luxury watch and jewellery brands in times of economic crisis, and the general consensus is that the forecast isn’t altogether bad and sentiments remain fairly positive. After all, when investing in stocks becomes risky, people are more likely to put their money in other things like gold, diamonds, antique jewellery and high complication watches — items that have a definite value in the secondary market. The purchase of items like these is not merely seen as a decadent indulgence, but as sound investments as well. Much of the time, they are seen as a bit of both.

However, caution is still exercised and many luxury brands are scaling back their marketing and corporate social responsibility projects in line with financial austerity measures that are rapidly being put into place. Huge projects are less heard of, and communication is quiet and minimal.

Not so with luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen. Just as powerful economies around the word announced their gradual slip into a recession early this year, IWC had some news of its own. The luxury Swiss watchmaker revealed a long-term collaboration with the Charles Darwin Foundation that will channel well-deserved funds towards research and restorative efforts to the Galapagos Islands. This commendable initiative is organised in conjunction with the Darwin Bicentennial Year in 2009.

IWC’s Aquatimer collection has become the marketing centrepiece for the new partnership, and one of the three beautifully done timepieces in the collection is the Edition Galapagos Islands. While it comes with all the regular bells and whistles of the IWC Aquatimer diving watch, the limited edition all-black timepiece has a back case engraved with the image of a daintily floating Galapagos Turtle. A portion of the sales of the watch will also be directly channelled to the Charles Darwin Foundation.

The watch was first revealed earlier this year at the annual Salon International Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva to rave reviews, and will be available in Malaysia in July. Andreas Boesch, IWC’s general manager for Southeast Asia co-hosted a cocktail event in KL recently to unveil the new watch alongside the other novelties launched at SIHH, and explained the insight behind the collaboration.

“No matter what, we do not move away from our basic belief and strategy to link our brand to social and ecological initiatives. This is a key differentiation between our brand and other brands, which may prefer to do sports sponsorship or celebrity testimonials. You can question the direction we are taking our brand or the value of our sponsorship, but I think we are on the right track. This is a core element of the IWC brand,” he says.

IWC is known for its environmentally sustainable business practices — the brand was certified as a CO2-neutral business in 2007 and even has a budget that rewards the environmentally friendly commitment of its employees. This year, it is sponsoring a voyage by David de Rothschild, who is sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a boat made entirely from plastic bottles.

“Of course, we are questioning how we can best make use of our marketing spend in terms of communication, merchandising and PR,” Boesch qualifies. “We are putting more effort into communicating closer with customers on specific occasions rather than mass brand building.”

This is reflective of the way customers tend to shop during tough times — people do more research on each piece rather than indulge in impulse buys. “Of course we like impulse buyers, definitely, but there are fewer of those now and we have seen a drop in that. But now, we can really build a long-term relationship with our existing customer base, and that is something we really want,” he says.

“The average IWC customer has not really changed in that way; we are seeing the same type of person walk into our stores. They are usually previous owners of an IWC watch...  globally speaking, the average customer already has 2.5 pieces. They know what they are looking for, they are already appreciative of what the IWC brand represents. We are less trend-driven and less hype-driven, we are more stable… so it is the same sort of customers that we are seeing.”

While IWC has been quite clear about making no compromises on quality and research into continuous product development, Boesch says there are strategic plans to keep IWC watches moving off the shelves. “They are simple things. Maybe less tourbillons, and more perpetual calendars — these are cheaper to produce and quicker to sell. We may use less precious metals, for example if we already have a watch in a particular collection with a rose gold strap, we do the next one with rubber… little things that will make a difference later on.”

The future is set to bring many good things for IWC even in a slower market, as the timepieces it produces run the gamut from totally indulgent to accessible luxury. “I see IWC becoming a bit cubist in its outlook,” Boesch says. “The brand has many facets, and I think we will continue to emphasise each one. For example, our engineering capabilities and the technical skills we possess. As a company, we all feel that time is the best time to reinforce our DNA and enhance the value of the IWC brand.”

IWC’s SIHH star
During the Salon International Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) earlier this January in Geneva, Swiss watchmaker IWC’s ocean-inspired booth was a welcome respite from the gilt-edged formality. The brand was celebrating a truly commendable collaboration with the Charles Darwin Foundation that would channel well-needed resources to the Galapagos Islands, and so the darkened floors — designed to look like the sea bed — were illuminated by haunting images of hammerhead sharks and schools of fish that glided across the ceiling. LCD screens showed a specially made video of the research and conservation work that IWC is funding on the islands.

IWC and its distributors in Malaysia, Valiram Group, recently recreated some of that experience outside the brand’s stand-alone boutique in Pavilion KL. Playing hosts were Jonathan King, general manager of Valiram Group ‘s watch division and Andreas Boesch, general manager of IWC Southeast Asia. Apart from the new partnership, there was additional reason to celebrate — this is the first time that any of the IWC SIHH novelties were showcased outside of the annual Geneva watch fair.

The Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos Islands was the centrepiece of the unique set-up that included beautifully taken pictures of the Galapagos Islands by renowned photographer Michael Muller. The same soul-stirring video that debuted in Geneva was also played to a hushed audience in KL.

The event was also to celebrate the other novelties launched at this year’s SIHH, which include the extensively revised IWC Aquatimer collection and the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month timepiece. Guests were also seen trying on the Portuguese Automatic Edition Laureus, Big Pilot’s Edition Saint Exupery, the Ingenieur Chrono, and the Da Vinci Digital Platinum. The watches quickly garnered fans, but there is a short wait to own them as the full collection will only be available in Malaysia come later this July.

The invited guests came dressed in the oceanic theme and while sporting their own IWC timepieces on their wrists, were seen shopping for new ones as well.

Photo Short
French fashion visionary Gabrielle Coco Chanel will be brought to life by doe-eyed French actress Audrey Tautou in a biopic directed by Anne Fontaine. The project is entitled Coco avant Chanel, and the script is partially based on Edmonde Charles-Roux’s book L’Irrégulière. Fontaine told French movie journal Le Film Francais that the movie would be about Chanel before she became famous. “I wanted to follow the interior path of this young woman who was poor, without education, but who had an uncommon personality that was ahead of her time.”

The raven-haired Tautou is also set to replace blonde starlet Nicole Kidman as the face of brand’s iconic perfume, Chanel No 5.  As Kidman once did, Tautou will star in a short film by acclaimed French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. This is the third collaboration between Tautou and the award-winning filmmaker, who directed her in Amelie and A Very Long Engagement. The short film’s release is scheduled to coincide with the movie’s release later this year.

This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 751, April 20-26, 2009